Alcohol and the band????

redbone0528 · December 17, 2007

Hi all. Still new to all of this, so thanks again for the wealth of info on this site. What did we ever do without the internet??? lol!!

My question is this. I am a former heavy drinker. Drank tons in college, and after my ex decided that 'he loves me, but he is no longer IN love with me' I crawled into the bottom of a bottle for several months. I drink alot now, I have plenty of tolerance, but only in social situations. I can go for weeks on end without drinking, but when I drink, I DRINK!!

My biggest fear is that my surgeon will go to insert the band, and see something in my liver, and just not put the band in. In preparation for my surgery, I have already quit drinking, even socially. I haven't had a drink in almost a month and a half. Don't want one either, my health and self esteem are more important to me right now. Has anyone else every been in this situation? Am I freaking out for no reason, or do I have a valid fear? Has anyone ever heard of a situation where this has happened???

I was recently approved for surgery, and now all of the fears and freakouts are coming out of nowhere. Help??? :help:

fiabulous · December 17, 2007

I'm afraid I really can't give you a straight answer, I can only share my experience. I was never a big drinker and always used driving as an excuse to not do it in front of peers. But when I did it, there was usually 1 goal and it was to not remember anything!!! I haven't had a sip of alcohol since my surgery, for a few reasons. 1) I'm afraid smelling it will knock my out, 2) the majority of what i enjoyed is carbonated, and most importantly there is now way I can justify all those calories!!!!! 1 long island iced tea has more calories than I normally consume in a day! It's weird how when you are banded you think of everything by the way of calories!!! Best of luck with everything!

mbanja · December 17, 2007

The fears and freak outs are a normal stage of prebanding! As for your other question I cannot offer any insite. I am a firm believer that there is one person ment for everybody, and your ex is not ment for you. You are still young and you will find that special someone! I hope everything goes well and hopefully someone with better knowledge will be able to give you their insite! I will keep you in my thoughts! Oh, and if it helps any I found that, the old saying rings true "You will find that special someone when you are not looking!" Focus on fixing yourself mentally and physically, put all your energy into that and maybe that person will find you.

WASaBubbleButt · December 17, 2007

If you have any mega liver damage it will not go as far as surgery. It will show in your pre op labs. No worries, if there is a problem you will know before you ever get as far as OR.

TamifromAL · December 17, 2007

Do you drink to the point of throwing up? If so, then you seriously need to consider giving it up. You don't want to throw up and dislodge the band.

Regardless of whether or not you give up drinking long-term, you'll need to give it up for a period after banding, during the healing phase. Your doc will give you some guidelines on length of time to abstain, but I'd say at least a couple of months.

Keep in mind that alcohol is empty calories, and can stall weight loss. But, it's also a diruetic. So, you need to drink lots of Water if you drink alcohol.

And, if you are fortunate to lose a lot of weight with the band, you will have to re-learn your tolerance levels. Like you, I had incredible tolerance for alcohol pre-band. But, I really have to be careful now. I get intoxicated much, much more easily at -121 lbs!

Tami

juliegeraci · December 17, 2007

I am a big drinker and my liver count was up before surgery, primarily because of the fat content. I wouldn't worry too much about it.

redbone0528 · December 18, 2007

Thanks for the input all. I don't normally drink to the point of throwing up, but I might dance on a table or two, haha! But I do (or did) drink frequently. That is just what my friends and I do, but I found that I had no problem stopping. I just had to hide from everyone I know and love, lol. Maybe I am just freaking out about nothing, but everything is a worry right now. This journey has been soooo long, I am just ready! I swear if my Doc called me right now and said we will operate in 10 mins, I would be there in 5!!!