Okay this is the first time I have ever wrote on here, but I've been reading for months. Last night I was laying in bed and this question came to mind so any help would be awesome. I gave up pop as soon as I decided I was going to have the lap band surgery done. I was banded on April 24th. My question is if the band goes around the outside of the stomach, how does drinking pop/beer make the band erode if the pop/beer is going through our stomach not around the outside of the our stomachs. Thanks for anything you can give.:confused2:

how does drinking pop/beer make the band erode

I've never heard that carbonated drinks would make the band erode. Is that something your surgeon told you?

Maybe whomever said it was referring to erosion, rather than the band eroding. "Erosion" refers to the band wearing through the organ, so that it is basically cutting in to you. It does not refer to the band itself eroding away.

The only connection I can even think of between the two -- carbonation maybe expands your organs -> expansion maybe increases the pressure where the band is placed -> increased pressure maybe contributes to erosion... ?? Dunno, never heard that before, and too many "maybe"s to be very concerned about it.

From what I understand, carbonated drinks are more a hazard for slippage than erosion, due to the action of the gas in your stomach.

I looked up your question in my literature that I have been given pre and post surgery. It says that the carbonation can cause your pouch to bloat up and stretch out you new little stomach. Also too much bloating can cause band slippage - - but the real concern seems to be with carbonation bloating up your pouch.

I've yet to get to a point where that theory makes any sense to me. In my mind, if there's enough gas build up that my organs are at risk for being permanently enlarged, or being forced up through a surgically installed device... well, let's put it this way. I think we'd just burp before our organs became deformed. This would be an interesting conversation to have with a band surgeon.

Okay this is the first time I have ever wrote on here, but I've been reading for months. Last night I was laying in bed and this question came to mind so any help would be awesome. I gave up pop as soon as I decided I was going to have the lap band surgery done. I was banded on April 24th. My question is if the band goes around the outside of the stomach, how does drinking pop/beer make the band erode if the pop/beer is going through our stomach not around the outside of the our stomachs. Thanks for anything you can give.:confused2:

I've heard so much conflicting things on this topic!!! Some Dr's say soda doesn't do anything and some say it does. I know a Dr that has the band and drinks diet pepsi....When I drink it, I let it get a little flat or use lots of ice...No erosion, no slippage, and no stretched pouch....But that's just my experience.

Yeah, I don't think that soda causes either slippage or erosion. For a lot of people, it just causes serious gas pain. I'm not sure why -- you'd think it'd just be burped out or farted out, but it gets trapped somehow and really hurts.

For bandsters that it doesn't, I don't see how diet soda is any different than drinking something like Crystal Light. Both have artificial sweeteners and colors that aren't any good for you but at least it's low calorie liquid.

After watching a Mythbusters where they put Mentos and Diet Coke into a pig's stomach, I have come to believe that a) the stomach has amazing stretching powers and :frown: it's quite possible that trapped gas could stretch a pouch. It does seem that gas from carbonated beverages does get trapped for a lot of people rather than getting burped out.

Okay this is the first time I have ever wrote on here, but I've been reading for months. Last night I was laying in bed and this question came to mind so any help would be awesome. I gave up pop as soon as I decided I was going to have the lap band surgery done. I was banded on April 24th. My question is if the band goes around the outside of the stomach, how does drinking pop/beer make the band erode if the pop/beer is going through our stomach not around the outside of the our stomachs. Thanks for anything you can give.:confused2:

Here's where logic has to take over. My surgeon allows patients to 'try' carbonated beverages after 6 months. On further questioning he also recommends doing so on an empty stomach. Here's the deal... on an empty stomach the soda can go through the stoma more easily into the 'lower stomach'. If the pouch is full (the stoma is blocked), the carbonation can build up in the pouch and cause discomfort or more.

Bottom line... no one really knows for sure whether or not carbonation can lead to pouch enlargement (and subsequent band slippage). Caution is the best guide.

I truly only miss one thing from my old eating lifestyle... Coke and Pepsi. From time to time I'll have a small Coke slurpee or, more recently, use the 'slush mug' that a friend sent me that freezes beverages similar to a slurpee. I don't have the carbonation and (if I count the calories into my daily allotment) I'm able to have a bit of the taste that I miss so much.

I chose to stay on the cautious side and gave up all carbonated drinks. Heck, I gave up everything to drink except water and Crystal Light, ot counting my 4 ozs of skim milk daily for my protein shakes. Maybe one day i will try a Coke Zero, but after the initial withdrawl from stopping them, who knows. My dr has a strict rule, which is no carbonated bev's at all.

Thanks all for all the input. This site is so awesome, I think that the best advice we can get or give is from our own experiences. And on here you can usually find someone who has tried or knows something that we don't know yet. Thanks again for all the help on my new band journey.

coming from a diet coke drinking champion. all sodas are very bad for you. read this: Don't Drink the Diet Coke

i agree with the bloating pushing on the band causing erosion. that sounds believalbe.

i've gone 4 days without DC's. i havene't done that in 10+years. i have no desire to drink them.

also my nutritionist said that DC's can clear car batteries, and tenderize meat.

ok then. nuf said.

Most brown sodas will erode meat and other organic solids given enough time, that's because of the acids they contain. They're really not something we should be drinking from a "good for you" perspective. I'm not even talking about the band. But most people are successfully hooked. :biggrin:

I gave up all carbonated drinks a few months before my surgery. It wasn't that hard because I was already down to caffeine free Diet Coke, so what's the point? And the occasional Fresca.

I drank my sodas warm when I could, and I drank them fast. When I gave them, up what I craved was the burn of the carbonation going down my throat. I never missed the taste.

It has now been over 3 years since I've had a carbonated drink, with 3 small exceptions (taking a small sip of something to taste it, and taking two small sips of Diet Coke to see if I even liked it anymore), and I can say that I don't miss then one bit. Now, when I taste a soda, it tastes so artificial to me, and that burn I used to crave now hurts and is quite uncomfortable.

The evil side of all that is, now I'm drawn to apple juice. I could never stand the stuff before, and now it's what I want to drink most of the time. So it is my new indulgence.

The evil side of all that is, now I'm drawn to apple juice. I could never stand the stuff before, and now it's what I want to drink most of the time. So it is my new indulgence.

You may already know this, but Wal-Mart has an apple flavored generic Crystal Light in their Great Value brand. It is wonderful! It tastes very much like real apple juice, it's the same color and everything. The only thing that's missing is all that sugar that no one needs anyway. HTH!

If you open the soda (we don't call it pop in this part of the country), and let it sit for a while, it's fine.

All I drink now is water, though, and I really don't have problem with it.