I was banded 2 years ago and am perfectly satisfied with the way this journey has gone- classic textbook. Great surgeon, great selection of band, following guidelines...etc.

Pre-band I was a binger from sun up to sun down. One drive thru after another eating and eating.

Thru this process I've overcome my desire to binge. I no longer turn to food for comfort or medication. I do not socialize or Celebrate events around food (except Thanksgiving).

But I have an addiction to Mt. Dew. I drink a 2 liter a day. 2 -3 weeks ago I stopped. I have been a nervous wreck...not sleeping, waking up abruptly, sweats and chills, headaches, irritablity, ....you know the drill.

I'm seeing the scales slowly creep up- about a pound every 2 weeks. I've made an appointment for a fill- but not for a good reason. So that I can drink more and eat less.

Crazy! I need to fix this but am lost.

Are there any pills that treat addiction? Maybe a treatment plan for 30/60/or 90 days? (I'm not a pill taker)

Right now, I'm mixing Mt. Dew 1/2 and 1/2 with Diet Dew. I don't mind the taste and am really trying to kick the habit.

Please help.

I hate to say this...but what the h*ll are you doing? You're not even supposed to drink soda! You have had an extremely successful weight loss and are sabotaging it by drinking sugary laden soda - full of empty calories and very unhealthy.

Sorry - but I see you doing so well. You need to discuss this with your doctor and see what options you have. I'm sure he/she will not be happy, but you really need to get some help with this issue and try and kick the Dew habit. I drank Diet Coke 3-4x per day for 25 years and haven't had a soda since 2 weeks prior to my surgery. Do I miss it? Sometimes, but overall I don't want to jeapardize my band and feel better about getting over the caffeine addiction. Please talk with your physician. They need to be aware of what you're doing so they can help. I wish I had the magic answer for you, but this is not my forte'.

I hate to tell you this but you are probably addicted to the caffeine in the mountain dew so you should try to at least gradually cut the caffeine and the carbonation should stop at once before you mess up the pouch completely which is just a matter of time.

You are experiencing both caffiene and sugar withdrawl (if you are not drinking diet Mt. Dew.) I am still pre-op, but kicking soda has been one of my pre-op requirements, in addition to caffienated coffee and cigarettes. I had a really rough week when I gave up soda & coffee. The withdrawl symptoms do pass. I wish you luck, you have had such impressive weight loss.

It seems to carbonation thing varies from doctor to doctor just like everything else. I was surprised when I saw that my doctor does allow diet soda and coffee. Diet soda can even be consumed in the first week post op.

I wonder why the docs are all so different?:thumbup:

Cut back on the soda as much and as quickly as you can. Try giving yourself some amount of caffeine (Mountain Dew is LOADED, has more caffeine than Coke) and slowly cut it back. A cup of hot coffee or strong tea in the mornings, Crystal Light makes a selection of flavors called "Focus" and those have 55 mg. of caffeine in each packet. Caffeine withdrawal can cause all of the symptoms you describe. IF you offset the caffeine lost from cutting back on the soda and then slowly reduce your caffeine you should be fine. I drink a packet of Crystal Light Focus Natural Citrus Splash (or a cut of hot tea if I'm feeling really tight) every morning as my wake-up. That small amount of caffeine is fine.

Congrats on working on stopping the soda! It can only undercut your efforts in the long run and possibly cause problems with the carbonation.

anyone who realizes they r having a problem...post it on here...and wants to fix it....gets tons of credit from me!!!!!!!!!! ur going to fix it...look how great ur doing!!!!!!!!!!!i can totally relate to the drive-thru binge eating...i know how hard it is to stop that...and u did it!!!!!!!!!!!!!! u'll stop drinking mt. dew just the same...don't come down hard on urself....u made a little mess and ur willing to clean it up!!!!!!!!!

I feel like a Madoff victim by the first post..... those were very intelligent, world wise, wealthy people who got scammed..... so as humans, we always don't do what is best...nobody is perfect.

TSB- I think you are on to something. Most often when someone is changing a lifestyle, they do it one thing at a time...or 2 things at a time. But those who just say that today is the day that I'm gonna ________....usually don't make it to their goal.

Sugar and caffiene....hmmm... I think I'm gonna work on the _________. Should I tackle the sugar or the caffiene first? That focus stuff sounds great, ParrotHeadCathy..... but I've not seen it yet in my area.

Maybe if I - BINGO...lightbulb moment. Let me work on the caffiene first. I can switch to Sprite or Gingerale. My mom used to give us that when we were sick as children....maybe I can lose the caffiene first then tackle the sugar next.

Anyone ever did this?

. Let me work on the caffiene first. I can switch to Sprite or Gingerale. My mom used to give us that when we were sick as children....maybe I can lose the caffiene first then tackle the sugar next.

Anyone ever did this?

i gave up the diet coke habit at surgery - but i still get my caffiene each AM w/coffee.

i do crave the bubbly - and keep diet ginger ale in the house & have about 1 a wk after i open .... let it go flat some.

this might sound stupid,

but i was watching this abc(i think) special about people in the coal mining countries who had something called "mountain dew mouth". supposedly after a while it rots your teeth out of your mouth and it was the same addiction quality as cocaine.

i've never been addicted to anything in my life( i've never even smoked) but i can only imagine how hard it is for you. and by what you say happens to you at night, it sounds like youre going thru withdrawls.i would defiently tell a doc about it. maybe not your surgeon but defiently a doc , say at your next physical.

good luck hun.:thumbup:

Chantal03--that doesn't sound stupid--my Father-in-law was just told he need to have all his bottom teeth pulled because they are rotting. Guess what he drinks every day? you got it, 3-5 cans of Mt Dew. he already has dentures on his top teeth...GROSS.

I think you have a good point--there is more to giving up Mt Dew than just caffeine and sugar, it is an addiction, just like some people with Diet Coke.

The point is, lapbandtalker, you are trying. You already are doing something by cutting it 1/2 with Diet, slowly add more diet until you are there all the way. you are getting the caffeine, but not the sugar. Then when you can start replacing drinks one at a time--just like you'd do with a baby going from formula to whole milk. maybe you still have 5 drinks a day, but make one of them Crystal light or water. Then a few days later, go to two, etc.

Edited May 28, 200917 yr by newdicarlo

Try drinking some fresh brewed Lipton ice tea instead. Unsweetened of course. I replaced that with my addiction to Diet Pepsi. A couple weeks ago I started drinking pop again and I found out that it made me feel like crap. I haven't drank any since then and I feel so much better again. Good luck! I know it's not easy.

I had a serious Diet Coke habit. I stopped the day before surgery and haven't had a drop since. I drink one large cup of coffee every morning. And sometimes a decaf low fat mocha coffee in the evening.

It took about 3 weeks for the headaches to subside. Lots of tylenon for that

I am now slightly addicted to Crystal light lemonade I do love it. And the pink kind for celebrations. I sometimes mix different ones like half fruit punch and half lemonade.

Just to make it different.

I don't miss beer at all, I do miss mixed drinks, so I have a virgin mary with all the spices when I am out and love that. Get some Vitamins from the veggie drink too.

Good luck.

Pati

Carbonation is known to cause leaching of Calcium. It is bad for people on low calorie programs such as ours, and especially bad for women after menopause.

All carbonation can cause a calcium problem, which many times shows up as problems with your teeth.

You should switch to grean tea. You get the caffeine, without the carbonation and sugar.

I can certainly understand, I had a big Diet Mt. Dew craving before surgery:tongue_smilie:, but I gave it up completely with my pre-op diet. One thing that helped me is the "no drinking with meals rule", I really liked to drink Mt. Dew with my snacky foods. And upon stopping I had some bad headaches, however, my dr allows coffe so that took care of that. But the biggest reason I stopped the Mt. Dew was because my dr told me (or I read) that carbonation could damage your band or some part of it by causing erosion. And after going thru the sugrery, I don't won't nothing touching my band! Good luck to kicking your habit. If I really want a "shot" I drink a cup of Sugar-Free Swisse Mocha International Coffee:wub:. It's 30 calories, but really satisifies my cravings; you can buy it by the can at the grocery.

scout47

I drank soda every day since I was old enough to hold a can without dropping it until I was 19 years old. Then, one day, I quit cold turkey. I have a suggestion- one that worked and continues to work for me every day.

Drink ~WATER~. I know you are thinking 'duh.' But, hear me out. I don't mean replace soda with Water (although that's the ultimate goal) but rather, tell yourself, "Ok, I can still have soda - one or two cans a day for now - but I must drink 64 oz of water daily along side the soda." This means you will need to drink 64 oz of water + whatever soda you want.

Why does this work? Because your body craves soda whenever it's thirsty; it has learned to drink soda in order to quench the desire for liquids. If you can keep from being thirsty, you can go a very long way in overcoming the desire to drink soda. It's a much easier process than trying to simply give up soda, because you aren't depriving yourself of something you want but rather giving yourself something you need.

Eventually soda should become so unimportant to you that you can just give it up cold turkey without really missing it at all.

I feel like a Madoff victim by the first post..... those were very intelligent, world wise, wealthy people who got scammed..... so as humans, we always don't do what is best...nobody is perfect.

TSB- I think you are on to something. Most often when someone is changing a lifestyle, they do it one thing at a time...or 2 things at a time. But those who just say that today is the day that I'm gonna ________....usually don't make it to their goal.

Sugar and caffiene....hmmm... I think I'm gonna work on the _________. Should I tackle the sugar or the caffiene first? That focus stuff sounds great, ParrotHeadCathy..... but I've not seen it yet in my area.

Maybe if I - BINGO...lightbulb moment. Let me work on the caffiene first. I can switch to Sprite or Gingerale. My mom used to give us that when we were sick as children....maybe I can lose the caffiene first then tackle the sugar next.

Anyone ever did this?

Ok, so onto the caffiene addiction. I empathize. That's a difficult one. I neglected to note above that when I first went off of soda, without realizing it, I replaced the caffiene in Soda with caffiene pills - No Doze. Eventually (2 years ago) I overcame that addiction as well. To ovecome that particular addiction, I had to do it very slowly. I began cutting the dosages of No-Doze that I took every day until eventually I no longer needed caffiene at all. It took a solid month to get to that point, but it was worth it. I can't stand the idea of living life each day on a rollercoaster of caffiene ups and downs.

I actually suggest kicking the soda habit before the caffiene habit. Soda is easy to overcome, caffiene is a real drug and will take time to overcome. In the mean time, try drinking black ice tea or coffee on occasion to keep the withdrawal symptoms from rearing their ugly heads (and they are ugly- I know because I've been there). Once you no longer crave soda, you can begin working on the caffiene addiction if you feel you need to.

Edited June 1, 200917 yr by kossde