Hi All! I'll ask my surgeon this when I see him in October but inquiring minds are curious now.

What do you think is the rationale behind not drinking for a period BEFORE you eat? I understand the "no drinking during" and in fact when I do, it HURTS. I understand the "no drinking afterward" and in fact if I just allow the time my doc requires, it HURTS! :w00t:

But before? liquids flow through the stoma down into the lower part of the stomach easily, unless you are uber tight. As far as I know they don't linger there long, either.

So I can't quite figure it out. Anyone know, or have a good guess?

I asked the NP at my last appointment about this very thing. We're not supposed to drink anything 1/2 hour prior to eating. She said that it can take that long for the pouch to completely drain, and they want to make sure we're getting our 1/2 cup meal, (I go to a practice that is big on measuring), and they don't want us having a false sense of fullness due to having liquid in our pouch. I also think some foods pass through more quickly when combined with liquids. It really depends on what I'm eating.

Personally, I'm sure my pouch empties out much faster than 1/2 hour after drinking, but I do stop liquids at least fifteen minutes before a meal. If I'm out to eat, I will sip on Water up to my food being served, but unless I was behind on my water intake, I don't drink more than maybe 1/4 glass.

I can drink during meals without pain (I can't drink milk on Cereal though). I almost never drink with meals unless it's to sip water or wine (rarely) when out to dinner. I don't order any other type of drink, because unless it's a nice glass of wine, it's not worth the temptation or the cost to me. I definitely know I can eat more of most foods if I drink during a meal, so I don't make a habit of it. For me, I do think it mixes with my food and helps it to pass more quickly.

Which is the exact opposite! of what most of us (also with skilled experienced surgeons!) have been told. The plot thickens.

I'm also allowed to drink right up until I start eating which I have always done. It has worked well for me.

I asked the NP at my last appointment about this very thing. We're not supposed to drink anything 1/2 hour prior to eating. She said that it can take that long for the pouch to completely drain, and they want to make sure we're getting our 1/2 cup meal, (I go to a practice that is big on measuring), and they don't want us having a false sense of fullness due to having liquid in our pouch. I also think some foods pass through more quickly when combined with liquids. It really depends on what I'm eating.

Personally, I'm sure my pouch empties out much faster than 1/2 hour after drinking, but I do stop liquids at least fifteen minutes before a meal. If I'm out to eat, I will sip on Water up to my food being served, but unless I was behind on my water intake, I don't drink more than maybe 1/4 glass.

I can drink during meals without pain (I can't drink milk on cereal though). I almost never drink with meals unless it's to sip water or wine (rarely) when out to dinner. I don't order any other type of drink, because unless it's a nice glass of wine, it's not worth the temptation or the cost to me. I definitely know I can eat more of most foods if I drink during a meal, so I don't make a habit of it. For me, I do think it mixes with my food and helps it to pass more quickly.

I have never had trouble (at least seldom) eating 1/2 cup of food and quite the contrary lately so I think I had better continue drinking my water up until the last minute LOL!!

I also drink before I eat until a few minutes before the next meal. This is acceptable to my band surgeon. Like RestlessMonkey and others, it is not really a question of whether or not you drink while you eat or immediately afterwards. It hurts too much and sometimes liquid comes right back up.

Hmmm. I drank soda during pregnancy because I had no fill and was entirely open. I ended up with a slipped band and dilated pouch. My band had to be replaced one week ago. The surgeon said the dilation was caused partially by soda and partially by having a slip for an extended period. The gas expands in your pouch and the gas doesn't escape fast enough. Yes it escapes eventually, just not quickly enough.

If you have read very many posts regarding banding, most people complain about gas problems post banding. It is difficult to relieve it and there is a lot of it . . . and that is when you are not drinking soda. Throw soda on top of it and it makes sense you might just have a problem. If you do get banded, gas is one of the first things that will give you problems and you might look at this discussion differently at that time. You would think that, like liquid, gas should also be able to flow back and forth fairly easily but experience for most of us with bands tells us different.

Could all of those surgeons possibly be wrong??? There are many points upon which different surgeons disagree . . . but the "no soda" rule seems to be uniform across most. Many of us decide to pick and choose which rules we want to follow . . . unfortunately some of us suffer dire consequences for doing so. I agree on checking on the rationale behind some rules but I think this one is better followed than ignored from personal experience.

For your own sake and the health of your band-to-be, please be careful about what you choose to do or not do post banding. Too many of us make our own decisions to not follow some of the band rules and either don't lose, don't lose as much as we want or cause irreversible damage to our bands.

Is she holier-than-thou because she has a different opinion than yours post banding? I guarantee you that your feelings on a lot of subjects pertaining to banding will change dramatically once you have the experience of being banded yourself. It happens to all of us since experience is one of our greatest teachers.

In my opinion, I don't think Crystal Light if really much different nutritionally than soda. However, post banding you are supposed to avoid soda due to pouch dilation so CL is indeed a better choice than soda given dietary restrictions. Studies have also shown that sugar substitutes can lead to weight gain in some people due to a multitude of reasons, but that would apply to both diet soda, CL and a ton of other beverages.

Good luck with banding.

I drank soda once post banding.......drank an entire can down in a few minutes. I was tring too loosen a stuck capsule and it was suggested. OMG. The gas pain and bloating was the worst I ever had in my life. I was in tears and wanted to die and it was not for a short time, oh no, more like several hrs. I even forgot about the stuck capsule for awhile (by the way, it didn't work!) That was the one and only soda I drank post banding!

I really appreciate all the input, all the different "guidelines" from docs. In all honesty, I've tried doing what I was told (no drinking 15 min before) and/or longer, and drinking my Water (or unsweet iced tea) literally up until I take my first bite, and don't notice any difference in how much I can eat, and how long I stay full. WHAT I eat impacts that, but not if I have water up until right before a meal.

Of course one person isn't really a good scientific sample!

I wonder if 1. this rule is a holdover from the early days? 2. a rule that generally applies to other forms of WLS and has been carried over without any research (?) or 3. maybe one of those things that impacts some people but not others?

My surgeon told me that now that I'm healed, etc...if I want to drink a carbonated beverage or two occasionally, and IT DOESN"T HURT, I can.

I was really happy about this; fortunately I'm not a soda drinker, or at least not a committed one, but I do really enjoy an occasional beer (like 2 6-packs a year, spread out?) It's nice to know I "can" have it, even if I don't really want it much! :biggrin:

My dr. has always said I could drink up to 5 minutes before the meal and not for 20 minutes after. I always figured that they wanted to create some artificial space in between liquid and food so that i would be less tempted to drink with the meal. I basically try to drink a full glass before I eat because I need to get my water in and that seems like a good time to do it. Sometimes that 20 minutes feel like 2 hours to wait and sometimes I totally forget that I am waiting to drink.

I have never had trouble (at least seldom) eating 1/2 cup of food and quite the contrary lately so I think I had better continue drinking my Water up until the last minute LOL!!

LOL...I've never had trouble getting in my 1/2 cup meal either, regardless of when I've had my last drink. I'm not sure I buy the theory that the liquid in the pouch might lesson how much I can eat either.

My personal demon is that if I get too hungry I tend to graze on junk food. I avoid liquids near meal time because I'm more concerned that if there's liquid in my pouch when I start to eat, it'll dilute my food and let it pass quickly. Even though my doctor says that water in my pouch might give me an artificial feeling of fullness, I'm more concerned that my food won't stick around long enough to signal my brain that 1/2 cup of food is dinner. :biggrin:

OK, you guys got me all interested in this subject. I have been going along obeying all the rules and now, bam, I want to rebel! hehe.

Today I am going to experiment with drinking all the way up to my meals. I think since all of us are different, if it works out for me, then I don't need to have a Dr.'s seal of approval. If it hurts or causes pbing, then I'll go back to being a good girl.

I most definitely have to wait at least 30 minutes after meals to drink anything. If I even try to have a sip during or after, it is going to come back up! It's weird, but that's what happens, so that rule is easy to obey.

Soda....I have been experimenting with that too. (because of another post) (Sometimes these posts are bad!) Any who, I can drink soda without pain, but I imagine my pouch expanding and flopping over my band and I can only drink a few sips. I actually have had 2 root beer floats in the past 3 months. (The ice cream flattens the soda.) But talk about empty calories!!! I know, I'm bad too!

Well, I will post tomorrow and give my "scientific" results. Have a wonderful day all.

Glen...note to self, root beer is fine if you add ice cream. Must erase that piece of info from my brain. LOL!!

Well, I will post tomorrow and give my "scientific" results. Have a wonderful day all.

Well, that was very fun and educational! All day long I drank up until time to eat. I had no problems at all. I even had more time for getting in liquids and didn't have to watch the time. Every time I got hungry I could just eat instead of waiting a half hour. I really enjoyed it! I did find that it takes about 5 minutes for my pouch to be empty. Also I felt more lubricated and didn't get stuck or backed up! Thank you RM for asking the question!!!

My theory: A lot of fat people have psychological issues with food. I suspect some doctors tell their patients certain things in order to make sure they don't slip into old habits.

Technically it makes no sense why you can't drink before a meal, or drink beer/wine/booze, or have to lose N pounds before surgery, or quit smoking, etc. But if this type of discipline is what you need to stay the course, more power to you. It's a valid technique.

Airkuhl - I think you might be onto something there!