Advice with giving up soda?

[minimeme 1]

I gave up soda several years before banding. It is amazing how much better I felt once i stopped. Now I do teas. Iced tea can be purchased pretty much everywhere here. And herbal teas at home. Hibiscus tea is one of my favorites.

[ParrotheadCathy 0]

There is one variety of Crystal Light that actually has some caffeine in it! Focus Natural Citrus Splash. Not sure how much compared to a soda but after I gave up soda cold turkey, I started having one packet of this Crystal Light in the mornings as my substitute.

[altopower 1]

I started weaning myself off of Diet Coke in August. At the time I didn't know when I'd be banded but I wanted to be prepared. I started by cutting out one soda a day for a week. Then I started swapping out one full-caffeine soda for a caffeine free one - and since I don't like the way they taste, I eventually stopped drinking the substitute. I paced out cutting back from bottles of soda to cans, and then reducing cans down to 1 per day. I went cold turkey on October 3, after 2 months of weaning. Headaches weren't too bad by then but my mouth really missed the flavor until I came home from the hospital. I was really glad I'd taken the time to get rid of one potential problem before I had the surgery.

[Liftingchic 0]

Switched to diet a few days ago and now havent had a soda in 1.5 days... tonight was bad.. Really bad headache.. But I fought through it..

[samanthazzz 0]

Find something to substitute it with. This is one of your trigger foods and as you can tell with how crappy your feeling now, it is not good for you.

The band is a tool only. You need willpower to be successful.

[Mimilou2004 13]

I hope I don't sound mean, but suck it up and stop cold turkey. I went from 7-8 cans a day to nothing and now drink Walmart brand crystal light orange by the Gallon. I miss the bubbles of my Diet Coke, but the one time I tried it post op I was in agony with stuck burps.

I do wish you the best of luck.

Mimi

[michelle33 0]

That was good advice I will try to put down the soda and try something differnt. like krystal light.

[Liftingchic 0]

Thanks mimi.. I know I need to just stop cold turkey, i wish i could just get passed this headache.. I broke down and Drank a soda today... I am telling you this is like no other headache i have had in my life.. It feels like my head is going to exposed.. :sad: I think it might be easier to do this when I have some time off work..

[Mimilou2004 13]

Well, LC, the good news is you have time to wean yourself off. I did pick a date 2 weeks in the future when my prebought soda would run out and that was my quit day. I drink coffee, too, so I increased my coffee intake temporarily to cover the headaches from withdrawal.

Good luck.

Mimi

[Liftingchic 0]

yeah thats a good idea.. I might try that... I need to pick up some excedrin Migraine which has caffine in it to help get over the hump.. I dont drink coffee..

[moonbeam 1]

It's funny how I thought it was going to be so hard to give up. I drank a ton of diet soda. Up until my last two fills I was still drinking soda. Now I CAN'T drink it anymore. It feels really uncomfortable and I burp big time. I've gotten used to it. My discomfort conditioned me to decide the pain of having it was worse than the pain of not having it.

[Saraboo 21]

I would have to say cold turkey would be the only way, and replace with something else with caffein. Personally, I don't like coffee but i like tea. I used to have a can of soda on my way to work at 1:30 am, a 20 oz bottle on my lunch at 6ish am, then hit a drive thru for a large soda when i got off, then another couple cans by the end of the night. it was all i wanted to drink. it gets easier the more time that passes by, and you'll find that after awhile, soda will taste too sweet. i was out with friends over the weekend, and i had finished my bottle of Water but i was thirsty so i asked my friend for a sip of her soda-not good, i know, but it was that or alcohol, lol- and the soda was sooo sweet. it actually grossed me out some. i think i miss the thought of it more than the actual drink.

[Elizza1976 0]

Hi! I am new to the site and I have no idea when you posted this. But since my surgery I have found that I like FUZE Slenderize. Seems to take the place of soda for me. Also the Crystal Light Wild strawberry Energize has alittle caffine in it. Hope this helps!

[Doodle69 0]

Hi, I'm new here too... I don't have any advice, only my own story to share... I was averaging at least 20 oz. of regular soda a day, (Mt. Dew mostly), and my headaches haven't been too bad, surprisingly...

I'm currently on my pre-op diet, with surgery only 5 days away... caffeine and sugar are both gone for me... I did have a bad headache the first 24-48 hours... but, so far, it's tapered off since... and more surprisingly, I haven't craved soda that much (probably since it's not in the house)...

for me, it was always about the sugar and the flavor, not the caffeine... I never drank diet soda, couldn't stand it... which is why I'm having some trouble with Crystal Light, Propel, etc... don't really like the taste of artificial sweeteners... probably will move away from that eventually, to just non-sweetened beverages... but, that's not easy, either...

keep it up, and just try and battle through the headaches... if they persist or get worse, I would ask your doctor for advice... because, normally, there should be some relief on the horizon... but, it could take up to a week or two...

my (semi-educated) guess is that your body is suffering from more than just caffeine withdrawals... your body becomes accustomed to all the other dangerous chemicals in soda, too... especially diet soda... I imagine that those could be part of the problem, but will also flush out of your system eventually... good luck!

Doodle

:wink::tt2::thumbup:

Edited December 14, 2009 by Doodle69

[shadst8 8]

I was a Mountain Dew addict (that stuff is liquid crack/cocaine :thumbup:)--so I had to find something equally good-tasting. For me it was sugar-free Kool-aid. I also will drink iced tea with sweetner to give me a caffeine boost. When I just had those bad withdrawals, I would buy one of those 5hr energy drinks and take some aspirin. It does get better!