Please post some DOCUMENTED PROOF how carbonation causes slippages. What does your doctor say when you ask, "Why no carbonation?" Does he have documented studies showing carbonation causes damage?

My doc says there's no documented proof that carbonation can cause a slippage, so I asked why it was on my list of things to avoid. Plain and simple, soda is filled with crap. There's nothing in soda that's good for you. Sugar in regular is a killer, and Diet contains poisons. However, he knows I'm having problems keeping away from goodies, so in his own words, "I'd rather see you hooked up to a Diet Pepsi filling station than see you ever eat Ben & Jerry's again."

I asked him what surgeons are basing their "No carbonation" rules on. There's no documented proof that carbonation causes slippage, but doctors think gas might get trapped and try to come back up and slip the band, but he chuckled at the ridiculousness of such a theory. Considering get big burps trapped after every meal, that would mean I face slippage with a band-size portion of lean chicken or smashed taters.

I asked, "What else causes slippage?" Eating too much or too fast causes slippage. Or he supposes a really bad hiccup or just a weird twist/cough/heave might cause slippage, or nothing at all. He said I could slip my band with one single eating episode or I could overeat every single night, then one night it could slip. Or maybe it won't slip. Or maybe it will.

Bubbles cause discomfort to some people, but I love them. And I miss them since I'm several weeks off soda. Phooey.

Disclaimer, This isn't a PRO-CARBONATION thread. I just want some proof. I'm not a sheep, I don't follow well unless I know the rest of the sheep are going somewhere cool.

So what does this mean to you Lisa? bottom line?

DeLarla's Bottom line:

- Carbonation doesn't cause slippage.

- Carbonation doesn't cause erosion.

- We don't want carbonation. We want soda. Nobody has Perrier withdrawls.

- Soda makes you fat, too much sugar.

- Diet Soda is full of chemicals loaded with controversy; it's a gamble.

- The Illuminate adds addictive substance to both regular and diet sodas to make us keep drinking the stuff to support the mother ship.

- Burping, LOUDLY and in public, is a good thing.

- I want a soda. Diet or Regular, I'm not picky, just addicted.

Just because there is no documented proof that carbonation causes slippage does not mean it does not cause it. It only highlights that there is still a need for more research on the band.

As for me, I'm going to kick this soda habit before I get banded and follow my doctor's orders.

Hey Delarla,

I admit that I have broken the band rules of carbonation a few times! I've had some diet rootbeer from A&W, diet coke at the movie theaters, and a couple of beers. I've pretty much lost my cravings for soda and it really dosn't bother me too much to abstain from those precious, ticklely, awesome, soothing, bubbles!!

Okay.......maybe not all my cravings, but I have replaced the soda with iced tea (w/splenda) and other flavored low cal drinks. The other night, my work buddies came over for a poker party in my garage. They drank beer (alot of beer) and I drank rum with diet lemonade! They called it my foo foo drink! LOL It did the job though! LOL

i don't know if it's true for anyone else, but i definitely will have club soda withdrawal. it's my standby... with or without whiskey! )

Last week's party served pink Crystal Light with Malibu Rum. OMG, it was so good! But careful because it's a mighty tasty creeper-upper!

I switched to ice tea sweatened with cranberry juice and a little Splenda since I'm trying to get used to the stuff. But as soon as I can stand Splenda, the headlines will tell us it will kill you.

Ray, I'm glad you're comfy in your own sexuality! My hubby's the same way. If he likes something girly, he'll have it! He has his weekly "Girly Cappucino" at Starbucks.

I am a great lover of soda. I will drink them until the day of my surgery. I just back from the OB/GYN and have learned something new. Carbonated drinks cause Calcium loss in the blood and thereby weaken your bones. Caffine has the same same affect.

I take plenty of calcium to help counter my soda intake but it was interesting to read and hear about. Not exactly on subject but a little extra info never hurt anyone.

Spydr, I heard the same about calcium loss. So what you need to do is drink root beer floats, the ice cream should take care of the calcium........... NOT JUST KIDDING !!! I couldn't resist. But seriously, I have heard that. The way to strengthen your bones is to do weight resistance exercise.

I love diet soda and I'll miss it I'm hoping fear will keep me away, not just because of the band but because like Lisa said, its loaded with chemicals that are not healthy.

You know whats a good cocktail. Crystal lite's sunrise and vodka. It taste just like a screwdriver

Bottom line here..... is if you can tollerate it, have it as a treat and not a staple. Try to change our habbits to healthier ones, I mean that is why we all are getting banded or have gotten banded.....right? We wanna be healthy.

Right on, Eileen. I'm all about promoting healthy eating and drinking, I just don't like myths or wive's tales. I have no right preaching about rights and wrongs considering my band is often sore from overindulging. Ever since reading Sue Geezer's thread about bands being removed, I'm a little more freaked out than usual (if you can imagine that.)

My doc told me it wouldn't cause slippage but it would stretch the pouch. She even got on to me because I went in for a fill and had nothing to eat or drink since the night before and she could still see air pockets in my stomach and said that the gas from the coke I had the night before was still in my stomach and could have caused stretching. She thinks it hadn't yet because my restriction was at a low. My favorite drink is Coconut Malibu and pineapple juice. Best non-bubbly drink eva!

oooo i forgot about malibu and pineapple......

I have been an avid soda drinker since about age 3. Since I got the band about 2 mos ago I have steered clear - just to be on the safe side. When I was at my dentist the other day he asked me if I drank a lot of soda. I said "no, not recently, I'm actually off it now. Why?" He said because my teeth were becoming a little translucent and that is usually caused by carbonation. I had NEVER heard that before in my life and went home to ask my DH who is an RDA and he confirmed! So just one more reason to not drink it. I miss my soda and it's hard to be happy about drinking my Iced Tea every day, but man, I gotta say once you're off of it for awhile it's no longer a knawing craving & just one more little step to a healthier lifestyle.

In Australia we dont have the 'no carbonation' rule. But I agree that diet drinks are poison and the regular (while preferable to diet) is also full of 'who-knows-what'. What I really like doing is having juices with soda water. Cranberry is great, but my current favourite is Iced green tea (full sugar) and soda water - the soda water dilutes the sugar but I still get a nice drink. And I have recently discovered a company that makes 'sodas' that are purely juice and carbonated water - they even have a cola one that tastes like coke but is really apple juice!! Its called 'Fuze' and they have all different flavours but - no added sugar, no artificial flavours, no artificial sweetners and most of them (not the cola one unfortunately) are low GI also!! I would be very interested in any medical studies re: 'carbonation and the band', but I suspect they just dont want us to have it, not that it hurts the band.

My aunt is a dentist CaliQueen and she told me that soda can cause enamel erosion on your teeth, but even worse is drinking lots of wine or orange juice. Its the acid in the drinks not the carbonation though, according to her.