When did you start enjoying beer and wine?

[OldBroad]

I searched the forums and found that many of you enjoy an occasional adult beverage despite dire warnings from your surgeons to avoid alcohol. I am the sort of person who would have only half a beer with a meal anyway, so it's not like I'm a big boozer. I'd like to have a couple of ounces of wine or beer now and then, but I'm not sure when I should try.

What did you do about the absolute forbidding of all booze? When did you start drinking again, how much, and what happened?

 

[GirlFriday]

This is a good question. I am excited to see the answers.

 

[brooklyngirl]

I was told to wait at least 6 months, then ended up waiting 8 to be sure. It's another thing that all surgeons differ on the recommendations. What did yours say?

 

[newanatomy]

I am not a big drinker so I waited about 8 months too. The thing I have read most often is that rapid weight loss is hard on your liver so you should not tax your liver any further with alcohol. I doubt that a couple of ounces of beer will hurt much though just go slow and see how your system handles the fizz.

 

[brooklyngirl]

You also have to be careful with the way your new insides will process the alcohol. Many DSers will tell you that they get very drunk, very quickly. I think you need to be in a safe place and take it very slowly the first time you have a drink. I get very buzzed on only a little bit, but it wears off very quickly and If I push it (as I did at a wedding 2 weeks ago) I go straight from feeling a buzz to feeling hungover.

 

[OldBroad]

My surgeon says: "avoid alcohol." Nothing else on the subject in the materials he gave me.

 

[southernlady]

Okay, I don't drink at all...I am allergic to it and being allergic is DAMNED annoying. So *I* didn't. But my husband has enjoyed a bottle of beer almost every night pre-op. He waited til he was about 8 months post-op and then tried one of his old favorites. BIG mistake. Beer is grain and he had the gas from hell! He made the switch to Hard Cider later and has one quite often. BUT he counts the carbs in it toward his total...and he doesn't drive after he's had even one.

My allergy is to all alcohol. Beer, wine, mixed drinks, etc. I get beet red immediately, my face feels hot and swollen. Only other time I felt that was this past summer when I had an allergic reaction to InFed (Iron infusion) and they had to pump me full of benadryl and put me on oxygen for awhile. OTOH, I am the ideal Designated Driver.

 

[DianaCox]

Oh my - his instructions should have been WAY more specific.

NO ALCOHOL AT ALL FOR A YEAR. That's the general rule. While you are in the weight loss window, your liver is processing toxic byproducts of fat digestion, as well as whatever fat-soluble crap was stored in your adipose tissue - PCBs, hormones, dioxin, herbicides, pesticides - which is released into the bloodstream when you release the fat it is dissolved in. You do NOT want to stress your liver, which was probably already suffering from steatohepatitis from 40+ years of obesity.

Having said that, a half glass of champagne on your anniversary AFTER SIX MONTHS (probably) isn't going to kill you.

And having said that, alcohol has 7 calories per gram, 100% of which are absorbed.

And even more, you will get a LOT more drunk very quickly - though it will likely wear off more quickly. Be VERY careful when you eventually DO decide to have a drink - say around Thanksgiving or New Year's at the earliest, and have your first drink at home - not at a restaurant or party, where puking unexpectedly would be bad form. And transfer addictions are VERY common in bariatric patients.

Here's the worst news of all - as your four-years-older-sister - in the last year or so, I have become increasingly "sensitive" (I refuse to say allergic) to alcohol in almost every form. I get very unpleasantly hot and sweaty, especially around my face and hair, and it is taking all the damned fun out of mimosas and mai tais. Even a beer isn't going down well, nor a glass of wine. I'm VERY annoyed about it.

 

[OldBroad]

I was imagining a sip of wine with my chicken paprikash tonight. I guess I'll have to stick with water for now.

And anniversary and birthday come less than 3 months out, so that puts the kibosh on those celebrations. I guess I can wait until New Years (Rosh Hashonah). That'll be close to 6 months.

While we're talking about liver toxins, does this mean I should avoid Tylenol?

 

[DianaCox]

Yeah, you definitely did NOT get the message you should. Ixnay on the alcohol. No alcohol in June.

And by New Year's, I did NOT mean Rosh Hashonah. Please do NOT rush this. Did you have a liver biopsy? What did it say?

 

[southernlady]

Here's the worst news of all - as your four-years-older-sister - in the last year or so, I have become increasingly "sensitive" (I refuse to say allergic) to alcohol in almost every form. I get very unpleasantly hot and sweaty, especially around my face and hair, and it is taking all the damned fun out of mimosas and mai tais. Even a beer isn't going down well, nor a glass of wine. I'm VERY annoyed about it.

I had been "sensitive" since about age 20. I didn't drink much but did enjoy it occasionally. By the time I finally "waved the white flag" and admitted an allergy, it was Dec 1999 and I was 45.

 

[DSRIGGS]

I am 20 months and I don't drink much at all now.....and I liked to get shitfaced every now and then before surgery (couple times every 6 - 8 weeks and it wasn't a couple glasses, but buckets). I do on occasion drink wine, and no I do not get drunk more quickly (I wish that were the case sometimes).

Alcohol fills me up and gives me GERD symptoms....it also messes with my bowels so I just don't drink very often anymore. I was waiting on my wife and Cameron to meet me for dinner tonight so I ordered a Jamesson and Coke. I was only able to drink maybe 1/3 of it as it just didn't go down well.

 

[marissamast]

I had a vodka with sugarfree caramel syrup and a shot of chocolate Moo (my own candy bar vodka ) tonight. I am 6 months out. Got a buzz pretty fast, gone in 15 minutes then I got a headache immediately.

 

[GirlFriday]

I went back read my information packet last night. There is an entire page about avoiding alcohol and where to get help if you can't. The page talks about empty calories, sugar, carbs, and toxins. It says NO alcohol is acceptable for one year and then after that, if you can handle it, you may have no more than one six ounce, non-carbonated mixed drink that is less that two ounces of alcohol per week.

I'm going to go out on a limb here and say that they REALLY don't want us to drink.

 

[JackieOnLine]

While we're talking about liver toxins, does this mean I should avoid Tylenol?

probably yes.