Here is a good artical explaining our bodys reaction to alcohol

(WebMD)  Patients who have undergone gastric bypass surgery to lose weight already know they have to watch how much they eat after the operation to keep that weight off. Now, a new study suggests they better keep a close eye on their alcohol intake, too.

After the surgery, patients get tipsier faster and take longer to sober up, says study researcher John M. Morton, MD, MPH, the director of bariatric surgery at Stanford University School of Medicine.

"One drink could be enough to place them at risk for a DUI," Morton tells WebMD.

The study supports what gastric bypass surgeons have long suspected, says Morton, who is presenting the findings this week at the 24th annual meeting of the American Society for Bariatric Surgery in San Diego.


What Triggered The Study?

"We anecdotally know that patients have an altered sense of alcohol (after the surgery)," Morton says. "It affects them quickly. My patients often say, 'I get tipsy more easily' or 'I'm a cheap date now.' "

In late 2006, the Oprah Winfrey show aired a segment titled "Suddenly Skinny," which discussed the reactions gastric bypass patients can have to alcohol, including some who began to binge drink, in effect trading a food addiction for an alcohol addiction. Morton says he got numerous calls from his concerned patients.

So Morton's team of researchers decided to see if science supports the anecdotal observations that gastric bypass patients can't hold their liquor as well as before.


The Study

The researchers compared the effects of drinking a 5-ounce glass of red wine o*****stric bypass patients (whose weight had stabilized after the surgery) and 17 people who had not had the surgery. The surgery patients' average age was 47; the average age of the non-surgery group was 37. The average weight of the surgery group was 200 pounds; the average weight of the non-surgery group was 149. The bypass patients had gone, on average, from a body mass index or BMI of 51 to 33 (still considered obese).

Everyone was instructed to drink the wine within 15 minutes, and then Morton's team measured the participants' breath alcohol levels every five minutes until the levels returned to zero. The researchers measured how long it took each person after finishing the drink to reach peak breath alcohol levels, which Morton says correlate with blood alcohol levels, and how long it took for the breath alcohol levels to return to zero.

All participants also reported any symptoms they had, such as euphoria, dizziness, or slurred speech.

The surgery patients had an average peak alcohol breath level of 0.08 percent — enough to be declared drunk when driving a motor vehicle. The non-surgery participants had a level of 0.05 percent.

The bypass patients took 108 minutes, on average, to normalize back to a zero breath level of alcohol; the breath levels of alcohol of the non-surgery group returned to zero after 72 minutes.

Based on the levels and the time it took for them to normalize, the surgery patients should have had more or greater symptoms than the non-surgery group. But surprisingly, "the symptoms were exactly the same," says Morton. The surgery patients' symptoms "should have been more pronounced because their peaks were higher and they took longer to normalize."


Interpretations Of The Study

Based on the study findings, gastric bypass patients "are not metabolizing alcohol the same way and not feeling the same way (as the non-surgery participants)," Morton tells WebMD.

The finding, he says, may explain why some experts have observed, and feared — that those who undergo bypass surgery might experience "addiction transfer," in which they trade the addiction of binge eating, an issue for many gastric bypass surgery patients, for an alcohol addiction.

"This might account for some people becoming addicted to alcohol (after bypass surgery)" Morton tells WebMD. "They may have to drink more to get the same effect."

Physiologically, he says, there are explanations, too. The levels of a key enzyme for metabolizing alcohol, called alcohol dehydrogenase, decline because of the much smaller stomach size after gastric bypass surgery. Gastric bypass and other weight loss surgeries reduce the stomach's capacity to a few ounces. "This is probably why the alcohol peaks higher and stays higher," Morton says.

Why the patients aren't feeling more symptoms is not known, he adds.

"Alcohol is not calorie-free, of course," Morton reminds his patients. "A glass of wine has 125 calories. The other thing that happens when you drink alcohol is it relaxes you both outside and inside — your esophagus and stomach also relax, and that allows you to eat more."

"I tell my patients to be careful with alcohol, and if they drink to do so at home or to have a designated driver," Morton says.


Second Opinion

"This study supports our observations," says Philip Schauer, MD, president of the Society for Bariatric Surgery and director of the Bariatric and Metabolic Institute at Cleveland Clinic. "Because we are reducing stomach capacity, food and liquor move rapidly into the intestines for absorption."

More than 177,000 people in the U.S. had gastric bypass or other forms of bariatric or weight loss surgery in 2006, according to estimates from the Society. In consultations with his patients about what to expect after surgery, Schauer says, "I usually tell them, 'One beer will feel like two.' "

By Kathleen Doheny
Reviewed by Louise Chang
©2007 WebMD, Inc. All rights reserved.

I am 4 years post-op and have had problems with alcohol. It is still an issue. I used to be able to drink quite a bit before surgery. If I drink that same amount now, I black out. So,even though I am still struggling with it, my advice is to stay away from it....Plus it has put weight back on me..............

Weird...I have always felt that while I do get drunk quicker post-op, I also sober up quicker as well, so I'm not sure if the breath levels tell the whole story.  But of course, that is what gets you a DUI, so always, always, always have a designated drive if you're drinking while out....even a little bit.  My wife, who also had RNY and  just reached her goal a couple months ago, drinks a glass of wine every so often now and said the same thing...she gets tipsy faster but sobers up quickly.  

Another thing that should be mentioned is that you CAN build up your alcohol tolerance again, if you drink regularly.  I am a social drinker and I do enjoy my vodka ....I'd say I drink on average 3-4 times a month.. on weekends...parties, when we go out or have friends over....  Early out I could drink 1 or 2 Grey Goose on the rocks over the course of a night and be feeling pretty nice the whole time...now at 3 years out ,  I can (but rarely do) drink half of a 1 liter bottle of Grey Goose myself in the same timeframe....about how much I could drink pre-op, at 300-400+lbs.

 I too get tipsy faster and seem to sober up faster.  Now, what would happen if I were tested either through breathalyzer or BAT, I would probably be hot.  At 14 months out I drink the same as I did pre-op.