ALCOHOL AFTER SURGERY

I'M NOT A LUSH OR NOTHING, BUT BEFORE SURGERY MY CO-WORKERS AND I WOULD DO HAPPY HOUR AT LEAST ONCE A MONTH. FOR THE LAST WEEK OR SO, I'VE HAD A TASTE FOR A MARGARITA. I GO BACK TO WORK MONDAY AND I KNOW BEFORE LONG, WE'LL BE GOING TO HAPPY HOUR. IS IT SAFE TO DRINK JUST ONE. IF ANYONE HAS HAD ANY DRINKS, PLEASE LET ME KNOW HOW YOUR POUCH HANDLED IT.

I would stay away from a margarita because of sugar content in the mixer. I intend to have a diet coke and rum next week at a corporate meeting but before I go I'm going to try it at home first to make sure it doesn't do anything funky to me Lissa

I'm not a lush, either, but I do love my margaritas!! I'm 6 weeks post op and I haven't tried "adult beverages" yet. I've been so stressed out lately, that I've been tempted to have a little something, but am afraid I might hurt my pouch. I know before too long, I'll hit the 'ritas - just haven't done so yet. Good luck to you! Cheers! -Wendy

everyone that I have talked to, nutritionist, surgeon, assistan support group meetings here, suggest that you wait at least 1 year after surgery before trying alcohol, with the surgery and now the alcohol going directly into the intestines because of the way our new pouch is designed, it tends to be worse on the liver right now in trying to process the alcohol. ANother thing where you may have been able to have lik3 4 drinks before feeling any effects, that will probably turn out to be 1 now, since it is being absorved so much faster and directly you will tend to get drunk alot quicker, I used to be a big drinker before surgery, it was nothign for me and friends to go out and drink 15 to 20 beers ona weekend night, or lots of jim beam and idet cokes, lol, now I am not goign to even try to mess with it, I would rather concentrate on the eating correctly part, I am sure some people do the alcohol before the year, that is there business, it may work with youit may not, just letting youknow whatI have heard and understand about it, good luck with whatever you choose.

This question was asked at one of the support group meetings I attended pre-op. The question was can we still drink socially after surgery. The answer from the nutritionist is that you shouldn't.......BUT if you absolutely have to...drink a small glass of RED wine...very, very slowly. As was previously mentioned by Charles, you will be a very, VERY cheap drunk. Another reason this came up was Communion, being a Baptist we use watered down grape juice, but some faith's still use red wine. One lady was very upset that she would no longer be able to take Communion, the nutrionist told her it shouldn't be a problem for her within that controlled ritual. Hope this helps, Va

I am 6 weeks post op and live a very social life. I've had vodka tonics, wine, and beer. I didn't drink very much of any of it, maybe a half a glass.I didn't get a buzz nor did I get sick. (But I have not gotten sick at all since surgery) Like everything else that I do it has to be in moderation. This surgery helps me to do that with ease. Louise

Hey Girly, I had the same situation and heres what I did. I first tried Bailey's on ice. That went down very nicely and had no adverse effects. (As far as feeling sick or shakey) Another night, I brought a bottle of crystal lite with me. I told the bartender my "situation" and he said no problem. I had Raspberry Ice Crystal Lite w/ raspberry vodka in it. (Very lite on the vodka but it was good) I've yet to attempt beer. I was told it's a NO~NO by my Doc so I'm not ready to test those waters just yet. Have a good day & God Bless...... ~Casey~ -Down 40 in 4 week's....YaY!!

I tried a sip of my husbands beer last week and did fine. I had a 1/2 a glass of chardonay at a friends house last Saturday, it did ok, so I had a 2nd 1/2. No problems and didn't feel anything. Pre-op I drank a glass of wine about every other night and if friends came over, I could drink beer after beer without feeling anything. I don't intend to live like that any more and haven't had anything since last Saturday, but it's nice to know that I can enjoy a little something now and then. I used to drink the sweeter red and white wines, but I'm afraid to try them now. I did see a low carb margarita mix on one of the sites that I was searching through, but I don't recall which one it was. Maybe put it in the search engine...it was either low carb or no sugar. Dena

Well, I got a slightly different take on it when talking to a state trooper at work. He is an instructor in alcohol and drug recognition (DUI's and DUID's) and knows a LOT about it. So I asked him how the alcohol was metabolized more if you are drinking the same amount. He said it wasn't that you were getting drunk on less. It is that you are getting drunk sooner. So if it normally takes you 1/2 an hour to get the full effect (a number I just pulled out of my butt...don't know what the time frames are) before surgery, you would get the full effect a lot sooner...say maybe 5-10 minutes....or sooner (again, a number from my arse). He says that it will still take you x amount of drinks to get to a certain blood alcohol content, but the time it takes for you to get there will be shortened. As for the question on the margarita - I would say even for people who don't normally dump there is a good chance of dumping because the sugar will go right through to the intestine. Only thing that might keep that from happening is maybe eating something heavy a while beforehand. On another note, I do know they make a low-carb margarita mix here: http://www.bajabob.com/ and I just read a blurb about Ruby Tuesday's carrying this mix as well. You might find the bar has some, and if not, you might order some and take it with you so they can make it for you. Dina