After surgery life

• Hi I'm new to this web site and I am in the proses of getting my surgery in November or so. I'm 22 and when the surgery happens I will be 23 I am not a party gowere or drinker every day or even every month but when my friends or family get together we do have a drink or two together I want to know if this surgery will effect that?... because the therapist that penn had me go to said that I will have to find something else to do when get together ma happenand this really not upset me but saddened me a little because I like going out when I can with my friends and having a drink to unwinde because I work 24-7 so I truly never have time to see them or talk to them and when we do we go all out I just wanted to know of anyone who has had this problem. My mother has had this surgery in 2003 and she's fine she drinks at wedding or birthday parties and she doesn't have a problem with it but I wanted to know from some other people who has gone through this surgery thank you

The best course of action is to avoid alcohol completely after surgery. There are three primary reasons for this:

• Alcohol is nothing but empty carbs and calories, neither of which you need while losing weight
• Your tolerance will likely be drastically reduced, making it easier to get smashed and potentially suffer from alcohol poisoning
• Many people with food addictions before WLS develop a "transfer addiction" to alcohol. When they can't use food to cope with their feelings, they turn to booze.

There are lots of other ways to unwind with friends while they drink. Mineral water with a little bit of fruit is a great choice. Some people are able to tolerate carbonation after surgery, so diet Coke is another option.

Some people are able to have the occasional drink once they're in maintenance. Others are not. That decision is best made with your doctor, but it's still best to avoid if you want to maintain your goal weight.

I'm not saying directly after I'm talking about a few years after

I'm speaking to "a few years after," and for the rest of your life.

Even once you reach goal, you will need to avoid empty calories and (likely) stick to a low-carb diet.

Alcohol will ALWAY**** you hard because your anatomy has been permanently altered.

Transfer addiction will ALWAYS be a risk.

IMHO, just the fact that you're asking about drinking alcohol now is a red flag.

Use the search feature, type in alcohol, then click "entire site" -- you'll find loads of posts about the dangers of alcohol post-op.

No alcohol for the first year post-op is the general rule.

Oh ok know that me and my mom already talked about that I meant like two or three years after

No one, not even those who drink, are going to tell you it's OK. Drinking post WLS is basically playing Russian roulette with your future, only instead of one bullet there are the three described earlier.

If you're talking about three years out, wait and look into it then. The only scientific studies out there show significant risk for alcoholism, even in those who had no issues with alcohol prior to surgery.

WLS is a little magical in how it changes our metabolism - some patients wake up from the surgery and have been cured of their high blood pressure and or type II diabetes while under the knife. We don't know exactly how that happens. We also don't know exactly how the risk of alcoholism is ramped up. Maybe it's nothing more than transferred addiction? But it's also possible that we have some change in our gut flora that drives us to alcohol... Right now it's a crap shoot.

In three years there will possibly be better data that will allow you do better understand your individual risk.

There is no doubt that WLS is a GREAT option and the health benefits are phenomenal. I'd strongly advise you go forward with the surgery and assume alcohol is off the table for the next few years. As you said, it isn't part of your daily life now, so giving it up for a few years won't be too traumatic. You can still go out for drinks just sans the alcohol, plus now you can be the DD (who will often get served for FREE).

With apologies to the OP (who is not talking about binge-drinking -- SORRY), this is a rant:

WTF is it with young people and binge drinking? Do any of them ever just have a beer or two and leave it at that?

I have numerous nieces and nephews who, in their 20s and even 30s, get or got drunk several nights a week, drinking 8-10-12 drinks in a night. WTF?

One nephew says, "I'm not an alcoholic. I'm a social drinker. I never drink alone!" He thinks drinking with others somehow innoculates him from driving drunk, breaking his neck in a fall, getting alcohol poisoning, being mugged, being raped, or raping someone else.

One of my husband's grandsons just shot his effing eye out after falling asleep blind drunk and somehow, during the middle of the night, firing a loaded gun he keeps underneath his pillow. Or so he says.

I'm not suggesting another Prohibition Amendment to the US Constitution. But jeez -- does NO ONE get alcohol and drug education these days? Or believe it? Or learn anything from it?

Sorry, this was a rant, not a good answer to the OP.

Stepping down now.

Again, sorry.

"...does NO ONE get alcohol and drug education these days? Or believe it? Or learn anything from it?"

Because most of the "drug/alcohol education" that's out there these days is "Abstinence only"-based, the success rate is basically the same as the "Abstinence only sex education."

In other words, the success rate of such education is a miserable ongoing failure. But goodness forfend we actually want educated citizens, and not good little mindless slaves...

P.S. Nancy Reagan can go shove her red dress in her mudflaps.