Question:
do you have a greater chance of liver disease if you drink?????

I am 8 months post op from roux-en Y bypass. My doctor said a glass or two of wine is fine. However on weekends I sometime drink a bottle. A nurse told me that with me drinking that much there was a better chance of getting a disease in my kidneys or liver due to the bypass. Has anyone heard that????    — Tom A. (posted on August 30, 1999)

August 30, 1999
YES! There is MUCH greater chance of liver problems with RNY procedures. In fact, don't ever apply for life insurance until your labs are PERFECT, as they will turn you down FLAT. Guess how I know? Why would you add alcohol anyway, since that's sugar and that can bring your wt back or stop your wt loss completely? That's for real and is almost more heartbreaking, isn't it? Ii'm 5 yrs out, my husband is 4 yrs out, we never have been drinkers, yet our liver enzymes are still out of whack. Get your labs done fairly frequently to be sure you're OK.
   — vitalady

August 30, 1999
when i had my first visit with dr. rabkin, i asked him about liver problems after wls. he told me that mostly, those problems are experienced by people who indulge in alchohol during thw first year post-op. he strongly advises against it. i have a good friend whose brother had wls with dr. clark at alvarado in san diego. about seven months after her brother's surgery, my friend asked me if i had heard of wls causing liver problems. that is what prompted me to ask dr. rabkin about it. i told my friend what he said, and she confirmed that her brother had indeed been drinking sort of regularly. for what it's worth.
   — mary F.

September 2, 1999
Well I assume you had proximal, short bypass, which is the most commonly done surgery. If so then I don't think that the liver disease risk is higher than the average person. But actually the answer is more like 'we don't know' since we haven't/can't tell 100 WLS patients to drink a bottle of wine every weekend and follow them for 10 years or 20. What strikes me is that drinking this much will limit your weight loss and could provoke a nutrient/vitamin deficiency.
   — Bruce B.