Member Voices - To Drink or Not to Drink?

with OH Member Charlotte Carlile

Imagine yourself sitting in a restaurant. You just finished eating spicy steamed shrimp. You feel like the Sahara Desert after a sandstorm. Your tongue feels like it is stuck to the roof of your mouth. You want to drink some water, but you know you are not supposed to drink with your meal or soon after. What do you do?

This is a dilemma we face quite often. I follow the no-drinking rule after Roux-en-Y (RNY) gastric bypass, but every now and then, I find I need to drink after a salty or spicy meal. When that happens, I take a few sips of water until that dry uncomfortable feeling abates. It usually takes no more than two small sips. Often, just crunching a small piece of ice will help. Also, drinking a glass of water about a half hour before a meal will keep thirst at bay.

During the first six to twelve months, we must sip water all day to stay hydrated, so the pouch stays full and we do not get hungry. After that, for most of us, our sense of hunger returns and the stoma relaxes. Because of this, we must work at staying full as long as possible. Having a sense of satiety is the basic premise of weight loss surgery.

Have you ever eaten something like nuts or a dense protein followed by a big gulp of water? Then all of a sudden it feels as though you have a boulder in your chest and you feel a bit green around gills? That is another reason to avoid drinking with meals. There is nothing worse than excusing yourself in a restaurant and running like a gazelle to make it to the bathroom in time.

Most of us tend to eat too fast, which leads to overeating, but, according to Terry Simpson, MD, FACS, not drinking with meals may help us to slow down. He also says that “eating and drinking forces food out of the pouch and into either the lower stomach (for the Lap-Band) or the small bowel (for the RNY),” and that it “may also cause the stoma to dilate for those with RNY,” all of which can lead to weight gain.

We will face many challenges with weight loss surgery, and not drinking with or after meals is one of the most difficult. It is important that we make every effort to follow the protocol given to us so we can be compliant and successful. As always, eat protein first, eat healthy and exercise.

Visit Charlotte’s profile at www.obesityhelp.com/member/charlie/ to learn more about her and her weight loss journey.

Check out ObesityHelp's Nutrition Forum for product reviews, informative articles and more.

9 Comment(s)

Comment by crystalnova on Jul 10, 2008 at 08:10pm

Assuming you aren't in a public place where it would be embarrassing you might also try just swishing a gulp of water in your mouth and then spitting it out :)

Comment by LKH on Jul 11, 2008 at 09:45am

THANK YOU for a sensible article. If the point behind the "no drinking" rule is to keep us from washing food out of our stomachs (or pouches) too quickly, a sip or two won't do that. Rather than getting rigid and rule-obsessed with our new lives, which inevitably leads to failure, I think we should make an effort to understand the REASON for the rules, so that we can make common-sense choices that don't leave us sweating and miserable after a bite of spicy food, but also don't overcome the function of the surgery.

Comment by msladyshell on Jul 11, 2008 at 10:28am

Thank you for taking your time to write this simple YET powerful explanation. Like LKH wrote making an effort to understand a "rule" helps to stick to it!!

Comment by abby1169 on Jul 12, 2008 at 06:10pm

Although I would never recommend anyone go against their doctors wishes, I chew a piece of sugar free gum immediately after eating. This helps me keep the urge to drink something at bay. Thanks for the great article!

Comment by BellaMatrixx on Jul 12, 2008 at 09:07pm

If at home, add fruit to your meal, LIKE MELON, PINEAPPLE OR ORANGE. These are juicy and moisten the palate. (I am eating a small slice of pepperoni pizza and sliced fresh pineapple, as we speak. Yum!)

Comment by LadyDi9080 on Jul 13, 2008 at 11:34am

You have done wonderfully with your WLS journey. I enjoy drinking with meals and always have. I knew that this "rule" was one that would be very difficult for me to follow. That is one of the reasons I chose not to have the RnY and had the Duodenal Switch instead. We are all in this war on obesity.

Comment by TRICIA032708 on Jul 13, 2008 at 04:55pm

I had the RNY and later developed adhesions on my small intestine which caused vomitting after eating solid foods at stage three after surgery, I was able to keep liquids down, when they did the scan to locate the adhesions they also found that the valve in my esophagus didn't close so I need a few sips of water to help keep the food down now.

Comment by LosingSally on Jul 14, 2008 at 01:09am

I keep reading from people who do not have RNY how this advice from our doctors is sooooo terrible. I don't find it an inconvience or a problem. As a child, we generally were given our drinks after we had eaten most of our meal.I think this may be true in many households. And since we had eaten, we didn't drink so much. As an adult, I do have water served with my meals, and drink it if I need it,keeping in mind slugging down a 16oz isn't a good habit post-op. It's hardly the tragedy people who don't have RNY would like to make it.

Comment by TrixieNV on Jul 15, 2008 at 01:49pm

I would say I have followed the same... in general don't drink, but if you need a sip or two to deal with the peppers in what you ate, take them. I have found a lot of the food and drink advice to be very generalized, and people eventually figure out what works for them. Several of the people in support groups I have attended reinforced this.