Whats the reason we can't drink alchol?

Does anyone know? And for how long? Anyone have a drink or two early on?

I think there are a few reasons,  one being they are empty calories, another being some people can switch their habits from eating too much to drinking,  or  fill in the blanks,  transfer dependency i think its called.   Some people say it can affect them much faster than it did before surgery.   I'm not a big drinker but i will have a drink on occasion and its no different for me now than it was then.  We are all different.   I had my first drink at 3 months post op and have had a few since  lol  :o) jeani

My doctor cleared me at 6 weeks - and you better believe I went out that night for a drink.

1) You have a healing staple line, alcohol = harsh not conducive to healing

2) Empty calories = impeded weight loss

3) Transfer addiction (take away a fat girl's ability to cope with food, and it makes it easy to turn into using alcohol to cope)

4) This is the big one for me; Our livers are working double time during the rapid weight loss phase, right?? Why toss more crap in there for the liver to have to breakdown, process and clear out of the body.

I was restricted for 3 months on alcohol consumption. I refrained until I was at goal (6 months post-op), and my first glass of wine hit me hard and fast, then I sobered up fast. Over the coming months to first year, my tolerance returned to normal. I'm a very social drinker (not in pregnancy obviously), but enjoy a couple of drinks weekly.

People do it all the time. I don't tell anyone to NOT do it, but I don't think it's the best option regardless of how many calories you have left for the day, or how many others think it's perfectly fine to drink through the losing stage. Get to maintenance and worry about boozing. Believe me, I'm a party girl at heart, I have pics to prove it so I am not condemning drinking/partying/having a few, I am saying it's not conducive to losing phase.

All the above but you now metabolize differently.. more quickly

Trust me you can drink less than before and end up legally drunk=DUI. You won't even know you are that drunk.

Its also easy to cross addict from compulsive (mindless) eating to alcohol abuse. AND if you were already abusing alcohol, drugs, it will lead you back..worse than ever.

Jan

I am going to speak first from what I learned in Nutrition Biology and second from experience.

You metabolize the same way you did before surgery.  Nothing has changed except the size of your stomach.  I'm HYPOthyroid, if that were true, I'd have hearth palpitations, wouldn't be able to sleep and everything I ate would metabolize faster than ever, in other words I'd be dangerously HYPERrthyroid.  

P.S.  Maybe I'm just different but there have been 3 occasions where I drank socially and on two of them I didn't even get a buzz, and on one occasion I did.  

Jan, that info about metabolizing differently applies to the RNY, not the VSG. We still process it the same, yet our stomachs are smaller so it may hit us faster if we drink it on an empty gut. Transfer addiction is very true, and it's something to keep an eye on, regardless.

 I think the main issue is that you get drunk faster, so you have to make sure you've always got a designated driver. I'm about 11 weeks out and I've been having an occasional scotch here and there. No problems, other than it gets to my head quicker. Just be safe.

As you can tell by the responses, it may be best to ask your doctor.  And just as the responses vary, so do the experiences and outcome.  My surgeon said no alcohol for 1st year.  In fact, his program is the strictest I've seen here.

Limit alcohol intake and be responsible for your health and safety.  Do I drink, yes.  But I don't do the fun sweet ****tails that I used to enjoy.  A glass of wine is fine with me.

1. Healing
2. Per my surgeon's office, as  many as 30% of WLS patients become alcholic post-op depending on the study (i.e., transfer addiction).
3.  Alcohol goes straight the small intenstine which has a much larger surface and is rapidly aborbed into the blood causing rapid intoxication
 -- 3a.  1 drink will put youover the legal limit to drive
 -- 3b.  1 drink will lower your inhibitions toward food
 -- 3c.  1 drink will lower your inhibition toward other unhealthy behaviors.
4.  Alcohol is empty calories particularly if you add in mixers
5.  Alcholo is harsh on the body including the stomach and liver.