Gummy vitamins, diet sodas, drinking through a straw and chewing gum

I have gotten two different answers from the two surgeons I have seen on each of these topics. I was wondering if I could get a wise majority rule decision about diet carbonated sodas (several years out), chewing gum, sipping through a straw and gummy/chewy vitamins. Thanks in advance for your wisdom. I had RNY.

  

Rather depends which surgery you had .

edited to add, just checked your profile. See you had the bypass so I will leave it to others to answer you! 

I've done/do them all.

For me, the biggest risk was swallowing my gum accidentally.  Turns out I'm not much of a gum person anymore, so that point is pretty much moot. 

You're all good - a lot of these restrictions are either arbitrary or mythical (ie, "drinking soda will stretch your pouch").

 

 

HERE is a great blog post about gummy vitamins by a fellow RNYer.

I chew gum and drink from a straw with no issues.

I avoid diet sodas after observing other WLS peeps who have gone back to soda. I have noticed a high percentage of them never got to goal or have regained a ton. Not sure why, but for me I am not going to risk it.

Diet soda isn't a healthy choice, of course, and some people, find that it is uncomfortable or that it makes them want to eat unhealthy things (and therefore is an even less desirable thing), but if you are asking if it can stretch try pouch, the answer is NO.  Your pouch has two openings and the Laws of Physics dictate that gases and liquids will follow the path of least resistance, so that means the carbonation will exit through the intestine as gas or out the esophagus as a burp LONG before enough pressure could build up to exert pressure on the pouch to stretch it even temporarily, let alone permanently.  MANY of us drink it with no ill effects at 5+ years out and some of us actually find that having a diet soda KEEPS us from wanting some type of caloric snack.  

Sugared soda, of course, is a definite no-no.

Not only do straws NOT cause excess air in the pouch for most people (the usual reason cited for not using them), but MANY people find that -- early out -- using a straw makes it MUCH easier to get in the necessary fluids.  Using a straw CANNOT stretch the pouch.

i personally haven't swallowed any gum since I was about 7 years old (and I am over 50)  so I don't understand why this is such an issue!  SOME people believe that it can get stuck in the stoma (but the stoma is wet and slippery just like the rest of your digestive system, so I am not sure I buy that).  If you fear you might swallow gum, though, don't chew it.

The gummy vitamins -- concerns about their consistency and stickiness aside -- don't contain the vitamins and minerals that we need, so there is no point in taking them.

Lora

edited for typos/autocorrect issues.  Deleted duplicate post below

 

Regarding the straw.  My nut said not to do it for the first few months because many people find they get too much air in and have discomfort.  However, when traveling in the car, I pretty much had to use a straw to drin****asionally.  My 6wk checkup, I told her that I had to use a straw occasionally. She said that if I had tried it and it worked for me, then I was good to go. It was just a comfort issue.

I am a relative newbie, so take that into account.

I do not have a problem with chewable vitamins that are complete (not a fan of Flintstones, for example) but I am not a fan of gummy anything which tend to have too much sugar, not enough nutrition and calories that are not needed.

Carbonation is not an issue, but I don't think soda is good for me, so I do not drink it. If I were to have some sparkling spring water, that would be fine with me, I just don't necessarily care for it. 

I was told to sip through a straw from day one and I do...all the time and get in about 150 oz a day of liquids. My surgeon thinks they are a great way to get liquids in. 

Gum...chew it all the time and my surgeon has no issue with it. 

Carbonated drinks, reg or SF, are a no no forever. I'm going on four years out, I don't even take a sip, why would I, it's not like I had to give up a med rare sirloin. It's a coke!!

Using a straw is the one rule I broke, I started using one sometimes at 2 weeks and contrary to what was predicted. I got LESS air and it made it easier for me to drink more.

I was never told not to chew SF gum

I have always used a multi gummy. I was told that if taking a children's, take double.