RNYers- Do You Ever Drink Alcohol?

Please tell me I can have the occasional glass of wine or two (after the 6 months or year after surgery or whatever it is)

Yes occasionally I will. I waited almost a year before I had anything to drink. Beware it may affect you very quickly. My recommendation is wait until you are at goal or close, drink at home first to see how you do with it.

I'm sure you have come across cross addiction in your research. Alcohol seems to be the biggest cross addiction. I know several people in real life the transferred food issues to alcohol and pain pill addiction. It is not pretty to see someone you love to face this.

Yes, you can.  Keep in mind that alcohol "hits" us MUCH faster (and usually harder as well) because of our altered digestive system.  Different surgeons have different guidelines for how long to wait. Personally, I would suggest waiting until you are done losing weight since alcohol can be high in calories.

As already mentioned, be aware of the potential for transfer addiction. Once people find out how they react to it after surgery (a quick high, basically), it is very easy to develop a problem.

Lora

With regard to transfer addiction, I have not been able to find any studies showing how many people actually develop transfer addictions after RNY.  I can't even find any statistics showing how many people that have RNY are actually addicted to food - not all are, of course.

There was a study that found seven percent of people that have RNY were alcoholism before they had RNY.  That study found an addiction three percent of RNY patients developed alcoholism after RNY.  So certainly some people do, but I sometimes see people suggesting it's very common, and I don't think three percent is a huge number.

I have only seen one study (I will see if I still have it the next time I fire up my desktop computer) specifically addressing RNY and alcohol transfer addiction.  (I did see one study that considered all sorts of "addictions" (alcohol, drugs, sex, shopping, etc.), but it was a sloppily done study with very loose definitions of "addiction", so I don't give any credence at all to their claim that well over 1/3 of people had some type of transfer addiction by 3 (or was it 5?) years out.)  The alcohol study, though, found that the rate of transfer addiction to alcohol was only significant (roughly 30%, but I don't remember the exact number) in those who had eating disorders (including clinical food addiction) prior to their WLS. In those without a clinical diagnosis related to eating behaviors, the statistic was under 10% (again, don't remember the exact number).  I don't remember that study considering previous substance abuse or addiction, but I wouldn't sweat that it didn't.

Even though most people who have WLS don't have an eating disorder or clinical addiction, and are therefore not particularly likely to develop a problem with alcohol, I figure it is better to warn people of the possibility so they can at least be aware of the potential and then perhaps more aware of how much they are drinking.

Lora

I do.  Not very often, but I didn't drink often before my WLS, either.  I have a glass of wine a couple times a year.  I've also had a small amount of a frozen ****tail a couple times since surgery, but only a small amount because I was afraid it had a lot of sugar in it.

I read somewhere that if you do drink, you only get that tipsy/drunkish feeling for a much shorter amount of time- is that true in your experiences?

(I only drink very occasionally, but when I do, I enjoy that little buzz)

Some people report different things, and i have never been much of a drinker (a couple of times a year at most), but, yes, my experience has been that the alcohol hits hard with a much smaller amount and then that it passes quickly.  I presume it is because we get the initial rush as the intestines absorb the alcohol right away (as opposed to it sitting in the stomach first) but then it fades as the alcohol disperses into the bloodstream (where it then has the same effect that it would as if you had a normal intestine.  So a single shot might make you really dizzy, etc. for a few minutes, but 15 minutes later, you wouldn't feel any different than you would have when you and your natural anatomy and drank a shot.

Lora

addictions aside and have a sense of humor--I drin****assionally (weekly or biweekly).  I waited until I leveled out in my weight.  I am 3 yrs out and still get "drunk" with very little alcohol.  I also sober up really fast (which makes me a great dd..haha).  It is so weird because it is a completely different kind of "drunk" than before surgery.  I have also noticed that I don't get hung over either but maybe because I don't drink enough (too much).  If I keep beer at home I try to keep 55 Select (only 55 calories) and when I go out I always ask if they have that or something similiar.  I will only suggest don't start too soon.  Lose the weight you want to lose first.  Be smart, like we should with everything we put in our body (and I make some bad choices still), and don't over do it (why risk addiction).

Just because you "sober up really fast" you really are NOT sober. The alcohol affects may not be felt it's still in your system. Please do not make yourself the DD I've seen it on OH more than once (try searching) where someone thought they were sober and ended up with a DUI.