How long does alcohol stay in our systems post-op?

mzlaura
on 8/31/13 9:37 am - Litchfield, NH
RNY on 03/05/13

We are talking like a shot glass of rum not wine. Is it our system all day and night? Are we unsafe to drive hours later? Just asking a general question thx

HW: 401  SW: 297  CW: 200.8
RNY gastric bypass surgery on March 5th, 2013

  

65rosesmom
on 8/31/13 9:39 am

I don't think it stays in our system any longer than a non-RNY person.  If anything it seems like wine hits me quick and leaves me quick too.  Buzz for half an hour and then I'm fine.

Heather   Mom to 3  
Surgery August 9, 2012
HW = 225, SW= 205, CW 135 

    

Citizen Kim
on 8/31/13 9:43 am, edited 8/31/13 9:44 am - Castle Rock, CO

Have seen several stories on here of people getting DUIs because they feel ok ...   You should work on the premise that you are exactly the same as anyone else - the average liver can only process at a rate of 1 unit per hour.   One unit is a half pint of beer or a very small glass of wine ...

Personally, I don't EVER drive after having one drink - it's not worth putting myself or other people in danger!

Proud Feminist, Atheist, LGBT friend, and Democratic Socialist

Cicerogirl, The PhD
Version

on 8/31/13 10:45 am - OH

As someone who lost a loved one to a drunk driver who was so $#&@(£% intoxicated that he came all the way across a wide grassy median to the opposite side of the highway, I wanted to express my appreciation for you (and everyone else) who doesn't drive after drinking.  (The drunk driver, of course, escaped with only minor injuries.)

I personally think the stories I have seen here from people who said they felt fine but got DUIs are folks who -- like most people who drink regularly -- simply have poor judgment about how impaired they are simply because they HAVE been drinking.  My brother and some of his friends (who are in their 40s!) do it all the time... Say they are fine to drive when they have no business driving and would undoubtedly blow over the limit if pulled over.

Lora

14 years out; 190 pounds lost, 165 pound loss maintained

You don't drown by falling in the water. You drown by staying there.

April M.
on 8/31/13 10:22 am - Clarksville, TN
RNY on 03/11/13

I agree with Kim. I'd treat it as if I were a "normal" person with a normal digestive system. Best wishes on your journey :)

        

        
Cicerogirl, The PhD
Version

on 8/31/13 10:35 am - OH

The only difference is that since the alcohol goes straight to our small intestine (rather than sitting in the stomach for a bit and having to travel through the part of the intestine that we have bypassed), we absorb the alcohol much more quickly.  The effect, however, "wears off" quickly as the alcohol gets "distributed" throughout the bloodstream (simplified version of the process).  So you might feel a little lightheaded 5 minutes after a shot, but 20 minutes later you will feel the same as you would above felt 25 minutes after a shot when you had your natural digestive system.

We do NOT end up with a higher blood alcohol content after RNY than we would have ended up with from the same amount of alcohol pre-op.  We just feel it more initially.

Lora

14 years out; 190 pounds lost, 165 pound loss maintained

You don't drown by falling in the water. You drown by staying there.

cajungirl
on 8/31/13 10:46 am
I've also seen people on OH get DUIs. They felt fine as for some the buzz leaves fairly quickly. That does NOT mean the alcohol level isn't still above the limit.

If I drink I don't drive.

Proximal RNY Lap - 02/21/05

 9 years committed ~  100% EWL and Maintaining

www.dazzlinglashesandbeyond.com

 

ebtiger24
on 8/31/13 10:49 am - AL
RNY on 12/13/12 with

We absorb it more quickly and it stays in our system longer. 

 

http://www.nbcnews.com/id/19296700/ns/health-diet_and_nutrition/t/stomach-stapling-turns-people-lightweights/#.UiKOxcu9KSM

 

    

        

        
Cicerogirl, The PhD
Version

on 8/31/13 11:38 am - OH

An extra 30 minutes for the blood alcohol level to drop all the way back to zero isn't especially significant (especially in a study with only 36 participants).  What would be much more relevant would be the amount of time it takes to drop well below the legal blood alcohol limit (with a much larger study cohort).

Better to be safe than sorry, of course.

Lora

14 years out; 190 pounds lost, 165 pound loss maintained

You don't drown by falling in the water. You drown by staying there.

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