lap band and drinking

Question
My question is what happens if you have a few too many drinks. How does it affect the lap band? I have read its ok to have a glass of wine occassionally, but what if you were to go out like on new years and drink a little too much. I don't have a problem with alcohol, but I am only 22 and my friends like going out and having a good time occassionally. Thanks for your help.

Answer
Christi,
I'm going to leave aside concerns about drinking too much, in terms of your general health.  Suffice it to say that there IS such a thing as drinking too much and too frequently.

As far as alcohol and the Band, there are two concerns.  One is that you will be a bit more sensitive to alcohol as you lose weight and MAYBE more susceptible to alcoholism.  The other concern is that you will definitely be taking in excess (zero nutrition) calories and interfere with your weight loss.

There should not be any direct damage to the Band UNLESS you drink enough to make yourself sick, in which case the throwing up could increase the chance of a Band slip.

So the key is that you should keep alcohol to a minimum!

Best wishes,
Dr JP

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