alcohol / other substances WLS related

August 13, 2002

IMO, dee presented the case just fine -- I wanted to just add that for

myself (and other WLS people have said it is similar for them) other

" innocent " things can affect our reflexes -- I do NOT eat carbs and drive --

The lower end carbs send me into a tail-spin of sleepiness that is near

equal to a sleeping pill in my system. So, when I go out to lunch or dinner

and will be driving I don't eat carbs -- the low ends (bread, pasta, milk &

such) hit me faster and I'm not really sure about how long the higher end

(green beans) take to hit me and it is never as hard as the low ends (a beer

vs. a shot of tequila?) sort of affect that make driving for me dangerous.

The other " body " reaction I have that I don't drive on is too little

water -- this I learned last year when I went to cut my parents grass, edge

and whole yard clean up... even though I was drinking a bottle of water

every 15/30 minutes after several hours my body was reacting against me in

such a way that my driving would have been impaired and " I " didn't notice it

was that bad at all... My mom did... she nearly begged me to just stay and

sit inside, cool off and have some more water before I left.... About an

hour later I realized how " unclear " my head was just an hour before cooling

off and drinking enough... so, I waited another hour, a lot more water and

then I felt confident to drive. I've noticed this same reaction when I'm

leaving the gym after a hard work-out... so, for my body it isn't a fluke.

Our bodies are SO different post op and we will never be " normal " -- we

paid a lot of money to be " different " and with that " difference " comes a lot

of responsibility -- knowing / learning / what and how substances affect us

differently is one of those responsibilities...

Please don't think that I am saying ALL WLS people react the same as me...

I KNOW that isn't right but if you do have things your body reacts

differently to... don't drive... keep yourself and the rest of us safe :-)

hugz,

~denise

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