# Can I drink alcohol 7 weeks post op?



## strawberrys78 (Oct 29, 2014)

Hey guys. 

Ok so I know drinking alcohol is obviously not good for people with Crohn's disease period but I don't need to be told that.

I had a bowel resection exactly 7 weeks ago (1 foot of my small intestine removed and a couple inches of my large), to be quite honest, my bowels still feel screwed up. Worse than before my surgery, actually. I have a couple of days where I feel great, like I have nothing wrong, and then it goes back to me having an upset stomach 24/7 and getting diarrhea whenever I eat. It's terrible. 

I wanted to go and have a couple of drinks Saturday night for Halloween, maximum of 3 drinks. But I don't know if it is too soon post operation. Like I said, I still have pain, gas, diarrhea quite frequently. I eat healthy, and I don't drink often. 

What is your guys' take on this? Am I feeling crappy because it is still soon after surgery? And would it hurt to have a couple of drinks?


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## alex_chris (Oct 29, 2014)

I think it depends on how you currently feel. If you feel good, it should not be a problem.

After my bowel resection, I had a few beers 4 weeks in.


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## strawberrys78 (Oct 29, 2014)

alex_chris said:


> I think it depends on how you currently feel. If you feel good, it should not be a problem.
> 
> After my bowel resection, I had a few beers 4 weeks in.


Thanks!! I'm not feeling the best ever to be honest, like somedays I have are good, I feel like I have nothing wrong, then all of a sudden it's just diarrhea a billion times a day and an upset stomach. I don't know if it'll just be like that from the surgery now or what, or if I'll hurt it by drinking. Idk what to dooo!! Lol


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## tzvia (Oct 29, 2014)

What happened when you had drinks before your surgery?  i know for me, alcohol does not agree with me very well, and if I was going to have any it would be a very small amount (like 1 drink) and I'd only do it if I had zero active Crohn's symptoms, otherwise I'd probably be sick for days.


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## Axelfl3333 (Oct 31, 2014)

Alcohol,other than lager doesn't,t effect me at all,but just be cautious.


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## UnXmas (Nov 1, 2014)

I think it should be fine in terms of not causing you any lasting damage, but you may well experience worse symptoms short-term as a result. So it depends whether you think it's worth the risk. It might be relevant to consider whether certain foods and drinks have negative effects on you immediately, or whether any reactions you might have are usually delayed by a day or two. You don't want to risk spoiling your evening by bringing on diarrhoea, etc. if you can help it. But if you typically react to things the following day, you may decide you'd rather have a drink.


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## DustyKat (Nov 1, 2014)

I realise I am late to this but I wanted to touch on the issue you are having with your bowels. The diarrhoea may normalise over time, it does for some but not for others. You may want to speak to your doctor about it as it is caused by bile salt malabsorption. There is prescribed medication that you can take for it, Questran or Colestid, or in the case of my kids, Psyllium husks. They will help bulk up your stool and lessen the diarrhoea and frequency. You may also find that some foods don’t help the situation. As you can imagine everyone is different but in our case oils/fats are the thing that really set you running off to the loo no matter what you take to prevent the diarrhoea.

Since Halloween is over, how did you get on? I personally wouldn’t think that a couple of drinks would make a difference unless you just happened to be taking Flagyl, but no doubt you would have been warned of the consequences if you were on it! :eek2: 

Dusty. xxx


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## Layla (Nov 1, 2014)

I know I'm late too  but I just wanted to say I was operated a few days before you, 50cm of small bowel but still have the valve to the colon, and I was drinking wine on day 6 after the operation.
I was still in hospital and the surgeon had to put it on my chart as medication (!) but he said as long as I didn't overdo it, it was fine to have a drink now and then. My bowels have never minded alcohol though, except maybe in the middle of  really bad flare.

It made me feel human again to have a nice glass of red wine with my first meal of scrambled eggs and soy custard and it certainly made it taste better!


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## UnXmas (Nov 2, 2014)

Layla said:


> I know I'm late too  but I just wanted to say I was operated a few days before you, 50cm of small bowel but still have the valve to the colon, and I was drinking wine on day 6 after the operation.
> I was still in hospital and the surgeon had to put it on my chart as medication (!) but he said as long as I didn't overdo it, it was fine to have a drink now and then. My bowels have never minded alcohol though, except maybe in the middle of  really bad flare.
> 
> It made me feel human again to have a nice glass of red wine with my first meal of scrambled eggs and soy custard and it certainly made it taste better!


:lol: Why does it count as medication?! I know they'd probably need to check that none of the meds you were on conflicted with having alcohol, but it being a medication itself? Though actually it probably could work as a sedative or an antidepressant - actually it's probably quite an effective med in many cases. 

Sorry for going a bit off-topic, strawberrys. I hope you had a good Hallowe'en.


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## strawberrys78 (Nov 2, 2014)

DustyKat said:


> I realise I am late to this but I wanted to touch on the issue you are having with your bowels. The diarrhoea may normalise over time, it does for some but not for others. You may want to speak to your doctor about it as it is caused by bile salt malabsorption. There is prescribed medication that you can take for it, Questran or Colestid, or in the case of my kids, Psyllium husks. They will help bulk up your stool and lessen the diarrhoea and frequency. You may also find that some foods don’t help the situation. As you can imagine everyone is different but in our case oils/fats are the thing that really set you running off to the loo no matter what you take to prevent the diarrhoea.
> 
> Since Halloween is over, how did you get on? I personally wouldn’t think that a couple of drinks would make a difference unless you just happened to be taking Flagyl, but no doubt you would have been warned of the consequences if you were on it! :eek2:
> 
> Dusty. xxx


Thanks! I ended up having just one drink, and came home early because I was too tired lol, guess I am not used to being up late anymore!! I didn't get sick from the alcohol. It is nice to hear though that there is still hope, because I have been feeling so depressed lately.  

I find that I have a couple of good days, and I get my hopes up, my stools are 100% normal, everything is fine, but then all of a sudden for days or weeks it will be diarrhea 1/2 an hour to an hour after I eat (usually everytime I eat but sometimes it doesn't happen oddly). Today I had stir fry made with rice, veggies and chicken breast, then I went to the mall to go shopping. Got in one store and had to leave and drive home really quick, barely made it to the washroom... sweats, pain, the whole 9 yards. It was terrible. 

Do you think it is the surgery doing this? I mean I feel a billion times worse since the surgery. The last couple of days I've been having a slight pain in my right side that doesn't go away but I'm not sure if it is my bowels or if it is a pulled muscle because I started exercising again. I'm just so scared that there is nothing more they can do for me - that I'm just gonna be like this now. My Dr had high hopes from the surgery but now I'm so sick I feel so discouraged and wish I never got it at all. 

Sorry for the rant, lol, having a terrible day


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## strawberrys78 (Nov 2, 2014)

UnXmas said:


> I think it should be fine in terms of not causing you any lasting damage, but you may well experience worse symptoms short-term as a result. So it depends whether you think it's worth the risk. It might be relevant to consider whether certain foods and drinks have negative effects on you immediately, or whether any reactions you might have are usually delayed by a day or two. You don't want to risk spoiling your evening by bringing on diarrhoea, etc. if you can help it. But if you typically react to things the following day, you may decide you'd rather have a drink.


Thank you! I usually find that it happens immediately, anywhere from 10 minutes to a half an hour to an hour, even sometimes a couple of hours but usually never days. I ended up having one drink and went home early because I was tired, but never got sick from it! I never really found alcohol affected me, maybe if I went over board with it lol I would have trouble a couple days after, but I really don't drink often


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