Congrats on the surgery...

I would suggest it's just a habit you have to break. If you didn't get yourself into the habit before your surgery it's just going to be a little more difficult. Make sure you are getting in at least a cup of liquids 1/2 hour prior to eating and hopefully you won't feel the urge to drink.

My surgeon's plan was pretty intense. I was still on full liquids at your point...so after week 3 I was into the purees but couldn't have very much.

You want to break the habit now because as you progress through your months and are actually getting most of your protein from food not shakes you want the food to stay in your stomach as long as possible to keep you feeling full.

I am 7 months out in a week and recently I have loosened up on not drinking within 1/2 hour of eating. I often have a glass of water while I am cooking dinner so I am not munching on anything. But when I am ready to start dinner...no water until about 1/2 hour to an hour after.

I, too, have trouble with this. My plan moving forward...not have a drink available. I will not set a glass for myself at the table and I will not order a drink if we ever go out.

I am a year and 3 months post op and I can drink liquids right up until I start eating per my doc...but definitely break the habit now. Because I am struggling with it now and it would have been easier to have kept the habit right after surgery.

Good luck!

If you eat several ounces of chicken breast and immediately take a big gulp of liquid, you'll never want to do it again!

This is just a habit you need to cultivate. Like others, I can drink up until I start eating, but even 2+ years out, I still don't drink with meals or for 45 minutes to an hour afterwards. There are times when I'd like to drink with my meal (spicy foods!) but it can be very uncomfortable if your sleeve is full of dense food, and it washes the food through faster, which defeats the purpose of having a sleeve at all.

I am the same way. I do refrain from drinking any major amount 30 minutes before and after my meals, but with the blessing of my dietician and my doc, I do take an occasional sip with my meal, especially when eating meat. It helps it go down easier. And when I say sip, I mean sip, just a minute amount enough to aid my swallowing. And probably only about 3-4 sips per meal. I haven't experienced any difficulties with this.

Great advice! I will definitely start practicing to separate my drinking of tea or water from my meals. I know that we are not supposed to use straws for sipping to avoid air bubbles, but I got to thinking after reading the post above about accidently gulping a big sip of water and how painful it was... When we do drink our water outside of mealtime, would sippy cups (like for toddlers) help prevent gulping?