Having a drink

Hi Tilly, think this is a personal choice.  I needed to lose weight as well, so cut my consumption in half pre-op and then stopped a few days before it.  Didn't feel like alcohol for a while post op, but now have the occasional glass to unwind/celebrate completing each stage of my treatment.  However, it also depends on your treatment and there may be times when alcohol is off limits.   However, think there are times when a glass of wine helps our sanity!

Hi Tilly

I agree this is a personal choice but at no point has my consultant discussed alcohol with me or suggested I needed to abstain. I had my op last Thursday and didn’t have a drink up until today but have had a couple of glasses in the sun today.

obviously if I had been told not to drink then I would have stopped but in the absence of that I’m thinking whatever gets you through 

Aly x

Yep stooped drinking immediately however I did lapse when I could see husband getting through my Malbec!! Had 2 glasses for 2 days then reigned it in! He’s promised to stop taking my wine (I count the bottles!) I guess the 3 litres of water a day, which I was told to drink, fill me up!!

Thank you 

Hi, as others have said it's a personal choice. My consultant was pretty clear to ensure to stick to the recommended 14 units a week. Whilst there were many days when I didn't feel like drinking, I did not give up, but I do take it easy and I only have a drink at weekends anyway. I do remember the consultant telling me not to drink the day before chemo and the day of chemo itself. Hope your surgery goes well 

Hi Tilly, I have cut back on alcohol a lot since my diagnosis. Over the last 5 years, which have been stressful, I had got into the habit of having 1 to 2 large classes of wine a night plus G and T at weekends. There were also the occasional very heavy sessions with a boozy (but supportive) neighbour.

the alcohol was bad for my weight and bad for my sleep. I’m convinced it contributed to my cancer because I am otherwise very healthy with a fantastic diet and exercise.

I now stick to 5 units a week ( which is 3 small glasses). It’s difficult because my husband likes a drink but it feels a bit like poison to me now even though I love it. I love life more though and NICE recommend 5 units a week for people who’ve had breast cancer.

deb x

I didn't feel like any alcohol throughout treatment. At first I felt too guilty to have any as alcohol can convert to oestrogen and I didn't want to feed the cancer, but then I just didn't feel like it during chemo as it tasted horrible and I also felt like it was overloading my body when it was already struggling with chemo.

I have my taste for it back now and at my final oncologist appointment I asked him about it. I said I felt guilty whenever I drank and does it make a difference? He said that drinking is fine just don't get drunk/ binge drink. It was me that brought it up, no one ever said to me to reduce drinking, or to change anything else (I'm fit and a healthy weight).

I tend to just have a drink at the weekends now and holidays I drink a bit more during the week. 

I did drink too much for a few years - a habit of wine every night but I had stopped that long before BC diagnosis.

I tried to look into drinking and BC and could only find hard evidence for the fist time you get it - there's a lot more uncertainty if you've already had BC.

Aside from anything else, I don't sleep well these days now I'm in a medical menopause from zoladex and drinking more than 1 large drink makes night sweats and insomnia much worse so not really worth doing that often.

I do drink at weekends, but tend to have one or two large vodka & tonics 3 days in a row - I rarely finish the 2nd one.