Ok, my doc is one who does allow soda as long as you don't go nuts with it. Soooo....

A couple of weeks ago I was having a funky day eating. You know, one of those days where it seems that everything gets stuck no matter how much it is chewed and how "mushie" it is. Felt almost like something was lodged and would not let things through. So, I, not being the patient type, tried sips of this or that over a few hours to see if my band was open but was just not sure since a "sip" can sit there forever and you not know it.

Then, I happened to sip my hubby's coke and darned if I didn't feel and hear it gurgle/bubble through my band! It was so weird! Anyway, I now reserve soda for "band testing" moments and am living to tell about it!

Disclaimer: I am not sitting around chugging Big Gulps of pop. IF I have a soda, I have a sip and then don't have another one until I feel the "gurgle through"....so, please, NEWBIES, don't hit the soda fountain and, SEASONED BANDSTERS, don't start chewing me out.

Thanks for posting your experience . . . I haven't had anything stuck so far, but will keep this in mind should that occur . . . in fact, I'm thinking that I don't have much restriction but the doc on my first fill put 5cc and I think I have either the 12 or 14 cc band.

Since the fill, I haven't been able to tell much difference....maybe another fill???

I have been told that if you are stuck you should guzzle coke or similar really quickly. Just make sure you are in the bathroom as apparently it unblocks and brings everything up really quickly.

I haven't been game to try this yet.

I have been told that if you are stuck you should guzzle coke or similar really quickly. Just make sure you are in the bathroom as apparently it unblocks and brings everything up really quickly.

I haven't been game to try this yet.

If I chug Water when stuck it will start the lauch sequence. Up everything comes!

If your food is stuck you aren't supposed to drink anything. Drinking makes it worse!! If you get up and walk around that helps or burping helps too. I can't believe your doctor says that soda pop is OK to have. It just goes to show you how every doctor is so different.

If your food is stuck you aren't supposed to drink anything. Drinking makes it worse!! If you get up and walk around that helps or burping helps too. I can't believe your doctor says that soda pop is OK to have. It just goes to show you how every doctor is so different.

Who said we aren't supposed to drink anything when food is stuck? My surgeon even allows me a little liquid with my meals.

For me it is a quick way of ending a stuck episode. It brings it up with very little trauma.

One of my first stuck episodes--that I walked and walked and waited out went on for 5 hours. Sliming, retching, and vomitting.

Now, if I drink a few slugs of Water it comes right back up with no retching, and it is over.

Which causes less trauma to my stomach?

Good tips for my banster toolbelt.

Who said we aren't supposed to drink anything when food is stuck? My surgeon even allows me a little liquid with my meals.

For me it is a quick way of ending a stuck episode. It brings it up with very little trauma.

One of my first stuck episodes--that I walked and walked and waited out went on for 5 hours. Sliming, retching, and vomitting.

Now, if I drink a few slugs of Water it comes right back up with no retching, and it is over.

Which causes less trauma to my stomach?

Everything that I read/researched, that my doctor and dietitian told me was not to drink if food got stuck because it made it worse.

Like I said in my last post....."It just goes to show you how every doctor is so different".

Your doctor lets you have a liquid with your meals mine doesn't.

Drinking normal liquid can make a stuck episode worse but the soda trick can help to dislodge the food. It is not intended to help the food down it is intended to help bring it up! It is not something your Dr will tell you it is a trick that a lot of experienced bandsters use.

Which would you rather:-

Being stuck for hours maybe days in pain waiting for the offending object to go down

or

guzzling soda which may bring the stuck item up really quickly and give you instant relief.

Remember whilst the surgeons may be the experts on the technical and medical aspects of the band they do not have the experience of living with it on a day to day basis(unless they themselves have been banded). There are lots of things that you can learn from an experienced bandster that a Dr won't tell you.

ROFL@"Start the launch sequence!" Love it!

I believe we are all right. All docs are different in their guidelines. I will tell you this, I have tried the walking around. I have tried the burping. I have prayed. I have pleaded. I have done the downward dog deal. I have all but stood on my head.

Water and soda and "the launch" are the only way to survive. I don't recommend living that way for every meal but it works in a pinch.

Definitely listen to your own docs but also learn from other bandsters and build your own box of tricks. You may have to even swap different tricks out from time to time. I know I do. BUT, this is one I am keeping! :thumbup:

Everything that I read/researched, that my doctor and dietitian told me was not to drink if food got stuck because it made it worse.

Like I said in my last post....."It just goes to show you how every doctor is so different".

Your doctor lets you have a liquid with your meals mine doesn't.

Hi MizKelly,

Yes, you did say every doc is different. You just said no fluids when stuck with such finality, I thought it was a hard/fast rule of banding. I'd never heard it before.

Thanks for the clarification.

And of course, doctors' orders rule!

I have had a few "stuck" episodes, one that ended in the return of what I was eating and the others I was able to walk off (in a few minutes) with some pretty good burps a trucker would be jealous of. Since I don't drink with my meals I didn't have anything around me. Maybe next time I will take a swig of my husbands Coke if he's around and see if that helps the situation.

I was also always told NO liquids if you are stuck because the liquids sit on top of the food that is stuck and it becomes more pressure on the band which in turn causes more pain. The Coke however expands your pouch because the carbination will inflate your little belly just enough to let the stuck food go through or bring it back up.