I am feeling kind of clueless as to why my food keeps getting stuck, I really dont want to cause damage to my band.

it scares me when I feel I cant breathe but I dont know how to stop it, I think I am eating so fast

the other night I threw up because I ate too fast and then couldnt breathe.

Has anyone else experienced this?

Thanks in advance!

Sounds like you might be too tight- you shouldn't be throwing up. As you said, eating too fast can also be the problem. It might help to have snacks if your not already. If you don't let yourself get too hungry it should be easier to eat slower.

If you think you are eating too fast then you probably are. Eat slower, take smaller bites, chew more, wait between bites etc and see if this helps. If it doesn't then you might be a little bit too tight.

Are you eating too fast because you are letting yourself get too hungry between meals?

A couple of ideas to try:

Have a small, high Protein, low calorie snack between meals. My favs are a small snack size container of cottage cheese (with or w/o fruit), an apple and a piece of string cheese, a slice or two of deli meat rolled around a pickle. Just try to keep the snack around 100 to 150 calories.

Try having a hot drink (coffee, tea, Water with lemon) just before your meal. I know many docs say no drinking 30 min before food, but if you're having FBS (first bite syndrome) this is something to try. The hot drink tends to loosen the band just a tad. Not enough to make you too hungry, but enough to let your meal go down w/o issues.

Cut your food into small bites before you sit down at the table to eat.

Put your fork down between each bite.

Get a minute timer and use it to time your bites.

Use a "lube" to help the protein go down. I like mustard or a low cal bbq sauce. No carb ketchup would be a good choice if you like ketchup (I don't). I just measure out a tablespoon and include it in my calorie count for that meal. Anything you like would be fine, as long as you are really using a small amount.

Call your doctor's office for more ideas. If your doctor has a nutritionist or dietician on staff.. ask to talk to them. Mine has nutritionist lead meetings once a month.. and this is separate from support group.

Good luck.

I'm 3 months out and this JUST started happening to me. I got my 3rd fill on Wednesday and pretty much have not been able to eat anything since. I tried runny oatmeal and it wouldn't go down. Last night I ate the tiniest bite of lasagna (we were at a dinner party, not what I would have chosen to eat) and after that teeny tiny bite, I slimed and threw up 3 times. The pain was unbearable.

I'm restricting myself to liquids today since it's Sunday and I can't get back to the doc anyway. If things don't improve by tomorrow, I'll be going back in to have that last fill removed. I can't live like this much longer.

Good luck!

I'm 3 months out and this JUST started happening to me. I got my 3rd fill on Wednesday and pretty much have not been able to eat anything since. I tried runny oatmeal and it wouldn't go down. Last night I ate the tiniest bite of lasagna (we were at a dinner party, not what I would have chosen to eat) and after that teeny tiny bite, I slimed and threw up 3 times. The pain was unbearable.

I'm restricting myself to liquids today since it's Sunday and I can't get back to the doc anyway. If things don't improve by tomorrow, I'll be going back in to have that last fill removed. I can't live like this much longer.

Good luck!

Try just getting ½ of last fill removed that will probably help alot.

Cheri

Sounds like you need a slight unfill. I keep Papaya Enzyme tablets with me to get relief when I forget to eat slowly and get stuck. I get it at Wal-Mart. Good luck.

I was having the same problem...it was because I have a VERY sensitive gag reflex...also I was eating too fast and too big bites. Are you concentrating on the following:

1. Your bite of food should be no larger than the tip of your thumb.

2. You should chew each bite 20-25 times.

3. It should take you atleast 20 minutes to eat your meal.

If you are doing all of the following it MIGHT be that you are too tight. But in my case, I was not. It was my gag reflex (and it wasn't really me throwing up- no heaving or hard straining- it was more of a spit up or the food simply coming back up effortlessly) and me not taking small enough bites and chewing well.

Hope this helps!