i have been banded since July 25th. The past month I have experienced 2 stuck episodes that were no fun at all. Is it normal to be getting stuck so much after 3 months out?? The first was on a piece of bacon while I was on vacation. That lasted about 18 hours before I found relief. Had to keep getting it up.....(sorry) until I got relief. The last episode (last night) out for dinner with friends. Got the stuck feeling after 2 bites of french dip (roast beef with gravy). Went to ladies room to get relief. Then started with the excessive indigestion....hiccuping....belching.....and foaming saliva which came up unvoluntarily. No fun at all. Last night's episode lasted about 2 hours. When I got home I made myself vomit to get relief. Is this normal????? Does a stuck episode usually last this long.\??? I have not had a fill and am happy with the weight loss, but not happy with these stuck episodes. I am chewing and careful what I eat. Any advice would be appreciated. Also, do you think I can damage the band by making myself throw up the stuck food?? I am going to the dr. on the 15th and have alot of questions for him. CAT

Jersey Girl: I think you are correct about trying new foods when out. From now on I will stick to the safe foods for me. The time it happened for 18 hours it was on scrambled eggs and bacon which I cut up in small pieces.....but I think the bacon got stuck. I was away on vacation and it lasted overnight till the next day. I went to the ER and they put me on IV fluids to ward off dehydration. This was on my Dr. orders. He wanted me home to do an endoscopy and it cleared up before I got back home the next day. So, I never did get the endo but I had a CAT scan and the band looked fine. I guess its trial and error at this point. Does not happen daily or anything like that. Probably three times in the three months I've been banded. I will try to be more careful of my choices. Thanks for your advice. CAT

No problem. Safe foods while out are best. I've been stuck while in a restaurant before and it's not fun and can be embarrasing when you're dry heaving in a public restroom. I still have to play it safe for a while after each fill I get, it's touch and go, I never know what foods are going to give me trouble as my band gets tighter. I get a fill today and am I little nervous because I have a family dinner party on Saturday, there's not much to choose from since I'll be at a restaurant and I only have a choice of 3 pre-selected items, I guess we'll see what happens...

Glad you are ok after that mishap, that's kinda scary. Good luck.

Good Luck tomorrow Shirley.....let me know how you make out. First time it happened I could not swallow even Water and I went to ER and was put on IV for fluids so I did not dehydrate. Was on vacation far from home.......and it kept up for about 18 hours. Was really bad. Hope you get good results with an unfill. I think at this point you are swollen and irritated. My doc said there are meds to calm the irritation down. Maybe you should ask. **** luck! CAT

Well I went, and they deflated me some ! I had over 2.5 cc's in a 4 cc Band, and I know have 1.5 in the Band.

I feel better, but have little to no restriction (I COULD KILL THIS NURSE !) I don't need to go backwards, as the swelling goes down, and 90 days

is a long wait until the next fill. But it is what is. It's better then being in agony, and I didn't end up in the Hospital ! ! !

I was barely making 500 calories a day ! Not a good thing at all... So on the way back up state, we stopped at a Ice Cream Parlor, and I had a scoop of vanilla to coat the throat, and it helped. Plus I could log in the calories for a change. ( I COULD RING HER FREAKING NECK.) She knows nothing about WLS, and she shoved all those pills to the back of my throat, and they went down. I tried to spit them out, but like a reflex they went down, and stuck.

They new exactly what happened when I mentioned crushed pills. Then with the adjustment, she heard the water go down like someone unstuffed a DRAIN.

The only good thing was that I lost 7 LBS. in 2 weeks. It's a little to fast for me,, but,,, I'll take it after all that aggravation !

So I'm feeling much better now, and thanks for your concern.

Shirley.

BTW Is it Normal?

I was told once banded, that it is part of the teaching process. If you get stuck enough, you will stop doing the wrong thing, and you will find out what agrees with you.

So is it Normal to ever get STUCK ! I would have to say YES ! But don't make a habit of it, learn from it...

BTW Is it Normal?

I was told once banded, that it is part of the teaching process. If you get stuck enough, you will stop doing the wrong thing, and you will find out what agrees with you.

So is it Normal to ever get STUCK ! I would have to say YES ! But don't make a habit of it, learn from it...

Thanks Shirley, I will keep that in mind especially when eating out. Glad you are feeling better. I have no fill and am losing about 2 lbs a week. I guess they put something in during the surgery. I'm happy with the weight loss. You have done great with your loss. Even if you stay at a plateau for a couple of months.....you will do fine. Then you can get another fill. CAT

Thanks! But at 2 Lbs. a week... Your doing fine.. 1-2 is the norm. So your right in there.

I average 1 1/2 lbs. a week. I'll take it...

Getting stuck is normal generally after a fill, but it shouldn't be something that's a regular occurrence. I think it's generally what you're eating. Bacon is really hard, and if you're going to eat it, you have to chew chew chew. If you chew that much and it still doesn't go down, you probably just can't tolerate it and may either have to give it up or try again another time. As for the French Dip, we've got all kinds of wrong going there. The bread is probably what got you stuck! I have had to perfect how to eat bread since my band. I can't have the "hard" kind like my beloved sourdough. I have to have soft, thin bread that I can chew until it's practically liquified. And lunchmeat is tricky. You have to chew chew chew.

If I were you, I'd take it easy for a while. I've learned how to eat bacon (chewing. A lot.) and sandwiches (just the other day), but it's a matter of trial and error and what you can tolerate. If you want to try again later, you can. Just make sure you really chew and that you are near a toilet or something just in case you need to throw up. Eating is an art with the band, but an art that is really worth learning.

Getting stuck is normal generally after a fill, but it shouldn't be something that's a regular occurrence. I think it's generally what you're eating. Bacon is really hard, and if you're going to eat it, you have to chew chew chew. If you chew that much and it still doesn't go down, you probably just can't tolerate it and may either have to give it up or try again another time. As for the French Dip, we've got all kinds of wrong going there. The bread is probably what got you stuck! I have had to perfect how to eat bread since my band. I can't have the "hard" kind like my beloved sourdough. I have to have soft, thin bread that I can chew until it's practically liquified. And lunchmeat is tricky. You have to chew chew chew.

If I were you, I'd take it easy for a while. I've learned how to eat bacon (chewing. A lot.) and sandwiches (just the other day), but it's a matter of trial and error and what you can tolerate. If you want to try again later, you can. Just make sure you really chew and that you are near a toilet or something just in case you need to throw up. Eating is an art with the band, but an art that is really worth learning.

Thanks for the info -- will stay away from bacon since I really dont desire it. Just had it bcause we were away and ate b'fast out. CAT