I think I just had my first experience with being stuck. Tomorrow is 4 weeks post-op so I was feeling good about not having had one of these episodes. Then it happened...a bite of cold chicken...chewed well. At first it felt like indigestion...and then it almost felt like choking. Tried to PB, cough. Nothing produced but the "choking" feeling went away. Experienced bandsters....was this being "stuck"?

Same thing happened to me, and it is always with chicken! It has happened to me twice since my surgery 12-8-11. My PA said yep, that is what that is. You took to big a bite and didn't chew very well, or you can also do it by eating to fast. I thought it was cut up small enough, but I was probably eating to fast. I had to get up and walk around, it was very uncomfortable.

i almost felt like that with tuna on triscuit yesterday. felt like it was going down kinda...slow?...a moment of panic, spit out the food that i did have in my mouth, which i had been swallowing in small amounts, but i didn't want to add insult to injury. i suddenly had no urge to swallow anything else, and the best way to describe this feeling was tightness in the middle of my sternum. kind of a choking feeling, i agree. it passed in literally seconds, maybe a minute...i wonder if that was "almost stuck" LOL

I am 3 wks post op, btw

For me it doesn't feel like choking. But I can feel it sitting there, and there is pressure. Sometimes that pressure builds and I know it has to come out. Other times the pressure eases and I know it's passing.

I had it happen on Sunday. For me it was very painful, like a sharp pain in my back. I had to rock, walk around, and then my husband patted me on the back several times till it finally went away. It was my first bite of dinner, needless to say I didnt eat the rest of my meal. Went with a shake instead.

For me, stuck is a rock just under my sternum. More often than not I cannot swallow my own spit. Sometimes it will pass on it's own. Generally it takes intervention on my part to bring the offending item back up. If I swallow a few swallows of Water that will start the launch sequence.

Welcome to truly being banded.

My first stuck experience came a few weeks ago. It was awful. It was like a rock stuck right on my sternum. I knew I didn't want to throw up or anything so I just breathed through my nose and paced up and down the hall. Suddenly, I felt a drop and the pain disappeared. I had chewed up my food thoroughly, but I think it accumulates and then bam. Anyway, just keeping calm and walking cleared it up.

oh my goodness...thank you all so much! it scared the crap out of me when it started feeling like choking. I thought I'd chewed my food well but i guess not well enough. I had fish (tilapia) for dinner. I took small bites and chewed until it fish mush in my mouth. I feel that "rock (a small one)" in my sternum but it easing up and didnt give me that choking feeling like the chicken did earlier. I know now what to start avoiding. Thank you all for responding. Blessings to you all.

I had it happen on Sunday. For me it was very painful, like a sharp pain in my back. I had to rock, walk around, and then my husband patted me on the back several times till it finally went away. It was my first bite of dinner, needless to say I didnt eat the rest of my meal. Went with a shake instead.

I know exactly what you mean. I was banded in Sept and still get stuck at least 1 or 2 times a week. I eat slowly and bite little pieces but still get that freakish stuck feeling that I hate. It doesn't even matter what it is it will just happen. I have poop bags (sorry) from my dog all over the house, in my car and my pocketbook because I never know what will do it or when. Until I bring it all up I am miserable! Those bags are my new best friend rolled up, so small, discreet and easy to carry and NEVER leak ! I have only had one fill and not sure if I want another but depending on the day I feel as thou I can eat a lot although I have never gained but losing slow.

The bags are a great idea. Its seems that everything is now feeling a little stuck. I had a 1/2 cup of scrambled egg this morning. Bit, chewed and swallowed like I'm supposed to but I still fel the pressure in my chest this morning. It wasn't a full-blown rock...more like a pebble. lol. I've started to wonder if me skipping my Protonix has anything to do with it. I started taking it again this morning, just in case.

for me it gets hard to swallow, I have to throw my head back a biit and drink Water... so easy to forget the small, bites (and the slow swallowing) I was watching tv and I grabbed 2 slices of mango semi hard (Costco) I just started eating a piece like normal. I didnt realize till I was halfways done on one piece. I finished eating the one piece the way Im supposed to and put the other one back.. Sitting right next to it was a bowl of applesauce which would have been the appropriate choice finished the night with lots of water and sleeping at an incline.

lesson learned, move on...

I have had 2 serious sticks one that i went to the er w/ cause i thought i was having a heart attack both bad sticks with eggs i will never eat eggs again now with my last fill i fell what you people are saying but i think if i eat like a turtle slow like have a bite then go do something have another bite ect. ect. it works better for me we are all use to eating fast hard and big so the band is sooo foriegn to us it take s time and thought I have found for me thank God for this sight to help us when we have questions

I hadn't thought about sleeping at an incline. duh. LOL. Thanks for that tip, Bert. insaneJane, You're right, I find that eating that way helps too and I guess I'm going to have to be more aware to do that. Thanks for the reminder!

There can often be swelling after a stuck episode. I'll do liquids for a day if I it was a bad one. Or if I get pain the next time I try to eat.

When you eat, pause between bites to be sure things are moving along. Piling food on top of food can be a very bad thing! Hope you are feeling better!

I find that I am way more restricted in the morning so I try to adjust what I eat accordingly. Don't cross off certain foods off your list just yet since you are only 4 weeks out you could be healing still and some foods might be too much for right now. Good Luck.

good point, Resptech2band.