I know this is gross and maybe the answer is already somewhere on this board but I haven't been able to find it...I had my surgery in February and since my last fill, I have been having a problem with mucous when I try to eat. I am chewing really well but the first few bites usually get stuck, I have to go to the bathroom and then gag up a large wad of mucous. Nothing else comes up...no food...just mucous. And then I'm usually okay and can eat without a problem. Does anyone know what I can do to keep from having this problem? I've tried drinking before I start eating and that doesn't help. HELP!!

:help:

I don't have this problem, but I can only imagine it's awful. Your best bet would be to discuss this with your Doctor immediately, since you haven't gotten advice in here. Best of luck to you!

Thanks, Dawner...yeah, if I don't get any good ideas from in here, I will definitely talk to my doctor when I go to see him in a couple of weeks. I didn't have the problem at first, either...it's just been since my last fill which is when I really started noticing the restriction. Hopefully it will pass or there will be something I can do to get rid of it before I start eating. It's really weird. Never know it's there until I eat and then it starts up.

thanks yes...chewing to a thin mush and only letting small amounts go down at a time before swalling. Once I swallow, my mouth starts salivating and then comes the mucous....so gross...I cover it by excusing myself to the rest room and then it usually come right up but I don't want to have to keep doing THAT every time I sit down to eat.

Deal is...your brain has not read the LapBand owner's manual. It perceives the food stopped at the stoma as a "blockage," and the FIRST thing that happens is that it sends GALLONS of viscous, slimy mucous down to "clear" the blockage.

Of course, the blockage is what makes the band work.

Sometimes, the brain says, "Well...it didn't go DOWN..." and you get to see it all again.

The brain is doing what it has always done...it just needs to learn that some of the groundrules have changed. It takes time.

No, that wouldn't be healthy for you or your band. Hmmmmm. I was going to suggest super tiny bites and chewed chewed chewed well, waiting 30 - 60 seconds in between bites with NO FOOD IN YOUR MOUTH while you wait. Instead of swallowing portions of each bite try just putting that small amount in to begin with. Do you have a problem with mushies? Could you start with something like a bite of yogurt or sf ff pudding first to 'lube the tube' a bit?

This is a toughy, and unfortunately I'm not your best source. I vote call the doc and ask him.

Make sure you come back here and tell us what's going on though OK? I'd really like to know.

That is some good information!! Kind of helps me understand what's going on at least. Yes, I really am taking tiny bites, chewing to a mush and waiting a minute or two in between. I will try doing even better at that but the weird thing is, the food IS going down...only the "slime" comes up which I don't even begin to understand how that can happen when it seems like the food would be the first thing to come up. Weird. It seems to do it worse earlier in the day and I do know that mornings can be difficult to really get anything down so I rarely eat Breakfast. I know...shame on me.

liquids go down fine and shakes are okay too. I go slow with thicker liquids, though, even. Just wishing there was some "trick" to eliminate those slimeys before I sit down to the table but if they're being produced AS I EAT...then I understand that it's just something I may have to deal with. Hopefully it will settle down in time??? (sigh)

That happened to me quite a bit also...same thing. I ended up stretching my pouch as a result, the doc said that it was over eating (though I could eat more after it happened) and it was still considered a PB.

Mine may also be considered a PB...I just don't know. It's only the "slime" that comes up...no food. And since it's like the first bite or two that I take, I don't really think that that part is overeating. Though that did happen to me once when I was at a steak house. It happened at the end of my meal and I knew I had overdone it. That's the only time that I had a problem at the END of a meal. But it makes sense that if you "get rid" of some of the food you eat (even though it's REALLY BAD for your band) that you would then have room to eat more.

I am scheduled for another fill June 12 so I will ask the doctor about it then, I guess. What size band/port did you get?

My dietitian discussed this with me at my pre-op diet consult. She said to drink 1/2 cup of hot water 30 minutes before your meal. This will allow the mucous to thin and pass throught. Hope this helps.