Okay I've read all about PBs etc and know what to expect. What I haven't quite figured out from my readings is: when you PB, does it happen IMMEDIATELY after you swallow a piece of food or can you swallow and then it happens like 5 mins (or whatever) later?

Clarification please!!!

Oh dear Gopher, I certianly hope you do not have to experience this first hand. Although I think it is inevidiable (sp). My PB happens about 2 minutes after I take either too big of a bite, to quick of a bite or don't chew enough. You will know when you have one. You kinda get the dear in the headlight look, your chest feels like you have just swallowed a mans softball and the pain is bad. You turn hot and it is hard to breathe! It all happens in about 1-3 minutes after the "bite". Just remember to chew chew chew and wait in between bites. I have found that they happen more frequently if I haven't eaten in awhile and I am hungry. Then I eat like the old me. Bad Bad Bad!!

Karen: I have seen a lot of posting...........A LOT OF POSTING.....about pb'ing on this board. I must say........your's is the absolute best. It is specific and most helpful......when us inexperienced bandsters or bandsters to be ask questions, this is they type of response that we are looking for.

Thank you

Carol

I HOPE that all future PB's (if I must have any) do happen in only a few minutes. I had my first PB on May 22nd. It lasted for 6 hours. Sliming and spitting the whole time, and heaving at least 10 times.

I PB'd on scrambled egg, and a piece of it must have stuck right inside the stoma. I brought up bits of egg about 20 minutes into the party but it didn't clear the plug. Finally, 6 hours later, after having called my doctor's office to ask if I was going to survive this, I heaved up about a tablespoon of chewed egg and the pain stopped - but ever since the 22nd I've had pressure and mild pain, front and back, right at my sternum. So, in effect, I'm still suffering from my PB 15 days later.

Before anyone gets worried and offers advise, I've been under my doctor's supervision and have seen that my band is in place on the flueroscope. My doc thinks I've either irritated my esophogus or have pulled a muscle in my back. Only thing to be done is stay on liquids and analgesics and give it time.

Man I'm tired of Soup.

I hear ya Donna; but imagine the weight ur gonna lose!!!

I would trade the 4 pounds I've lost to have not gone throught the PB and the resulting sternum pain.

In a heartbeat.

I've never pb'd thank goodness but I get 2 different forms of discomfort (of the type which could lead to a PB). I get the "golfball", that lump in the chest from not chewing thoroughly enough or from eating too fast. That's instantaneous and may or may not occur with sliming. It doesnt happen with any particular foods and can even occur if I gulp a drink. Its not frequent but its very unpleasant and at times has gone on for 40 minutes or so, I eat SO carefully in public because I really coudlnt sit at a table and hide it. I have to pace and spit on the one or two really bad episodes I've had.

The second which can occur within 10 minutes or as long as half an hour after eating is what happens when I eat one of my problem foods - cake, muffins, donuts, white bread. It goes down just fine but as it starts to go through the stoma I get a dull ache in the region which can be quite painful. Obviously it goes through in lumps and it feels like it has corners. It doesnt occur with sliming and it doesnt even remotely feel like it may come back up, it just has difficulty passing. That can catch me by surprise, since I've eaten and forgotten about it, then it suddenly comes back to haunt me.

When I PB it takes 15 - 20 mins (so far). It starts of feeling like a regular stick, only a little more intense. However, my worst stick will clear in about 5 minutes, maybe 8. It's a hard feeling to describe, maybe comparable to a really bad gas pain, but it's right where my band is, and for me, it also hurts lower in my abdomen, to either side of my belly button.

If I'm going to PB, it keeps going. It hurts more & more, and my waist will hurt, right where I'd put my hands. The final "sign" where I KNOW it's going to be a full on pB is if my back starts to hurt, over my spine, between my shoulder blades. Once this pain kicks in, it's only a few minutes until I begin to salivate/slime. For me, I usually get some pretty violent hiccups too. Usually I wretch once at a time. My recent PBs (2 of them, I've had 3 total) have taken 2 wretches to clear. My first PB - I wretched several times and it took 3 spells - abnormally bad stick.

Hope this helps.

Well, I had my first experience tonight and was just coming to post about it when I saw this thread.

I never actually PB'd b/c whatever was stuck finally slid through. But, I had an hour of severe pain (as bad as labor, seriously) and lots of mucus, slime and bubbles. Now, I just feel exhausted and my chest hurts.

The sad thing is that I was having a bean burrito with lite sour cream- I eat them quite often but took to big of a bite.

Had my first one, it happen after I took a bite and it either was too big or not shewed enough, and yes I aggree you dont want this to happen. Follow the path of those who have gone before you,,,,,,,,,,,Listen to what they say and do it right

DonnaB I hate that you are going through such an awful time! That sounds horrible! I hope things get better for you.

On the PB note, if it happens to me...my body will not let me drink or anything for the rest of the day and only liquids the next day. That's what the doctor prescribes, but my body will absolutely not let me cheat even if I try. I've PBed 3x in the past week so I'm getting an unfill tomorrow, I'm tired of not eating.

I'm keeping you in my prayers DonnaB! Keep us posted!

Kristin

It really just depends. I've had it happen quick within a few minutes of taking a bite I shouldn't have taken, to thinking I was okay for half an hour or so, and THEN feeling the pressure in my chest for a while (10 minutes, to maybe even an hour), and THEN PBing after that. Probably the longest amount of time I've felt the pressure in my chest is 3 hours (as a guess, I don't really time it), and that doesn't always lead to a PB, just an uncomfortable amount of time.

the way you all are describing this PB is really scaring me! how will i know that is what it is and not a heart attack or something like that?

a pb is NOT pleasant, it hurts--but it doesnt hurt as much as a tight pair of shoes, or a bad period pain, or a blister on your bum. !!

its over and done with as soon as the offending bite of food comes back, its not like vomiting, its a burp and whooops it comes.

Ive had quite a few of them 2 in particular were lulus and one lasted 3 hours cos a bit of prune skin, but if you asked me if I would have one of those DAILY and not every three months on average or go back to being over 400lb

bring on the pbs

NONE of the experiences ive had with my band of 15 months comes even close to the pain and suffering of morbid obesity

the pbs the acid reflux occasionally, the wanting a steak and cant having one all minor minor nano details to the results I have now and the way my life has changed to the way I was existing.

The individual differences are amazing. To me, a PB is the worst pain I've felt outside of special events. Breaking a bone hurts worse, but in terms of things that are non-traumatic, I rate it pretty darn high. I rated my post-op pain lower than I'd rate my PB pain, so give me cramps over a PB anyday!

You know what - come to think of it, I have non-consistent Mittelschmerz (basically, sometimes when I ovulate it hurts like a bitch), so much that all I can do is crawl into a fetal position and rock myself until it passes, usually an hour and a half or so, and even after it passes I'll feel like someone kicked me in the ovaries for a few days. That's abou the only "normal" thing that hurts worse than a PB. And I have a pretty high pain tolerance, so I think that says quite a bit.

But I know from talking to enough people about it that I probably feel them worse than most, and my symptoms are very different from the norm. Nothing else about me is normal, so why would my PBs be?