I know this has been presented a million times (hyperbole appropriate). At the same time, I am a week out from my monthly dr. visit and am concerned. My goal from this post is to get your advice:

- Is this something I should fix by altering my eating habits even more?

- Is this something I should head to my dr. for immediately?

I am currently getting sick often. On the weekend, usually once or twice a day. During the week, usually three times. It happens when I eat the following foods/foods of similar consistency:

1/2 fork of cooked chicken breast

1/2-1 hard boiled egg

2 bites of a hamburger patty, 10 minutes to eat both bites

Ground beef/turkey/chicken - any

I am not having any trouble at all eating the following foods:

single serving mac and cheese

whole tomatoes with salt/pepper

Desserts (cupcake, no icing texture)

I have avoided rice, most pastas, real breakfasts, Cereal, etc. I have been eating a lot of Greek yogurt, Peanut Butter, milk, turkey rolls, cheese sticks, soups.

I am eating around 1200 calories a day, have lost 22 pounds (10 in the last month with the LB finally working!), and am seeing success---I also feel great! The daily/weekly throwing up combined with a vile stomach virus/the flu last week has me incredibly nervous that I'm going to mess up my surgery.

It seems that any hard Protein I try to eat, ends up making me immediately sick. Any advice?

JB

I'm surprised no one has jumped in to help??

First, what you are experiencing is NOT NORMAL for a lap band patient. I would be very concerned that if you continue experiencing these episodes you are at risk of damaging the the sutures that hold the band in place.

I would suggest calling your doctor's office to discuss those problems.

But, I am curious to know exactly how your doctor's office prepared you for life with the band?

I am not a medical professional, but this is what I have been thought, and it does work for me, another banders on this forum.

You should be able to eat almost anything.... but, you need to relearn your eating habits! Every bite you take should be chewed twenty or thirty times before you swallow!!!! You should learn to put the fork or spoon down for at least 30 seconds between bites. Don't worry about cleaning your plate! If you need more Protein, consider doing four meals a day, with at least 4 hours between meals.

Most of the foods you are eating seem to be very reasonable. But, hamburger can be a problem for some banders. Tomatoes: try removing the skin first... but, if you chew properly, they should not be a problem. I've been banded for almost two years, and I am just into the green zone. I can eat anything, providing I chew, chew, chew and pace myself. For some folks who have band that is on the tighter side of the green zone, some foods will always be a problem.

Relearning how to eat is a big part of living with the band. But, after a few months it becomes second nature.

If you are following good eating habits, and still have those problems, you need to talk to your doctor's office. Being a successful bander requires follow up care.

Edited October 20, 201411 yr by labwalker

Everyone is different, there is no way to know what is happening from one person to another, what their eating habits/technique is like, is there band tight or not....

Can only share my experience....

My last fill, over 3 years ago, it was not all that uncommon to get stuck 2-3 times a day...not always, but it did happen....

I could have easily went back to get Fluid taken out, but I asked myself "Where would that put me? Back where I was before my last fill?" And that was not acceptable either because at that point the band was doing absolutely nothing.

So there had to be another variable...with the fill I had a hard time eating, getting stuck, etc...without that fill I was hungry all the time, cravings, could not control my portions, etc......so what was the missing variable????

It turned out to be ME!

I called my Dr....expecting him to have me come in...but he told me to stick it out for another week or two....

Long story short, I had to learn to eat in ways I could never have imagined possible....I never realized one could do as good as I am doing on so little food....and that there would be foods I will never eat again..

After being fat - Obese for so long, I had some deeply ingrained habits that I had to break free of....all those years of my Mother feeding me the wrong foods, etc.

If someone had a way of showing me what I would be like today as far as my food choices and how little I would be eating, I seriously would have re-considered having this surgery at all....thinking that was impossible and I would be harming myself.

Everyone has to find that perfect balance for themselves....between the foods they eat and how they eat them, how much the band is adjusted, and how much one is willing to change their old ways....

I read on another post that the band only has a complete success rate of only 40% ????

If true, that means 60% never really fully get there?

This has been the easiest weight loss I have ever been on and could have ever done....absolutely no struggle or problems at all....do not count calories, worry about portion sizes, etc, etc...just go about my business from day to day...

BUT.....

GETTING to that place of "Perfect Balance" the "Green Zone" was the hardest of all, PURE HELL at times, and often worried I would never get to that place and this has all been a big waste of time.

I can relate when people say this is difficult, and they are frustrated....

Sorry for ranting on, I have a habit of doing that at 4am and my first cup of coffee.......off to the gym when they open at 5am....then work by 8:30

Edited October 20, 201411 yr by B-52

IMO..You must eat slower(1), much slower and eat smaller bites(2) and chew to an applesauce consistency(3). Many people think they're already doing this but in reality they're not. Concentrate on all phases of eating. Not just one but all three.

jly:

Great advise from B52 especially "Long story short, I had to learn to eat in ways I could never have imagined possible...."

I've had to make unexpected changes in 'how' I eat certain things.

The first few years dry chicken, hamburger meat itself WITHOUT all the other stuff, and a number of other foods, left me with daily PBs.

Even recently, after a decade of Bandster life, I can be plagued with episodes of PBs. I do NOT consider these episodes as "getting sick'. And a few years ago they were so frequent I spent considerable time in the office of specialists chasing down what may have been a morbid cause.

In essence, the results was ~while there ARE anomalies such as 'esophageal dysmotility' etc, in my case re-defining how/when/why/what to eat solved most of the complaints.

Being 'too tight' for a couple years didn't help much either, yet we must recognize and adapt to our new postOp reality.

Don't be afraid to break your hard Protein down further if needed. If dicing via knife isn't enough, consider, for a while, some kind of blender/shredder, until you get better adapted to your new eating needs.

Certainly you can expect other Bandsters to offer suggestions that they found helpful; whether such work for you is open to exploration. And consult with your provider of course, should any issue remain uncertain.

Still, dry chicken is a challenge for me too.

Cheers on your journey.

Edited October 20, 201411 yr by Jack

Chicken is a big problem for me. I have to take one tiny bite at a time and most of the time I have to dip it in something (mayo or dijon mustard). I am really tight with the band in the morning (I can feel yogurt get stuck) and much loser at night (1/2 chicken breast and some veggies). My tip would be lube up the food you have issues with, but choose a dip low in calories like dijon mustard and such. Don't be like me and lather everything with mayo and then wonder why you aren't losing weight

I'm sorry all that said I would address all these issues with your doctors. I am speaking from personal experience here. As I reached my green zone and all was right in my lapband world one tiny thing like getting sick put me over the edge. So eating became much what you are describing and no this is not normal. Sure everyone is different but your choices of cupcakes or chicken breast are kind of a no brainer right? Chicken breast good for you cup cake not so much.

So to lose weight and be healthy we can stand on our head jump left right sideways turn ourselves inside out we learn new ways of doing things but a forkful of nothing should make you sick. Not chewing...OK big bite...OK but that happens once twice we learn we don't do that again.

If this is a regular occurrence check with the doctor. I ran right to my Dr. the minute things started feeling stuck for me. I was not vomiting but I was not able to eat and having issues similar to your description and low and behold as they did the barium swallow I had a dilation and my pouch was extended over the top of the band to the point of having to have just about all the Fluid removed.

Now 4 weeks later I am hoping that it's all better and some fluid can go back in...and I can stop living in banister hell dieting to try and maintain my loss thus far. This is not why I had surgery. I could have done this without the surgery...as I am learning 4 weeks later that I can and I will eat that whopper if presented with the opportunity and the hunger.

So see the doctor and see if just a tiny un-fill will do the trick to save you this route. It's not fun and in the end if things don't resolve and heal in there...I could be losing the band all together and I would really not be happy! So you can be as compliant as they come and still experience trouble.

My advice is cut trouble off at the pass and check with the doctors and go from there.

All the best to you.

I remember seeing an interview with a WLS patient that showed before during and after struggles.

Post-surgery, after that extreme hunger phase, all he wanted was a nice bid salad. As much as he chewed and chewed, it wouldn't seat down & he had to vomit.

What was said is that foods that are hard to keep down/eat are different for everyone.

Personally, I have trouble with eggs of any kind, breads, crackers.........etc

I found that If i mix some foods on the fork, like a Protein with a fibrous veg or chopped salad or something moist, it goes down better. Sometimes I have a glass of Water there in case something starts sticking- to help avoid getting 'stuck'.

I found that cooking solid Proteins so that they're very moist helps get them in & down too.

Still waiting to establish my new green zone after complications. Not easy.

I'll advise you to not avoid eating because it's more frustrating to eat and vomit after awhile than it is to eat. DON'T DO IT! I did. Started vomiting blood-up all night w/ acid blood pooling in my stomach which the bod immediately rejects. Getting up several x's a night to vomit blood was not only not fun & worrisome, but I was exhausted- never getting into REM sleep for months. THAT was awful. Back off to softer foods if you have a day of probs getting in solid dry proteins is my advise.