SLIMES - WHAT TO DO

[downsizingdiva 460]

JUST THROWING THIS OUT THERE FOR THE NEW PEOPLE. I AM 11 MOS OUT TODAY AND I'VE ONLY HAD THE SLIMES ABOUT 3 TIMES. FROM EATING SOMETHING TOO TOUGH OR DRY OR EATING A BITE TOO MUCH, ANYWAY I DID IT TODAY WHICH WOULD BE THE THIRD TIME. I WAS EATING OUT WITH FRIENDS AND TALKING AND ATE TOO MUCH NOT THINKING. ANYWAY I POPPED A PC OF GUM, THAT MADE ME SWALLOW SALIVA WHICH GAVE ME THE HORRIBLE FULL FEELING IN MY CHEST AND MADE ME SLIME. SO AS SOON AS I COULD GET AWAY I STARTED SPITTING THE EXTRA SALIVA OUT. I KNOW THIS IS GROSS BUT IF THIS HAPPENS IT SURE CAN BRING YOU RELIEF FASTER...THE MORE OF THAT SALIVA YOU SWALLOW THE WORSE YOUR PAIN AND MISERY IS GOING TO BE. JUST WISH SOMEONE HAD TOLD ME THIS CUZ I THOUGHT I WAS GOING TO DIE!!!

[Proud2BMe 1,016]

I had horrible slimes as soon as I got home from surgery and for months afterwards. I had to carry a cup with me everywhere I went, especially if I was going to eat. Yes, you have to spit it out. If you swallow it then it only causes pain and makes it worse.

The good news is that with time it will go away. I've been slime-free for about 2 months now.

[Scottyd1264 73]

I never heard of SLIMES before, what is this

[jstachic 61]

I haven't either, but I'm guessing it's salivating uncontrollably

Edited December 20, 2015 by jstachic

[kdelrosso 124]

Ohhhhh. So that's what that is. I just had my surgery on the 17ty and noticed that I salivate a lot more than normal. I didn't even realize it could be connected with my surgery. Thanks for that clarification

[Dajones 46]

I'm 14 months post-op and still get the slimes almost daily. If I'm eating too fast or taking big bites, it comes on before I'm full. I looked into the mucus in your stomach issue and found some interesting info. You always have mucus in your stomach. It keeps the acids at bay and if you didn't have it, your stomach acids would eat your stomach lining. I've just learned to eat slow, chew well and take small bites. As a way to make myself eat slower, I'll fix a plate of food and leave it in the kitchen. I go in the kitchen every few minutes, take a bite, go back and sit down and chew and swallow. If I have the plate of food in front of me, I eat it too fast. This slows me down.

[Proud2BMe 1,016]

"Slimes" is a watery mucous that comes up your throat and into your mouth. It normally happens when you eat. It can be pretty heavy at times and may require patients to walk around with spit cups. I required one. It eventually goes away though.

[Tattoo_beariatric 3]

I’m glad I ran into this forum.

I had Gastric Bypass back in August 2022 and it’s now May 2023 and I still get the “Slimes” (or what some people call, the “Foamies”) from time to time. Sometimes more often than others. The worst is when I’m out and it happens. It literally disables me for 2 hours straight each time.

It happens usually if I eat a bite too much, too fast, or the food is fairly dry (which is why the mucus is created), I think your body is trying to wet the food to get it through your system and thinks it’s stuck.

The worst part for me is that I can’t stop salivating, and if even a little bit is swallowed it adds pain to my stomach and I have to force push it out (essentially with that terrible feeling of when you are vomiting) and instead, a bunch of slimey mucus and saliva come out. If I do it enough, you start to see juices from the food and little chunks from it as well. I have yet to actually vomit up straight food though. Most of the time I just have a cup on me to spit in and not even kidding you… I often fill up a medium Dunkin Donuts cup full of saliva and mucus… it’s disgusting.

Either way, it’s terrible, and there’s no way to stop it once it’s started (for me at least). Every single time, after about an hour or two of this, you start to feel a little better and then this sinking feeling of relief in your stomach hits and you know something has caused it to stop. From there you feel so much better again.

I’m experiencing the end of it right now as I’m typing this. It’s honestly a nightmare sometimes and I wish there was a quick solution for it. The only real solution for it is to eat very, very slow! And make sure your food is not too dry (I can eat wetter food so much faster than dry).

Praying that this one day goes away completely … Good luck to everyone going through it! The good news from all this is that at my highest I was 540 pounds… after gastric sleeve, then 9 years later, gastric bypass, then within a few months gallbladder removal (due to gallstones) and finally, circumferential body lift and medial thigh lift, I’m feeling like a completely different person at 222 pounds… it’s surreal and as shitty as the slimes could be, I’d take it every day if I had to, in order to never go back….

❤️

[Tomo 1,196]

I had my revision to bypass in August 2022 as well. I still get the foamies/slimes occasionally. It's strange but with the VSG I had experience dumping (fast heartrate, sweating, feeling clammy, malaise...Etc. but with the RNY, I experience foamies but no dumping. The only way I can stop the foamies is first, I keep blowing my nose when I first notice it, so no more will build up, then if that doesn't stop it, I use one of those tongue cleaners and rub the back of my tongue a few times, makes me cough and all the slime comes out. I remember in the beginning they would last for hours and hours. Now it's usually till I can clear it once. Last time I had it was after eating at a restaurant, on the way home in the car. I didn't have my tongue cleaner but used a chopstick from my takeout bag and an extra plastic bag. Eww. lol