Can anyone tell me what I'm doing wrong? I'm sticking to a low-carb eating plan and up until getting my first fill (Jan. 22nd) everything was going GREAT!!! I was eating and losing weight and then I got filled (not sure on the amount but I don't think it's too much cos' I'm still able to eat alot of certain things) and now most anything I try and eat gets stuck and doesn't budge for like 15-20 minutes (weird thing is that my chicken breast salad from Subway doesn't stick and I'm able to eat the whole thing). I'm chewing very carefully and not drinking before or after. I'm at my wits end....is this the way it's going to be from now on? Help me if you can. Thanks. KKG

What are you eating that gets stuck? Bread? Pasta? Rice? Have you called your Dr? For some people the fill takes a few days or more to Kick in and now you might be too tight. Or you might have started your period and that can make some women tighter.

Eat what you know goes down ok and for some people once they get stuck, the rest of the day should be liquids so your pouch/stoma can relax a bit. Be sure you are chewing everything well and take small bites. After a fill, you just have to be careful until you know what your pouch will take.

What are you eating that gets stuck? Bread? Pasta? Rice? Have you called your Dr? For some people the fill takes a few days or more to Kick in and now you might be too tight. Or you might have started your period and that can make some women tighter.

Eat what you know goes down ok and for some people once they get stuck, the rest of the day should be liquids so your pouch/stoma can relax a bit. Be sure you are chewing everything well and take small bites. After a fill, you just have to be careful until you know what your pouch will take.

Thanks for responding ShortGal....I'm not eating any carbs (under 30 per day); here are the things that have gotten stuck the worse:

1) Made chicken w/sun-dried tomato alfredo sauce, onions, sun-dried tomatoes, mushrooms, blk olives, spices but when I tried to eat it after just a few bites it got stuck and stayed that way for 1/2 hour.

2) *food got stuck after one bite of each. I think it was the combination of spinach and the bacon in the Quiche. After about 15 minutes was able to eat about 1/2 of the slice w/the bacon scraped off: 1 slice of Quiche Lorraine / Baked Spinach (w/cream cheese and onion Soup mix)

3) Ate at Bennigans: *Food got stuck after eating about 1/2 the salad, had to go to bathroom and throw it up some but it still didn’t go down, kept having to spit out salvia for about 1/2 an hour. SPINACH CHICKEN SALAD: Baby spinach tossed with sweet-pepper vinaigrette dressing and topped with bacon, chopped pecans, sun-dried tomatoes, crumbled bleu cheese, golden raisins, diced red onion, chopped egg and grilled chicken breast

Other things have gotten stuck but the above 3 examples have been the worse, lasting for 15 - 30 minutes each time. Anyway, I didn't call the doctor cos' I have an appt. this Monday and knew I would discuss it with him then. I just needed some advice on how to handle this cos' right now I feel discouraged and I really was feeling wonderful before the fill. Thanks again for responding and for any insight into this strange but exciting world we've entered. Be well. KKG

I'm glad you're going to talk to the Dr.

I have found that for me, the first few bites, after a fill, I must go VERY slow. It's kind of like I have to "prime" the stoma to let it know food is coming down. Once the first several very small, well chewed, eaten slowly bites go down, things go a little better.

Your salad had so many things in it, it might be hard to pinpoint which food your pouch doesn't like, the raisins maybe, or the nuts... you might want to stick to the same food for several bites before trying the next one. After every fill, there is a new learning curve for what our bands will like and how much of anything they'll tolerate.... so go very slow.

Many people on the forum have suggested sticking with liquids for a short time after getting stuck, to allow the stoma and pouch to calm down.

Let us know what your Dr. says, maybe the advice will help someone else.

Spinach seems to get stuck for me when I've tried it (cooked spinach, not raw). It's kind of like seaweed, and I don't always chew it up well, and even if I do it likes to 'cling', is how I imagine it. Maybe it's just the spinach?

I ate sesame chicken last week and thought I would die. Who would have thought that sesame seeds would KILL my tummy. I ate it at lunch and my tummy hurt until lunch the next day! Some things are just plain wierd and unexplainable.

raw spinach gives me problems, it doesn't chew up well. I had one spinach salad and decided then and there to stick with crunchy lettuce like romaine.

good luck

Spinach gives me a problem too, unless I'm close to my next fill. Doctor's office said that this is because spinach is "stringy".

Congrats on the restriction!

Stuck food? You've got plenty of options.

1st) Don't eat it

2nd) cut it us so fine that you get a grain/grit of the food and not even a tsp full Take forever to eat.

3rd) eat it, let it get stuck, then slime it up (this was my choice)

4th) get an adjustment to unfill some of that restriction

Good luck!

My doctor always says to keep to a liquid only diet for 24 hours after a fill. And as others have said each time you have to re-learn what you can eat. Good luck