I don't understand "getting stuck"

[midwestchickie 0]

Hey all...

I've had 2 fills, but have ZERO restriction. I can drink, eat, do everything normal. Frustrating, but I'm okay with it till I get a couple more fills.

This weekend, I was throwing away my kids mcdonald fries and took 2 cold fries and ate them. First time I've had something "stuck" I got a lot of saliva and felt the urge to cough it up and it eventually passed through.

Here is what I don't understand. I have no restriction, so food passes straight through for me, atleast right now. For some reason, those fries didn't pass through. BUT, once you do have restriction, the food ISN'T suppose to pass through, right?? So what is the difference between a "stuck" food and food that is just sitting in your little pouch waiting to digest??

maybe I'm overthinking things, but essentially, isn't everything suppose to get "stuck" in the little pouch and digest slowly???

[Donna113 2]

Yeah, what she said...

[midwestchickie 0]

Yeah, what she said...

haha! And I was prepared for a fantastic answer from ya!

:laugh:

[Donna113 2]

I've had 4 fills and have some restriction; in fact canceled an appt. today for a 5th fill becasue I'm afraid of over restriction. Even with restriction, I have hunger. I stop eating because I feel the discomfort in my pouch which chases away hunger but as soon as discomfort passes, hunger returns. I just live in a state of semi-hunger.

[Jodi_620 37]

Stuck food is lodged either in your esophogus at the entry to your stoma or at the band. Typically for me if it is stuck above the stoma I get pain and will sometimes PB, if it is stuck at the band I can feel pain/discomfort and I slime. Sounds like the fries were too big to pass through the band (not chewed well enough) and you did a little sliming.

food that was eaten properly sits comfortably in the stoma.

[Donna113 2]

I haven't PB'd or thrown up since being banded in July. I've had a couple of episodes of sliming which have lasted for less than 5 minutes at a time. I think I have decent restriction, yet as I stated before, I'm usually in a state of semi-hunger.

[*slim* 2]

I haven't experienced the pain type of stuck. Every time I have been what I thought was stuck, the food has been just sitting in my esophogus. What I don't understand is, why does the food sit in the esophogus anyway? I don't have restriction yet. That never happened to me before banding. How does it happen now? See how I just added more to your question instead of answering it? Sorry.

[luvzlulu 0]

I have major problems with french fries... in fact, they seem to be one of the only things I have problems with, I think because you chew them up and it's kind of sticky.

The last of my fried food hurdles!

[crazycatlady 0]

I've had 4 fills and have some restriction; in fact canceled an appt. today for a 5th fill becasue I'm afraid of over restriction. Even with restriction, I have hunger. I stop eating because I feel the discomfort in my pouch which chases away hunger but as soon as discomfort passes, hunger returns. I just live in a state of semi-hunger.

I feel the exact same way! I have a lot of restriction & can only eat a very small amt. at a time but I stay hungry. Very confusing...

[aubrie 6]

Your stoma and stomach make little contractions to digest your food. If you fill your pouch, little bits get squeezed through at a time. The longer it takes to get through, the fuller you feel, but there is still progress being made passing it through. The contractions are "successful". When something is stuck, it literally gets hung up, and your contractions are trying and trying to push it through without success. This gets painful. Your body will produce slime to help ease the food through. If even that doesn't help, the slime will back up and not go anywhere. That's why a PB is often times a lot of nasty slime. Sometimes a PB will dislodge it, sometimes not. Stuck food can dislodge on it's own (sometimes I can literally feel it Kerplop into my stocmach) in a relatively short period of time. Depending on the offending material, sometimes you can be in pain for hours, which is most unusual, but does happen. Does this make any sense?

[2angels 0]

When something is stuck, I can tell from the pain and discomfort. I usually wait a few minutes and if it doesn't resolve, I go to the bathroom and throw up. It's more like spitting the food out and sometimes I put my finger down my throat and the offending food comes up easily with almost no effort at all.

Not sure what PB stands for.....I may be missing something there.....

I can't eat frech fries at all in two years since my band. They are sure to get stuck. No breads at all either for me-they are killer. I can do crackers or crunchy things. meats often get stuck if I don't chew well enough. If you feel really stuck, I find that a little Water will help to wash it back UP (but definitely not down).....

[thenume 2]

Not sure what PB stands for.....I may be missing something there.....

"PB" stands for productive burp. Why it's called that, I don't know! I agree that it is "productive" but it sure isn't like any burp I've ever had!

[Oregondaisy 2,021]

Yeah, pb is really not the correct term . It's basically puking, but it does stand for productive burp. I have had food get stuck, where I burped and food came up with it. Most of the time, it's not that easy.

Okay, picture an upside down funnel. the band sits where the neck of the funnel and the ball of the funnel meet. When you are eating, some of the food does go down into the ball of the funnel. If it's a food that is not band friendly, or you haven't chewed enough, that spot gets plugged up. Nothing moves. It all just sits there and piles up until you either puke it up, or it moves down. When the saliva starts happening, it's the body's way of lubricating the area to hopefully get things to move. Unfortunately, often it makes it worse, because now you have a pile of slime on top of all the stuck food.

You are supposed to take itty bitty bites ( the size of a pencil eraser) and chew until there is nothing left to chew. Then wait, and see if it goes down. Most of the time, that is easier said than done.

I hope this helps!

[Jodi_620 37]

With a productive burp you are burping up the undigested food (or in my case, I can't burb but I hiccup and the food comes up). It is not like throwing up in that it is just undigested food coming back up...no stomach acid.