Ice Cream horror

[Jeketus 0]

I went through a period when my band was too full that I was so sick of the pain and throwing up that Ben and Jerry's became the staple of my diet. I haven't had any in a while, and I know the next time I pick up a pint, I'll get hooked again! I've found it odd (and dismaying) that so many bad foods go down easily and so many good foods don't go down at all.

[hannah2008 0]

I am finding the same thing...I can eat hard Cereal bars and be fine yet almost everything else makes me sick? If I concentrate on the chewing I am better but I still get most everything stuck, drink something and it comes right back up.....any ideas?

[Oregondaisy 2,020]

Are you cutting things up into very tiny eraser sized bites? If you do that and chew until it's liquid in your mouth, and it still

comes back up, you need to have a slight defill.

[Ses 0]

If your chest hurts then putting icecream down there will only releve the pain. It won't fix what's causing the pain. If, as i think might be the case, food is getting stuck or your food acid is in your food pipe, you MUST eat less... the band might slip, you might damage your foodpipe...

Warm tea is good. Between warm and hot, not so much for keeping down, but if your stomach is blocked then you drink as much as you can and 'pour' it back up... it's not really vomiting, it's clearing out the food pipe quickly. It works better with some things than others, and it should only be used as a last resort, but it WILL help flush the painful parts out if there's too much.

[momcof3 1]

I am finding the same thing...I can eat hard cereal bars and be fine yet almost everything else makes me sick? If I concentrate on the chewing I am better but I still get most everything stuck, drink something and it comes right back up.....any ideas?

I hope you aren't drinking something when you get food stuck? The worst thing you can do is drink something - it will make the situation worse as the liquid doesn't have anywhere to go so everything will come back up which is bad for your band.

I find that when I get stuck it is usually because I ate too fast - I think I am eating slowly, but I am not eating slowly enough.

[Kat817 19]

Small, slow bites will definitely help you decide if you are indeed over full.

As for the temperature of the foods---my Dr. told me at different times, in different circumstances, both are good.

Drinking when you are already stuck, is yes a big mistake!! It can't go down, so comes up, hits the gag reflex and hello PB city!!! Same happens to me if I drink and eat, it floats food up and makes me gag!

As for the temperature, I was told, to try both. IN the case of maybe your stomach being swollen due to a fill, or following a PB, he said cool could be found soothing, and aid in reduction of the swelling.

And if it is causing a spasm, or the band feels tighter with cold, then try warm.

My first real scare with my band, was over Spring Break a couple of years ago, and I found myself down with a springtime cold. Suddenly one morning I got up and could not keep anything down. Threw up or PB's my yogurt for Breakfast, so grabbed a bottle of Water, and even it would not go down! In a panic I called my Dr. only to find out he was out of town for Spring Break, taking his kids on vacation. His fill in was even further away from me.

I finally spoke with a Dr. and my Dr.'s office staff, and had a plan in for an emergency unfill, when they suggested that since I was sick, I might want to try drinking a VERY hot cup of tea. And to take 2 drinks---not sips, and hold it in as long as possible, not to allow myself to PB it if at all possible. Within about 5 minutes, those drinks were still down, so I microwaved the tea again and took 2 more big drinks....those too stayed down!

When I spoke with the office again, they said it just clicked in, that I said I was sick---and they figured out the sudden blockage was likely mucus! So cold was just making it worse! The hot tea, and gross as it sounds, it slipped on through.....

He said to always watch that when you are really sick with a cold or allergies or anything that causes you to have a lot of drainage, he said overnight it can sit in the stoma, and block up.

Has happened once since then, and a quick cup of hot tea (coffee or whatever would work as well) and all is better again!

For the most part tho---if I eat something that is hard to digest for me---too much salad, or potato chips (yeah I know!) a nice cooooool drink is very soothing.

I truly believe you need a small unfill. You will be surprised what a tiny amount removed can do! And how when you can eat good nutritious food, it is easier to lose weight!

Good Luck to you, keep us posted!!

Kat

[Bandana 0]

Littlefrog -

I t5ried the frozen applesauce and it wasn't bad. Thanks. I think this will help me for something soothing when and if the time comes again. (probably will). Today is 4 days I'm off ice cream and eating more food. I hope my energy level picks up because I'm so tired and I thought this was because of all the sugar from the icecream. WEll we'll see.

Organdaisy

Did you have to do a lot of exercise to get to your goal in 16 months??? I hate exercise. What about everyone else.

[Oregondaisy 2,020]

Yes, I started the exercise way before I got the band. I started going to the gym regularly trying to lose weight. I never lost an ounce in the 3 years I was going before banded. So, exercise was just a part of my routine.

I was a slow loser. I lost 22 lbs on the post op diet then did not lose anything for 4 months. I always plateaued,for about 3-4 weeks, then would suddenly drop 5 lbs. I never lost the 2 lbs per week like people say.

[Bandana 0]

it's great that your exercising. Now that I seem to have finfished the ice cream horror maybe I can push myself to exercise but I still have no energy.

[yarddawg72 0]

New to the sight here. I was in LOVE with Ice cream before my surgery. I think I went through withdrawals even. I found some comfort in the low sugar yogurts and even found some ice cream with splenda that soothed my cravings a bit. In the end I have decided that eating is not for fun anymore and quite it cold turkey. I seem to take no joy in eating now though. Its like just another task to get done.

[Bandana 0]

I think it's about 5 days now without ice cream, but I have to confess I had Cookies and a couple bites of cake. I hope this isn't my new replacement. I wish I could replace it with exercise

[Oregondaisy 2,020]

It's the carbs of any sense. Once they are in your system, all they do is make us crave more carbs. Carbs are evil.

It doesn't even matter if it rice or noodles, they make us crave sugar.

[smsmithart 4]

switch your ice cream to sugar free fat free...it has so much sugar alcohol it will give you the poops if you eat to much ,,and that cured my ice cream habit

[crackedpepper 0]

call your doctor and tell them exactly what you said here. you have to be honest with them. also, the whole feeling the band being tight thing that you and sandy beach said makes me worried - you have to sooth a too tight band? it shouldn't actually put so much pressure i don't think - i can't feel the band, so to feel it being too tight around the top of the stomach, that's scary -- call your doc asap

[Bandana 0]

You know girls,

I've been digging deep since my ice cream horror episode and to try to see if I need an unfil. I think the problem might be that I don't chew my food enough or slow enough so I bring it back up to get rid of the chest pain. I saw a nutritionist today who agrees that this might be the main problem, among other issues. I am willing to work on my chewing and eating, but can anyone tell me HOW!!!!! I never ate slow or took small bites in my life and as much as I think I'm eating morsels and slow, I think I can do better. I find that I'm on automatic pilot when it comes to food and old habits are hard to change. I need to try this though before I go in for an unfil. Maybe I'm just not working my Lapband right. I realized today that the lapband is like any other "diet"., There are rules and restriction you must follow - just like weight watchers to lose weight. I guess I thought it would be like easy, I'd just eat less than what I did normally and the weight would come off. But if you can't even really eat this is a problem.

Can anyone give me support with this????Thanks

Edited January 17, 2009 by Bandana