Hello, first time to this site!!! I had lap band surgery in Sept., 08 and have had 2 fills! Since my last fill I have been having problems. I can't seem to keep anything down other then liquids and soft foods before dinner. -Sometimes dinner doesn't want to stay down either. It is quite uncomfortable and I usually get the hicups too. Sometimes dinner stays down fine and I can eat a cup or so which makes me think my band is not too tight. -BUT, when other times I can't seem to keep anything down I wonder. I admit I am not chewing as well as I should or eating as slow as I should so could it be just this??? I try to come back after getting sick and eat again more carefully with the same result though. I even try avoiding certain foods, but sometimes something can bother me and other times it won't! What do you think? Thanks fo much!

Sounds like it might be a combination of both, but I'd put my money on the band being too tight.

The object is NOT to get the band as tight as you can tolerate it. You still have to allow for proper flow of the stuff your body NEEDS.

From what you described, yes, it does sound like it's a little too tight....but DO slow down your eating, chew more....take your TIME.

It's a lifetime of bad habits that the band tries to cure, and it often takes a LONG time to do that. We get so accustomed, as obese people, to simply piling the food into our mouths, chewing it up, swallowing, then doing it again. It's a whole different life for you now, so you NEED to be a CONSCIOUS EATER. You have to become AWARE of your eating.

Talk to your Doctor, explain your symptoms. But, by all means, change your eating/chewing habits....it's one of the key components of band Success.

Keep us Posted!

HH

I am having similar problems. I think it's too tight. It feels like food is getting stuck and I have severe pain and gagging, vomiting, and salivating that can last for hours. I am going back to the dr on tuesday, so it liquids for me until I get it loosened. Let me know what you decide to do!

Thanks for your input. I will be going to the Dr. Tues. and will explain to him whats going on. I wish I could have a lapband for my brain! LOL -Maybe If I just slowed down and chewed more, -I don't know! I'm going to really pay attention to my eating tomorrow and see what happens on Tues. Thanks!

If you are hiccuping that is a hard stop, meaning you are over eating.

Try pea size bites, chew 30 times, swallow. Wait a full minute before putting another bite of food in your mouth. If you still barf before you hiccup ONE time, you are too tight.

Your body is telling you to stop with the hiccuping. One hiccup is a warning, stop eating. More than one hiccup and you ate too much food.

How could hiccupping be a sign of overeating if I can get the hiccups after two small bites of food? I can see the hiccups being caused from me not chewing well enough, or not eating slow enough, or the band being too tight, -but OVER EATING???

Edited February 16, 200917 yr by nothingcomesez

If you are hiccupping after a couple of bites, I would guess your band is too tight. It's been happening to me too, and I wouldn't say I am overeating.

How could hiccupping be a sign of overeating if I can get the hiccups after two small bites of food? I can see the hiccups being caused from me not chewing well enough, or not eating slow enough, or the band being too tight, -but OVER EATING???

We all have soft stops and hard stops. It takes time to learn what each person's is. For many it is a single hiccup. That is a soft stop. If you keep eating you get multiple hiccups. That is a hard stop. Some get a runny nose, some get left shoulder pain, some get back pain, some get a deep sigh. You learn your soft and hard stops.

If you eat beyond your soft stop you are going to hurl, it's how it is.

If you are indeed eating two pea size bites and getting a hiccup, you need a slight unfill.

I also had that problem with my second fill, I slowed down and chewed chewed chewed and had better luck also did not drink any liquid 30 min before and after. and when i did throw up I would wait about 30 or 45 min and tried again and had better luck. I am bad about shoveling in the food so it is a real job for me to eat reallllllllllllllll slow. good luck:thumbup:

Hello, first time to this site!!! I had lap band surgery in Sept., 08 and have had 2 fills! Since my last fill I have been having problems. I can't seem to keep anything down other then liquids and soft foods before dinner. -Sometimes dinner doesn't want to stay down either. It is quite uncomfortable and I usually get the hicups too. Sometimes dinner stays down fine and I can eat a cup or so which makes me think my band is not too tight. -BUT, when other times I can't seem to keep anything down I wonder. I admit I am not chewing as well as I should or eating as slow as I should so could it be just this??? I try to come back after getting sick and eat again more carefully with the same result though. I even try avoiding certain foods, but sometimes something can bother me and other times it won't! What do you think? Thanks fo much!

Thank you everyone for your input! It seems to me everyone is so different that we all need 20 opinions from everyone to help come up with a possible solution for ourselves. I had never heard of this soft stop or hard stop before. I will keep this in mind too as I try to be more in tune with my body!

Well, Just got back from the Dr. this afternoon... I explained all my symptoms and exactly what's been going on and he said... THE BAND IS TOO TIGHT!!! He took some out and guess what? I got lunch down (and it stayed down) for the first time in 6 weeks. Yeah!!! I hope this continues to work for me and I continue losing weight. I feel pretty good and am glad I was honest with him!

Same thing happened to me, but I lived with it for months! Got a slight deflate, and feel human again. Couldn't keep anything down before, so I'd eat 2-3 bites, feel stuck, throw it up or just stop eating, only to be starving 1-2 hours later and start the process over again. So I wasn't losing weight cuz I was grazing all day. We'll see how things go with a little less in the band. I'm certainly more comfortable!

I hope you continue doing well, and better with your unfill! I thought I waited too long just waiting 6 weeks. I was afraid I would never want to keep anything down again if I didn't do something. It doesn't take much to go back to old habbits like grazing and I certainly found myself struggling with that. I did lose in the 6 weeks but that's because the Dr. said I stuck to my three meals that came back up, but I sometimes topped my day off with a bowl of icecream because I knew I could keep it down and I hadn't kept any calories down basically all day. (I knew that had to stop and the throwing up everymeal, I can't live like that!) I just hope my unfill will be what I'm looking for and I can get back on track! I will cross my fingers for us!

I have to say this thread makes me feel so much better. I am going in tomorrow for an unfill. If I get stuck then I am done for the day. I can't drink or eat anything until I wake up the next morning. It sucks. I had my fill four weeks ago and it was all of a sudden last week that this started. I can't wait until tomorrow. I am just in too much pain and really thirsty.

I am kind of in this stage too. I have restriction for the first time since I got my band in october 2008. It is very difficult to know how much to eat. I am very tight in the morning. So I usually can only get down 1/2 a yogurt. Then the afternoon is better. 1/2 cup of food at lunch. I just got my fill on monday, so if it gets any tighter I may have to have some removed. Hope we all get this thing figured out. The hardest thing for me is to slow down, at dinner. By the time dinner comes I am starving.

Always glad to hear that us talking about these things helps someone else! I'm only three days out since my unfill and I am keeping things down! It's funny how we can have a love for food and a fear of it all at the same time! Now that I am keeping things down finally I am afraid of not losing any weight even though logically I know I have to eat to lose weight. See- I knew those 6 weeks of throwing up would mess with my mind.

I have the same problem too with dinner. When the band is so tight in the morning I don't hardly eat anything, a little something for lunch... and dinner? Well, I'm really trying not to eat too fast or too much, cause I think I'm starving. My stomach is embarassing, always growling up a storm! Take Care All!