I wonder this because im getting a little frustrated with myself as to if the band is working atleast a little bit....i will admit i do feel a tad bit of pressure in my chest here and there but usually because i eat too fast or drink too fast...I dont have restriction but every time i think im doing wrong whether i eat to fast or too much i dont really get pain....ill try to take deep breaths as a test to see if i feel pain, but i haven't yet....

I'm still early in the band stage, but i can still eat more than 4oz of food. Im wondering if i would be able to feel things if they were to A. get stuck or B. not go through the band and just sit in the pouch.

To get a better idea of what i can eat, I can still take a lean cuisine (8oz) sized meal (which after that i can still consume more on most days). And I have not yet had the urge to vomit, or pb/slime...so im guessing everything IS going through the band right??? Or could food be sitting in my pouch for days??? Im just confused on what im supposed to be feeling...and what exactly are symptoms of bad reactions with the band and good reactions with the band....

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Edited July 18, 200917 yr by ahb08

You're probably not tight enough yet. It took a long time for me to be able to feel much of a difference - and then suddenly there was a HUGE difference.

Stuck feels like something awful is happening. I think the best description I've seen recently is that it feels like a bite of food is trying to claw its way down. You will definitely know if you're stuck.

Satiety feels like you're not hungry and you don't know when you will be hungry again. Don't confuse satiety with stuffed. You don't want to get to that, "oh my god, I can't eat another bite" stage of things.

Restrictions feels like...the greatest thing in the world. You've eaten just a little and you're not hungry anymore. Today, for example, I went out for lunch, shared an appetizer with JeffyD and that was enough food for me. Ahhh....restriction.

You didn't ask, but after restriction comes Too Tight...too tight can feel like you have a lump in the back of your throat. It can keep you from drinking liquids and make you cough at night. It may also lead you to eat the wrong kinds of foods because those are the only things you can get down.

I hope this helps.

xoox

Something I would love to know is

Where do you feel these things?

I have only had 1 small fill so don't have restriction yet. Sometimes when I start eating I feel I need to eat slower because it feels as though it may stick in my throat. But this doesn't make sense to me as the band is around my stomach - not my throat!

You're probably not tight enough yet. It took a long time for me to be able to feel much of a difference - and then suddenly there was a HUGE difference.

Stuck feels like something awful is happening. I think the best description I've seen recently is that it feels like a bite of food is trying to claw its way down. You will definitely know if you're stuck.

Satiety feels like you're not hungry and you don't know when you will be hungry again. Don't confuse satiety with stuffed. You don't want to get to that, "oh my god, I can't eat another bite" stage of things.

Restrictions feels like...the greatest thing in the world. You've eaten just a little and you're not hungry anymore. Today, for example, I went out for lunch, shared an appetizer with JeffyD and that was enough food for me. Ahhh....restriction.

You didn't ask, but after restriction comes Too Tight...too tight can feel like you have a lump in the back of your throat. It can keep you from drinking liquids and make you cough at night. It may also lead you to eat the wrong kinds of foods because those are the only things you can get down.

I hope this helps.

xoox

oh thank you soo much enchanted!!!

When I feel stuck, it's in my chest / back.

When the band is too tight, I feel it in my throat.

Stuffed....I feel in my belly.

Satiety. That's a harder one. I think at first, I had to feel it in my mind - I'm really not hungry. This has been enough food. I'm done eating for now. But now, I my body can tell me when I've had enough food. Maybe that doesn't make sense? It's a fine line between, "I could eat more." and "I'm done." I could eat more is on the way to stuffed - not good.

Does that help?

When I feel stuck, it's in my chest / back.

When the band is too tight, I feel it in my throat.

Stuffed....I feel in my belly.

Satiety. That's a harder one. I think at first, I had to feel it in my mind - I'm really not hungry. This has been enough food. I'm done eating for now. But now, I my body can tell me when I've had enough food. Maybe that doesn't make sense? It's a fine line between, "I could eat more." and "I'm done." I could eat more is on the way to stuffed - not good.

Does that help?

yes it does make sense.....thank you for ur advice....

You're probably not tight enough yet. It took a long time for me to be able to feel much of a difference - and then suddenly there was a HUGE difference.

Stuck feels like something awful is happening. I think the best description I've seen recently is that it feels like a bite of food is trying to claw its way down. You will definitely know if you're stuck.

Satiety feels like you're not hungry and you don't know when you will be hungry again. Don't confuse satiety with stuffed. You don't want to get to that, "oh my god, I can't eat another bite" stage of things.

Restrictions feels like...the greatest thing in the world. You've eaten just a little and you're not hungry anymore. Today, for example, I went out for lunch, shared an appetizer with JeffyD and that was enough food for me. Ahhh....restriction.

You didn't ask, but after restriction comes Too Tight...too tight can feel like you have a lump in the back of your throat. It can keep you from drinking liquids and make you cough at night. It may also lead you to eat the wrong kinds of foods because those are the only things you can get down.

I hope this helps.

xoox

This is SUCH a big help to me too!!! Thank you! And thanks to the original poster who asked these questions. My surgery was 10 days after you, and I feel in a very similar situation as you!!

I guess to add my two cents....

I think we feel the pressure and restriction sensation in our center chest, between our breasts and a little up from that because that is where the bottom of the esophagus (throat) begins to connect to the stomach pouch. When that upper stomach pouch is getting filled, there is a pressure sensation exerted that wants to force the food back up the esophagus to get the excess out to relieve the pressure until more of the digested food passes through our opening from the band to the lower stomach. That is why I try to sit and take it easy if I feel overfull pressure and allow the stomach to do its work to move the food down if I can rather than do what is called productive burping to bring the food back up to spit it out.

P.S. for the newbies -- it absolutely does NOT help to sip Water to help relieve the pressure sensation or to try to move the food along -- it makes the pressure worse!

i guess to add my two cents....

I think we feel the pressure and restriction sensation in our center chest, between our breasts and a little up from that because that is where the bottom of the esophagus (throat) begins to connect to the stomach pouch. When that upper stomach pouch is getting filled, there is a pressure sensation exerted that wants to force the food back up the esophagus to get the excess out to relieve the pressure until more of the digested food passes through our opening from the band to the lower stomach. That is why i try to sit and take it easy if i feel overfull pressure and allow the stomach to do its work to move the food down if i can rather than do what is called productive burping to bring the food back up to spit it out.

P.s. For the newbies -- it absolutely does not help to sip Water to help relieve the pressure sensation or to try to move the food along -- it makes the pressure worse!

thank you soooo much special k......u really broke it down for me in a way that makes sense!!!!

P.S. for the newbies -- it absolutely does NOT help to sip Water to help relieve the pressure sensation or to try to move the food along -- it makes the pressure worse!

Yeah.. that one's hard to fight. You're used to trying to wash something down, but there's nowhere for the water to go.

If you're feeling the pain in your chest, and maybe you start feeling like you're salivating more, or your nose running.. time to excuse yourself. It's going to come up, and fighting just doesn't seem to help (at least, in my case). I just resign myself after a minute or two, and go stand in front of a toilet, and bend over to try to reduce the amount of work it has to do.

This is the punishment side of punishment/reward.

So everything I've read, or heard from my dr., says that you REALLY don't want to vomit, but it sounds like a PB is the same as vomiting. Am I wrong? Can anyone clarify? I'm getting banded next Friday...

to me PBing is just regurgetating(sp) of the food. Meaning if you vomit, you really work hard to make it come up. FOr me PBing, can be quick.

I think of the food sitting in the stoma and not in the stomach yet. If I pb then it just comes back up the way it went down.

And I take it that when it comes back up, it comes all the way back up and is really messy?

PB is not vomiting. A PB is simply a bite or two of chewed food that got stuck and came back up. Vomiting is where the contents of your stomach, including stomach acid and partially digested food are forced back out. BIG DIFFERENCE.

You will know "STUCK" when it happens because it hurts and can actually make you panic for a minute or two until you realize you can still breathe. It doesn't go away until the food moves either into your stomach or back out through a PB.

Restriction and satiety sort of go hand in hand. Satiety is when you know you don't need any more food. It doesn't mean you can't eat more, just that you know you've had enough. I had to learn the feeling by simply eating the amount of food I was told I should eat and then walking away regardless of whether I felt like I could eat more or not. Within 15 minutes or so, I would realize that I was full and didn't want or need to eat more.

Restriction gives you a feeling of satiety sooner than you would have gotten it pre-band. You may actually feel food (for me, particularly cold liquids) pass through your band.

Thanks, all, for your help and advice. Much appreciated!