I had my 2nd fill yesterday and now I can feel a difference. I definetly have to take much smaller bites, chew more and wait in between.But what I would really like to know is if the band is sitting around the stomach, somewhere in the centre of the chest why is the restriction felt in the throat? If I eat too fast I feel it in the region of my throat where my jaw joins my neck - is this the same for everyone?

This doesn't seem to make sense.

Food has a much smaller place to go into and the band keeps it from moving in fast .... so there's a little bit of a "traffic jam" that you feel as pressure in your esophagus. The moe full your little pouch gets, the more pressure you feel in your esophagus.

You won't feel anything where the band is placed because the stomach does not have nerves that detect pain.

Your esophagus is about 12" long and runs from your throat to your stomach. And that is where you will feel most band-related discomfort.

What you are likely feeling is the pain and pressure of food getting stuck and/or backing up into your esophagus. The esophagus will keep contracting and trying to push the food down which causes strain and swelling. Concentrate on eating slower, smaller bites, chewing well and not overeating.

If it is a burning sensation you may be experiencing GERD or reflux.

Wow Jodi you explained that great, last night I experienced this for the first time.. OMG... It was in my throat and my esophagus kept contracting like it was trying to push the food down. The confusing part about it I hadn't ate anything for like 5 hrs before so I knew I wasn't full becasue the last thing I had was a shake around 6 o oclock, then I tried to eat a piece up chicken drum stick and piece of cornbread.. OMG... I immediatley threw it out... I was scared and my husband goes drink something, I'm like I can't.. Thanks for explaining that even though I didn't ask the question.

I agree with what they said, and want to add something that I also heard, but it was second hand, so take it with a grain of salt.

The longer we have our bands, the more used to our esophogus (I know I spelled that wrong) gets used to our small well chewed bites. I was told you have to be careful when you swallow bigger bites because it can stretch out the esophogus and cause pain (and also do bad things to your esophogus). Remember pre band when you accidentally took too big a swallow and felt pain on the way down? Well food goes down more slowly now, and is smaller, so if your bites are too big and not well chewed, this can also cause pain. Does this make sense? Has anyone else heard this?

Thanks for the responses.

It can't have been a traffic jam as it was happening at the beginning of a meal. Bites were small but I'm now trying for smaller. Its weird - it feels as though the food is getting stuck in the oesophagus but I'm still struggling to understand the mechanics of why.If I was already full then yes it would make more sense.

I think you may also find that your stomach is much higher up than you may think. And with the pouch--that is even more high up. Next time you go in for a fill have your doctor point out where your pouch is and you may be surprised !