Am I swollen or is food still stuck??

[aimerus 0]

O M G.. I am in pain and am looking for advice, reassurance and your similar experiences. I have had this band since June 2008 and have lost 115 lbs. Over the past 6 months, I have had several small unfills b/c I felt like I was just too tight (especially around certain times of the month..) I gained 5 lbs over the holidays and decided it was time to get a fill.

I ate a pretty big lunch on Tuesday (oink) containing groundbeef and went in for my .5 cc fill at 4:00. The dr mentioned that he had more trouble than usual and was concerned that my "hose may be kinked."

That evening, I ate some very dilluted chili and felt fine so I had a meatball. Ok..ok..2 meatballs. Don't judge. I felt fine and went to bed. The next morning I had a Protein Shake and felt really tight as I do most mornings. I was able to eat the meat from a taco for lunch and a few bites of refried Beans. My nose started running and I hiccuped so I stopped and was feeling SO happy and encouraged that I had that restriction back!

Fast forward to 2 hours later...I am at my desk feeling that heaviness in my chest and listening to strange noises emitting from myself. I PB'd twice and felt better. An hour later, I threw up Water...lots of it and pretty violently. A few hours after that I threw up brown liquid full of hamburger meat (yum, I know) but the weird thing was, it seemed to be coming from my "real" stomach because it was old looking, smelling and tasting, you know? I continued throwing up about 6 more times.

I went back to the dr this morning and got the .5 cc's removed. I am on liquids and was able to drink a few sips of Protein shake, coffee, and Water before throwing up again. What I am wondering is..is todays throw up from food still being stuck in my band or do you think it is from my no doubt swollen stoma and esophogus?

Bless you if you are still reading!

My questions are:

Ever heard of a "kinked" hose?

How long can food stay stuck?

Do these papaya enzyme tabs really work?

How long till the swelling subsides?

Thanks!

[UpperWestSide 3]

My questions are:

Ever heard of a "kinked" hose?

How long can food stay stuck?

Do these papaya enzyme tabs really work?

How long till the swelling subsides?

First of all, Congrats on that fabulous weight loss. I have never heard of a kinked hose but I will try to give you my thoughts on the rest of it. You are proably really swollen. Stick to small sips of warm Water right now. The caffine could pose a problem after an episode like you had. Wait til morning to even try a shake. I have heard that liquid motrin can help the swelling but when I had an episode like yours I found that it was too thick to get down without throwing up.

Just take it really easy.

I have found that when my worst one of these happened it took about 24 hours to get back to drinking shakes. I then waited another day to get back to mushies.

Good luck and keep us posted.

[aimerus 0]

Hey UpperWestSide! Thanks for responding. I went to the dr again for another unfill this morning and he wanted to go ahead and have the barium swallow done. I am waiting on those results but the guy who did the x-ray said he thought the band placement was fine and that I just looked tight. I am happy I can keep fluids down today! Have a great weekend! I will be in your wonderful city on Monday!

[newdicarlo 0]

were you nauseous when you were vomiting? it sounds like a tummy bug to me with that true vomiting...

[SpideyMom 1]

Sounds to me like you got a stomach bug also, the way you describe how the vomiting came on.

I have had minimal success with the papaya tablets. They help if you are mildly stuck, but not if you are badly stuck.

I don't know how long food will stay stuck, but stuck food and vomiting will cause irritation and inflammation quickly, so my guess is you are experiencing inflammation and just need time to heal from it.

Sorry your having such a bad time. Take it easy and rest.

Good luck! And congrats on your great weight loss! :thumbup:

[amonroy 0]

I have my band since July 2008 and i've been experiencing the same symtoms...had a small unfill my last visit and I have another appt on Thursday and I think i'm going to get a little more taken out. I can't seem to keep anything down without throwing it back up, even liquids like you said. Mine has been in the past 6 months also, never had any problems vomitting, PB'ing, or getting stuck in the first year so I don't know what the problem is. What did you find out?

[brisbaby 0]

i was banded 12/18/2009 and went for my 2nd fill last wk. the md couldnt get out the previous fills saline, and couldnt inject the new saline as easily as before. he said my tubing might b kinked. so, i havent had any adverse effect but he said that if i start to have n/v he'll have to take me to the OR to unkink it and fill it