PB? Worse Experience of My Life!!!

[sheilade 0]

I think I had my 1st pb after my 1st fill...then more often

after my 2nd..it doesnt bother me too much to do it, not

as much as "worst experience of my life" at least (thank

goodness!!) ..It usually happens at home..maybe because

I am much more aware and careful if I am eating out or

at someones house...I did it probably

daily for about a week after my 2nd fill..even after only 1 or 2

little bites of something..but only once a week or so now..

I was able to eat tortellini that they served at work yesterday

and ate the whole serving + a few raw veggies with no

problem..but then a little bit of chicken last nite got stuck..

You just never know

For me it is just a burp but the air cant come out so some

of the food comes up...doesnt hurt me and does give relief

to the golf ball..the sliming seems to happen more if you

have a golf ball and are not able to get to a place that

you can burp anything up, so you try to keep it down..then

the sliming is too weird...but again, doesnt hurt me..just

not something you want to do around anyone!! Hope this

answers a few of your ?'s..

[noahsmom 0]

Son of a bitch son of a bitch. Well this just totally sucks! I am about to make my effing plane reservations for Dr. Ortiz in 12 days, and now I am in tears reading all of this crap! This is so effing sad that we have to endure this kind of suffering! We are all talking about torture and pain and vomiting and surgery like it is getting an effing manicure for pete's sake! I was 150% ready fot this thing 5 minutes ago and now I feel like I have been PB'd into cancelling the whole thing. The only reason I would consider going forward anyway is that i am so disgusted with myself at this point that a part of me feels I deserve to puke since I am so ginormous! Even that is pathetic and I am really feeling fated about this whole damn thing. Vomiting is the only part of child birth I ever feared and now I am facing it all over again, and possibly for months or years?!? What the Hell?!? This is so unfair. This can't be right! This can't be what we have to endure! There must be some other way - and don't say eat right and exercise, or I will PB myself to death!!! Thanks for the reality check - "thinking it over in Florida" - Noah's Mom(Jen)

[Oregondaisy 2,021]

This is not necessarily true for everyone. I hardly ever pb. You just have to be conscience that you have a band and eat like a bandster. That means extra chewing and small bites. You can send me a private message if you want to. The only time I usually pb is right after a fill, the next day. I think it's because things get swollen inside there. You won't get a tight fill at first. You learn as you go along. You shouldn't let these posts stop you. Most of the time, I have no problems. The other day I had a small salad and one piece of pizza. And that's after 3 fills.

[noahsmom 0]

Okay- I have calmed down now - just last minute crises. I am still going through with it - I have to. I will just be really really careful, slow down, chew carefully and carry a vomit bag with me. What do the initials PB stand for anyway? Puke Band? Thanks for the encouragement...

[TerriDoodle 6]

That's one reason I hate the title of this thread....it scares newbies to death!!! Noahsmom - I answered you in the other thread, too. 1st PB's are kinda scary but the TRICK is to just keep spitting out the saliva...if you try to keep swallowing it (or more food or drink) then it will just get worse and worse. Some people don't know that so then the PB experience turns out to be much worse than it should be. When you have a new adjustment to your band you are well served to try each new 'risky' food with great care by taking little bitty bites and chewing very well...until you see how your band reacts. Then you can relax a little bit and take a little bigger bite, then a little bigger, etc. At the first twinge of any discomfort, slow down and reduce your bite size again. It's pretty simple. It doesn't have to be such a harrowing experience. OK?

[jnkntrnk 0]

Teridoodle, you hit the nail on the head! Keep ejecting.....I just had my first 2 pbs (2 days apart). I got careless and ate way too fast, the bites were too big, and the food too dense (pork the first time, then cheese). Luckily it was a short episode each time. I did feal REAL bad, at first I tried to ignore the feeling-probably swallowing a lot of air trying to recover (your chest hurts and catching a breath is tough). When that didn't work I kept spitting and hocking up the slime, then eventually a huge belch (nothing other than slime ever came up) and I was good to go. (Sorry for the graphic nature of this thread, but we all want details don't we? )

I wouldn't say it was the worst experience of my life, but definitely unpleasant. After the first episode I vowed to never let that happen again -- so much for that!

The lesson learned for me was: 1) when they say slime they mean thick mucus that doesn't seem to want to end when you try to spit it out and 2) just keep chewing, chewing, chewing. I know in both cases I was eating like the old days.

noahsmom - pb - productive burp; I was a bit disillusioned by this name until actually experiencing it! I've been banded nearly 2 mos and only just had this happen as I (admittedly) got more and more lax in my new eating habits. Some people seem to get them more; I don't intend to let it happen again......... Don't let it dissuade you -- how many times have you eaten till you thought you wanted to puke before? Now you'll get to test that notion; haha.

Good luck;

[dianeb 0]

You Go Girl !!! You Got It All Right. The Band Has A Mind Of Its Own !! And I Think Stress Tightens It To .. Good Luck And It Does Happen To All Of Us . 9" Tho Wow !!

[Kat817 19]

This thread was started a long time ago, and I haven't seen Strawarts around in awhile, to know if she ever had another horrid episode.

Personally, I was banded 17 months ago, and have had 2 "PB" episodes---neither of them as horrid as what she went through. Of course, I am paranoid of ruining my band that has worked so well for me, so I probably would have chosen different foods....especially before knowing what would or wouldn't work. As has been pointed out, mushrooms are difficult to chew, into proper consistancy to pass, especially if she were already begining to swell from something else...and it could have been anything!!!

My PB's were not pleasant, not something I would stand in line to do by any means...but I knew to spit--not swallow---the slime from the get go. My DH once ask me about the slime, what the hell it was? I told him it was spit so stick and gooey you could spit on your finger, walk across the room, stick it to the wall and hang clothes off of it! It is bizarre!!!! BUT----get this----it is NOT limited to bandsters!!! Not too long ago my DH learned first hand what sliming was like! He choked on a piece of chicken, it went down past his trachea, so he could breath, but it blocked off in the esophagus, and his body did just like ours, he slimed for an hour before the body gave up. He finally had to be scoped and have it cut out, because the esophagus, spasmed around the offending chicken. He hs a whole new understanding of the golf ball, and sliming. Unlucky for him, he was not able to PB it up, it took minor surgical intervention!

Too many people refer to PB's as a minor inconvenience for them all to be as bad as what Strawarts experienced. I have to imagine part of the pain was due to the type of food she was bringing back up---all the spice on the tender esophagus causing massive burning etc.

I am sorry she had this horrible experience, but not everyone does.

Kat

[Oregondaisy 2,021]

I agree with you Kat. I only had one really bad experience

where I slimed for a couple of hours. Whatever was stuck

must have finally gone through because nothing acutally

ever came up.

Most of the time, it's just like it says it is. I burp, and a little

food comes with it. I chew my food really well, and it's extremely

rare for me to have any trouble.

[ja9va 0]

Ok, I am not sure this is the appropriate place to post this question for it is not a pbing, but being sick and vomiting. How does that impact the band? should I be worried? I heard from others who have pbing, it is different than when you get sick. the food is not in the lower stomach, so it does not feel like when you are sick. any experiences out there?

[Daisalana 33]

Hah, glad this thread was bumped, I must have missed it. OP certainly has a way with words!!!

Since my last fill, I have the foot long things of slime as well. I learned today swallowing it is not a good idea.. makes it worse. I know, that's gross.. was trying not to let my mom know I was having an episode, so spit up 3 times in my mouth before I ran to find a trash can. Mine make HUGE bubbles too. I slime about once a day now.. I blame myself though, I went 5 months thinking I understood the restriction.. now it's all new again. I'm learning!

Mine are painful, and it feels like flem is building up in my throat.. then I spit up tiny bits of food in a 2-10 ratio with flem/bubbles/slime/spit. And then I'm not hungry anymore, yay! ROFL

[sipgel.biz 0]

Oh my god.

I had gone almost 3 months post-banding without what you people so lovingly call a "PB," and let me tell you, those two little words do not do the deed any justice. I kept reading about people throwing up and I wondered what the hell was wrong with you all. I would almost rather die than vomit, as I have a very sensitive gag reflex, and once I get started, I can't stop. I thought you had to be crazy to eat so much or so wrong that it came back up.

Oh, little did I know. Now, I've had the golfball. I get the golfball, in varying intensities, several times a week. I figured it was just first bite syndrome, and it would always pass by walking around or trying to wash it down.

Until last night. I was on the San Antonio River Walk with some friends, and we were having some appetizers and margaritas. All of a sudden, I got the worst golfball ever. No warning. I went to the bathroom to try to walk it off. I paced the bathroom for about 10 minutes, and my mouth was filling up with slime. And then I threw up. It was mostly slime, and only a tiny amount of food. The most impressive part to me was that the slime came out in a 9 inch diameter BUBBLE! Like when you're using that string and wand thing and blowing bubbles! Crazy. If I didn't feel like such total shit I would have examined it more closely.

I thought I was better, and someone was trying to come into the bathroom, so I returned to my seat. I still had pressure in my chest, but nothing too bad. A few minutes later, the excrutiating golfball returned. We got up to leave, and I thought the walk back to the hotel would clear it.

But no. The more I walked, the more painful it became, and my mouth continued to fill with slime. Finally, I couldn't stand it, and I ran into the nearest restaurant to use the bathroom. Or, what I thought was a restaurant. It was actually some sort of bar that was checking IDs. I tried to hurry past the guying yelling "Ma'am!" until he manhandled me. I was at once flattered that I looked younger than 21 and terrified that I might vomit on this lovely young man. I turned to him and urgently whispered "I'm going to vomit. Please let me use your bathroom." If I have learned anything about men, it is that they are most afraid of a crazy bitch...especially a crazy bitch about to throw up.

I found the bathroom and immediately began vomiting. Another HUGE bubble. (Could I make money off this talent?) It is this vomiting session that I now consider the OFFICIAL WORST MOMENT OF MY LIFE. It was so painful, both in my chest and my pouch, and not at all PRODUCTIVE, like vomiting before the band was. Little chunks of food were coming up and getting stuck on the back of my tongue, making me gag and heave more.

Eventually, everything that was going to come up did, and I was left sobbing and shaking uncontrollably. And trying to rinse foot long slimes out of my mouth for the next five minutes.

Ok, so if you're still reading, a few observations:

1. Are you fucking kidding me? This has happened to you people more than once? My mom was banded a month before me, and I know that she has had this kind of episode on MANY occassions. I do not comprehend. Last night's situation has scared the pants off of me, and I have been eating VERY carefully today. I can honestly say that I would rather die than go through that again.

2. Are you telling me that I PAID for this? I should start another thread about the GIANT SCAM that is the lapband, but I'll be brief here. This was NOT in the power point presentation. The golfball was NOT ever mentioned to me. The imaginary feeling of fullness that doesn't register with your head was NOT ever acknowledged pre-banding.

3. Productive Burp? How about Excrutiatingly Painful Gagging Sliming Heaving Feels Like You're About to Die Vomitation? (EPGSHFLYADV) Seriously, the acronym is EXCEPTIONALLY deceiving. I had no idea what I was in for.

And, no, I'm not too tight. I've had this fill for a month, and have eaten much worse than I did last night. In fact, I ate half a pizza last week with no problems. Please don't judge me and tell me to eat Protein.< /p>

So, basically, I'm pissed, and I'm getting more pissed as I write this. I'm terrified of ever going through that again, and I'm angry that I was misled. I am convinced that this procedure is entirely experimental and will be contraindicated in about 10 years. And physiologically, it makes no sense. How can my pouch hold half a pizza one day and just a few bites another? I need a scientific explanation beyond "the band is finicky."

I know this isn't the right forum for I Hate My Band discussions, but maybe there are a few others like me lurking. Anybody?

Hello,

I found out recently that I am highly allergic to MSG monosodium glutamate that is a food flavor additive in most, chips, Soups, chinese food and some dressings. The symptoms are tightness of throat and drainage. It also feels like I am burping up a bubble when it attacks me and OMG. It is worse in the mornings. For the longest time I was thinking it was Acid reflux. The reason I tell you this is because of a post I replied to in this forum complaining of tightness of throat. Remember most soups contain MSG. And this is what your taking in the liquid diets.

I have almost choked-to-death because of this allergy.

helpful list of suspects located here:

Monosodium glutamate - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Let me know if this has helped you. It could save you thousands of dollars in doctor bills. When your not taking MSG containing substances everything appears normal. This is why it is difficult to diagnose at the Doctor. Since I stopped taking foods containing MSG my problems went away. Who would have thought my Ramen Noodles could cause such a mess...

[ShineNSta 0]

Ugh...I have to tell you what I was eating? Didn't you notice how I was cleverly avoiding that?

1. 3 barbeque chicken wings (I think they were breaded in addition to being covered in goop)

2. 2 spicy chicken wings

3. 2 jalapeno poppers (those fried, cream cheese filled gooey bundles of goodness)

4. maybe 4 fried mushrooms

5. margarita, baby!

See, Kathy, you keep blowing my cover! As you all sit here and say "And she wonders why she doesn't lose weight..."

Wow, this accountability thing kind of works. New rule - if you're too embarassed to admit that you ate it, maybe you should just have a carrot instead.

But...in my defense, I've eaten similar consistency foods with no problems before. That's what threw me off about this episode.

Wow...no wonder you had such a bad time with your food coming back up! I haven't had a lap band YET...but I think throwing that stuff up would be bad with OR without the lap band!! :sick

[MichelleC 0]

Oh, Honey! I feel for you. I don't know if anyone has already said this or not. I didn't read every post. But sometimes all this is a problem if the band is at a certain point where it is tight but not tight enough.

I know they mention none of this in the power points - it is something that an non-banded person just doesn't understand. I am a bariatric medical professional and didn't understand until I myself got banded.

I am so sorry you had this experience. As far as judging you for what you ate - I would dare to say there isn't a soul on this forum that should do that. We all (at least most of us) put that band to the test!

[Sue Magoo 71]

Strawarts:

Thanks for the laugh. I have sympathy for you. I've been there, and done that, luckily it's always been at home. I'd like to share that I had the pb and slime, and also got stuck all at the same time. It was a month post-op. I had eaten about 1/2 cup of tuna fish that I had mixed up with mayonaise. I had eaten the same thing the night before without a problem.

In addition to the pb'ing and sliming, I also got this god-awful pain in my left shoulder and neck. My daughter thought I was choking to death after I made the mistake of trying a sip of Water that was too big on top of the stuck tuna. I thought I was going to drown standing at the sink in my own kitchen! Then I thought I might be having a heart attack. It was so bad I called the surgeon and went to the hospital. They made sure that I hadn't messed up my band. I didn't ask for it, but they gave me morphine for the pain in my shoulder and neck. Since that time I found out that there are some nerves running along the esophogus up through the shoulder and neck. These nerves can get irritated after too much pb'ing and sliming.

I guess this is the bands way of telling us to slow down, chew, chew, chew, chew, and don't eat more than a 1/2 cup. It's too bad that formerly being 160 pounds overweight and living carrying around all of this excess weight wasn't enough that I have to go and get a band and that band has to remind me every once in a while that I shouldn't eat too much.

Anyway, in conclusion, I love my band most of the time (down 71#), but I have hated it a few times too.

Take care.

Sue Magoo

H-324/S-287/C-253/G-160