Irrational Fear

[lovex5 25]

I know this is silly but i have a fear of choking or not being able to breathe with the band. Does it ever feel too tight or like it's strangling you? Can you even feel the band at all?

[jen_1381 446]

I just got my first fill last week, but my answer is no. I can't ever feel my band, I don't get any type of choking feeling. The band is around the upper part of your stomach so you shouldn't ever feel like you're choking (unless you swallow food wrong and literally choke!). Even if I take too big of a bite, the most I get is an indigestion feeling in my chest. My personal "full signal" is when I feel a slight fullness in my upper chest. I know if I take another bite, it will become painful, so I stop where I'm at.

[JustDoIt130 369]

I kind of feel that way during a stuck episode (which, luckily, are few and far between)- but I know I can breath, it's just a tight, painful feeling until it passes. But regularly I can't feel my band at all.

[Mayasgram 351]

Oh bet you are claustraphobic.. I am and that was one of my main fears what if I can't breathe. Well that is not a problem .. you can not feel the band , you do not choke.

My biggest fear when I went to surgery was nothing about the surgery but since I was in a strange hospital where was the door, If you have a stuck episode you still are not choking so rest easy...

[2muchfun 8,927]

You're talking about two entirely different body functions. The band does not encircle the windpipe/lungs. It encircles your stomach. Two very different organs. Could your band keep food from going through to your stomach, most definitely. But only if your fills are too much and even then you have a time frame to go in and have it taken care of.

No need to fear choking. And, yes, sometimes I feel the band as it massages food or cold liquids through the portal to the lower stomach. It's a good feeling though.

tmf

[cfmom716 8]

No fear is irrational when it comes to your health. As for feeling like your choking it doesn't feel like that. My son has had a lap-band for a year and has had the episode like regurgitating and it does not feel like your choking, it just feels like pressure and what ever is stuck just comes right back up, it's not even like vomitting because it is only in the top of your stomach so you don't wretch you just as I call it hork it back up and learn not to do whatever you did to cause it again. I had a minor episode with a pill it was just a little too big and I kind of felt pressure and it came back up. I just got banded 6/19 and have not felt my band at all, like the other person said you can sometimes feel the liquids if they are cold or warm but it is not an uncomfortable feeling. Good Luck and keep those fears in check and you'll be fine.