What is "stuck" like?

[cymbalom 0]

Hi, y'all,

when you take a big pill, and it gets "stuck," is that painful? Does it mean you are going to throw up? I have read that throwing up is a good way to get your band slipped. This is one thing I'm worrying about.

TIA!

Angie in Texas, US

[Laura_MD 5]

Hi, y'all,

when you take a big pill, and it gets "stuck," is that painful? Does it mean you are going to throw up? I have read that throwing up is a good way to get your band slipped. This is one thing I'm worrying about.

TIA!

Tia,

Yes it hurts like crazy to when you get something stuck and it can be very dangerous so break your pills in half and cut your food up really small. You should know that you can get pain though even without having anything stuck. Lots of people think that if they have pain, they have food stuck but that is not always the case.

I experienced the same thing from time to time and I can tell you what has caused mine and what has helped in the past. For me, it was sometimes that something got stuck (I took a pill that was too large, or ate sushi rice, or the doughy part of bread), but usually it was just that I really needed to burp.

You see, I have made the discovery that for me, there are very few foods that actually get stuck or that I cannot eat. The problem usually occurs when I let myself get too hungry and my stomach gets filled with a lot of air. Then, when I eat, as the food tries to pass through the band the air is being displaced by the food, but it has nowhere to go because the food is blocking its escape at the band site. This is much like the air bubbles you get when you try to sink an empty glass or bottle into Water. Until that bubble breaks and the air escapes, the Water (or food in this case) cannot get in. When this happens, the pressure builds up in your esophagus and presses on your diaphragm and causes the pain in the shoulder. This will sometimes happen, even with my Protein shakes, so it is not that my food pieces are too large or the wrong consistency, it is just the mechanics of the band and our stomachs.

My solution has usually been to ask my husband to burp me. Yeah, I know, it sounds crazy, but I know now why babies cry if you don't burp them properly, it hurts! Sometimes I can make myself burp if it is not too bad, but I have never been very good at that, so I usually ask for his discreet help. I doesn't usually take too much, just a few well placed pats on the back and it dislodges the food or pops the air pocket and I burp like a sailor and go on eating as before.

I hope this helps you some, but do follow up with your doctor if it continues. I have read many stories of people waiting it out and making the problem much worse than it needed to be. And if you have a true blockage (say from a pill or something) that is nothing to mess around with.

[cymbalom 0]

Oh, boy, that sounds kind of scary! I can easily see it happening, too. Well, just another thing to deal with, I guess --- thanks so much for the honest information!

Angie in Texas, US

[Laura_MD 5]

It's not really that scary, you just have to be careful and follow the rules. And remember, sometimes you just need to burp, so let it out!

[jelbel 0]

I have had the same experience , especially when guests were supposed to come and were late. I would eat something and boom!

It hurt a lot!

I will ask someone to burp me ha ha!!!

[Genea 0]

I've been banded for two months and I just had my second fill yesterday. At dinner tonight I made some chicken tenders and was eating and talking to my grandson. All of a sudden I had a very sharp pain in my stomach and realized I was stuck. Boy I do not want to go through that again. Pain, Slym (sp) and pressure, I'm sipping some hot tea and it seems to be helping. I do not want to go through that again, it was not fun. I can see I have to take smaller bites and eat a lot slower. I guess it will be mushes for a couple of days for me. I don't want to stress anything for a couple of days.

Gene