vomiting and pain

[crowes_nest 0]

I am new here, I had my surgery on 2/12/09 and I have lost 50 lbs. so far I was filled 3 weeks ago and I have had problems with feeling stuck and vomiting, last night after vomiting my port was very noticeable and the area is sore, anyone here with similiar problems?

[Jodi_620 37]

You want to find the cause of the vomiting and fix it. Vomiting of course for anyone, is a sign that something is not right. For bandsters it could also cause slippage.

If you are taking small bites (about the size of the fingernail on your index finger), chewing well, and eating slowly. If you are eating band friendly foods and not drinking with your meal, then you are too tight and need to get a slight unfill.

Probably the muscles in your abs pushed the port forward while you were vomiting. It will be tender for a couple days if it hurts longer than that, talk to your doctor.

[ParrotheadCathy 0]

Are you actually vomiting? Or is it PBing? There is a big difference. PBing is bringing up a bit of food that is stuck -- not stomach acid, no heaving. Vomiting usually brings up the entire contents of your stomach. A lot of people don't distinguish between the two. If it's PB's, you might be too tight. Or eating too fast. Or taking bites that are too big; Or not chewing well enough.

If you are vomiting, you may have a virus and should talk to your doctor. Even food poisoning can make you vomit for what seems like forever. When I got food poisoning a few years ago, I thought I would throw up my toenails before it stopped. It went on for 14 hours. Vomiting involves that horrible heaving where your stomach convulses to push back everything that's in your stomach. That could have made your abdominal muscles sore, and your port is stitched to muscle.

SO, how much actually comes up? That's the easiest way to decide if it's vomiting or PBing. Then address the problem.

Hope that helps!

[sue in ne 1]

Hi, Either way, the area around the band will swell from the vomiting/PBing. This may explain your soreness and the port site being noticeable. Drop back to liquids for at least a day then gradually re-reintroduce consistencies. Do check with your physician if it continues and occurs every time. - Been there, done this. had a sinus infection with significant drainage- it filled my stomach so I did this every meal. Mell of a hess.

[Jodi_620 37]

Are you actually vomiting? Or is it PBing? There is a big difference. PBing is bringing up a bit of food that is stuck -- not stomach acid, no heaving. Vomiting usually brings up the entire contents of your stomach. A lot of people don't distinguish between the two. If it's PB's, you might be too tight. Or eating too fast. Or taking bites that are too big; Or not chewing well enough.

If you are vomiting, you may have a virus and should talk to your doctor. Even food poisoning can make you vomit for what seems like forever. When I got food poisoning a few years ago, I thought I would throw up my toenails before it stopped. It went on for 14 hours. Vomiting involves that horrible heaving where your stomach convulses to push back everything that's in your stomach. That could have made your abdominal muscles sore, and your port is stitched to muscle.

SO, how much actually comes up? That's the easiest way to decide if it's vomiting or PBing. Then address the problem.

Hope that helps!

I agree that we always need to distinguish between Vomiting and PB'ing. But there is band-related vomiting too. It is not always like a stomach virus where you throw up for hours upon hours and you may not even throw up the entire contents of your stomach. If you slip or are too tight you can heave or even burp up stomach acid, sometimes a lot- sometimes a little. Sometimes when I am too tight I will cough up just a little food mixed with stomach acid, it has happened after a fill too and that can make me gag or want to wretch. So quantity or whether there is stomach acid is not a surefire indicator.

No matter which is happening, if we are wretching, (and I have wretched when I was stuck too) we are convulsing our stomach muscles where our port is stitched and possibly our stomach and too much of that could cause pain in the port area and as I said, slippage of the band. Besides the wretching issue having the potential to cause pain or damage to the band, if we have too much stomach acid coming up it can cause damage to our esophagus, throat and teeth or we could get sick at night and asperate the vomit which can lead to pneumonia or worse.

It needs to be dealt with to avoid damage. Make sure you are eating properly if so then you should have your band checked under fluoro to make sure it is in proper place and see if you need an unfill. Note that even if it is a stomach virus, I have seen people come into my doctors office for a temporary unfill due to stomach virus just to avoid damage.

Edited June 15, 2009 by Jodi_620