What's my problem?

I has my first fill last Thursday. 2cc in a 10cc band. I do not have "restriction." Meaning I can eat and eat like normal and never really feel full. My question is...when I eat bread such as slice bread, hamburger or hotdog buns, toast, or tortilla's....I have horrible pain just after I swallow. Like withn 3 seconds of swallowing. Drinking only make it worse, but it's my natural response to this. I am not choking but its horrible pain and then after about 30 seconds, I feel it go on down. It occurs with "drier" food.  From the first bite to the last. What is this? I have tried chewing more and taking smaller bites, which I admit, is still a hurdle for me. Any suggestions???

What your decribing is very common for sure. Dry meats and bread are not band friendly. They are probably foods to stay away from. As far as loosing weight you probably want to stay away from bread anyway. You are right that you want to take small bites and chew well. Good luck!

Hi, you will get tired of hearing this on this board, but just because you can,doesn't mean you should.  If you are wanting to lose weight, it works better to stay away from hamburger/hotdog buns etc.  Bread can be difficult and it can cause a stuck episode.  I don't eat bread now.  When I first had my band I did eat the wheat sandwich thins. As far as drier foods, I use fresh salsa with my meat, it's low in cals and adds moisture.  Sometimes I might do BBQ sauce or lite ranch, but that adds more cals.

When I first got my band, I though restriction would mean that I would eat a little and feel full.  Well for ME, I have never felt full.  Restriction means for ME, that I can eat 3 oz of dense meat like  chicken and 1/4-1/2 cup of a non starchy veggie and I'm not hungry for 4 hours or more.  Now head hunger is another story.   

If you are feeling pain, you need to stop.  I would encourage you to follow your surgeon's eating plan. I'm doubting that they want you to "eat and eat like normal".  As you get more fluid in your band that will get you into problems of getting stuck, sliming or where the food comes back up.  OR stretching your pouch or esophagus or causing a slip.  I have been very careful to follow the rules as far as volume of food goes. I don't want to mess up my band.  I have only had 4 stucks in 2 years and I have never PB'd ( where the food comes back up easily)

Measure out your food,( I weigh my meat on a WW scale) put it on your plate and take 20-30 minutes, but no longer to eat it.  Wait to drink for the amount of time your surgeon said.  I have to wait at least 40 minutes. Just do this until it becomes a habit.

Hope this helps!
Kristi

Do yourself a huge favor and don't eat any bread. It's no good for you and it will make it harder for you to lose weight.

Remember, it is common for a fill to take 2-3 weeks to settle in. Now,I will chime in with the others and say that buns of any type are not a good thing. If you feel you must have something with a burger (I don't) try wrapping it in a lettuce leaf or a whole grain tortilla. You really must begin following the rules or when you reach your optimal fill level you will be in big trouble. I did well with losing weight even while unfilled by weighing and measuring, then stopping when I was finished. That puts you ahead of the game. If you are hungry, really hungry before around the four hour mark then have a small protein snack. My surgeon allows a protein snack in the evening, as well.

Right now I only have 2.5 cc in my 10cc band, so it isn't the amount of fluid you have it is about satiety and that takes paying attention to. I often feel like I could eat more when I finish my meal but find that if I get busy with something else I will later think "Oh, I'm not hungry after all". It was tough the first few months but if you can master it you will be glad in the long run.

The band doesn't keep us from eating, it just gives us a fighting chance in the war against obesity. The rest is up to us.

Good luck, Sue

Kristi's & Sue's responses were excellent. I just want to reinforce what they said and suggest that you start rethinking what "full" really means. My pre-op idea of full was Thanksgiving Dinner full, and I'm glad to say I rarely experience that kind of full these days. When I do, it was because I wasn't paying enough attention and/or was eating for reasons unrelated to physical hunger and satiety -- for example, the food tasted so good, I wanted to go on eating it forever even though I'd already had enough to meet my nutritional needs. I work hard to avoid that now for several reasons.
1. the fifteenth bite never tastes as good as the first bite
2. if I pack my pouch with food, I'm risking dilation of my esophagus and/oor pouch
3. if I pack my pouch with food, I'm risking a band slip
4. overeating is the reason I got fat in the first place, so I can't go on doing it and maintain a
     healthy weight for the rest of my life

In your post, you said  I can eat and eat like normal, but if you're experiencing pain after eating bread products, you are not in fact able to eat like normal. And that's a good thing. The whole point of WLS is to change your eating so that you can lose weight. Although you may feel right now as if your fill didn't make any difference, your body is telling you that it did. Don't be surprised if your new experience of "restriction" changes over the next few weeks. It may seem to disappear as you adjust your eating skills, or to increase because for reasons no one's been able to explain to me, it can take up to 2 weeks for a fill to kick in.

Bread or other doughy food items (donuts, muffins, pasta, noodles, etc.) are iffy for a lot of bandsters because they get so gummy when combined with saliva. Sometimes I can eat toasted or crispy bread items, sometimes not, and even when I can eat that stuff, I can only eat 2-3 bites.  If I feel any discomfort after taking a bite of something like that, I just have to stop eating it. That's why I try to eat the protein first, then veggies, then fruits, at each meal, before I attempt a starchy food. It's extremelly frustrating to get stuck on a wad of bread and be unable to finish the meal when I'm physically hungry.

Jean

 My experience with the band is similar. I think you need to go over the RULES with your nutritionist.

For me,
1. I cannot DRINK at all with my meal. I must drink way before, or way after. It's like a drain, my food gets stuck and the liquid does NOT make it go down. Stay away from drinking while eating solid foods.
You will feel better.
2. Breads and rolls need to be eaten (if at all) in extremely small bites, and CHEW CHEW CHEW until it is completely mushed up ...then swallow and WAIT 2  minutes....give the food the time to PASS threw the band.
3. Dry foods are my enemy. I try NOT to eat these at all unless i moisten them up with some chicken broth or yogurt, for example.

You will get over the "hurdle" as you say by practicing these new habits. 

Best of luck!

Suzanne

HW 276
CW 217
GW 165

 No bread.  What kind of food plan did your surgeon put you on?  I was told protein first, then fruits and veggies, never bread.  It will hurt and fill you up with carbs which will not help you lose the weight.  I am about a year out, and MAYBE I can have a bite of bread... MAYBE!  That is is just so I can taste it.  If you must eat bread type foods, stick to whole grain, well toasted bread, or even whole grain crackers, but really bread just doesn't fit with a bandsters lifestyle.  Good luck.

 I got the feeling of a pulsating throat.  I swallowed then pain but in waves like my throat was still trying to tumble it around and make it go down.  I never ate after that happened, and yes, drinking does not help at all.  I have found only whole grains work well and only in small portions, and chew till the cows come home and then some.  You'll find after a while it's just too much work and you'll for go any starchy carb.  I can still eat ribeye steak-which is my all time favorite, but I eat far less and chew far longer.  I only have 2.5 cc in my band and still feel no restriciton.  Everyone is different-some feel it some people I know have had 6 fills and finally feel it.  I'm going for my third in 2 weeks-hopefully I'll feel something.  Though, after eating I am not hungry for quite some time, but I also have lowered my portions-so I may have some restriction and I just don;t know it as I'm not testing the threshold.  Eating a lot slower really helped my stomach signal the brain that I was full-what i used to eat in 8-10 min I now have to really stretch into 20-25 min and far smaller portions.  It's hard to keep chewing a tiny little portion, also not wanting to shove more food in your mouth while you are half done is another issue for me.  I really have to just stop.  Eat, swallow, and after swallowing I count to 50 and take another bite.  Sure its a pain in the you know what...I also mix my foods- protein with a veggie -small pieces of each as the veggie kinda wets the protein.  You'll just have to do a trial and error thing to see what works for you and I hope you can avoid any pain in the process.  Best of luck and everyone in this forum has the best tips and help.  Good luck!!

I agree with what everyone else said. I do have to be honest, there is no way that I would of even tried to eat a bite of that stuff. I'm over 2 years out and still rarely have hamburgers, let alone one on a bun. Be very careful, you can really do damage to yourself.