The Slime Ball Effect...???

Ok, if you get grossed out easily… stop reading now.    I had my second fill last week (Thursday) and thought I was doing pretty well. But I think I have a hard time reading my “signs"?? Or maybe I’m still eating too fast?? Not chewing enough??  I can still eat a fair amt of food, so I don’t think the band is too tight. And it’s not every time I eat... I had a hamburger one day, no problem. Turkey sausage the next and ouch. Shrimp one day no problem. Chicken today, and ouch.    Either way, for the last 2 days, I’ve been having what I call the slime ball effect.    For example, today for lunch I had a half a baked chicken breast and a side salad. It took me about 25 min to eat it, since I was trying to take small bites and chew well. The chicken was paste in my mouth, so I assume that’s good enough?? When my chest started to feel pressure, I stopped.    Then I got the hiccups. This is when I usually know I’m in trouble.    What went from a semi uncomfortable pressure went to “OMG I NEED TO GET THIS OUT OUCH OUCH OUCH!!!" I sat for the next 5 min just trying to relax and see if it would pass. The hiccups stopped and then I started to feel something in the back of my throat. When I went in to the bathroom to gag it up, (I can’t call it throwing up because my stomach doesn’t really contract, just my throat) big slime ball gobs come out. They’re clear and tasteless, but they sure feel weird. Who knew your body produced that?!?!? I don’t throw the food up, just the slimy stuff. And after about 5 or 10 min, I feel perfectly fine.   Anywho… what I think is happening is when I get the hiccups, it pulls the food into the stoma, blocking the “exit". My system starts to produce the “slime" to digest the food, but since it doesn’t go anywhere, it sits on top of the food and builds up until I can feel it in the back of my throat and either choke or gag it up.    My question is… Am I going past my stopping point and not realizing it? Any idea on what causes the hiccups? Cuz I think it’s those little buggers that are my problem. I’m fine until the hiccups start but I’m never sure what sets them off. Any suggestions??   And please, remember I’m still new to all this and trying to figure this all out… So no lectures, please?? Thank you for your help. 

Krystie,

I can't answer any of your questions so I'm not a lot of help there.  I know PB'ing is an unfortunate possibility with Lap Band surgery, one of the least pleasant it appears.  I have not PB'ed at all, nor vomited during the almost 5 months I have been banded.  I am also a newbie like you.  What I CAN share is that I just cannot eat anything that is too dry.  Chicken breast to me is a real no no.  I can eat SOME chicken strips but they have to have been marinated or somehow coated with something.  I have done far better with the chicken thighs and I was never a "dark meat" eater because of the supposed fat.  Honestly, it's higher in protein, not horribly high in fat, and really goes down far far easier.  I also can't do some salmon cuts and other fish cuts and definitely NOT warmed up or left over fish products.  I get this horrible "stuck" feeling and it is not pretty.  I do not have a fill so I get kinda stuck, if that makes sense.

Sounds like a pretty crappy experience you had.  I know that sometimes when people feel stuck like that they used the Papaya Enzyme and it helps.  Heck, it has helped me a couple of times.  But I don't know if your PB'ing was too far along to stop.  I have had a hiccup that for me indicates my "soft stop" but not hiccuping that turns into PB'ing.

Hopefully some of the vets will be able to help you.

Hmnn... I wonder if it is dry protein, then?? Because the other chicken that went down ok, was a chicken tender I had cut up into a salad w/ dressing. Today, I ate the chicken seperately and it WAS kind of dry. The other problem was turkey sausage, and I wondered before I ate it because of the casing and they tend to be dryer than stewed or roasted meats. The hambuger was thick, juicy and not over cooked.

Both times it felt like something was getting "stuck" trying to slide through the opening, before the hiccups started. Not lubed well enough?? Lol.

Now you have me thinking... I'll need to be extra careful when eating anything that might be considered on the "dry" side and see what happens. Gotta remember the Papaya Enzyme. Does it work quickly?

Oh!! And grats on your progress!!

I've had my band for 2 yrs and it is wild when it comes to those slime balls. You will learn how to listen to your body and know when to say when as far as portions. I've been a bad bander and allowed my band to get far too tight and gained weight due to not wanting to remove fluid. I ended up eating icecream and other bad foods because real would not go down. You are doing good so don't be like me and get too tight...it won't be pretty. My coworker actually had a slippage.

That is what we call "sliming".  That "slime" is stuff that your body sends down to help food that is stuck to get through your esophogus.  You could call it your body's lubricant.  With banded people the slime doesn't help, it makes things worse.  So, you are correct, it does get backed up and needs to find an exit. 


If you are chewing as well as you say your, it could be a food that you can just no longer tolerate.  Some of us experience that.  It doesn't necessarily mean your band is too tight, but always try to be as honest as you can with yourself when it comes to the tightness of your band.  Our bodies inside and out are all different from each other and react differently to different foods, restriction levels and full signals. 

Hiccups are usually a sign that I have reached my stopping point....so, this could be what's causing the sliming when you are eating.  It is very hard for us to adjust mentally to eating such a small amount of food.  Over 3.5 years out, and I STILL can't believe it sometimes! 

Good luck!

I just got my first fill last week and am pretty happy with the restriction, I can eat the recommended amounts of food and can eat most things -  but I am discovering that there are certain foods that I don't tolerate - producing the same effect you just described. Chicken breast is one of them - especially reheated and lettuce is another - it just plain gets stuck no matter how small it is or how well I chew it. I can tolerate any bread except white bread and pancakes are out.  I have also discovered that if I get too hungry then I eat too fast and the same thing happens. It has only happened a few times but it is gross! 

 nurse here, never grossed out by conversations about body fluids. As a banded person, I found chicken off limits for almost a year. I needed moist foods and softer foods. I did well with salads because of the water content and I chewed them better, Even today, 6 years out, I slimed after 1/3 of a slice of pizza, and found myself searching and in a mini panic because I didn't know where the bathroom was. But I love my band. I have worn the same size for FIVE, yes FIVE years. I was just thinking about that today, as I was driving towards that slice of pizza, how much more in control I feel about everything in my life. 

I did some sliming myself last night. It was my own fault but it sure hurts. I wasn't really stuck because the food went down after a bit but it wouldn't until I got rid of the slime. Ewwwww.
As a paramedic I don't get grossed out, we can discuss decapitations over dinner. Of course that makes us unwelcome at nicer places.  This sliming is a whole nuther thing, though. I need to be more careful and pay attention when my body says "Enough" and to be more careful about what I choose. I learn the hard way.

Grannymedic -- you make me laugh!  One of my older brothers worked for the famliy's wrecker biz in Portland and always came home with very "lively" dinner conversation about how bad people were in wrecks.

Thank you everyone for all the replies. looking back over the last few days... Dry definitely seems to be my problem. That and going slow enough for my head to register the signals. What can I say... 36 yrs of habits are hard to break and i never was a slow eater. Again... Thank you all for the input.