Question about food getting stuck

I'm researching the possibility of getting a band. When you eat something sticky (like bread or pasta) and it gets caught and won't travel past the band, does swallowing a sip of liquid help it to get through?

Thanks

Not usually...it swells up and gets stuck even more most of the time.  I cannot eat pasta, bread etc most of the time.

Thanks.  What about a piece of food that is too big to pass through?  Does it eventually dissolve in the esophagus?

Not usually.  It's important to cut all your food into pea sized pieces to insure this doesn't happen.  I do this at the beginning of my meal, especially if I'm in a social situation.  That way I never take a bite that's too big.  Drinking rarely works with stuck episodes, the fluid just sits there, till it comes up.

I don't agree with Stephanie, probably because we're answering from our own personal experience. Eventually, stuck food will get broken down by stomach contractions and digestive juices so that it can pass through the stoma. In the meantime, it can make you very, very miserable, and your upper GI tract can get so irritated and inflamed that it's hard even to drink clear liquids. Since you want to avoid emergency unfills, and don't want to have a stuck episode in a social situation, prevention is key. Take tiny bites, chew very well, eat slowly, don't drink while you eat. That kind of eating applies to all WLS procedures, not just the band. I have to eat just as carefully with my sleeve as I did with my band. Which is fine, because it forces me to pay attention and enjoy the food instead of shoveling it down without tasting it.

Drinking any kind of liquid when I was banded just made the stuck episode worse.

i'm almost two years out with the band. still cannot eat bread. if it's toasted, practically burnt, sometimes i can, but even then it's a toss up. steak gives me trouble nearly all the time. pasta doesn't bother me, neither does brown rice, however chinese sticky rice served in restaurants will give me a problem. roughage, like broccoli, gets stuck on me unless it's steamed to the point of mush.

sipping liquid does not help because when food gets stuck it plugs it up like a drain. liquid just sits on top of it and typically makes the problem worse. it's one of many reasons why banded people are told to not to eat and drink at the same time.

when i get stuck, sometimes standing up and walking around is enough to shift it through the band. putting my hands above my head sometimes will help on occasion, but more often then not when i get stuck, the food unfortunately comes back up before it can pass through, depending on stuck i am.

Drinking never helps! I can not get down rice, pasta, or breads...Once you get something stuck...trust me...you will learn to stay away from it!

Whatever WLS you choose, and I don't recommend the band, you will need to eat a different way before surgery.  Preop and postop there are requirement to follow.  When you think you've decided which surgery is best, find out what will be required and start living that way.  

If I drink, usually I will vomit. It just comes up because there is no where for it to go.

Hi cdoss

I have had been banded for 5 yrs. Everyone here is different, we are like a set of finger prints.  

All WLS do not want you to drink with your meal, as liquids pu**** out of your stoma faster, and then you will want to eat sooner.  They ask for you to wait at least 30 to 60 minutes before drinking. Nutritionist told me that as part of a therapy for gerd, they tell their patients to wait before drinking.  Dr. wife told us WLS patient or not, liquids push food out of your system faster when drinking anything with a meal.

As others have shared the foods that are fiberous (brocolli)  in texture, or like bread & pasta get gooey. But really bread and pasta were expanding our waistlines anyway, so why bother there are other healthier options to focus on like, vegetables. As far as Chewing your food throughly is actually a good habit for anyone to do WLS patient or not. 

Everyone here has their own experience and oppions,

Good luck in any decission you make,

prek3