Please help me understand this...seriously.

Thanks Maria, I guess everyone experiences the band in a different way, I am thinking surgeons are installing the band differently on people and some people have shorter esophagus, or they other issues going on that can't be explained.

My thinking was many people were not slowing down to eat or take pea size bites, because regardless of which restrictive surgery it is such as  RNY, or the Sleeve most people have to slow down when eating otherwise it would cause vomiting, but the only difference is with the band, if you don't slow down the band will slip and cause issues, there are not many consequences with the Sleeve or RNY if you throw up often, other than ruining the esophagus.

For me, the only times I've gotten food stuck is when I ate too quickly or my band was really too tight.

When our bands become "fickle", it can be many reasons.  A common occurrence is scar tissue that forms constricting the stomach  independent of the band.  Another is the stomach tissue gathered up inside the band.  Others are very sensitive to hydration, heat, cold, stress, altitude, etc.  a tremendous number of us have experienced these problems which are unrelated to eating habits and cannot be managed by a set of rules.

The sleeve is restrictive in the sense that it restricts how much your stomach can hold.  The band is restrictive in 2 ways.  One it restricts how much the top part can hold but it also restricts how fast it pushes through to the bottom part so that is why as bandsters we can get food stuck. When our bands are tight the top part fills up and if the food isn't well chewed it is going to get stuck.    Sleevers still have a normal passage way  just a reduced stomach size.

Sleevers still have a normal passage way  just a reduced stomach size.

That statement does not apply to me and my sleeve. I was sleeved on August 16th and have had 2 stuck episodes for the exact same reason as the stuck episodes I had when banded: I ate too fast, took bites that were too big, didn't chew well enough, etc. That may always be a possibility for me, or it may be that my upper GI tract is still irritated from the surgery, and/or it may be related to my sleeve size (done with a relatively small 34fr bougie).

It's my understanding that "stuck" episodes involve the esophagus as much as or more than the stomach. When researching Bandwagon (which was vetted for accuracy by a bariatric surgeon), I learned that the idea of band restriction due to the small upper stomach pouch and small stoma is becoming outdated in the bariatric surgery community. My rep at Allergan confirmed that. Surgeons and researchers can only guess at the band's true mechanism. Right now, the guess is that the pressure of the band against the vagus nerve in the fundus of the stomach is what creates early and prolonged satiety. Peristalsis (muscular contractions that move food through the GI tract) also activates the vagus nerve when you eat solid food (but not much when you drink liquids or eat soft foods). Having the patient eat a barium-coated sandwich or other food during an upper GI study shows that the food usually moves through the stoma very quickly, and some researchers believe that the physical motion of food going through the stoma is another thing that creates satiety (in any WLS patient).

Tracy, I agree that the band is a bit different in how it holds food at the top of the stomach and then slowly dumps down in the lower stomach, but from what I hear, many Sleever will STILL VOMIT and I hear IT'S REAL VOMIT..not like a PB...if they eat too fast, they call it the foamies and I hear it's just as painful as getting food stuck with the band.

My sister had her stomach stapled years ago, similar to the Sleeve and she vomited after every single meal. even pulling over the side of the road after we'd eat out..very disgusting, my reason for not getting bypass or any other surgery that staples the stomach , with ME I rarely  PB with my band (because I can control how fast I eat which prevents it) and I am very happy about that.

I have had my Sleeve now for 9 weeks.  I love it.  I can tolerate any food.  I eat solid white meat and have no problem.  I chew the way I did with my LapBand.  Toward the end of time with my Band, I was sliming and vomiting almost constantly.  4 to 5 times a day if not more.  I have not slimed or foamed or vomited once with my Sleeve.  Maybe because I pay very close attention to my portion sizes.  I measure just as I did with my Band (4 oz) servings and eat 5 times a day.  I never get hungry.  I eat because it's time to eat, which is different from the LapBand.  My doctor with my Band used to tell me, not to eat until I was hungry.  Well, I'd never eat if I did that now.  It is restrictive and that is why my surgeon told me I'd do better with the Sleeve than with RNY.  He said a purely restrictive procedure would be good for me, since I was so successful with the Band.

I love not vomiting anymore.  It does work the way my Band worked before I had band problems -- only now the hunger is gone.

In reference to GERD or Reflux.  This is common because your stomach puts out the same amount of acid as it did prior to surgery.  It thinks you have 100% of your stomach and you only have 15%.  My surgeon said it eventually realizes your stomach is smaller.  I had some Reflux and I was started on OTC Prilosec.  It has resolved now.  The Reflux I had with the LapBand prior to having it removed was much worse.  I would wake up in the middle of the night with my mouth filled with acid.  I was choking and having to sleep in an upright position. 

Hello...it's good that you are transitioning great with your Sleeve, but I find it extremely odd that people could NOT control vomiting with their bands. Could I have vomited very single meal with my band? YES especially if I did not follow rules and just ate food without caution or chewing properly.

Even when my band was extremely tight I did not slime and vomit at every meal I would just adjust my eating to very moist mushy meals and I avoided vomiting. I experienced the reflux and choking with my old band and that was because I had pouch dilation and undiagnosed hiatal hernia and I could not keep a very tight fill, so that was resolved when I went back and removed saline, and I did not have the choking reflux.

But turns out...the choking reflux was because I had a very large undiagnosed hiatal hernia that was causing this issue and my previous surgeon was very poor at diagnosing what was really wrong with my band.

I am extremely happy that I decided to get a new band instead of revising to another procedure, with my new band so far, I don't require any PPI, because my new surgeon dissected and removed all adhesions and had to dig out my hernia and fix it and this has cured my reflux so far and I think this new band journey will be a lot better than my old one.

My new surgeon also mentioned that my old band never worked properly because of the undiagnosed hiatal hernia that was never fixed, he is surprised that I lost weight with my band, I told him, I lost weight because I kept my meals small and walked very single day...that is how I lost weight...this time I will get more help from my band without all the reflux and I am so happy.

But even with my old band, I could always eat chicken, ground meat, beef, steak without throwing up as long as I chewed well and I got full even with a bad hiatal hernia....with my new band, I can eat soft proteins so far and get full quicklly....my new band works great and I am very grateful.

Wishing you a happy journey with your Sleeve!

My experience is that vomiting can be induced, but if it is occurring and you haven't caused it, you cannot stop it without very strong Meds.   When i was pregnant, i had hyperemesis, and only ivs and suppository medication could bring releif.  I lost 19 lb in the first trimester, another 10 the second.  

As far as the band goes, there is no rhyme or reason to it.  Often I will experience the loss of my meal an hour or more after eating.  I ate the proper amount, cut to the proper size, at the proper speed, chewed it till it was mush, felt fine.  Out of the blue, I start sliming and sooner or later I realize its coming up.

My GI doc thinks I'm having spasms due to IBS, and I have an endoscopy scheduled for Thursday.  He thinks the band is irritating the IBS and the IBS is irritating the band.

I was sliming on my protein drink. Milk and protein powder nothing more. I had a lot of inflammation from my acid reflux during the night. I could eat normally prior to the malfunction and I went 4 years without vomiting and only a few sliming episodes. I knew how to eat properly with my Lapband. Sliming on milk tells you I was too tight. The scar tissue and inflammation made eating And drinking impossible until late afternoon.