Feels like food stuck in chest

Hi, all. I've been lurking here since before my surgery May 24, 2010 and have finally become motivated to post a question. I'm just short of 6 weeks post-op, and having issues with food that feels like it is not "going down." I am eating the required small amounts and chewing well, etc, but several times in the past two weeks, I have felt like a heavy weight is on my chest after eating. More specifically, it feels like food is still in my throat and not going to my pouch. It becomes somewhat painful and is accompanied by what sound like digestion noises coming up.

A couple of times, I've thrown up and the pressure/pain stops almost immediately, but when I don't the feeling can continue overnight and into the next day. I have a 6-week follow up visit with my surgeon on Friday, but this is very uncomfortable. Any ideas? (By the way I can drink water without issue).

Thanks

I am 5 weeks out and I have had similar issues.  I feel like I have kind of heartburn type pain after I eat sometimes, but not always.  And the sound of digestion noises coming up--yep, I've been wondering about that too!  I[ve had that ever since my surgery.  It seems to be relieved by pain pills and gets worse when it's time for another one.  At  first I was confusing this with a hunger stomach growl.

Ken,

Sounds like the "foamies" minus the foam.  What food is it?  If it is meat that is too dry or sinewy it could be causing issues.

If you did not know it there is a Men's board on OH also:

http://www.obesityhelp.com/forums/men/

Don't misunderstand, I get the foamies as well with this! It seems as if anything beyond soup, cottage cheese or yogurt can start me up. I've had occassion with chicken (perhaps too dry as it was "fajita strips" - I'm in Texas, too), ground beef (meatball), roasted turkey and tuna. The list sounds like I'm eating a big variety of foods, however I've had only one meal with each of these and an incident each time. I'm living on  yogurt and cottage cheese and had hoped to add some meat for protein as well.

Hang in there till Friday and talk to your doc about it.

What part of Houston?  I went to HS in Tomball back in the Carter years.  My mom's significant other had his appendix out and she is there tending to him this weekend.

Will do. Thanks for the advice.  Actually, I'm not far from Tomball in Cypress.

Sounds like you are doing everything right - taking small bites and chewing well.  I can tell you from experience this normally happens to me when I've not chewed the food small enought.  And it normally happens when I eat dense protien foods such s chicken or beef. I am over a year out of surgery and it just happened to me yesterday!!  I ate a couple pieces of chicken and some potato salad and then I got that 'stuck' feeling and knew right away I had not chewed the chicken well enough.  I ended up 'throwing it up' and instantly felt better.

I guess my advice to you would be to try even smaller bites and chew, chew, chew.  But the 'stuck' feeling is very normal.

Ken,
I am 4 1/2 yrs post-op.  I started having this problem about 6 months post-op.  My bariactric surgeon sent me to a gastro-enterologist (spelling wrong I know).  He said I needed an endoscopy (instrument down throat with camera), to see how much scar tissue I had which could be blocking the food from passing from the stomach to my instestine. In fact, I had a lot of scar tissue, and ended up having several endoscopy's which also cut away the scar tissue.  I also developed a stomach ulcer.  Because of this scar tissue/stomach ulcer blockage, I was vomiting quite a lot.  I am only telling you this because, you said you were going for your follow-up, and maybe you could mention this to your surgeon.  To this day, I am not able to eat any meat except a little ground meat.  But I eat beans and whole grains for my protein.

I am also from the Houston area, and went to school in Tomball.  What a small, small world!!!

Good luck,
Laurie

I have the same thing happen, even though I take tiny bites and chew really well.  I never have any "foaming" issues that others talk about, but boy oh boy, that stuck feeling is awful.

So far, it only happens with chicken...even moist chicken.  So for now I am staying clear of chicken.

What helps me is that I chew three or four Papya Enzyme tablets (got at Walmart) and it makes me feel much better.

Hopefully this will resolve over time for both of us!

Strangely almost every stuck episode for me involves one pill I have to take three times a day.  Sometimes I think it must go in sideways as it only happens about once a week.  The rest of what I eat that day and sometimes the next also leads to the stuck feeling after the first episode. 
The first time it happened I could not do anything that day but sit back in a recliner and try to get rid of the stuck feeling.  I threw up that time but my pouch contiued to be sore for two days.  Now I am good after about 30 minutes but I try to stick with protein shakes the rest of the day to avoid more sticking.  I was told that at this stage all of our bites should be cut to the size of a pencil head eraser and then chew it 20-30 times.  My pill is about 3 times the size of a pencil head so there you go.  I know my doctor will probably tell me to cru**** again but I hate the taste and it makes me nauseated!