Question:
What's up with the foam?

So, I got really sick yesterday after eating a few bites of chicken-- think I probably didn't chew well enough. I kept burping up and throwing up foam. Finally after 3 hours I felt this horrible burning sensation in my chest and then I was fine. Anyone know what this was?    — airbear762000 (posted on February 24, 2007)

February 24, 2007
Yeah I get the foamies too....also I cannot eat chicken unless it's the dark meat and very very moist. I thought it was because I didn't chew too, but the doc said sometimes chicken is too dry. I don't know what the foamies are, but I know that they are normal. Good luck and stay away from the chicken. DIane
   — Diane C.

February 24, 2007
I get this alot when I eat fast, too much or it's too dry. The only thing you can do is let it pass. I had whole wheat pizza today and I ate it too fast and I felt horrible until I finally burped and it was better! You probably had heartburn from the chicken.
   — Sheri A.

February 24, 2007
I get the foam if I try to throw up. Not to gross you out but it's spit/saliva that naturally gets swallowed during eating. If I don't thow up what I ate within 5 minutes of eating it, I throw up foam and the food won't come up. I have to wait for it to pass through and then I'll feel better. I just have had to learn what my limits are and not overeat, as well as what foods don't necessarily sit well. It gets bettter... honest!
   — oceanrayne

February 24, 2007
When I've "dumped", usually the first thing (and sometimes the only thing) that comes up is the white, frothy foam you wrote about. It's hard for me to pin down the cause. Sometimes only foam comes up. At other times the foam is followed by the remainder of what I ate. Sometimes I would dump on the same food that had stayed down perfectly well the day before. I think it may be caused, with me anyway, by not thoroughly chewing. It also happens, again not always, when I eat something with higher fat (or grease -- from cooking) content than I should be consuming or if I eat a quantity that is even slightly more than my pouch capacity. (I'm RNY.) For me this foam thing can happen easily with soft foods like scrambled egg or noodles (e.g., from chicken noodle soup or ramen) wherein larger chunks can be swallowed without difficulty. The very uncomfortable feeling I get when the foam forms is actually beneficial because I try to prevent it from happening. This slows me down when I eat and I chew more thoroughly. The foam is pretty much tasteless; nonetheless, I don't feel like eating again for several hours after it comes up. When I do eat again, the memory of the recent dump is fresh in my mind and I'm then very careful to chew, chew, CHEW. I can't remember dumping two meals in a row. The net effect is that my foam dumps have helped me to lose weight.
   — [Deactivated Member]

February 25, 2007
Welcome to bandland! What happened is your chicken got "stuck" and evetually passed through. I have had the same experience with chicken. I thought I was eating the right thing when eating a frozen lean cuisine dinner and the chicken got stuck so bad I had to go and have an emergency unfill!! No fun!! Occassionally I get things stuck, but to a much lesser degree. When I do its bc I am eating too fast or too big of bites- usually when I have waited too long to eat and got overly hungry. Its a learning process, hang in there!
   — suzyins.d.

February 25, 2007
I experienced this FOAMING for FIVE HOURS and had not eaten anything four hous prior to this event. My husband said enough and took me to E.R. Good thing he did! After all the foaming I started throwing up bile, was diagnosed with bowel obstruction and had emergency surgery. I was hospitalized for nine days. I was 16 months out when this happened and my second major complication since my RNY Sept 2005! I have lost 134 pounds so far! OHIO
   — NEETAJEAN

February 25, 2007
I used to get that all the time, and I still have trouble with chicken! I had to wait an hour after eating to drink, and an hour after drinking to eat. Also, be careful not to overeat.
   — Novashannon

February 26, 2007
I've experienced this foam many times too. I'm 7months out and 110lbs. down now...I've had the foam precede the vomiting up of what I ate or I've had just the foam...it is tasteless and the yucky feeling does go away and I try to learn from the experience. Good Luck! It's still well worth it!!!
   — zoeysgrami

February 28, 2007
After I first got the gastric bypass, I had a lot of trouble with foam. My doctor solved my problem by having me drink hot liquids before I ate. I usually just sipped on hot water for a while and it would make the foam disappear. It was a lifesaver.
   — lollie26

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