Question:
Pain in the middle of my breast bone when I eat!

Hiya all! I have been having problems with eating. It seems whenever I eat something that is not complete mush or liquid I get a lot of pain and discomfort right in the middle of my breast bone. Even though I chew and chew it feels like there is something stuck there for a while then it passes. Anyone have any idea what this might be? Any help would be appreciated! Thanks!!    — Michele W. (posted on July 12, 2004)

July 12, 2004
You could have a stricture, which I had 6 times. They can be very painful when the food does not want to move. My strictures were caused by an ulcer from taking Vioxx. Call your doc in my opinion. Email me if you have other questions about strictures or ulcers. Take care...and feel better.
   — Karen Renee

July 12, 2004
Sounds like you are just eating a little too fast. Try slowing down and see if that works
   — Christin H.

July 12, 2004
I suffered this pain since 10 months postop. The best relief I got was to go throw up my meal. It seemed to only happen on my dinner meal. I believed that I had a closing stoma but never had it checked out until June 2004. My stoma was only closed to 12 and doc dialated to 15. I AM NOW PAIN FREE WHEN I EAT - WHY? I GAVE UP MY CAFFEENE FREE DIET POP. IT WAS THE CARBONATION ALL THIS TIME. Good luck
   — bbjnay

July 12, 2004
Michelle, You don't say how far out you are, either here or in your profile. If you are a new post op, then I can tell you that's exactly how I felt until I was about 2 months out. That was my signal that I was full. Liquids and mushy foods go down and through much easier and didn't leave me with a feeling quite like that, but when I put anything in with a little more substance, (even a soft scrambled egg would do it) then that was how I felt for probably about 30 minutes, the time it took to start digesting the "real" food through my new little pouch. I may have been eating too fast, since I was still trying to learn how to eat, I'm not sure. I just know after about 2 months, then I started to have a normal full feeling like pre op. If you are farther out then you could possibly have a stricture and it certainly wouldn't hurt to call your doctor just to check. In fact, it wouldn't hurt to call him anyway. Good Luck! CJ
   — C.j H.

July 12, 2004
Michelle, You don't say how far out you are, either here or in your profile. If you are a new post op, then I can tell you that's exactly how I felt until I was about 2 months out. That was my signal that I was full. Liquids and mushy foods go down and through much easier and didn't leave me with a feeling quite like that, but when I put anything in with a little more substance, (even a soft scrambled egg would do it) then that was how I felt for probably about 30 minutes, the time it took to start digesting the "real" food through my new little pouch. I may have been eating too fast, since I was still trying to learn how to eat, I'm not sure. I just know after about 2 months, then I started to have a normal full feeling like pre op. If you are farther out then you could possibly have a stricture and it certainly wouldn't hurt to call your doctor just to check. In fact, it wouldn't hurt to call him anyway. Good Luck! CJ
   — C.j H.

July 12, 2004
Hi...I don't know how far post op you are but I can tell you my symptoms. Somewhere around 8-10 weeks post op, I suddenly started to feel uncomfortably full after eating only a couple of bites of food. Then, I would be very nauseaous and would start to have dry heaves. I never brought any food up, but did bring up a foamy consistent fluid. I tried to figure it out for about 3 weeks by thinking I was eating too fast. Then, I thought I was not chewing enough. Next I thought it was because I was taking my blood pressure medicine on an empty stomach. But finally, at around 8-10 weeks post op, my surgeon did the EGD and found my stoma had a stricture which he popped out with a small balloon. Every thing was fine until the last 3-4 weeks. I developed the same symptoms after having a 3 week period where my mother was extremely ill and in the hospital. I had to stay with her during the days while Daddy stayed at night. I never thought about taking any protein bars or healthy food with me so I didn't get to eat much of anything until after I got home in the evening. I didn't drink nearly enough and didn't get any exercise during that three week period. After this 3 week time period, I noticed that I was having the same uncomfortably full feeling after only 2-3 bites of anything (and I still use an infant spoon to eat). I saw my surgeon last Friday and will be having an EGD tomorrow morning to see if I have another stricture or if I have an ulcer that has developed from all the stress (I don't think it's an ulcer because I've been on nexium since three weeks post op and I'm now 6 months 1 week post op. Hope this helps. Good luck and God bless.
   — Katherine F.

July 13, 2004
So Sorry! I forgot to mention how far along I am. I am a little over 6 weeks post-op.
   — Michele W.