What to do when food gets "stuck"?

I'm 6 months post-Realize and have had 3 fills.  After the last one, I've gotten food stuck twice.  I think it happens when I eat too fast, or the food isn't moist enough.  So, what do we do when that happens? I know we arent supposed to drink while eating, but is that the best option, to wash the food down?  I coughed it up both times which was painful and kind of gross!  I would appeciate any advice! JP

Funny you should ask, because I'm in the 2nd hour of suffering after a stuck episode at lunch today and wishing for a magic solution.  Some people swear by chewable papaya enzyme tablets, other people say drinking pineapple juice helps.  I find that drinking anything when I'm stuck makes me feel worse.  I've never been able to regurgitate the stuck food, even when I tried to.   Jean

In my experience, drinking does not help, it only makes it worse. I have used the papaya enzyme a couple times and it helping seems to depend on what type of food is stuck. I have never tried to bring the food back up, I usually just suffer through it until it goes on through, usually 20 or 30 minutes. Sometimes, if I'm really stuck I will start slimming and when the slimming peaks and it feels like I may throw up, the food goes on through.  I'm almost one year out and have yet to PB....I have no idea what to do in that situation.

When I met with the Dr last week to talk about my post surgery diet he told me you could take meat tenderizer and mix a  small amount with water when you get stuck. I don't know if it works but there you have it.

Absolutely nothing, at least for me...

I throw up when I get stuck. Maybe not the best option but that is the only thing that works for me. If i EVER drink when I eat it causes me to throw up. That is a big no no for me. When I get stuck I have tried waiting it out, walking, doing something to take my mind off of it...nothing else helps!

Right this minute I am sipping on ho****er.  Little, tiny , eany- weany sips.  Sometimes when I get stuck, I just have to throw up and I know it, because I start  getting  a cold sweat .  Other times, it just is ever so slowly scraping though the band opening and killing me on the way.  That is when I sip ho****er.   I have tried walking and stretching  and other activity to no avail.  It's either going to come up or go down slowly.  For me it is usually quick.  10 minutes either way- generally.

This certainly is no fun!  I think it depends on the type of stuck you are... I have been stuck on a pill and just had to wait it out with sips of hot liquid, when I have been stuck on carbs I typically  Pb'd it, and when stuck on protein I use bromelain (pineapple enzyme).  Drinking a small, small, small amount of pineapple juice or chewing a papaya enzyme tab can only help if protein is stuck as it breaks down protein, not carbs(or at least this is what I was told at the health food store).  Pineapple (Bromelain) is stronger than papaya, but so far I have only found it in capsules.  I have to actually break up the capsules and mix them with the tiniest bit of pineapple juice (1/4 tsp) and then slowly take it down.  It tastes nasty, but so far has moved through any protein that has gotten stuck.  This is probably why people choose papaya enzymes as they come in chewable form and why people choose pineapple juice..however..I just find the bromelain to work faster.  As for drinking water with something stuck, typically it justs comes right back up.  That is no fun and talk about projectile.  Be careful doing that...when something is stuck, anything above it wants to come back out, which is why we slime.  Throwing liquids on it in full force is adding fuel to the fire. WITH that said, everyone is different.  Some put there hands over their head and walk around, others sip hot drinks, others take enzymes, so try different things and see what works best for you.   Hang in there!  . 

I've only had one major stuck episode -- which landed me in the infirmary on Christmas Day on a Carnival Cruise -- OY!!! They tried all sorts of injections to relax my esophogas, my stomach, etc -- meanwhile I kept begging them to just knock me out because I was in panic mode which was making it worse. They finally listened to me and that worked -- meanwhile I covered their hospital room in spit, slime and drool!!! My surgeon said afterward that the only thing that would have worked was to loosen the band.    That experience has helped me when I get minor stickages -- I stop and take deep relaxing breaths and it helps loosen things up and I can actually feel the food sliding down. I can't sip anything because it doesn't go down. The first time I made that mistake it was with red-colored Crystal Light and everything was tinted pink in my near vicinity.... The doctor on the ship insisted I try to drink something even though I protested vigorously, and I quickly proved him wrong.     I don't really throw up, not food anyway -- I can't swallow my own spit and then I retch up mucous (BLEH!!!) -- the only time food ever came up was on the ship -- it was teeny tiny little pieces of lettuce -- it was disgusting -- I couldn't eat salad for weeks! But seriously, I tend to get tighter when I'm stressed or nervous and that's usually when I get stuck -- the deep breaths really help.

I have had some realllly unpleasant episodes (without any fills since my surgery in August 07).  Yesterday was the worst.  I had just eaten a low-fat granola bar.  My nutritionist says it sometimes happen if you haven't eaten recently so that when you do eat, your throat "grabs" your food.  In any case, I usually try to vomit, but when that didn't work, I finally laid down, could finally hear my throat gurgling, and after about 30 minutes, it seemed ok.  It was terrible though, so I went  strictly on liquids for the day later.  I always have trouble with chicken, so I avoid it.  Steak is ok if it is very rare, and hence moist.  Drinking anything seems to make me worse, because if anything it seems to make whatever is stuck swell up.  I just try very hard to eat very slowly, small, small bites, and more often than not I tend to stay away from anything fibrous.  Can result in a somewhat boring diet, but I can say that these episodes really get your attention!