Saliva, tightness, choking and all that jazz

I got some really good advice yesterday from the UKGastricBand forum. One piece of advice was to take Gaviscon for the heartburn. My husband very kindly went out and bought some Gaviscon liquid today while I have been at work - so I haven't tried it yet. However, I have heard about Gaviscon and believe they have a very good reputation. I don't intend taking it in the long term - just long enough to get me over this current bout of extreme tightness and associated acid.

Another nugget of information I got was from a lady who herself has experienced this odd thing of finding it easier to get solid food down than liquid. I was so relieved to find someone else who had experienced this because I really was starting to think I was going mad!! I guess it's possible that solid food kind of 'pushes' its way through the stoma of the pouch into my main stomach, whereas liquid may just 'sit around' and temporarily block the stoma. I have certainly felt something that can only be described as a 'suction' effect sometimes - this may be when the liquid makes it to the other side (of the stoma) so to speak!

I am aware that stress, emotions, 'that time of the month' and other things can be a reason for the band suddently getting very tight. A man at the Healthier Weight support group told us about a time when he was experiencing huge stress at work. He found that over the course of a week, he went from having 'normal' restriction to a point where he couldn't even swallow his own saliva! And in his case, he had not just had a fill as I have, but had been banded a couple of years before - so this really was completely out of the blue. He had to get an emergency aspiration.

I don't think I am anywhere near that point - but I did have a bit of a fright this morning. I woke up in the early hours half choking. I rushed into the bathroom and had to spit out some saliva. I remembered this man's story and wondered if I was experiencing the same thing. I slowly drank through a cup of hot water and reassured myself that all was OK - I could at least get liquid down. In hindsight, this morning's experience was almost certainly related to the fact that I went swimming last night - swimming late in the evening always makes me very snotty next morning - so I suspect I was simply 'choking' on a bit of snot / saliva in the back of my throat (sorry if this is all a bit too graphic - hope you're not eating while you read this!!!).

There is a hint that my band restriction may not be quite as ridiculously tight today, although having said that, I have so far eaten very little (haven't really felt the need!). I haven't had quite so much pain and fluids are going down slightly quicker (I can drink 0.5 litres in about one hour, as opposed to two!!!).

I will persevere and be patient and see what tomorrow brings.....