I’ve been having this problem for what seems like a year now and it’s very annoying. It was quite sudden too (at first I didn’t care much, thinking it would go away). I have no idea what could cause this. It seems to get worse after drinking coffee and eating heavy meals but even on an empty stomach I am frequently burping. I don’t notice any other symptoms like bad breath or acid reflux or anything. Maybe I’m passing more gas than usual below too, that’s certainly also frequent. There’s some stuff on the web but I’d like to hear what the teeming millions say. Why the sudden change? Could this be related to any illness? Any suggestions to understand what could cause this?
Standard disclaimer: not looking for medical advice, etc.
You need to see a doctor. When you say that you don’t notice acid reflux, I think what you mean is that you don’t notice classic heartburn, which is only one possible symptom of acid reflux. Other symptoms of acid reflux include exactly what you’re experiencing, especially when you say that it’s worse after drinking coffee or eating heavy meals.
That said, IANAD, and you need to see one to find out exactly what is going on and how it can be treated. I know from personal experience that with the proper medical advice, you don’t have to suffer from gastrointestinal distress.
You’re right of course, I should definitely see a doctor. I loathe doing that but it’s encouraging to know you found good medical care. As long as it doesn’t pose a health risk, I was hoping I might try a change of diet or something first, rule out some basic stuff. I’m pretty ignorant about gastrointestinal issues.
I had similar problems several years ago and even wound up getting a … procedure. Dang. Can’t remember the name, it sounded sort of like colonoscopy but wasn’t that. I drank some sort of liquid that filled up my stomach with air and then they looked at my innards on some sort of specialized computer screen. (Jeez, me. :smack: Anyone want to chime in with the real word?) Painless, at any rate, and a while later I belched like a drunken frat boy.
One of my issues that took me to the dr. was chronic burping - like you. With me, it’s often related to being a little nauseous, like if I’ve gone too long w/out food and my blood sugar’s dropping. What they told me was that I was swallowing air. It’s not something I’m doing consciously, I don’t notice doing it, but there you have it.
purplehorseshoe nailed it. One of my sons went through a stage of serial nervous tics. The first one I noticed was wrapping a strand of hair around a finger. The most annoying was clearing his throat 2-3 times a minute - nearly drove me insane. I never mentioned it to him because I knew that drawing attention to the tic only makes things worse. Eventually one tic would fade away as another arose to replace it. After this “tic” stage ended I spoke with him about it. He had no idea and was surprised to hear about it.
Anyway, swallowing air is one of these nervous tics. According to the doctor, 75% of people with tics have ADD (but very few ADD people have tics). If you ignore it the problem will, almost certainly, disappear just as mysteriously as it appeared. Of course you should speak to your doctor to rule out something worse but don’t go crazy shopping for a diagnosis if s/he tells you it is from swallowing air. I hope this problem clears up fast and stops bothering you. It must be quite uncomfortable.
It’s something to consider, thanks. But it seems weird that such a behavioural change could be triggered abruptly. Did your issue clear up by itself, or by some conscious effort?
On preview: Thank you Little Cloud. This could indeed be linked to increased stress in my life.
I didn’t have standard heartburn either, but I did have chest pain, which I was very worried about. Again, it turned out to be reflux, which can cause spasms that mimic angina. Get it looked at.
I don’t know what it feels like to gulp air - I just do it, and I only know I am because the evidence comes burping up. So I don’t know how to stop myself from doing it. Does that make sense?
That said, with me swallowing air seems to be specifically linked to nausea - which is a real bitch, because all that air in my tummy makes it feel worse, and suddenly I’m caught in an unpleasant vicious cycle. So if it IS being a problem for me, the only solution is to get rid of all the air (which essentially involves dry heaving b/c I canNOT burp on cue) and then immediately address whatever’s causing the underlying nausea, which usually involves forcing myself to just eat something already to fix my blood sugar.
Apologies if this is TMI - gotta love these gastro threads!
So Pedro, I’m curious about how your problem has been solved, cos I’m facing exactly the same problem for 6 months. Would you please give us a feedback.
There is one very simple test you can do that might confirm or eliminate one symptom. I was a chronic air swallower in my twenties and thirties. The side effect I was having was pressure in my chest with heart attack type symptoms. Simply look at your saliva on the tip of your finger and see if it is foamy. If it is foamy you may have a dry mouth for any number of reasons. Anxiety can be one of them and many medications both prescription and over the counter can produce a dry mouth.
You can break the cycle by carrying a handherchief and instead of swallowing simply wipe your mouth. At first you will feel like it will go on forever but you can actually get relief pretty quickly and it tends to break the cycle.
You could try a two-week pack of Prilosec or similar and see if it cures the symptoms. Gastric reflux has a lot of weird symptoms, including coughing after eating and burping. Many people never experience heartburn. It’s also possible you have an H. pyloria infection that is irritating your stomach.
Thanks spamforbrains for your contribution. I’ve already had all possible exams, including H. Py. search. I’ve been trying Prisolec and its similar ones for the last 8 months. No medication ever seemed to make any diference.
That sounds pretty much exactly like a barium swallow…except for that it’s totally non-invasive and doesn’t involve any sedation or tools going inside of you. A colonoscopy is when they…scope your colon. With the barium swallow they have you swallow some ‘stuff’ that distends your stomach while telling you not to burp it all back out. They they have you swallow the barium, which they can see on the screen as it goes down. Then whey they’re done you can let out the burp that feels like a fart you’ve been holding in for 10 minutes (and maybe a few aftershocks too).
I had that last winter. But with a new feature – now they email me a bunch of photos of the inside og my colon!
No idea what I’m supposed to do with them. Didn’t seem like something to put in a scrapbook, nor to post on facebook. I offered to sell them, autographed, but nobody seemed interested.
Sounds like a hiatal hernia. As I understand it this is a weakness in the sphincter (no not that one) that is at the top of your stomach where the esophagus joins it. A weak one can cause all kinds of trouble up to and including being the root cause of esophagial cancer. The state of your sphincter can be seen on an x-ray after downing the barium. If it is weak it can be repaired with a relatively simple operation.
