This may be a bit gross, but I wonder if it happens to anyone else, and whether I ought to talk to a doctor about it.
I never can eat very much at a meal, and when I do eat a lot I tend to be regurgitating a bit into my mouth for up to an hour afterward. Not vomit or digested food, but just a rerun of the spaghetti or steak I had half an hour ago. And, I’m sorry for this being the gross part, but I sometimes find myself absentmindedly chewing it and swallowing it again. I’ve gotten some very strange looks when I’ve been out with friends and they notice I’m still chewing something 30 minutes after we left a restaurant.
This ever happen to you? It’s never really bothered me but would you worry about it?
Yes, you should be concerned. And take these symptoms to your doctor.
Such chronic reflux of stomach contents back into the mouth can result in a lot of irritation to the esophagus from the stomach acid, over time. This can erode the esophagus, cause ulcerations, pre-cancerous changes, deformities, scarring, and other problems.
Thank you Qadgop, your input especially prompts me to immediate action!
Funny how it’s one of those things I’ve lived with as long as I can remember, and just recently it occurs to me that hey, this isn’t normal. Esp. as I rarely have heartburn.
Qadgop is right. There are a couple of known eating disorders that this could be, and you need to talk to a doctor about either one. The first possibility is that you really are regurgitating stomach contents, which is a problem for the reasons you state. The second is that you have a small pocket in your esophagus that food sticks in, then comes back up. This can be an infection hazard.