I Can't Burp (Page 10)

so happy to see this and know I'm not alone. I just hacked up air (which sounds like a series of HUGE burps) for 15 minutes. I feel SO relieved. It started after having my gall bladder removed. BLAHHHHH.

I have had this problem for over 6 years and no help from the doctors. They tell me to watch what I eat.... well sometimes a glass of water triggers a rapid gas built up. My stomach pushes out and astonishes people... I have a flat stomach... even at 51. The gas builds up so fast I throw up.... actually dry heave for a few hours and then eventually something comes up and I feel fine. I have busted a few blood vessels in my neck and checks... a northern red neck I guess.... ha ha... we do have to have humor in our life. The past two days I haven't been able to go anywhere as I feel like throwing up all the time.... all I have eaten is chicken soup and water. Laying down helps me get rest... but once the gas begins to build up.... it is only a matter of minutes before I have a bulging stomach and have to sprint to the nearest bathroom. Not even my allergist has been able to help... thinking it is a food causing the problem... I had a reaction in front of a pediatrician on a road trip... he is dumb founded but is now thinking it must be in the esophageal spincter... but in my case the lower since I have sever pressure at the bottom ot the rib cage just before I dry heave.

Hello all,

how nice to meet fellow freaks!! I'm 27 and have definitely been like this my whole life - my mum even thinks i couldn't burp properly as a baby, which led to me getting repeated bouts of colic (gas build up in babies). Also, I was the unheard of small child who never liked fizzy drinks - embarassing at parties and at the time I didn't know why, but I think it's because I knew even then that they would make me uncomfortable.
I have never learnt to burp despite a younger sister who can burp the alphabet and tried to teach me for ages
The condition is worsening as I get older, and "Air Vomiting" is the only cure once the air is there. It's particularly awkward for me though because I used to be bulimic and so if my friends or family hear that noise they assume the worst...when it's only air!
However, having had this for so long I do have some tips which I find make things slightly more manageable. They are all based around not swallowing air into your stomach.
1) Never chew gum. It leads to a build up of saliva with every chew which you have to swallow into your stomach, with air and nothing else!!
2) Never drink through a straw. Once again, each sip carries air into your stomach. My findings are that the larger the mouthful of anything, be it food or drink, the less the air you take in and the less the bloat. So drink large mouthfuls from your glass (don't gulp - that' air again!) and eat good mouthfulls too.
3) Never drink fizzy drinks. I have never liked them, but when I've been bought them I've found it can take me up to an hour to finish a bottle of Smirnoff Ice etc because the bloat is immediate as I start sipping (bottles are not good either for the same reason as straws). Avoid at all costs! I even find sips of champagne at weddings hard!
4) I am a marathon runner and find running is brilliant for shaking up those gases inside you and getting them out the other end!! There's no way to be pleasant about this, but let's be honest - if we can't burp, farting is our saviour, isn't it?! And running really, really helps to do that. If you run outside when it's quiet, you can trump your heart out, no one will see or care and you'll feel wonderful!(Incidentally, you don't have to run marathons I'd suggest 10-20 mins of jogging will have the desired effect.
5) I am a fruit addict but it doesn't help often. Not necessarily because it causes air in my stomach, but it causes gas the normal way, through the bowels, and that just adds to the problem. However, I find some fruits better than others - apples, pineapple, oranges are ok whereas plums, pears, nectarines, (most soft fruit) get your digestive gases going!
6) When you have to stick your fingers down your throat for the "Air Vom", and you're in a public loo which is busy and no likelihood of everyone leaving, wait until someone turns the handryers on. It's a few seconds of noise that will drown you out.
7) On the point above, several people have said they can't air vom after eating because they'll actually vomit food. This this isn't the case. Gas is much lighter than food, so everytime you stick your fingers down your throat, the first thing that will come up is the lightest, ie, air. You can get that pressure out without worrying about actually being sick.

Hope this has helped a bit - given that doctors think we're weird, making it up or just making a fuss about something trivial, the best we can do is help each other with tips on how to cope best. Maybe one day a sufferer will become a doctor - fingers crossed!

Hi, I am leaning towards a problem between the nerve, that tells the body to burp, and the valve. This weekend when I felt the gas beginning to build...I tried to sip Tequila on ice (two ounces), thus numbing my stomach valve and brain..... I followed up with a soda after an hour... I began to burp... my son and girl friend freaked... me burping... I have heard of some people being prescribed specific tranquilizers to take care of the nerve... have you heard about this approach before?

Hi All!

It's great to know that there is a whole community of people who can relate - My whole life I haven't met anyone else who can't burp, and most people think it's hilarious (ie my friends have tried my whole life to teach me to burp) but don't realize what a nuisance it is! Ive also had the gurgle thing for as long as I can remember, and would love to figure out a cure. I have acid reflux but this has improved since taking Prevacid, but the meds haven't helped the gurgling. I read a post someone wrote that said the gurgles sound like "eeeeuuuurrrrrppp" and that is dead on! Anyways, hopefully by communicating and sharing what we learn we can find out some answers - at least it's nice in the meantime to talk to others who are in the same situation. Also, anyone checked out dyspepsia?

I'm also relieved to find others. I'm the same way and am rather used to being the only one to ever have heard of such a thing, though friends are sympathetic. I have celiac disease and have wondered if it's related? I have been gluten-free for two and a half years now and though it still happens on occasion (mostly, it seems, when trying to drink fizzy drinks through a straw), I think eating GF has helped since I don't produce as much gas total.

This problem caused me to develop anorexia and bulimia and become very ill. Obviously, it wasn't the sole contributor but it helped. So to all the doctors out there who have given up trying to find out what it is and think it is not serious, they need to think again. I wish there was a diagnosis, I'm relieved also that Im not a complete freak who is the only person in the world who has the problem, but I really feel sad that so many of us do as its not nice. I always used to laugh it off, esp when my friends laughed at me, but not anymore. I dont mean to sound all depressive lol. Anyway, I hope something gets discovered soon! Good luck to us all ey

I wonder about doctors... to much knowledge does cloud the mind. They only focus on the production of gas and how to reduce it.... that isn't the problem. Everyone builds up gas sometime in their life... we are a minority in that we can't do the natural thing and BURP. I have a water pressure relief valve on my house... to much pressure the valve pops.. there is also one on the water heater... our stomach valve can't pop... simple. Is it a deformity... maybe... maybe it is the sensors... I bet it is the sensors that give commands... Three Mile Nuclear Plant would not had a Critical Event if the sensors were design to read the data correctly. Our body has numerous sensors that malfunction all the time... the lucky few can control pain sensors... but what about an overload sensor.... to much heat our body tries to cool down... lack of sleep... we get drowzy. I can burp... but sometimes the gas builds up so fast... I mean within minutes... that my stomach swells and becomes hard... and there is no burp... I cannot make myself burp at these times.... I have a bad gag reflex... fingers to the throat... not good. The great scoping investigation... all it has done is pop up endoscoping clinics all over the country and with no results... just a bunch of rich specialist. So what is the connection between our sensors and the gas build up... with me it seems as though if the gas comes on to quick my valve shuts down.... sensory overload. Most people posting about gas talk about beer and wine.... well.... yeast is involved in each drink... I can't drink draft beer... I am allergic to Brewers Yeast.... and also it is associated with wine making. What is our body reacts too a specific item and shuts down our burp sensor... just like a pain killer..... think about it.
jim

Hello again! Update after gallbladder was taken out. I had the one very bad episode of vomiting air 2 days after the surgery...since then: Nothing! I haven't had the air problem once. I still gurgle to no end and the doc did a scope to look into that one. (no results yet).
I was so nervous about a trip I went on b/c I usually have to go to the bathroom and vomit air several times and it's very embarrassing. But...not once.
So, for me...it looks like the build up of air was my gallbladder not functioning.
Hope this helps.

I've had the gurgling problem ever since I could remember. My Mom has it too and I think my grandma does as well. My problem seems to be fairly mild compared to the other ones. I can drink carbanation not a lot. It only happens with certain things. However It happens the worst when I try to drink beer. One beer I'm alright. But, halfway through my second and I feel horrible. I feels so bloated and I try to sip my way through the rest of it because it would be rude not to finish someone elses beer. Anyway after that I have the gurgles all night and cannot burp.

Someone mentioned previously that they and others had the chord wrapped around their neck forcing an emergency c-section. This happened to me too.

Also I'm a mouth breather, could this have something to do with it?

I am pursuing a new cause for not burping. If the gas build up happens in the upper instestine... a burp will not happen... burping is a release of gas from the stomach... a major reaction like 'air vomiting' would release gas from the upper intestine through the stomach. Food allergies/reactions happen in the intestines which would explain why my gas build up happens so fast... within minutes of feeling the bloating starting, I swell up and air vomit. Has anyone read anything on this theory?

Hmm,I went on a mission to keep myself hydrated by drinking copious amounts of water even at bedtime and through the night when i had to get up to pee. I stopped this ritual after some months because i found that drinking fluids and then lying down started to affect the valve thingy's going into my stomagh and water was leaking back up toward my throat making me swallow and gulp in order to get it back down and i was worried that i may choke in my sleep. since then i've been unable to burp properly, with me it seems that stomagh gas has free access through that valve but then gets trapped half way up my throat untill the pressure build-up forces a burp that feels more like a windsuck.

The lesson learnt is not to drink anything before lying down!!!

I also can't burp. I'm 19 and I can probably count the times I've burped in my life on my hands and toes, and those burps have been pathetic and small. But when it happens (randomly, while I'm talking after I'm really bloated), I really wish it would keep happening, but of course I can never make it.

Something tells me it's somewhat tension-related, or a fear of throwing up maybe? When I vomit it's the worst though, because I'll have several dry heaves of complete air that HURT SO BADLY before I even puke. I've never thought of gagging myself though, that's a really good idea, because most of the time when I vomit it's due to the pain of all the air in my stomach =\

And yeah, farting isn't all the rage anymore when you're older than 12, and I can almost feel all the air moving inside of me to my intestines to let it out the other end... I WISH I COULD JUST BURP LIKE EVERYONE ELSE.

Tonight I had two beers and thought I was going to die, I can barely ever get 4 or 5 down, which is a shame because I love beer and soda.

Go figure no one has figured anything out for this, now I'll just live 0.04% happier now that I know there's other people like me, but that there's no "cure"

OMG! sooo glad i found this. I can count on my hands the number of times i've burped in my life--and they were unexpected and tiny. After I drink soda, i don't burp---i get really bad gas and have to fart. (that's the thing--i can't burp, but i can fart so well!) when i try to push out a burp, i get a nauseating "eeeeuuurrrp" type gurgle/growl that sounds like a burp trapped inside my throat. i know it's trapped because i can't feel air being released. PLEASE HELP!

I've got the same thing as you all. Maybe my mom never burped me as a child, so I never learned how instinctively. I'm practicing now, deep long inhalation followed by near gag, then release. The problem is I get quite animated and my eyes tear up and the release is a loud belch. At least I know how to trigger the "burp," if that's what it is, now whereas before all I could hope to do is lay flat so the pressure goes out the other end, and perhaps sleep it off. So, I'll continue to practice this burp thing when I get bloated and hopefully I'll learn how to burp quietly and effortlessly.

I have the exact same problem problem! everyone is describing the exact same thing I have had my entire life and which my grandfather has had for all of his.
I love to swim and dive but it actually makes it very uncomfortable due to the extra pressure being so strong it takes my breath. I have a bad problem with flatulence and I feel it is due to the fact I cannot release the gas from my stomach, which causes massive bloating.
When I drink I usually end up having to stick my fingers in my throat to relieve the gas and when it comes out it is very loud and forceful.
I find it very hard to regurgitate as well, most times when I am sick I have to induce vomiting when the discomfort gets unbearable.
Also after I eat the noises which my stomach makes as it digests are loud enough for someone else to hear, I can feel the gas rise but yet I am still unable to burp.

I have been to the doctor before and tried various gas medications but nothing seems to work & when I was a kid they did some test when they make you drink chalk and turn you upside down on a machine because they thought it was acid reflux or something else.

Wow, it's so good to see other people with the same conditon as me, haha. I've never been able to burp. I make the noises as well; my friends call them dinosaur noises, haha. It's always a bit awkward when I make the noises in front of someone that doesn't know about my condition. I've never known about sticking my fingers down my throat trick, I will have to try that now. I always get very uncomfortable and bloated after every meal. I feel pregnant (and I'm a guy). I absolutely cannot drink beer or soda. Sometimes it's even hard to breathe. Someone cure this!

I am 25 years old and have had all the same problems with not being able to burp my whole life and having stomach problems because of it. I have actually learned to burp. It's strange and amazing. I suspect there to be something physically similar that all of us have in common that kept it from being a natural reaction, but at least with me... over the last 4 months or so, I've gotten to the point where I can actually burp when I need to most of the time. I still can't belch on command or burp the ABCs, but when I feel the need to burp, I can do certain things with my chest, shoulders, neck, jaw, and throat to make a burp happen (sounds more complicated than it actually is once I got the hang of it). Sometimes they're small and sometimes they are big. It did not completely fix my stomache problems, but it is better and i can now better understand which foods upset my stomach, and I can explain it in no other way than to say that it is absolutely glorious. I'm interested to see if I can help anyone else learn how to do this. Feel free to write me if you would like more information and assistance learning to burp. I hope your search turns out as well as mine did.

I'm sitting here right now gurping, and laughing my head off at all these posts. I'm so glad it's not just me, I was truly baffled and it's so socially impeding. I have learned in the last year to do mouth-shut burps though. Doesn't stop the frog, but halves him in capacity at least. We need a gurper's support group - to deliver awareness to the community so that we can gurp without shame!

I can burp even though I had this problem all of my life, and strangely enough, my brother and sister also have the same problem. However, when I was 22, I learned how to burp. I had been living in Colorado Springs, CO at about 7000 ft altitude. After about nine months, I headed to Iraq, so there was an 18 hour flight at 30,000 ft. We landed in Kuwait at about sea level. After a couple of days, I was having the gurgling thing going on while I was walking back from the chow hall. I moved my chin, shoulders and neck in a new way(which is hard to explain), and a little burp came out. My friends were amazed because they were well aware of my inability to burp. After every meal, I had to walk almost a mile, and on every walk I practiced burping. At first it really hurt and almost felt as if something was tearing. It gradually loosened up, and after a few months, I was burping like a champ. Now I can pretty much burp on command. I was always known as the kid who could fart on command, but now I hardly have to. It's a freeing experience learning how to burp, and I only wish I could somehow teach all of you how. My brother and sister still cannot burp despite the pointers I give them. Long story short, I'm pretty sure my cure was a combination of extreme altitude change and fairly large meals followed by immediate but moderate exercise. I hope this helps.