Anyone still around talking about this?

I have the same thing too. Its gotten so embarrassing that I have cut beer, soda, and tea from my diet to avoid the gurgling sounds. I haven't used the finger down the throat method, I usually try to lie down and sleep it away. Is there any cure for this?

I have seen several specialist and been through several tests and nobody can find anything. One doctor tried to get me to go see a shrink. lol. You can probably guess I haven't been back to him. My primary doctor tells me that if I keep sticking my fingers down my throat I will perminately damage my throat. But there is no other alternative for me. Its that bad. Its not just soda or carbonated stuff for me, its also excersize and things like that. I have lost a lot of weight cause if I don't eat and drink it not quite as bad. I live in Washington State and they are sending me to the University of Washington cause they are the best in this part of the country. Should be a week or two till I go. If they can find anything I will definately post something. I'm crossing my fingers.

OMFG, i know EXACTLY what everyone is going through. i'm just glad i finally found people who actually know what i'm talking about! i've had this thing for years where i need to burp but the only thing that happens is the typical gurgle noise or a hiccup kind of thing. it's really painful and EXTREMELY annoying. there has been countless times that it will go on for SO LONG [sometimes 8 - 9 hours] every 15 - 20 seconds and just wont stop. sometimes it annoys me so bad it brings me to tears! ive tried sticking my finger down my throat and moving my head and neck different ways trying to force it out. however i have never succeeded. as a matter of fact, its doing the hiccup thing as i speak. ive been to COUNTLESS doctors, gastrologists, etc etc and its like NO ONE can find the answer! i've had x-rays and endocscopys and everyone says that everything is totally normal. well, theyre very wrong because there is something very NOT NORMAL about this! the only way i find relief is by laying down without getting up whatsoever, for an hour to two hours and letting it digest and come out as a fart. it's just that sometimes i'm busy doing something and dont have the time to lay down and let it do that! it's a really big problem in my life because it prevents me from eating or drinking. i went from weighing 120 to 103 within 2 weeks one time because it got so bad and my weight hasnt went up at all because its still going on.
this hasn't just been a problem for me for a few months or years, this has been LIFE LONG. i used to think that it was something that happened to everyone until one time my mom heard it and looked at me like i was crazy.
might i also add that it's EXTREMELY hard to throw up. i have the worst case of acid reflex disease you can possibly imagine and if i eat anything with any kind of acid in it i usually get sick and start dry heaving. but thats just it, i DRY HEAVE! i never throw up. its like physically impossible for me to throw up. the last time i threw up was january 2005 when i had a stomach virus.
also, this crap is really embarrassing. when youre making out with someone and your throat gurgles and the person youre making out with is like "what in the world was that?" i just have to smile and say "its just my throat growling, silly!" and NOBODY effing understands what i'm talking about! people either look at me weird when i talk about it or they just dont understand at all and say that i need to learn how to "swallow air" and all that crap that i don't understand.
it's gotten so bad that i can't do ANYTHING without it happening. it does it when i'm hungry and my stomach is growling [usually the growl in my stomach just comes up to my throat and does it there instead of in my stomach, if anyone else has that problem.] i can't drink any kind of soda, beer, basically ANY kind of alcohol actually, smoking is very difficult too, and eating things like ramen noodles makes it happen horribley. EVEN WATER MAKES IT GURGLE! you would think WATER of all things would HELP it! and sometimes, i don't even have to do anything at all! it will just start doing it on its own.
and by the way, if you smoke and have this problem, QUITTING SMOKING HELPS!!!! i quit smoking just over this week and it hasnt happened HALF as much as it did. it still happens though, but definately not as often.
when i went to my gastrologist and told her about it, she aparently thought i was nuts. before i went in her office i chugged a bunch of mountain dew so that she could hear the noise for herself and not think i was crazy. she thought i was crazy while i was waiting for it to gurgle, i could tell. she was looking at me like i was stupid or making it up. finally she wanted to look down my throat and when she did, she was maybe 2 inches away from my mouth that was opened really wide and a HUMONGOUS gurgle came out and she jumped back and put her hand over her mouth. its something that aparently NO ONE has ever studied or looked into, considering they think youre nuts until they see what happens and then they freak out. she put me on 40 miligrams of zegerid which helps my acid reflex disease but does not help the burp thing. she told me to try gas-x and i have yet to try it because i've had no money, so if anyone wants to experiment with that go for it.
if ANYONE finds the answer, please let me know. this is a huge problem in my life and it doesnt seem to be getting any better. i have HORRIBLE acid reflex disease/gerd as well and all my doctors tell me that its related to that, but my boyfriend has it as well as me and is the only person i know that has it, and he doesnt have acid reflex disease! so it can't just be that, there has to be something else. the closest i have got to finding the answer is my gastrologist told me its either my esophagos is too small or that there's a muscle in my throat that isnt active or isnt functioning right. however they still say that everything is normal and wont do ANYTHING about it. PLEASE HELP! I'M NOT GETTING ANYWHERE!

Well, Ill try and not be repetitive...20 year old, never burped, get 'gurgles' as well, want a cure. I guess throw some options on the table: I went to the doctor recently and after the endoscopy they found a hiatal hernia, however I am not sure if this is a cause or a symptom of my 'dysburpsia' After doing some research, some things that are at least a possibility are: not something with the Lower Esophageal Sphincter (LES) but actually a stiffening of the Upper Esophageal Sphincter (UES). This might be an explanation to why our gurgles seemed to be 'trapped'. Another possibility (which I hope isn't true) is an actual problem with the Vagus Nerve which controls many of our reflexes and other complicated things...now if this nerve was unable, for some reason, to send the signal for our burp reflex to the UES, we would be left with the gurgle (air and waterish mixture) stuck in our esophagus. Now, again, only possibilities but none the less interesting. I have been trying to figure this out for a while now to no avail. Wouldn't it be nice if a doctor spent some time looking over this plethora of symptoms and actually figured out this mystery? I mean talk about getting on the cover of the medical magazine...

~Keep this thread going!~

I have the exact same symptoms as everyone else on here, even down to the laying down to fart cure that someone metnioned earlier. Alas, I have no other cure but glad to know that there are other folks out there with the same thing, even though it may be a vagus nerve problem. Also, GasX dissolvable strips work wonders in the short term.

Keep fighting the good fight everyone.

I can't believe I actually found a forum with so many people with exactly the same problem as me. I am the biggest joke with my friends, because people just can't believe that I can't burp. i've had everybody my whole life try to teach me how - but of course, nothing works.

When I was a teenager, the gurgling noises were a huge source of embaressment. But now, I just laugh it off and tell people "I can't burp!"

I would love to find out what this is and how to cure it because it causes quite a lot of discomfort and pain at times. I avoid pop and carbonated drinks, but I love beer and don't want to give it up!

I wonder if anyone has noticed that it gets MUCH worse when you lie on your left side? It's crazy - when the gurgling is bad and I lie down on my left side it gets worse - so loud and almost constantly. So much so that I have to change sides or it keeps my boyfriend (and me) awake! Does anyone else notice this?

I'd love for an MD to read through these posts and give some advice. We can't all be crazy!! This is really a condition that seems to affect many people (much to my relief!)

pay $500 cash to the person who taught me to burp. Hell, I'd make it $1000. I am so sick of this.

and he wants to scope me. Possible reason, and it makes sense, is an abnormally tight cricolayngeal muscle. In the meantime, he suggested a proton-pump inhibitor (Prilosec), and that may loosen the tension.

I am skeptical, but I will give it a try and let you all know in a week or so if there is any change.

PRILOSEC IS THE ENEMY. they put me on that for my gurgle disorder and acid reflex disease and though it made my acid reflex better it only made my gurgle like a MILLION times worse, i'm not even kidding i'm only telling you this because i dont want anyone to get it any worse than they already have it. go ahead and try it or whatever but honestly it will most likely just make it worse.
i'm really sorry to burst your bubble, buddy. i know its hard going through all this stupid pointless crap.

i'm going to my gastrologist wednesday and i'm going to BEG her to send me to a throat specialist, considering we asked her last time and she just told me that "she thinks its just my acid reflex disease."
pfff. if i get anywhere i'll keep everyone updated though, i'm all up for helping everyone on the forum.

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paleo_diet

I've been on this diet for 1 month now, and all my GI problems have cleared up.

I can burp fine now, and all the bloating has cleared up. I am even gaining weight, and feeling better than I can ever remember.

It's a hard diet to stick to, but the results are worth it!

I'm pretty sure the foods that this diet excludes are the causes of most of the gut problems mentioned in this thread, not to mention, alot of other "modern day" diseases . eg- cardiovascular disease, cancer, diabetes, osteoporosis, arthritis, gastrointestinal disease, acne...

Hello all... I've had this problem all my life and have searched online now for a few years for others that share this problem and possible solutions. I’m talking from a life-time of experience (50 years) with this condition. It didn't bother me as much as a child and I knew something was wrong back then because I couldn't burp, but it got worse as an adult. I think I was born with this condition. I have all the same symptoms as others: excessive gas, bloating, hiccups, tightness in the chest, gurgles and discomfort to the point of it affecting me socially... I have to releave myself of the gas daily by regurgitating the air with a really difficult and loud puking burp that is induced (privately) with the same finger down the throat technique that some people have descibed. I try to have a shot of bourbon or gin to help the throat open to force the air out... it makes the throw-up response easier and only air comes out. I have also seen a gastroenterologist, only to be told there is no such problem in existence... and it was all in my head! Imagine that... and so from lots of other posts I've read, most of the medical community dismisses this condition as psychological when, in fact, it is a real condition that is not yet understood or diagnosed. Hello... medical community!?!? Anyone out there?

Here is some background information I've written for us to better understand the condition. I am not a doctor, just suffer from the condition:

The problem seems to be a screwed up muscle response or tight esophagous in the throat... the UES: upper esophagael sphincter (the one behind your adams apple - NOT the LES where your stomach connects to the esophagus). If you Google “peristalsis video” you will see various x-ray movies of patients drinking barium. You can see the upper esophagal valve open as the patient swallows… its right behind the larynx. It is this exact place where the gurgles float up to and where my (and your) ability to burp is hampered.

Everything that makes gas in the stomach and even just swallowing introduces air into the system and without the ability to burp, you hear the results in the gurgles (air in the stomach traveling up the esophagus and without leaving the throat by burping, it goes back into the stomach, only to do it over and over as a natural response from your body to rid itself of the air, until finally - without relief, the air will finally enter the intestines). So without burping, you will only get relief at the other end. Anyhow, apparently the stomach is sending a signal to the upper esophagal sphincter nerves to open when the belch is detected by the bloated stomach, but those nerves in the upper esophagus don’t get the signal correctly or function properly.

From another poster the problem seems to be narrowed down to the vagal nerve which is one of the 12 cranial nerves (major nerves in the body) and it regulates a ton of functions, from voice to stomach/intestinal/esophageal behavior. The belch reflex is regulated by the vagal nerve.

From other blogs and sources I've also found our condition is called "Dysfunction of the Belch Reflex". There is a doctor in Chicago: Doctor Kahrilas who is doing further research on it.

I am still waiting for others in the medical community to step up to the plate with some sort of recourse. Possibly an esophaegal angioplasty to stretch the throat? Sadly, so far I've not seen any treatment or course of action. But at least I know I'm not the only one now that we have the internet for a collective voice. I wish you all well and hopefully this will help some to better understand the symptoms and condition.

i told her i still cant burp and she has finally given up on me and told me "i really dont know what to tell you."
so she's sending me to a throat specialist. i doubt this is going to get me ANYWHERE but i'm at least glad that i now know it actually has a NAME (dysfunction of the belch reflex) and that someone is actually taking it seriously and doing research on it. maybe someone will help us out after all.


50 years?! youre a trooper. i'm only 18 and was born with it. if i dont have it fixed by the time i'm 50 i think i will literally go insane.


by the way, i'm gurgling right now. UGH.

OOMMMGGGG ...... i am soo thankful that ther are other people with this problem .. and i am not the only one ... i feel like no one understand me wen i say that i cant burp ... they jus brush it aside and tell me that ill be fine .. well im sure that ill be fine .. but i just really need something more than a "you'll be fine", i cant go to sleep because i can feel the gas moving up and down and its really unconfortable and everytime that i eat .. it makes me feel that the gas is building up in my body .. so i get nervious because i no that humans are suposed to let out ther gas... so then the nerviousness leads to axiety and i really start to panick .. and i really cant take it anymore ... i jus feel like pulling out my hair.. and to top it off .. i live with people who burp and fart infront of me constantly .. and i jus wish that that could be me.. i just hope that this doesnt take yrs to get over

To read all these messages feels great after 20 years of gurgling and farting! Friends and girlfriends have really struggled with understanding it and it's been embarrassing to say the least

I hate the gurgles, feeling sick and being bloated. Over the last few years I've been putting my fingers down my throat for the relief. It works but I'm guessing I can't go on like that.

This is frustrating because there's obviously loads of us but it's difficult to take this further to get a collective solution!

I find it worse when I have runny nose symptoms from cold/hayfever etc

Has anyone found the solution to not being able to burp. I, myself can burp the alphabet, my son (12 years old) can't and has not ever burped except when he was a baby. He's been treated for acid reflux for the last 4 years. Better but sometimes after he eats, he will go outside and think he is going to throw up, he doesn't but the strangest noise comes out, like a lot of air & sounds like he threw up, but he usually doesn't unless he drinks milk. I too have to pat him on the back sometimes then he almost throws up, but the loud noise comes out, and he feels better. He says he can control the girgling noise in his chest and make it happen - says it's like an air bubble comes up but no burp. I have spent hours trying to teach him how to burp, no luck! When it hurts really bad he lays down and says it feels better. Not an easy thing to do while at school after a meal.

Add me to the list. 21 and I've had this problem as long as I can remember. I remember when I was about 8 a friend of mine was trying to teach me how to burp,.. I couldn't do it.

Anxiety was mentioned a few times, I've got that too. I don't see how it's related but you never know.

As many, I am so thankful to have found this and not feel alone! While I am still disheartened that there doesn't seem to be any cure/treatment.. it's nice to know I'm not the only one who suffers from this.

I am 26, have felt this way my entire life, and in the last few years it has gotten worse. I get the 'gurgling' almost constantly, especially after eating. And it is SO embarrassing. I also have to run to the bathroom to 'throw up'.. I can taste the bile come up in my throat even. However, I NEVER have food come up, even if I've just eaten. While I engage my gag reflex, I always give up large amounts of air, bile, and what I think is gas. That awful sound (you know what I'm referring to, I'm sure) comes out SO LOUD. And it is just mortifying that everywhere I go people think I have an eating disorder when really, I am just seeking relief.

I can't pin it to any one food or lifestyle change. It seems to occur more often when I've had alcohol (beer especially), or if I eat too much too fast, or if I go too long without eating. But then sometimes it seems completely random.

So.. PLEASE if anyone finds any solution, share it with us all. I am desperate. My doctor keeps saying "just take prilosec, you're fine".. I don't think many doctors really listen to and understand these specific symptoms. I wish someone would help!

I was SO excited to read this forum and thought I would finally get some relief from this horrible bloting and gas. I read every post on all four pages as fast as I could waiting for someone to post the "miracle cure," and it was bitter/sweet to see that I am not alone, but NOONE has the answer!!

I did notice many people posting are about the same age as me which I found interesting. I am a 29 y/o female and I have been suffering from this for as long as I can remember. I have been to 3 GIs and have had an upper GI, lower GI, Baruim Enema (which was OUTSTANDING BTW!!), a Gastric Emptying Scan, and so on and so on. They were all normal other than the Gastric Emptying scan. It showed that in a 2 hour period a "normal person would get rid of 90% of the gases in their stomach, and I only got rid of 10%. They gave me Reglan, Zelnorm (before it was pulled off the market) NuLuv, blah blah blah yada yada yada.

So here I sit....It has totally affected my entire life. I usually do not eat a bite until my evening meal, and before I even get up from the table, my stomach is so expanded that I look like I am 5 months pregnant. There is no rhyme or reason for it, it doesn't matter what I eat, even smoothies make me bloat. I was really excited though to know that you all are able to stick your fingers down your throat and make some air come out and make the swelling go down. I tried it and all it did was make me want to throw up. How do you get past the gagging to the expelling air? I would LOVE to figure out how you do this for emergencies like going on a date night with my husband, dinner and a movie ends up being dinner and lying on the couch "expelling excess air" all night."

I googled Dysfunction of the Belch Reflux last night and saw a girl on YouTube talking about the same doctor in Chicago that I read about on here. I guess there is a muscle relaxer he is prescribing called "back...???" something, but I looked up the drug and it is prescribed for people who have MS. It seems like a pretty addictive heavy drug.

I read so many people post on here that they were going to the dr "next week or so." I hope they didn't become cured and leave us hanging. I'm so happy to know that I'm not the only nonburper out there and whoever wrote that they could fart like no tomorrow made me LOL!!

Someone please post some helpful info on here so we can all benefit from this blog medically.

guys i have the same thing i feel sometimes that if i couldnt burp i will stop breathing and i will die i feel so sorry about that and sometimes it feel like there's something wrong somewhere coz when im sleeping nothing happend but when im awake i keep burping any way to fix this guys