Indigestion and constant burping!

my hearburn is getting better I think, but now I've got constant indigestion and am burping a lot. Thing is it takes forever to get the burp to come up and it feels stuck and it is horrible. Once it comes up I feel relief for about 2 seconds than the feelings starts all over again till I burp and get relief. What the heck is going on??

Hi,

I feel the exact same way l8rb8r. This pressure drives me crazy and I constantly feel like I have to burp but I can't. I'm also having heart palpitations that freak me out a bit. Sometimes I wonder if it's all in my head, and whether worrying about it just makes it worse. I hope you find some relief

Liz

This might seem really stupid on face value, but monitor the amount you swallow.
Chronic relfux can cause waterbrash which makes you naturally swallow saliva (and air at the same time). If you find you are salivating a lot, it means there is an underlying relfux disorder which needs to be addressed (spitting out saliva is not a good option, it is a physiological adaptation used to neutralise the acid).

Another cause is anxiety. When your nervous one swallows air. The treament here is simply relaxation techniques, slow breathing etc. But in my opinion the best treatment for anxiety is to be as occupied and socially active as possible.

Have you tried probiotics? They help me with gas problems.

Joy

All the newbies -
Do you have reflux after eating or drinking everything, or can you point out certain trigger foods or drinks? Many of us can, even if we have been diagnosed with hernias. (Actually hernias mean next to nothing unless they are giant ot paraesophageal. (word to look up))

You should try keeping a food log just to check if you have specific triggers. It costs nothing and provides valuable information for your doctors. Just get a big notebook and write down the date, time of each and every thing you eat or drink, and your reactions. GI symptoms usually occur 1/2 to 2 hours after a trigger, but can possibly take up to 2 days. Spend a month or two before giving up. You may be surprised that the usual list or foods to avoid if you have GERD has little to do with your reactions.

If you do find a list of meals, you can do food challenges, trying a teaspoon or tablespoon of a single ingredient, waiting 20 minutes for a reaction then 2, and4, then 8, finally 16. If no reaction it's not a trigger.

My list was really weird: maple syrup, gelatin, pork, wine and beer, more than 1 soda, brown sugar, corn starch, most salad dressings, garlic, dried fruit, most boxed cereals .... I googled reflux and the name of the foods and came up with sulfites as the common ingredient. Other people may have MSG or just a few individual foods. Avoiding the foods stopped the refluxing, although I still had a bad stomach valve and finally ended up with surgery.

Surgery does not cure trigger foods from causing symptoms. I still get tachycardia if I eat too much of one of my trigger foods.

I started digestive enzymes today. Symptoms were a little better. I also have probiotics I'm going to start tomorrow. I'm wondering if these new symptoms could have something to do with a new birth control prescription I started a week ago.

This has just started for me the other night, the minute I eat or drink (water even) i burp, and they are quite deep like I've not burped like this before! Also was wretching, the first time it happened I did throw up slightly twice but the next few days was just burping and very uncomfortable. I tried going for a walk as well as that can usually help get out any gas, nothing. The food I have been eating is the same food i always eat. nothing different whatsoever and cannot figure out where this is after coming from. I have a pain at the top of my rib cage and feel pressure constantly. And the burps feel like indigestion as well, quite acidy, but not always, and again, no real relief on burping. So what exactly is this thing? I am seeing my doctor this week but my doctor is the type to just throw antibiotics at you and that's that, and we all know how bad antibiotics are for your system so i would really appreciate any advice you have. Also i am doing a long haul flight in a week, do you think the altitude will effect it at all?? thanks

I am having the same symptoms as Lauren S and I am wondering if you ever figured out what the problem was and what made it better?

I have same problem as well and still do at this moment after my surgery (Nissen Fundoplication) I wake up even without touching anything and have it.

I'm going to try some things suggested on here. Been dealing with this problem for nearly year and a half.

I have had exactly the same problem. Yes, it can be very painful. I have researched this area to try to understand what is going wrong and to find a cure. Here is what I have found out and how I cured myself.

The human digestive system contains over 400 different species of micro-organisms (bacteria). The total mass of bacteria in the human gut is over 3.5 kgs. If the digestive ecosystem becomes imbalanced things can go wrong.

Until recently, no one believed that the stomach contained any bacteria. We are only just discovering that bacteria not only exists in the stomach, but also may play an important roll in the digestive process and the problems that can occur there.

No bacteria can survive for long in stomach acid. Most replicate in the small intestine and migrate to the stomach and end up being digested along with the food. Some have evolved mechanisms and strategies for avoiding acid attack. This is either by moving toward higher pH levels or by adhering to the mucus lining.

H. pylori is one such bacteria and is now believed to play a role in stomach ulcers. However, 85% of people infected with H. pylori never experience any symptoms or complications. Again, this suggests that when the digestive ecosystem is not right, the proliferation of a certain bacteria can cause a problem.

So what is happening to cause all this constant burping and discomfort in our stomachs?

It is caused by large numbers of gas-producing bacteria proliferating in the small intestine and stomach. They could originate from an external source or further down the gut in the large intestine.

The bacterial imbalance may also be causing too much acid to be released and this is generating more gases. This excess acid destroys/inhibits other digestive enzymes and bacteria and the imbalance becomes self-sustaining.

The changes this causes to the digestive ecosystem, can lead to the proliferation of the wrong (bad) bacteria which can cause other problems. If this bad bacteria gets into the stomach lining the immune system then kicks in, like a flame thrower, resulting in inflammation, pain and disruption. Consequently, disorders such as GERD/GORD, ulcers, IBS, etc, may be the end effect of an imbalanced digestive ecosystem and not the cause.

The solution is simple. Take antacids to reduce the amount of acid in the stomach. Be aware that most ant-acids contain sodium. Taking excessive sodium for a day or two can do no harm, but prolonged consumption of excess sodium can lead to other problems, eg high blood pressure.

There are many ant-acid products on the market. I have found that Gaviscon works best at curing this problem. Gaviscon also helps protect the stomach lining and suffocates the bad bacteria that live there which may be why it works so well. Take Gaviscon after meals and not with other ant-acid products because they may interfere with it contacting the stomach lining.

Products with bicarbonate of soda can be used (e.g. ENO). But I find they are better for maintaining a healthy digestive ecosystem by preventing excess acid from corrupting the system. I mix ENO 1:1 with bicarbonate of soda and take a teaspoon of it with water or juice as a refreshing ant-acid drink most days. But make sure the bicarbonate of soda is safe for human consumption (i.e. no aluminum and not sold for cleaning use only).

I find there is usually no need to exceed the maximum dose on the directions of any of these products to fix an upset stomach and constant gassing. The best policy is to use the maximum dose to relieve the pain and discomfort and take the minimum to prevent the problem from returning.

I used to think that taking ant-acids would be bad for me because they might prevent all the proteins and nutrients from being absorbed. I now do not believe this is the case. I now believe taking an ant-acid daily can do no harm and benefits my general health.

If I take no ant-acids for a week or two, yes, the indigestion/belching returns. I do not believe there is anything is wrong with my digestive system. My stomach just produces more acid than needed, probably because I am less active now and therefore need less food.

I felt like I burped constantly for 4 years. I tried a low carb high fat diet to no avail. I tried cutting out dairy but this was not the answer. It was great to see I was not the only one. I do not know anyone else with this problem. I recently came across the fodmap diet. It is worth looking into. Check it on google. There are a few versions. It has made a huge difference to me. I have only used it for 2 weeks. Wow it is a relief to actually stop burping. It feels so restful. It feels like a miracle! Drinking water also gives me some relief.

I know this an old post but I was googling and came across it and saw someone also commented on it today. I get the same exact symptoms as you, bloating, discomfort, feeling of needing to burp but it takes what seems like an eternity to come out. Then I sit and worry about it which makes it worse. I have anxiety disorder. It seems to be at it's worst about 4 hours after I eat. Well it doesn't "seem", that's a fact because multiple times when I get a flare up, I'll look the clock and do the math real quick and it's always 3-4 hours after. So frustrating.

middleaged1 said...
Hi,
I discovered this message board about a month ago when I couldn't put up with my gerd, gas, burping, and reflux issues. I wanted to know what caused it, because every now and then I'd get these kicks of intense adrenaline rushes that were discomforting to say the least, followed by palpitations and feeling wiped out. I thought I had a hiatal hernia, now I'm sure I don't. Over the last few weeks I've spoken with my doctor and read a ton of literature. Based on what I know, I have delayed gastric emptying that triggers the gas, reflux and bloating, and once the stomach empties, all the twitching and movement triggers palps, sugar highs, and an insulin dump, which left me feeling wiped out. The delayed gastric emptying is apparently caused by the early stages of diabetes. I started eating activia, dieting and exercising, and it helped a good bit. Then once I read up on the Type II diabetes-induce delayed emptying, things changed dramatically for me. Now I know what to eat, how much, and when in the day, plus how to drink liquids at certain points in the day to get things moving out of my stomach. Just this evening, I felt the gas, bloating and reflux coming along after dinner. I chilled out, took a breath, and started working on my bag of tricks to get rid of the symptoms. I drank a pint of water 30 minutes after eating, waited a half hour, then got on the elliptical machine and started doing cardio. Then I sat relaxed on the couch for a half hour, and proceeded to feel everything move out. I felt the reflux disappear in minutes. I used to take an anti-gas chewable and gaviscon. Now I rarely need them any more (maybe once a week if I'm not in the position drink water and get up and walk around). I can even halt my palpitations within ten minutes.

I know this may not apply to you, but hopefully it helps you either figure it out or how to hunt down the source and deal with it. I'm at the point where I can willingly bring on a flare up if I wanted, and get rid of it within an hour. That's a huge change from the mystery I was dealing with a month ago. I no longer stress about it, and the anxiety from the adrenaline rush due to the emptying is a shadow of what it once was.

This is super interesting. I get blood sugar drops that are pretty severe (get super shaky and out of sorts), but I've never been tested for it. I have most of the symptoms you mentioned as well. I have palpitations too which none of the doctors have been able to figure out the reason for. I'm going to mention this to mine and see what they say :)