Excessive belching. H. Stanbro
The Doctors
I am a 33 year old healthy male however I have had excessive belching
for over 5 years. It started after I had stomach pains (which my Dr.
assumed was - and
treated me for - a peptic ulcer) which dissipated in 2 to 3
months after its
onset. After the stomach pains / ulcer went away, I was left
with my
belching problem. I
have been tested for H-pylori (sp) which was negative, had a
barium test
(sp) which found no problems, and was put under a general while my
doctor (a gastro
specialist at a major Washington DC teaching hospital) looked
inside my
stomach etc. The tests showed that I did not have cancer or any other
visible problems at
all. They also put a tube down my throat, which was hooked to a small
machine that I kept on my belt, for a 24 hour period to measure
the level
of acid reaching
my sphincter valve in my neck / chest. This test verified that
I am
belching a great deal (but not while sleeping). I am on prilosec
which I
take daily. I often have bad
breath and a thick layer of white film on my tongue. (my
dentist says my
teeth & gums are fine). My weight is always steady at 180 (my
height is
5' 10"). My
lifestyle is not stressful. My doctor recommended that I see a speech
therapist to look for breathing problems and I did but no
problem was
found and my belching
problem remained. My doctor has now given up and thinks that I should
see a psychiatrist because "I unconsciously trained myself to
belch" to
elevate my initial
stomach pain. I am very skeptical of his assessment. What do
you think?
I really do not want to be on prilosec for life.
Answer
Since you have had such extensive testing and nothing
serious was
found, I am wondering if you are one of the many people who quite
unconsciously swallow air. This is fairly common and results in belching
to bring up the air. Habitual swallowing hard, drinking through
straws in
such a way as to swallow some air, and other unconscious habits can
result in a fairly large amount of gas in the stomach. It is
hard to detect if
you do this or not, but be aware of yourself and see if you
notice any time
when you do this. The fact that it doesn't happen during sleep
goes along
with the possibility of an unconscious air-swallowing habit. My late
mother had a problem with this when she was nervous. She swallowed
quite hard with a tense throat and chest after breathing in forcefully
through her nose, and it would eventually result in belching.
Once she
realized what she was doing, she was able to control it.
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