i am physically unable to burp.

[paigey1991]

All my life i have been unable to burp. I have these awful embarrassing involuntary gurgles that are sometimes loud and others not as loud. As long as i could remember, i have felt bloated after i eat too much or drink anything. Many people have tried to teach me how to burp but i simply cant. Almost everytime i yawn though, i always seem to let out a tiny burp or maybe a gurgle and i feel a little relief. i have noticed i yawn a lot more than other people, maybe this is a way my body tries to get out the access air. I hardly throw up or get sick. I have thrown up maybe seven or eight times in my life and i am 17 now. I do remember everytime i throw up i belch really loud before doing so. It sounds horrific and i have never heard anyone burp the way i do when i am sick. No one believes i cant burp, even the people who have heard my gurgles. My mothier thinks i am weird and refuses to take me to any kind of docter because she thinks i am making this up. i am afraid that if i dont get help soon i might just blow up. Recently, i was curious if i was the only one with this problem so i did some research online. I have come to find that many people have experienced what i have but i have heard nothing about a cure or a name for this problem. If someone has an answer or the same or similar problem, please let me know (:


thank you so much,
paige.

[Pat77777]

In reading comments  further, I see that people had been able to do this by pressing down the back of throat with the finger....it makes sense that something like this would work...Thanks!!

[Pat77777]

Thanks so much I will try it!

[Pat77777]

Thank you....

[Pat77777]

Possible Answer.......
I am 60 yrs old and have had this all my life....And yes similar experience, people never seem to believe it.....My mother said she thought that I was just being polite and not wanting to be rude by burping...and that it was pretty much in my mind. I noticed that it was worse after drinking carbonated drinks or certain foods..... causing pressure in chest like the air wanted to come up but couldn't.....Then about 20 years I went to a eyes ears nose throat doctor, (aka otolaryngologist) for an unrelated issue and I asked him if he ever heard of not being able to burp and he said  "yes, I can't burp" then he said that it was due to a tight esophagus......but it did not bother him enough to want to do anything about it. I still don't know of a remedy but since cutting out all carbonated drinks.....I'm rarely effected...UNTIL tonight when I decided earlier today to again try a carbonated drink (Kombucha) and now it feels like theres a bubble in my chest/throat. The doctors name was Dr Calari in Ft Lauderdale. Seems like there should be some kind of maneuver or instrument that could cause the gas to release the same way it came in.......Thanks for sharing, over the years I have looked for others with this but this is the first time I have found anyone with similar issue.

[Fean0r]

So, I have had this problem for most of my life. I'm 31. It's usually only a problem when drinking beer, or after a large meal - and I've learnt to manage it by going to the loo, putting my fingers down my throat but stopping the vomit reflect after all the air is out but before anything comes up. Strangers think I'm weird.

Until my wife just showed me this video, of a child explaining how to burp. I rubbished the idea, but went with it - and I think I've cracked it! Thanks to an eight year old. Anyway, I found this thread while researching my problem just now, so thought this might help you all.

[dpm7]

First, Josephblascow, I appreciate you sharing the medical research!  I plan to follow up with my doctor and provide this thread and the medical references you gave.  Thank you!

To all-

Wow, I have the same response as so so many of you!  I can't believe I am not the one, and I wish I had googled this earlier!  I have read most all of these posts, which amazingly have logged at least 3-4 comments per month since 2009!!  Clearly, this is a big deal for a lot of people who are not making up their conditions, and yet doctors seem to understand so little about it!

I am a 40-year old man, and I could count one hand how many times I've ever burped.  I only recall vomiting twice in my entire life.  Once when I was 7 years old, and then 25 years later.  Just like others, each time was preceded by 1-2 extremely loud belches.  Each time when I started to actually vomit, the TOP of my throat completely constricted for several wretches, causing excruciating pain and cutting off any chance of breathing. By the time I could release vomit, I was practically in tears and exhausted. Believe me, I sounded like I was fighting off an intruder and in the end, barely anything came out.

My throat gurgles for 30-45 minutes within an hour after every meal, but doesn't really provide relief. Instead, I fart all the time, in large amounts.  I recall classmates back in middle school giving me weird looks after lunch hour when my throat gurgled in a quite classroom.  Now it's embarrassing at work because I know my gurgling must be picked up by my headset microphone when I'm on a conference call with my team!  Dating was hard because I would have to hold my farts all evening, and then fart the entire way home after dropping off my girlfriend.  Now that she's my wife, she's no longer spared my flatulence.  I'm lucky she loves me anyway! :) Every day, I have random hiccups, always in pairs. I can drink carbonated fountain drinks without issue, but drinking pop straight from a can or bottle makes feel like a balloon.  I can drink 2-3 beers, but have to switch to non-carbonated drinks by #4 or else I feel like I'm going to pop!  I'll start hiccuping so hard that I have to remove myself from the party.

Does anyone else have a high sensitivity to what I call "throat freeze"?  Throat freeze happens when I drink 4-5 gulps of a frozen drink (smoothie, milk shake, blizzard, etc) within about 30 seconds. My throat gets so completely frozen it hurts!  It comes on slowly, but once it starts I don't even need to gulp more for the freeze to go full force, and I have to wait it out.  My wife keeps asking me, "are you sure it's not 'brain freeze'?  Isn't it in your head, not your throat?"  No, I say, it's DEFINITELY in my throat, the same place that clamps shut when I need to vomit, and where it hurts when I have those massive hiccups.  Could these all be related to the same root cause?

I'm so glad to have found this support group, and will check back often for updates and solutions.