PLEASE help me. I am a 50 year old female who is awakened every month or so to what I've heard it loosley referred to as a "Verp" - which is a combination of a burp and vomit; or where I am evidently burping up a small amount of vomit. This only occurs when I am in the middle of a deep sleep. It does wake me, as I guess it's my epiglotis that closes (to prevent this small amount of bile tasting fluid from going to "the wrong place". I absolutely HATE this and it is very upsetting to me. I have taken to sleeping while not laying completely flat, yet it still happens at times. It never happens during the day. I do often eat later at night, shortly before bedtime; I do drink alcohol on a fairly regular basis (wine) and I do drink several diet cokes per day along with sipping a slightly carbonated juice during the night when I get thirsty. I get regular medical check-ups but keep forgetting to mention this issue. Often, after I wake up when this occurs, I can hear a slight "wheeze" when I breath out. I so not smoke cigarrettes or anything else. I do take medication that helps me sleep at night. I recall that My Mother (now deceased of lung cancer at age 79, over 10 years ago) used to say that she had a "hiatal hernia" but have no idea what problems it caused her. She drank martinin'sl, smoked cigarrettes and lived a long life - even with lung CA for 9 years. I had a friend who died at age 50 of esophogeal cancer who drank hard alcohol a LOT and who smoked cigarretes, and who warned me if I ever got GIRD to not treat it lightly but to get it checked out. Is this what I have? I feel quite concerned. Should I see a specialist ad if so, What type of specialist should I see? I have excellent insurance.