no burping / gurgling in throat

[mcelanor]

I am 19 years old, female, healthy, normal eating habits, etc, but I do not burp. I've tried drinking soda, swallowing air, etc, and it just makes me feel uncomfortable but doesn't make me burp. Instead, my throat gurgles. The best way to describe the sound is like a stomach growling, only in the throat. It's incredibly embarrassing and I can't prevent it from happening. It tends to happen a lot after I drink juice or soda, but also sometimes after meals where I only drank water. Along with the gurgle I feel some light pressure in my lower throat, near my collarbone, like there's air trying to get out (no pain). The pressure is momentarily relieved after I "gurgle", but then it comes back and I need to "gurgle" again.

I have met one or two other people who experience the same thing, including my sister, and seen other complaints online, but have found no explanation for why this happens, or how to prevent it. Any help?

I very rarely throw up either (only once in the past 8 years), I don't know if that's connected at all but I thought I should mention it.

[whitney21]

it's so annoying! i have never been able to make myself burp. people always joke about it but i always have terrible bloating and pain in my chest after eating. i will feel full even if it's been 7 or 8 hours since ive last eaten! i have a BUNCH of gurgling noises and it's so irritating because i cant stop it!  
(sorry for non punctuation and capitalizing, I dont feel like doing all that right now.) lol   anyway, I went the doctor and he had recently looked down my throat with a tube. he said my throat was swollen, and he said i had reflux (GERD)   and so he put me on prilosec... we shall see if it works...    and also, i have been having constant sinus problems, ears popping, sinus infections, you name it.. he said reflux can cause all of that!   so hopefully this is what is wrong with me. maybe this will help you too.

[whitney21]

it's so annoying! i have never been able to make myself burp. people always joke about it but i always have terrible bloating and pain in my chest after eating. i will feel full even if it's been 7 or 8 hours since ive last eaten! i have a BUNCH of gurgling noises and it's so irritating because i cant stop it!  
(sorry for non punctuation and capitalizing, I dont feel like doing all that right now.) lol   anyway, I went the doctor and he had recently looked down my throat with a tube. he said my throat was swollen, and he said i had reflux (GERD)   and so he put me on prilosec... we shall see if it works...    and also, i have been having constant sinus problems, ears popping, sinus infections, you name it.. he said reflux can cause all of that!   so hopefully this is what is wrong with me. maybe this will help you too.

[Kimmykim12]

Idk how old this thread is but I'm 31 years old and I've had this as far as I can remember. I remember being a little girl and making these noises in my family's ears and us laughing about it. I also have never really been able to burp. I do get heartburn a lot. I also rarely throw up. Idk what it is. My dad tells me to see a doctor about it but I've had it all my life so it can't be that serious right? I also have always had digestion issues. I've suffered from IBS and am lactose intolerant and even gastroenteritis once. Im so used to pushing up the air for my gurgles to come out. I usually just try and let it all out as loud and as quickly as I can until they become fewer and stop.  If anyone ever finds out what this is I'd like to know. Maybe I should go to the doc...

[Mct314]

Hi everyone.
I discovered this forum a couple of years ago and it helped a lot because I was experiencing the same thing, so thought I'd share updates with my situation.

Just like many of you, I could never voluntarily burp growing up, but it was never a problem for me.

Then when I went to college in fall 2009, I developed the gurgling noises after meals, which were especially bad after eating foods like pasta, chocolate, and citrus/acidic fruits, and drinking soda. In discussions with doctors, my parents and I concluded that it must have been set off by the stress I encountered that first semester, as well as the shift to eating less fresh food and lots of processed foods in the dining halls.

I had multiple doctors, including a gastroenterologist, tell me they had never heard of such a thing. I even recorded the noise since it doesn't exactly come on command, and my gastro-doctor said she had never heard anything like it.

I did a barium swallow test and had an endoscopy, and my results came back normal for both. I took Prilosec for awhile, which did not do anything; if anything, it made it worse.

I discovered that TUMS helped the most in terms of reducing the croaks.

I also went to France for 8 days in summer 2010, and the problem nearly went away entirely while I was there, which I think can be attributed to the freshness of the food I ate there and the lack of chemicals.

I began taking Nexium, which helped some, but unfortunately, I never got into a good pattern with taking it on a regular basis, so it's a little harder to determine how effective or ineffective it was.

Over time, the croaks developed into burps. Now, I feel more relief than I did with just the croaks, but after meals, I burp incessantly for hours at a time, sometimes croaking as well as burping.

I am probably going to go back to taking Nexium soon, but again, I'd recommend everyone try TUMS for some instant relief.

Additionally, I will be spending the next semester in France, so I hope that the burping subsides with the food quality there.

I hope this helps someone in her or his search to identify and treat the mystery croaking!

[tigerknitting]

I've had some relief by chewing very thoroughly and eating small meals.  I also drink very slowly, and sip rather than gulp.  Basically, I try not to swallow air!

[JohnLayman]

Like everyone else here I thought i was the only one and am delighted to of found this thread.

Had an important meeting in work today and spent the entire time battling these strange obnoxious involuntary gurgles. Just like so many here i have never been able to burp normally. This combined with the fact that it gets worse when any stress is involved makes me wonder if its allergy related at all.

I am definitely going to get myself checked out in the new year but it seems from reading the above that noone has been happily cured from this yet. It seems so silly but it really does affect my life. It gets especially bad if i eat a large meal and try to drink alcohol. So weddings, anniversaries, dates etc are sometimes ruined completely.