Okay Doctor Moms and Detective Moms, I need help. My 13 year old daughter gets episodes of the Chronic Burps lasting for a a day or two or three, that she describes as tasting like "smelly rotten eggs, stinky cheese or expired hummos". Sometimes it even goes to "babybarfs". It can last all day and can keep her up at night, it ranges from embarrassing and really annoying, to really painful at times. It started sometime after our car was rear-ended over a year ago. It is not all the time and I have tried to figure out what the trigger could be. I thought maybe ice cream, regular milk (we usually drink Lactaid), stress, lack of sleep, but each theory has not been proven. Also, she does not drink soda. No other tummy trouble. She is in otherwise good health and good spirits.
We have asked several doctors who basically blew us off (I am searching for new doctors now). Actually, at this point I want to take her to a pediatric specialist but I'm not sure what type of doctor.
We want to figure out what is causing it and how to treat it. I am out of theories. Any thoughts are appreciated.
Thanks for your help.
I have acid reflux and gastritis, and this sounds exactly like me before I got on Nexium. I agree with everyone else, take her to a gastroenterologist. In the mean time, I recommend Gaviscon (actually, I use the store brand). It tastes bad, but really works!
It could be reflux. Take her to a gastroentologist.
My dd has been diagnosed (finally! after 5 years) with Gastroparesis. It is not a result of a milk allergy or anything like that, but is a stomach condition and a condition related to the Vagus nerve. The Vagus nerve can be damaged after a trauma (car accident) or injury or from several other causes. Sometimes they just don't know what causes it.
With Gastroparesis, the stomach doesn't get the message to start breaking down food, and so basically food sits too long in the stomach. The burping and hiccuping can be horrible and painful. There can be abdominal pain, nausea, vomiting, a bad taste or smell in the mouth, and constipation. Symptoms vary widely.
My dd has just started taking a "motility agent", a medication that binds to the muscles in the stomach and gets the stomach doing what it is supposed to. There are tests for it, but my dd hasn't had hers yet. It's coming up soon. But since she has every symptom of it, and several of the causes of it, they're already starting treating her for it.
A GI specialist will know about Gastroparesis and can help you. In the meantime, here are some things you can try. Have her eat smaller meals. Avoid raw vegetables like carrots and celery and things that are harder and therefore make the stomach work harder. Smoothies, protein shakes and liquid nutrition are fairly easy to digest even with Gastroparesis. Other things to eat are: soft foods like scrambled eggs, cooked vegetables, pureed soups, etc.
I hope this will help you!
Gastroenterologist would be my first thought of a specialist. I looked up tons of theories on this, but they usually also include other symptoms such as diarrhea and weight loss. I am mostly guessing she has reflux.
The two most common GI diseases that cause foul smelling burps are giardiasis and H. pylori infection. Giardiasis is a disease caused by intestine parasite called giardia lamblia, apparently, a lot of people in the US have it and it could be a likely culprit, but is easily cured.
Some other tips that can help here assuming it's none of the above:
http://www.simple-remedies.com/home-remedies/common-diges...
The "smelly rotten eggs" burps is exactly how my sister started out with diverticulitis, which ultimately affects the colon so it's best to find out sooner rather than later if this is what she has.
Take her to a gastric specialist so they can run the right tests.
God bless.
My "best guess" is that it is caused by a type of "reflux" and therefore the correct specialist would be a gastroenterologist. The "taste" she describes is quite typical of food that has not been digested properly. I agree that "chronic burps" as you have described, aren't "normal" and just because some doctors don't know what the diagnosis is, it doesn't mean that there isn't one! Trust your "Mamas Instinct" and keep searching for an answer. Please let me know if I was right (____@____.com). Best wishes and good luck to you both.
When I get this it's related to reflux .
The best way I've found to get rid of mine is eating mashed potatoes.
Sounds weird but it helps 100% better than any of those medications.
gastro internologist or how ever that is spelled. You could check your local children's hospital website for some names.
I have the same problem. it started during a pregnancy. For me, if I am starving, and then eat it starts. Also-bread seems to be a problem.
good luck
