Rotten egg burps revisited! - Digestive Disorders Message Board

luciesmom · 01-29-2008, 08:54 PM

There was an old thread about this, but I am so excited about my new discovery I just had to start a new thread.

First, I have been living with "my disease" for thirty-three years. I thought I was the only one who experienced this disaster. It took me probably fifteen years to even talk to my doctor about it and then he said, "if you don't come in while you're having symptoms there's nothing I can do." I wouldn't dare leave my house due to the smell, but then once the vomiting and diarrea start, it's impossible.

I went to the ER this past Sunday as I began having symptoms, but a new one joined in - a stabbing pain in my upper back, under the shoulder blade. I had just read an email about how women's heart attack symptoms are different and I began to stress. The more I stressed, the more my back hurt, the more intense the burping and stomach churning became. Once I got to the hospital they gave me pain medicine (yippee!!!) but then told me all the tests came back normal and they couldn't find anything wrong. There I was back to square one. I decided to do a ****** search. I can't believe I hadn't thought of this before. I really think that my diagnosis, along with a lady named Jody on another board (really old posts back in 2000) that I may have the answer.....not necessarily a solution though.

Quick history. First time I experienced this it was Thanksgiving when I was twelve. We went to visit my sister and had, for the first time, food cooked on a gas stove. I thought that was the cause of my awful smelling gas. (Pun intended) Obviously not. I would get this about once or twice a year, usually after vacation or holidays. My doctor suggested that it was because I was eating rich food that my body wasn't used to. For many reasons, none that I will explain here in this limited space, that just didn't make sense.

Then I decided it was fried food; specifically, food that had been fried in "old" grease. I believed this for probably ten-fifteen years. I just tried to avoid/limit my fried foods and then just dealt with my day of agony if/when it arose.

For the past two years I think I have figured it out and, until 2008, thought I had beaten it. I didn't have a single attack last year. Unfortunately, I have had four already in 2008. Anyway, I know that I have an extremely slow metabolism. If I eat a big breakfast (and by that I mean eggs, bacon, and toast) then I am full for the rest of the day. I discovered that I got sick after periods of overeating (remember: Thanksgiving, holidays, vacations!). and it wasn't necessarily overeating at one meal....it might be over the course of two or three days. I figured I was just layering on the food that my body couldn't digest and finally said "Enough!" and the burps would begin.

This woman on the other, old post reached her own conclusion and, I think, if you put the two of our diagnoses (sp) together, we may have figured this out. She indicated that the first time she had vomiting associated with her illness, she vomitted an undigested asparagus spear. She said she hadn't eaten asparagus in the previous three days! Her research led her to believe that there was something wrong with the valve from her stomach to her intestine which had allowed undigested food to travel into the intestine. The intestine, sensing a foreign object, and therefore danger, began the process of removing the foreign object. The result: burping (rotten egg taste/smell); diarrea and vomitting. Of all the posts I read, those folks' condition parallelled mine in that once the vomitting/diarrea is gone, so is the sickness. I too found myself "losing my lunch" of several days earlier. It didn't make sense to me that it would still be in my stomach. That's when I attributed the slow metabolism to it but I can see how the faulty valve might also be a contributing factor.

I know this is lengthy and unpleasant but 1) I am so happy (not really the right word) to find others like me out there. I thought I was an abnormality and that I was crazy; 2) that my diagnosis is reasonable; and 3) that Jody's diagnosis, together with mine makes sense. Unfortunately, what we don't have is a solution. Other than taking smaller bites and chewing my food twenty times before swallowing, I don't know if doctors can do anything.

What do you think?

Red60 · 01-30-2008, 09:18 AM

I think there is a good possibility that you are on the right track. What you are suggesting is very simular to the ideas expressed by many of the alternative medicine practitioners. Low stomach acid causes the the food to set in the stomach for prolonged periods of time. Do you take any anti acid meds? Have you ever tried using HCI or digestive enzymes?

HasLPRD · 01-30-2008, 02:21 PM

luciesmom,

Slow draining stomach due to muscle/nerve dysfunctions are usually classified
as Gastroparesis. You'll find lots of information on that on the web if you
search for it. The Mayo Clinic, in particular, has a nice article on Gastrpoparesis.

As Red60 points out, the idea of insufficient stomach acid is popular among alternative
medicine practitioners, but most gastroentrologists tend to disregard that theory. Enzymes
and probiotics are worth trying in any case.

I should also point out that sulfur burbs and diarrhea are a symptom of infection by the
Giardia parasite.

Mark.

Rinjo · 02-01-2008, 04:47 PM

If you haven't been tested with H Pylori, you should check with your doctor and have some tests run, and then everyone in your immediate family. My wife had the same symptoms that you described. Last year she went to a doctor and was diagnosed with H Pylori. She hadn't been able to eat green veggies and would throw them up between 1hr and 2-3 days of eating them. It escalated until she couldn't eat hardly anything without getting sick, and thats when she finally went to the doctor.

She took the antibiotics and the test results said that she was free of the H Pylori virus. However, I may not have been. It can spread through kissing and other contact with those around you. So, a year later, the two of us are having the same symptoms you describe. I don't want to make light of the subject as it is quite serious, but I am surprised none of our neighbors have complained as to how bad our house can smell. I feel awful all the time, and we can't dare have anyone over for meals or hanging out (not for fear of spreading H Pylori, but out of shear embarrassment).

Anyway, H Pylori can cause ulcers and even stomach cancer if untreated. The vomiting and ick that you see when purging your stomach contents stems from the bodies inability to digest the food caused by the H Pylori secreting an enzyme to neutrilize stomach acids. I don't know all the science, but I am sure there may even be cause and effect from the H Pylori thriving in a sulfur rich environment or oxygenless environment. Hydrogen sulfide, the rotten egg gas, is the byproduct of bacterial breakdown of organic matter in the absence of oxygen. So I wonder if the H Pylori constricts or even thrives on the oxygen rich blood in the stomach, so the bacteria in the stomach begin to produce the hydrogen sulfide. Worth a science wizard to look into and write a paper on.

For what it's worth that is my two-pennies. All I know for certain, is that my wife and I have to undergo the treatment for H Pylori at the same time or risk getting it again. And I do not, not ever, want this foul beast to return. Until it goes away, I will watch the world from indoors.

Oh yeah, H Pylori can thrive in your stomach for long periods of time. My wife couldn't digest green veggies for almost 7 years before it escalated. I on the other hand, have had the unluck of getting hit with this stuff like I have had it for over 10 years. Who knows, maybe I have.

Hope this helps.

~Rin~