Need answers! Burping more than usual!

My wife has IBS and GERD. The tablets for one, make the other worse. It's a balancing act, and even after over 30 visits to accident emergency in intolerable pain, and a Nissen fundiplication operation, she still has bad days. The Nissen was done to stop acid coming up through her esophegas and burning her mouth and attacking her teeth and gums. Essentially the esophegas isn't designed to take acid like the stomach is so the Nissen stops this by having the stomach turned slightly and stitched to the top of the esophegas. I guess this acts similarly to a U-bend in domestic plumbing. Incidentally, she has been on omeprazole and kansoperazole alternately for years. She is not able to be sick if bring up the quantities of acid and bile that she used to, which is good, but she burps often and for a seven stone woman, the volume is more like what you would expect of a full grown man after 6 lagers and a curry!!

In terms of her IBS, if she takes too many pain relief meds, this causes dihorea overflow. This is when hard stool causes constipation, which is followed by really loose stool. Again, very painful and unpleasant. I could talk about this topic endlessly sadly, and if I thought it was linked to diet, it would be reasonably easy to deal with or mitigate. However, my wife can go several months without pain, or be in pain every other day for weeks.  I guess I  my reply is for you to understand that this is a complex issue, and whilst surgery has had some benefits, the root cause and eradication are still evident. The doctors say that she has the severe symptoms of chronic IBS and GERD, which doesn't sound like you have. Good luck and I hope my reply helps. One thing I didn't mention is that her gall bladder was removed in her early 20's. She is 40 now. 

The first operation was too tight. She had to have a further one to allow food to pass without getting stuck, ( basically, some stitches released). It took a long time before she could eat solids again. When the surgeon says sloppy diet for 6 weeks, he means sloppy, and for 6 weeks. By success, she is no longer capable of being sick like she was previously. Her GP and dentist warned her that her esophegas tract, gums and teeth would be affected by the acid if something wasn't done to stop it soon so the choice to have th Op was almost made for her. I know it sounds awful, but at her worst, she could half fill a standard bucket full of bile, in a few hours. The surgeon warned that results are not guaranteed and sometimes it can make things worse. Whilst she does not burn with acid so much, she still has bad days. A and E are sick of the sight of her. Trying to get a specialist, pain relief team, GP and other practitioners to talk together is near on impossible. However, she has had some success recently by being given oral morphine at home, which means she can sit in the shower, take the morphine and wait for it to ease. This avoids a trip to A &E at least. She now burps often and as I type, has just belched loudly. I've just asked her if overall she is happier since the Nissen. Straight away she said yes, but it wasn't easy at the time. She takes two 20mg ompeprazole in the morning and two before bed. If she is unwell, it's generally when she first wakes. She's convinced that as long as she has food in her stomach, she is fine.. I tend to agree with her, based on experience. She eats constantly, more than I do, but never puts weight on, and when she does put a few pound on over a month or two, it can be lost within 24hrs of being ill. Some may think this is great, but I wouldn't wish the pain on anyone. She tried to have the motility test, but couldn't handle the tube in her nose and stomach. Her GP told her to double up on her tablets for a short period which U.S. what she is doing now. She will go back to just one tablet in the morning and one before bed in a day of two. She also drinks actimels to try and support a health stomach. Hang on in there, you are certainly not alone.

Thank you for your kind words.

She was originally diagnosed with acid reflux and clearly has it today. Onions and fresh tomatoes are a no go zone, along with anything else with a skin. Root vegetables are fine. Anything that grows above the surface doesn't help. Carrots, swede, parsnips, potatoes are all "safe" foods. The motility test is for the specialist to understand the amount of acid in your stomach over a 24hour period. This may help he/she to assess the amount/dosage of any PPI's prescribed.