For nearly 27 years, I couldn't burp...until I experienced the power of peer-to-peer healthcare

I'll always remember, when I was no more than 10 years old, telling my uncle I wasn't able to burp. He said, "Of course you can burp. Here, chug this Sprite and see what happens." I chugged the can of Sprite, and...nothing. Well, not nothing. I was greeted with bloat, gas, and inevitable stomach pain - three things I was very familiar with as a kid who consumed children's Gas-X like it was candy.

Fast forward to my early 20s, I was enjoying university life. Like any other college student, I loved a good Friday night out with my friends! After one or two drinks, though, I would typically have to leave the party to step outside and dry heave due to the immense amount of air piling up inside my stomach. It was uncomfortable, miserable, embarrassing...I could go on and on.

It got really bad after college. I could barely touch alcohol, two bites of a meal and I was full, etc. People would constantly tell me I wasn't as much fun as I used to be, they'd make fun of how little I was eating, etc. It sucked, especially knowing there was an underlying cause of it all that I couldn't identify.

I decided to finally go see a GI doctor. The waiting list for a high-caliber hospital system near me was incredibly long, so I went to a private practice instead. I shared my experience, including the inability to burp and the feeling that burps "come up but not out." She had me complete a gastric emptying test and a gastroscopy, but everything came back normal. The doctor then suggested dietary changes, but all of her suggestions were things I already did in my daily life. So, I decided, "on to the next." I put my name in for the months-long waiting list - I figured, if I've lived like this for 26 years, I can live like it for a few more months.

When I finally got in at the hospital system, I shared the same information, which seemed to fall on deaf ears. The doctor instead ran through a miles-long list of questions that I inherently knew wasn't going to get us anywhere. Still, I answered them all and followed his instructions to go get bloodwork done. Sure enough, my numbers were normal. He then suggested the same dietary changes as the last doctor, which, of course, were nothing new to me.

During a visit to my sister and brother-in-law, I was venting about the whole thing. My brother-in-law did a quick Google search and stumbled across a Reddit thread on something called Retrograde Cricopharyngeus Dysfunction (RCPD), or, in layman's terms, "no-burp syndrome." He read the four most common symptoms to me:

• Inability to burp (check)
• Gurgling noises from the throat or neck, often uncontrollable, and audible to others (check)
• Abdominal bloating (check)
• Excessive flatulence (check)

I had never felt so seen before in the context of my healthcare. These strangers on the internet so clearly defined exactly what I was going through. Sure, misery loves company, and it felt good to know I wasn't alone. But even better? The constant chatter about the condition on social media started gaining attention just a few years prior. The peer-to-peer threads sparked the discovery of RCPD in 2019. Three years later, I was reading about a diagnosis and potential treatment that could completely overhaul my quality of life. It sounds ridiculous, but it made me emotional. I couldn't stop consuming videos and articles, crying from feeling so understood and knowing that somewhere out there, there were a select number of doctors studying the condition I likely had and working to cure it.

Much to my surprise (and delight), one of the doctors pioneering this research, Dr. Robert Bastian, had an ENT practice just 45 minutes away from me. I couldn't believe how lucky I was - people fly in from all across the country to see him for RCPD specifically, and I just had to hop on the highway.

My first appointment with Dr. Bastian was in January 2023. It's now May 2023, and I am thrilled to say I can burp like a QUEEN. I haven't been bloated or gassy in months, I can drink all the carbonated drinks I want, and I can even eat a full meal. All it took was a simple consultation and a 30-minute outpatient procedure, which consisted of a Botox injection to the cricopharyngeus muscle.

Peer-to-peer healthcare is on the rise thanks to living in the digital age, and as a content marketer working in digital health, I'm simply blown away by its potential. I'm not here to tell you to turn to TikTok or Reddit to make a self-diagnosis by any means, but I am here to tell you to tap into your resources. Talk about health. Share your experiences. Leverage social media for GOOD. The worst thing we can do is suffer in silence. When just one person is open about their situation, it creates a domino effect, until the folks who can help take notice. When just one person is open about their situation, lives can be completely changed.

My final note? Advocate for yourself. And don't stop until you find the support you deserve. You know your body best, and you'll be glad you didn't give up on it.