Is this TMS? burping

My main problem is constant forced burping. I have to force a burp to relieve tension and or trapped air or gas around my jaw / chest / abdomen constantly. initially this presented in high school, and would go away after i stopped smoking weed for a few days (i used to smoke it very heavily), then after high school as a globus sensation, which i went to the ent for who scoped me and found nothing. then this continued to get worse throughout the year, the symptoms would be especially worse after smoking weed and i went to the ER a couple times but was told panic attacks, i think now that they were from trapped air. it has been another couple years since then and the symptoms are still there but i realized i can relieve the tension by burping and have to 100+ times a day or the air will build up. i feel like i am regurgitating saliva and sometimes pieces of food that taste like the food. the symptoms were worse when i smoked weed but i stopped smoking for months now and they're still constant and the burping and discomfort have made it difficult for me to have a life and i'm 21 now. so far the tests and diagnoses i have had are:

ent scope found nothing
upper endoscopy and colonoscopy found small hiatal hernia and internal hemmerhoids
when i was on lexapro and omeprazole symptoms were slightly better, they were still there but i didn't worry about them as much
tested negative for sibo and lactose intolerance, positive for fructose intolerance, but diet change doesn't help. symptoms are usually somewhat better when my stomach is full. seem to be better with carbs like bread, and i find it difficult to keep a fructose free diet, sometimes symptoms are worse when i try.
neurologist did brain and neck mri were basically normal
i have a lot of swollen lymph nodes in my neck and over my body, got one fine needle biopsied and it was normal.
naturopathic treatment made me sicker while i was on the medication.
was diagnosed with TMJ and degenerative arthritis in the jaw joint, mouth guard helped somewhat but i don't wear it anymore it seems to make me focus on it more.
i was sent to physical therapy initally because my gp thought the pain was caused a car accident i was in and it helped for a while, but then it got worse when i started smoking weed again (i had been taking a break at the time) and the physical therapist gave me a copy of healing back pain which i read but it didn't really help and i didn't think about it for a year until tms showed up on a google search.
my parents tell me this is all in my head which i refused to consider for a long time and took me to a psychiatrist but i don't want to take pills to mask the problem which don't actually mask the problem.
just got a sleep study because i was waking up frequently at night, the nurse said something about grifting or something like that, the stomach muscles not working right while i was sleeping but i didn't have apnea. i haven't met with the doctor yet to further discuss it but assume this wouldn't cause constant burping thorought the day.
speech therapist said she didn't observe me swallowing air but that my jaw muscles were tense and i wasn't fully opening my mouth to talk. the stretches she told me to do helped a little with muscle tension but not with the burping and the excess saliva i think i'm regurgitating.
probably some more i'm forgetting, but everything was basically normal.

all the minor problems come and go except for the constant need to burp.

i am worried i have achalasia and was thinking of pushing for a barium swallow and the neurologist said if i did that he would be sure it wasn't neurological related.

journaling has helped a bit with relaxing me but not the problems. it is difficult for me to accept that the burping is caused by stress or that maybe it was but i have done irreversible damage at this point.

i know i have a lot of major stressors in the last few years, the symptoms initially started at a time when i learned my mom who i'm very close to was moving across the country, i think but am not sure of the exact time it started, some point in junior or senior year of high school, i lost a lot of weight after being obese and eating terrible foods for most of my life through healthier diet and smaller portions, and was using a lot of drugs, starting thinking more about sexuality that i had been repressing for most of my life, then in the following 2 years i was still using a lot of drugs, started my own business which i had to stop because of my health and because i felt like i was 40 when i was 20, got robbed at gunpoint multiple times and was constantly worried about getting arrested and going to jail for valid reasons i can't talk about, and getting into multiple car accidents. i was really worried i had cancer or a life threatening illness but that has pretty much been ruled out though i still worry. i took a stress test someone posted on here and my score was something like 560 where 300 shows you will have an illness caused by stress. but i am pretty much out of that life and living with my mom and grandma in a different state, have been here for a couple months now, don't use drugs anymore except sometimes alcohol, though i am still having to burp constantly, i am worried i have done irreversible damage and don't know whether i should keep getting medically tested or try to ignore it all and pursue therapy, i try to stop worrying one day but the next day i wake up in a panic and start googling stuff and i could deal with everything else but until the constant burping goes away i can't live my life and i don't know what to do about it. i tried to search on these forums for other people who have experienced this but cant find any. i have had good insurance throughout this to pursue these tests but am losing it in a few months because my mother is separating from my stepdad and its under his insurance. i'm relieved about this because he is a toxic and emotionally abusive person and has been for most of my life but feel bad about it because i was the last straw when i moved into their apartment and was having panic attacks all the time and he said my mom would have to choose between him or me. i still have the insurance as you have to wait 6 months after separating to file for divorce in their state. i see the tms symptoms in my mom as vertigo and back pain she thinks is from sciatica and degenerative disc disease but is on and off, my dad as ibs and back pain which is also on and off he thinks is from a diving accident when he was 12 and believes is cured every time he goes to a chiropractor when it acts up, and my stepdad has crohns disease, but none of them seem to be symptoms strong enough that prevent them from living their lives and placebo effects never work for me because i research it on the internet and realize its bullshit and all the doctors i see are guessing and telling me bullshit and pushing pills on me because they don't know. so i worry that this is not tms and some kind of irreversable damage to my esophagus from stress like achalasia from stress and i will have to constantly burp forever. i don't have a job or try to meet people other than my family because i am afraid i will have to burp constantly and embarass myself and spend most of the day googling medical stuff trying to figure this out if i'm not helping my grandma out with chores

 

How great that you are helping your Grandma with chores.
I'm 85 and living alone with my darling aging dog and wish you lived next door.
My next-door neighbors' kids are a boy about 10 or 12 and a girl about 8 or 10,
but neither of them would even think of asking me if I could use some help around the house or yard.

You say you have been under a lot of emotional stress. That's what's causing your burping.
Our subconscious finds different ways to cause us pain or other symptoms.

I suggest that you stop looking for Dr. Google to solve your burping and do the
Structured Educational Program to discover the reasons for the burping.
They could be repressed emotions that even go back to your childhood,
or a perfectionist or goodist personality that wants everyone to like you all the time.

And there are a lot of things worse than burping. Blowing gas out the rectum, for one thing. Haha

 

The reason I am worried the burping is caused by achalasia is because I also am constantly bringing saliva back up and have excessive saliva in my mouth and small pieces of food which I can taste which means it is getting stuck in my esophagus. Its hard for me to believe this is TMS because I can't find stories of anyone else with similar symptoms. And I do believe my problems are caused by stress but believe that I may have done irreversible damage.

 

Hey tms1223,
I am in a hurry and have to keep this brief but wanted to congratulate you on having a mind that is free from the medical matrix enough to be here. And i'm so very happy for you that you've refused psychiatric drugs. I feel you in regards to your age (I'm 22 and am slowly coming from living like an 80-year-old back to where I should be and MAN is it isolating). The burping/gastro issues you describe sound pretty TMS-like to me. I have those issues and have evidence that it is a psychophysiological thing rather than permanent physical damage. I used to take absolutely awful care of myself too and find it all too easy to blame drug abuse and other things on my health. While it's still in the back of my mind, I'm learning that these concerns are just an excuse for TMS to manifest as it feeds my fear.

Sorry to be so rushed but wanted to say that! You're in the right place my friend

 

Tms1223,
I have had burping, and for me it is totally a tms equivelent. I am older, haha,48! and have had more time to learn to calm myself down, but years ago I went to the ER because of it. The salivating and bringing food up sounds like gastric reflux, which also points to tms.

You have lots of tests showing nothing wrong, and your life has enough stress for tms in 2 or 3 people! I suggest following Walt's advice regarding the SEP, and that Hanna is right, you're in a good place here on the wiki. Learn about how to become well. This tms work is amazing and beautiful, especially when you come from a rough background. Keep us posted on your journey!

 

Hanna what evidence do you have that its a psychophysiological condition? I don't think it is reflux, because i rarely feel any reflux and the scope and endoscopy didn't show any evidence of it, and because the food that comes back up still tastes like food which I think means it never went into the stomach and stayed in the esophagus, and maybe a sphincter isn't opening and allowing in the air and saliva that I swallow. i know it could be because of the tension in my neck chest and stomach muscles and tmj tension but I tend to assume the worst. I'm thinking of going and getting the barium swallow just to be sure but I'll worry about something else if it isnt., but if I don't I'll worry about it still. I'll try following the tms program and see if it helps. I can't stop concentrating on it and worrying about it.

 

Its not normal burping its where I have to force a burp to get out trapped air? Is this similar to what happens to you all?

 

Sounds like having your mom move so far away from you when you were so young was traumatizing. Sounds like you were also worried about her being safe. It wasn't your fault your stepdad and her separated. No one has to choose between their child and their husband! If they do - it's a bunch of nonsense.

My advise to you is simple: Go out and make some friends!! This is an absolute must. There is nothing more hazardous to your health than being all alone!!

There have been many studies on this and people with few close friends and people in their life are at risk for viruses colds all sorts of diseases.

No one may notice your burping. As Walt said ha ha! and beat me to it ---it's better than farting!

You could go to an AA or Alanon meeting - wonderful community and support there. And it's free. Hypochondriasis & obsessive thinking are forms of addiction. There is even a group called Obsessive Compulsives anonymous with phone meetings.

Try a dance class like 5 rhythms or the wave. There is no talking and only movement and connection to people. Open up and move around. Try a part time job somewhere where you can kinda keep to yourself. Volunteer at a church or help a neighbor.

The best thing we can do for our parents sometimes is to learn how to take care of ourselves

 

I had severe burping for awhile in my early 20's. It was all anxiety related, I believe they called it aerophagia! I actually was swalling air. I eventually cured myself. But it certainly isn't fun!