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What Causes Excessive Swallowing Of Air While Eating?
Question: Hello,
I have two problems, that are somewhat connected. I can tell you in advance that these problems are very uncommon and so difficult to solve but it's just ruining my life and I won't stop searching until I will find a solution, so even if you don't find the perfect solution, any partial solution or track to follow could be useful. Even something like "All I know is that it can't be due to that" could help. So please, give me the most information possible. Thanks a lot in advance.
- I swallow a lot of air when I eat. Actually, I even swallow air when I drink water or when I swallow salivia. I read a lot about it, and I can tell you that it's not due to some kind of food or to the fact that I'm eating too fast or anything else like that : each time I swallow anything, I will swallow some air (I can hear it going in my stomach, and then I will often belch it in the few following minutes).
This is really annoying, but I can live with it because I belch 95% of this air pretty quickly. Still, I would like to know if you think there could exist a solution to cure that : maybe my jaw, tongue, throat or something like that has a malformation ? Maybe in this case it could be cured, maybe with surgery ? Maybe it could be due to something else ?
NB : I don't have a perfect dentition, but I never went to an orthondontist so maybe it could be related.
- My digestive sytem is doing noise caused by air traversing it. More precisely :
Stomach noises when I'm hungry (that is pretty normal) AND after having eaten something (because of the air swallowing) ==> the only way to solve this would be to solve the air swallowing problem.
Intestinal noises from time to time (I had a lot of intestinal noises before, but it almost totally disappeared recently, I can't really explain why). It must be caused by the air swallowing problem too.
Real problem : rectal noises (the MOST annoying part) : it's like rumbles in my rectum. Sometimes it's low and I'm the only one to hear it, but it's often loud (and rarely VERY loud), and it can be very, very embarassing...
Theses rectal noises are really the symptom that is ruining my life. I just can't live with that. I have to go to school, etc. and it's just not possible with those rectal noises that can happen at any moment.
More information about those rectal noises : in practice, it can happen at any time, and in general it will be one rumble every 2-5 minutes during 30 minutes or 1 hour, then it stops during some time, then it starts again after 1 or several hours, etc. But if I'm home, in general I'm able to fart quickly after I hear the first rumble. The problem is that, on the one hand, it will often happen before I'm able to fart (so I can't avoid it), and on the other hand, if I'm at school or something else it's impossible to fart and then it will just keep going during th entire class... usually, I poo once a day in the morning. But I noticed that it happens a lot in the morning, a few time after having pooped, which I interpret like that : it's difficult to evacute all the gas, so there will always remain some gas. And as I pooped, my rectum is pretty empty, so there is more space for the gas too circulate. But anyway it can also happen in the evening (or any other moment).
So I really need to know why I have those rectal noises, and how I could stop them.
I can also tell you that I have very few gas in my digestive system (as I belch almost all the air that I swallow) : I fart approximately 10 times a day (especially in the morning before and when I'm in the toilet), so I have very few gas during the day (less than normal people I think !), but almost every time that a fart comes, it makes noise in my rectum before... it's just not normal.
Other informations that you could take into account :
- I have no pain at all (I never felt any pain in any part of my digestive system), no other digestive problem (no discomfort other than noise, and almost no other symtom of IBS).
- I have sometimes "diarrhea" (or not really diarrhea, but loose stools, or at least stools that are not hard enough), but I go to the toilet once a day anyway, so it's not so abnormal.
What I suppose (could give you tracks to follow) :
Those noises can be caused by two different things :
- Gas flowing through liquid (loose stools) in my rectum and then each time that it moves in this liquid, it makes noise. It would make sense, but I don't always have loose stools, and even when my stools are hard, I still have rumbles (maybe a little bit less, maybe not, not sure, but I still have some !)
- Gas being "stucked" in some small corners of my rectum, and then when it escapes (or just when it passes through a small place in the rectum), it makes noise. This is also possible, but why would I have those "small places" in which gas can't flow without making noise ?
Again, I read a lot about this and found some tracks (so if you could tell me if you think some are possible or not, it would already help a lot) :
- Inflammation in the rectum that created some malformations in the rectum, and gas can be trapped or pass through these and then make noise.
- H pylori, polyp or skin blocking places in the rectum.
- Diverticular disease that created "pockets" in my rectum, and again, air gets trapped in it.
- Other malformations...
Another possibility is that it would be due to the composition of the gas : air swallowed is different than air created by the colon, and maybe this difference in composition would imply that it moves differently in the intestines (and in the rectum) and then it would make noise, where normal air doesn't... but it would be rather strange.
Other details about me that could be linked to those problems (or not) :
- I have a scoliosis. It was treated so this is not a problem anymore, but my spine is deviated and so some of my organs are not exactly where they should be.
- My scoliosis doctor saw on my radios that I have congested bronchi (like if I had a cold, but I don't). And he saw it on different radios, with several months between them. And indeed, my nose is often congested. So it seems to be a special thing, that could be linked to the air swallowing ?
- I was allergic to dust mites in the past, and I had continously runny nose. I took a treatment for that and now I'm almost not allergic anymore, but it could be the cause of the previous point (chronic congested bronchi).
- It's pretty strange because at the beginning I had nothing, then during my teenage I started having stomach noises. Later on intestinal noises began. And now that my teenage is over (I'm 20) rectal noises are beginning are becoming louder and louder.
- I don't do a lot of sports. I read some people telling doing sports helps, but I really don't see how. This is not a mental problem, there is obviously a biologic problem here.
- I also read about a lot of drugs like activated charcoal, simethicon etc, but as I said, I don't think that the problem is due to an excess of gas (I will always have some gas in my digestive system like everyone), so these are, in my opinion, useless.
- I'm a little bit lactose intolerent, but I almost eat no lactose and even when I do a strict diet without lactose, it doesn't seem to change anything.
So in conclusion, I have 2 major problems (air swallowing and rectal noises). The first one could be normal (but it's really excessive compared to other people, I even swallow air when I swallow my saliva !). The second one is the most annoying, but it could be a consequence of the first one (even if i'm really not sure about that). And it's those rectal noises that I really need to stop (it literally keeps me from living... I can't go to school, can't meet friends in quiet places, won't be able to find a job later because it's always in quiet rooms, etc.).
Thanks a lot in advance, and again, even if you are not sure, any piece of information could help.
I have two problems, that are somewhat connected. I can tell you in advance that these problems are very uncommon and so difficult to solve but it's just ruining my life and I won't stop searching until I will find a solution, so even if you don't find the perfect solution, any partial solution or track to follow could be useful. Even something like "All I know is that it can't be due to that" could help. So please, give me the most information possible. Thanks a lot in advance.
- I swallow a lot of air when I eat. Actually, I even swallow air when I drink water or when I swallow salivia. I read a lot about it, and I can tell you that it's not due to some kind of food or to the fact that I'm eating too fast or anything else like that : each time I swallow anything, I will swallow some air (I can hear it going in my stomach, and then I will often belch it in the few following minutes).
This is really annoying, but I can live with it because I belch 95% of this air pretty quickly. Still, I would like to know if you think there could exist a solution to cure that : maybe my jaw, tongue, throat or something like that has a malformation ? Maybe in this case it could be cured, maybe with surgery ? Maybe it could be due to something else ?
NB : I don't have a perfect dentition, but I never went to an orthondontist so maybe it could be related.
- My digestive sytem is doing noise caused by air traversing it. More precisely :
Stomach noises when I'm hungry (that is pretty normal) AND after having eaten something (because of the air swallowing) ==> the only way to solve this would be to solve the air swallowing problem.
Intestinal noises from time to time (I had a lot of intestinal noises before, but it almost totally disappeared recently, I can't really explain why). It must be caused by the air swallowing problem too.
Real problem : rectal noises (the MOST annoying part) : it's like rumbles in my rectum. Sometimes it's low and I'm the only one to hear it, but it's often loud (and rarely VERY loud), and it can be very, very embarassing...
Theses rectal noises are really the symptom that is ruining my life. I just can't live with that. I have to go to school, etc. and it's just not possible with those rectal noises that can happen at any moment.
More information about those rectal noises : in practice, it can happen at any time, and in general it will be one rumble every 2-5 minutes during 30 minutes or 1 hour, then it stops during some time, then it starts again after 1 or several hours, etc. But if I'm home, in general I'm able to fart quickly after I hear the first rumble. The problem is that, on the one hand, it will often happen before I'm able to fart (so I can't avoid it), and on the other hand, if I'm at school or something else it's impossible to fart and then it will just keep going during th entire class... usually, I poo once a day in the morning. But I noticed that it happens a lot in the morning, a few time after having pooped, which I interpret like that : it's difficult to evacute all the gas, so there will always remain some gas. And as I pooped, my rectum is pretty empty, so there is more space for the gas too circulate. But anyway it can also happen in the evening (or any other moment).
So I really need to know why I have those rectal noises, and how I could stop them.
I can also tell you that I have very few gas in my digestive system (as I belch almost all the air that I swallow) : I fart approximately 10 times a day (especially in the morning before and when I'm in the toilet), so I have very few gas during the day (less than normal people I think !), but almost every time that a fart comes, it makes noise in my rectum before... it's just not normal.
Other informations that you could take into account :
- I have no pain at all (I never felt any pain in any part of my digestive system), no other digestive problem (no discomfort other than noise, and almost no other symtom of IBS).
- I have sometimes "diarrhea" (or not really diarrhea, but loose stools, or at least stools that are not hard enough), but I go to the toilet once a day anyway, so it's not so abnormal.
What I suppose (could give you tracks to follow) :
Those noises can be caused by two different things :
- Gas flowing through liquid (loose stools) in my rectum and then each time that it moves in this liquid, it makes noise. It would make sense, but I don't always have loose stools, and even when my stools are hard, I still have rumbles (maybe a little bit less, maybe not, not sure, but I still have some !)
- Gas being "stucked" in some small corners of my rectum, and then when it escapes (or just when it passes through a small place in the rectum), it makes noise. This is also possible, but why would I have those "small places" in which gas can't flow without making noise ?
Again, I read a lot about this and found some tracks (so if you could tell me if you think some are possible or not, it would already help a lot) :
- Inflammation in the rectum that created some malformations in the rectum, and gas can be trapped or pass through these and then make noise.
- H pylori, polyp or skin blocking places in the rectum.
- Diverticular disease that created "pockets" in my rectum, and again, air gets trapped in it.
- Other malformations...
Another possibility is that it would be due to the composition of the gas : air swallowed is different than air created by the colon, and maybe this difference in composition would imply that it moves differently in the intestines (and in the rectum) and then it would make noise, where normal air doesn't... but it would be rather strange.
Other details about me that could be linked to those problems (or not) :
- I have a scoliosis. It was treated so this is not a problem anymore, but my spine is deviated and so some of my organs are not exactly where they should be.
- My scoliosis doctor saw on my radios that I have congested bronchi (like if I had a cold, but I don't). And he saw it on different radios, with several months between them. And indeed, my nose is often congested. So it seems to be a special thing, that could be linked to the air swallowing ?
- I was allergic to dust mites in the past, and I had continously runny nose. I took a treatment for that and now I'm almost not allergic anymore, but it could be the cause of the previous point (chronic congested bronchi).
- It's pretty strange because at the beginning I had nothing, then during my teenage I started having stomach noises. Later on intestinal noises began. And now that my teenage is over (I'm 20) rectal noises are beginning are becoming louder and louder.
- I don't do a lot of sports. I read some people telling doing sports helps, but I really don't see how. This is not a mental problem, there is obviously a biologic problem here.
- I also read about a lot of drugs like activated charcoal, simethicon etc, but as I said, I don't think that the problem is due to an excess of gas (I will always have some gas in my digestive system like everyone), so these are, in my opinion, useless.
- I'm a little bit lactose intolerent, but I almost eat no lactose and even when I do a strict diet without lactose, it doesn't seem to change anything.
So in conclusion, I have 2 major problems (air swallowing and rectal noises). The first one could be normal (but it's really excessive compared to other people, I even swallow air when I swallow my saliva !). The second one is the most annoying, but it could be a consequence of the first one (even if i'm really not sure about that). And it's those rectal noises that I really need to stop (it literally keeps me from living... I can't go to school, can't meet friends in quiet places, won't be able to find a job later because it's always in quiet rooms, etc.).
Thanks a lot in advance, and again, even if you are not sure, any piece of information could help.
Brief Answer:
Please follow explanations given below...
Detailed Answer:
Hi and thank you for asking on HCM
Thank you for your detailed medical information.
I read carefully all your concerns and I can say as follows:
1. With regards to your first problem of air swallow it could be related with
- noise and throat adenoids that make difficult breathing during feeding so the air can be swallowed easy.
- short neck or obesity
This is why I strongly suggest to consult ENT specialist to rule out /confirm adenoids.
2. You are reporting to have a second problem like rectal noises. This symptom has many causes but from what you are describing it may be related with:
- air swallow that pass throw GI tract and penetrate throw fecal mass and than makes noises when pass throw anal area.
- SIBO (small intestinal bacterial overgrowth). It is a situation when your small intestines has been populated with bad bacteria that doesn't cause diarrhea but increase Hydrogen gas producing. This amount of gas pass throw GI tract and can cause a lot of fart and rectal noises.
- food hipersensitivity
- less common but possible your symptoms may be related with rectal inflammation and mild anal incontinence.
These is why I suggest to do further exams like:
- colonoscopy
- upper endoscopy
- H breath test to rule out/ confirm SIBO
- anal manometry test to rule out mild anal incontinence.
Meantime I suggest to :
- use probiotics
- avoid food that produce gas like beans, broccoli etc.
- increase physical activity
- use plenty of water
- avoid fatty and sugar foods
After you have finished the test that I mentioned above you will get the information if there is something biological that cause your symptoms.
Hope it was informative and helpful to you!
All the best!
Dr.Klerida
Please follow explanations given below...
Detailed Answer:
Hi and thank you for asking on HCM
Thank you for your detailed medical information.
I read carefully all your concerns and I can say as follows:
1. With regards to your first problem of air swallow it could be related with
- noise and throat adenoids that make difficult breathing during feeding so the air can be swallowed easy.
- short neck or obesity
This is why I strongly suggest to consult ENT specialist to rule out /confirm adenoids.
2. You are reporting to have a second problem like rectal noises. This symptom has many causes but from what you are describing it may be related with:
- air swallow that pass throw GI tract and penetrate throw fecal mass and than makes noises when pass throw anal area.
- SIBO (small intestinal bacterial overgrowth). It is a situation when your small intestines has been populated with bad bacteria that doesn't cause diarrhea but increase Hydrogen gas producing. This amount of gas pass throw GI tract and can cause a lot of fart and rectal noises.
- food hipersensitivity
- less common but possible your symptoms may be related with rectal inflammation and mild anal incontinence.
These is why I suggest to do further exams like:
- colonoscopy
- upper endoscopy
- H breath test to rule out/ confirm SIBO
- anal manometry test to rule out mild anal incontinence.
Meantime I suggest to :
- use probiotics
- avoid food that produce gas like beans, broccoli etc.
- increase physical activity
- use plenty of water
- avoid fatty and sugar foods
After you have finished the test that I mentioned above you will get the information if there is something biological that cause your symptoms.
Hope it was informative and helpful to you!
All the best!
Dr.Klerida
Above answer was peer-reviewed by :
Dr. Chakravarthy Mazumdar
Ok thanks for the answer, it's very interesting ! But I would like to explore a little bit deeper some subjects, would it be possible to have informations/answers to the few following points ? :
- First of all, I'm tall, really slim (1m90 - 60 kg, man, 20 years) and it's due to the fact that my appetite is very small (I'm sated very fast). So air swallowing is not due to obesity, but I don't know if the fact that I'm so slim can have a link with the other problems ?
- For the short neck, I actually have a longer neck than average so I think we can skip it ?
- For mild anal inconsistence, I don't think I have that, I can even stay 2 days without poo if I want to. So we can skip it too ?
- For the rectal noises, you say that it could be due to swalloed air, or to gas produce by bacteria in the small intestine, or to food hypersensitivity (gas produced by food ?). But as I already said, I have even fewer gas than the average. The problem is that if I have just a little bit of gas in my rectum (equivalent of one normal or small fart), it will make horrible noise until I really fart. So for me there is 2 possibilities :
--> The noise comes from the composition of the gas : swallowed air is mainly composed of azote ? bacteria produce hydrogen ? for food hypersensitivity, I don't know. So do you think there could be a reason why one of those compositions would trigger the noises while "normal" gas doesn't ?
--> The noise comes from the fact that the gas is normal, but it goes through some physical malformation : could it then be due to the rectal inflammation ? or to something else ?
And finally, some quick questions that would help me to go on with this problem :
- What could be the benefit of increasing physical activity ?
- Why could it be useful to drink plenty of water ?
- For me to be able to track which aliments can cause the gas in my rectum, I would need to know :
--> For traditional aliments, how much time (approximately) does it take between the moment I eat it, until the moment the gas is in my rectum ?
--> [Important] For air swallowed, how much time does it take to go from the beginning of my small intestine to my rectum ? (I know that from the stomach to the small intestine, it will depend if I'm standing or lying, etc.).
Again, I'm truly grateful for the help, thanks a lot.
XXXX
- First of all, I'm tall, really slim (1m90 - 60 kg, man, 20 years) and it's due to the fact that my appetite is very small (I'm sated very fast). So air swallowing is not due to obesity, but I don't know if the fact that I'm so slim can have a link with the other problems ?
- For the short neck, I actually have a longer neck than average so I think we can skip it ?
- For mild anal inconsistence, I don't think I have that, I can even stay 2 days without poo if I want to. So we can skip it too ?
- For the rectal noises, you say that it could be due to swalloed air, or to gas produce by bacteria in the small intestine, or to food hypersensitivity (gas produced by food ?). But as I already said, I have even fewer gas than the average. The problem is that if I have just a little bit of gas in my rectum (equivalent of one normal or small fart), it will make horrible noise until I really fart. So for me there is 2 possibilities :
--> The noise comes from the composition of the gas : swallowed air is mainly composed of azote ? bacteria produce hydrogen ? for food hypersensitivity, I don't know. So do you think there could be a reason why one of those compositions would trigger the noises while "normal" gas doesn't ?
--> The noise comes from the fact that the gas is normal, but it goes through some physical malformation : could it then be due to the rectal inflammation ? or to something else ?
And finally, some quick questions that would help me to go on with this problem :
- What could be the benefit of increasing physical activity ?
- Why could it be useful to drink plenty of water ?
- For me to be able to track which aliments can cause the gas in my rectum, I would need to know :
--> For traditional aliments, how much time (approximately) does it take between the moment I eat it, until the moment the gas is in my rectum ?
--> [Important] For air swallowed, how much time does it take to go from the beginning of my small intestine to my rectum ? (I know that from the stomach to the small intestine, it will depend if I'm standing or lying, etc.).
Again, I'm truly grateful for the help, thanks a lot.
XXXX
Brief Answer:
Please follow,,,
Detailed Answer:
Hi back,
Let me explain you again.
The gas in the large intestine is a cocktail produced by three different physiological probes:
- swallowing air (or aerophagia)
- digestion of foods
- intestinal bacterial flora activity
In normal people the amount of gas is balanced and controlled by gastrointestinal tract activity. In case of Aerophagia, intestinal bacteria overgrowth, indigestion and food hypersensitivity, the bowel produce too much gas.
This is why my opinion is that your symptoms aren't caused by any malformation, but to a combination of the above mentioned factors.
Otherwise you should perform colonoscopy to better evaluate the continuity and the form of large bowel.
By increasing physical activity, drinking plenty of waters you will help to improve gastrointestinal tract function. Also the gas will pass more quickly throw GI tract and will deposit on large amounts in rectal area. In this way you will pass it as a fart in the morning.
For traditional aliments normally it need 24-48 hours to be present on your rectum. For the swallowed air it will be present after 6-12 hours in the rectum.
Hope this will be of help!
Wish you health!
Dr. Klerida
Please follow,,,
Detailed Answer:
Hi back,
Let me explain you again.
The gas in the large intestine is a cocktail produced by three different physiological probes:
- swallowing air (or aerophagia)
- digestion of foods
- intestinal bacterial flora activity
In normal people the amount of gas is balanced and controlled by gastrointestinal tract activity. In case of Aerophagia, intestinal bacteria overgrowth, indigestion and food hypersensitivity, the bowel produce too much gas.
This is why my opinion is that your symptoms aren't caused by any malformation, but to a combination of the above mentioned factors.
Otherwise you should perform colonoscopy to better evaluate the continuity and the form of large bowel.
By increasing physical activity, drinking plenty of waters you will help to improve gastrointestinal tract function. Also the gas will pass more quickly throw GI tract and will deposit on large amounts in rectal area. In this way you will pass it as a fart in the morning.
For traditional aliments normally it need 24-48 hours to be present on your rectum. For the swallowed air it will be present after 6-12 hours in the rectum.
Hope this will be of help!
Wish you health!
Dr. Klerida
Above answer was peer-reviewed by :
Dr. Chakravarthy Mazumdar
Ok this makes sense and already helps me a lot. But sorry for insisting, but there is still one thing that doesn't make sense to me. Here is a specific case :
Despite the fact that most noises happen in the morning (which makes sense because all the air swallowed during the day is then present in my rectum, so there is a lot in my rectum at that moment), it happens that during the afternoon (when I didn't have any fart/noise during for example 6 hours), I start having some rectal noises, then after some minutes I do a very small fart, and then all the noises disappear and I don't have any new noise/fart until the next morning.
How is it possible that a so small quantity of gas makes so much noise, while normal people can have like 10 times more gas without their rectum making any noise ?
That's why I was thinking about a physical malformation/injury/strange physical thing in my rectum. But I know it's very uncommon.
So I know that the most likely thing is that those noises are somehow related to the air swallowing. But I'm really confident about the fact that it's NOT due to a too large amount of gas, because I have really few gas. That's why I wanted to know more about the composition of the gas : the only track that I have at the moment would be that the composition of the swallowed air makes it move more, or interact more with other elements in the rectum, and THAT would make the noises (not the quantity, but the fact that it's not the same kind of gas than normal people have in their rectum). Do you have an opinion about that ?
A big thank you again,
XXXX
Despite the fact that most noises happen in the morning (which makes sense because all the air swallowed during the day is then present in my rectum, so there is a lot in my rectum at that moment), it happens that during the afternoon (when I didn't have any fart/noise during for example 6 hours), I start having some rectal noises, then after some minutes I do a very small fart, and then all the noises disappear and I don't have any new noise/fart until the next morning.
How is it possible that a so small quantity of gas makes so much noise, while normal people can have like 10 times more gas without their rectum making any noise ?
That's why I was thinking about a physical malformation/injury/strange physical thing in my rectum. But I know it's very uncommon.
So I know that the most likely thing is that those noises are somehow related to the air swallowing. But I'm really confident about the fact that it's NOT due to a too large amount of gas, because I have really few gas. That's why I wanted to know more about the composition of the gas : the only track that I have at the moment would be that the composition of the swallowed air makes it move more, or interact more with other elements in the rectum, and THAT would make the noises (not the quantity, but the fact that it's not the same kind of gas than normal people have in their rectum). Do you have an opinion about that ?
A big thank you again,
XXXX
Brief Answer:
Please follow. ...
Detailed Answer:
Hi back XXXXXXX and sorry for my late.
With regards to rectal noises at afternoon it may be related with air swallowed during meal and all the day.
Otherwise to defenitevly excule your suspicious aboud rectal or large bowel malformation , you shoud do colonoscopy.
Hope it was helpful to you.
Dr.Klerida
Please follow. ...
Detailed Answer:
Hi back XXXXXXX and sorry for my late.
With regards to rectal noises at afternoon it may be related with air swallowed during meal and all the day.
Otherwise to defenitevly excule your suspicious aboud rectal or large bowel malformation , you shoud do colonoscopy.
Hope it was helpful to you.
Dr.Klerida
Note: For further follow up on digestive issues share your reports here and Click here.
Above answer was peer-reviewed by :
Dr. Chakravarthy Mazumdar
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