Rotten Egg Burps = Projectile Vomiting

[Condor301]

I'm a 43 year old male with a long history of stomach issues.  I take prilosec daily and have no idea what a "normal" bowel movement resembles.  Sour stomach, cramps, reflux and soft stools are just a part of life for me and I've been able to lead a fairly normal and mobile life in spite of these issues.

Six weeks ago, I went to work and took one of my kids w/me.  He loves going to the office for some reason and he had nothing better to do on this particular summer day.  Around 10am I started noticing that I was burping quite a bit and my son pointed out that something smelled like "rotten eggs".  I agreed that something did smell putrid and that it was in fact my burps.  As the day continued, the burps became more and more frequent with individual burps lasting longer and smelling even worse (if that's possible).  Around 3pm, I told my boss I wasn't feeling well and excused myself.  I drove to the hospital and the ER was empty.  Not a person in sight!  Wow!  I told the nurse that I was in extreme abdominal discomfort, nauseous and pain radiating toward my back from my stomach region.  Well, somehow that triggered the "high risk heart alert" which got me checked in in record time, and EKG, blood work, and who knows what else.  Eventually they ruled out my heart and I continued to feel incredibly nauseous despite the three doses of anti-nausea medicine they had put in my IV.  Once it was brought under control, they did CAT scans, x-rays and sonograms of my abdominal region.  They checked everything!  They found nothing.  My appendix, galbladder, intestines and stomach appeared normal.  They gave me two bags of iv antibiotics and lots of fluids via the iv. I just figured it was viral.  The next day I checked out and went home having missed a day of work.

Three weeks later, I started tasting the rotten egg burps again and about 3 hours later, I was heaving up my guts.  I'm one of those people who really, really hates to vomit.  I mean, I just wont do it unless there is just no option.  I will feel sick longer rather than throw-up.  I'd take a beating before willfully throwing up.  Anyway, it was an unstoppable force and it just kept coming.  My wife took me back to the hospital ER where they again performed many of the same tests which all came up negative.  They gave me anti-nausea medicine which worked a bit better this time.  Again, after 24 hours, the pain and nausea were gone.

Today, September 7, 2003 I'm starting to taste the rotten egg burps.  I can't afford to miss work tomorrow but more than that, I cannot afford to spend the night and tomorrow morning going through this hellish experience again.  It's just too much.  So, here's what I've tried.  I took 40mg pantoprazole sodium (Protonix) delayed release tablet and an alka-seltzer.  These were 2 of 3 ideas I found on this site.  The 3rd idea said to eat a lime or lemon.  I have to say, the burps do feel a bit controlled but I'm not ready to claim victory yet.  I'll post tomorrow morning and let all know if this worked.  God help me if it doesn't because for sure the medical community at large is not able to.

All of these posts going back ten years and not a single person has said they have been cured yet?  Please, if you have had this problem and have been correctly diagnosed and cured, post a response and let me know.  Or, perhaps you have had this issue and know of a means of dulling the symptoms?  That would be great too.  I just can't believe that after over 40 years of never having anything like this happen, now It has happened 3 times in six weeks.  Again, I'll post if my rotten egg burps have not turned into nausea by morning.

-Condor301


This discussion is related to Sulphuric/ Eggy burps and stomach cramps.

[skouza]

well i'm "happy" to see that i'm not the only one. but very sad discovering that we'll still suffer from this illness :'(.
I hope comes a day when doctors will figure out what the problem is with our duigestive system because this is ruining my life :( i can't eat as i will and I m always watching my food. I developed a phobia. when I Wake up late in the night with those horrible burps i wish dying rather than living my night and day like a zombie vomitting every 10 minutes :'(. please dear God make doctors discover the cause of this sickness from hell

[Nelbru52]

I am 63 year old male and have experienced for 40 years (over 200+ attacks) the symptoms laid out in all the comments.  Usually 2-4 times a year but sometimes more frequently.  After recently having upper UI and intestinal tests, blood work and urine tests, the Dr came back with nothing physical he could see.  He is recommending Elavil as he is thinking it may be a rare disorder called Cyclic Vomit Syndrone (CVS).  I am also going to focus on what I think may be contributors:

1.  Reduce fatty meats - I love them
2.  Stress reduction - Restructure my professional career a bit
3.  Practice new patterns for sleep and sleep preparation - I have sleep apnea and a weak bladder which means I awake too frequently.  
4.  No late night meals
5.  Major reduction in cheese and dairy products
6.  Focus on healthy foods and limit my crustaceous veggies like broccoli and cauliflower.

When I look back on some of my explosive events, it was usually around stressful upcoming or recently past events.  I also see a trend of heavy fatty meat intake.  These are 2 I want to watch moving forward.  I have joined this community so hopefully I can report back in 6 months as to whether I see some curtailment or not.

Good luck to all.  It is good to have a place to read and share about this.

[Kathyp53]

I have been dignoised with CVS recently as well after all tests were normal. My doctor told me there or only two types of treatment. One is a support system. In other words having family and friends help you. Personally I not only get dehydrated but become so weak that it's hard to walk and speak. The vomiting and diarrhea is violent. I always end up having to go in for fluids. Let me tell you though getting support is easier said then done, people can always drop what they are doing to help you. The second treatment is a drug called amitriptyline which is often used for depression, insomnia, pain and now CVS. I've been taking the new prescription for about 4 weeks now and here I am today having an episode. I can't even work any longer. After I have an episode, it takes me 5-10 days to recover. So frustrated!

[carla0226]

i have had this exact problem since i was pregnant with my son in 2010. they couldnt do anything but put me on prilosec during the pregnancy, so i constantly sat in extreme pain with my pregnancy. but a month after he was born i had another episode. i was hospitalized for a whole week. they finally did a scope of my stomache and told me it was very red and raw. and diagnosed me with gastritis. so im on ranitidine 150mg and protonix. when i feel the stomache pain coming i take it imediately. and it seems to be a great relief for me. they told me to stay away from caffine,ciggaretes,chocolate and spicy food, and anything else that i find out that would trigger it. and so far working really well. but they said there is no cure. it is something i will just have to deal with for the rest of my life. i hope this helps.

[MDpathologist]

New here, but I am a pathologist and I have been having this problem for about a year.  I think I have a solution, at least for me.  Having had four episodes in the past year, I knew when I started having the burps about five days ago that I was in for another.  I had been theorizing that perhaps it was due to Helicobacter pylori, mainly because of the burps and knowing that H. pylori in its metabolism produces urea, a gas at body temperature.  So without taking the time to run tests to make the diagnosis, I instead just started on the typical regime for eradicating H. pylori: clarithromycin (Biaxin), metronidazole (Flagyl), and omeprazole (Prilosec).  Within a few hours the burps were gone, and now five days later I have not had the nausea or the diarrhea.  I think this is good evidence that I was right.  At least for me, the problem is H. pylori.  Time will tell if this keeps me from having a recurrence (the treatment is ten days of the three drugs).  There could be other causes of this syndrome for other people, but for me right now I'm convinced that it is Helicobacter.

[Phluff]

I first had the dreaded rotten egg burps at age 10, always with nausea, then diarrhea and vomiting, both of which smelled just like rotten eggs, until everything was out of my system.  I would sometimes go years without them, at other times I would have them 2 or 3 times a week.  I'm now 30 and haven't had an episode in almost 5 years!

If you've gone through all the tests people have mentioned and still don't have answers, you very likely have gastroparesis or gastric emptying delay.  This is where your gut's digestion slows or even completely halts for one reason or another.  When this happens, food is just sitting in your stomach, not getting digested.  What happens to food that just sits around in warm and moist climates like your stomach?  It rots.  Rotten food makes you sick.  

There are many reasons for gastroparesis.  People with diabetes are prone to it.  In my case, gastroparesis was brought on by stress, good or bad.  The year of my marriage was horrible due to "good stress" from all the excitement!  

To avoid episodes of gastroparesis:
1.  Eat several small meals a day, instead of just 3.
2.  Always wait at least 3 hours after eating before going to bed.
3.  Avoid large portions (particularly meats!) as they are the slowest to digest.

If all of that fails, you might need an SSRI. That is ultimately what helped me and I'll never be off them again.  SSRIs can work on your gut the same way they work on your brain.  You don't have to "feel" anxious to have an anxious GI tract!

I hope I've helped someone =)

[Blehwhyme]

Part of what causes this illness for me are NSAIDS, that means no ibuprophen. I have been tested for all the parasite and came up clean. Basically I think for me it is a mix of gastritis and IBS. I have GERD and bile reflux. If I dont take my protonix I am certain to get the deaded sulpher bug. Stress excasserbates it too. Spicy food. Basically anything that could possibly inflame my stomach lining. Sometimes it delayed gastric emptying but always always it is gastritis with IBS. It might be different for others but there is no doubt the stomach lining becomes inflammed. I am careful to chew very well. Not too much fiber if I am going to be active or hard to digest foods. Probiotics can help but wont keep it away all the time.  So to sum up, for me it is slow digestion, inflammed stomach lining, bile reflux, IBS, and stress.

[Shushane]

OMG I'm so happy to see others have this issue. I have been going through this for a year now, and it pops it's disgusting head up, just about every month. I am literally, tired of throwing up. To the point where after an episode, I need to sleep a full day to recover.
We'll, two months went by with no problem, but here I am, on my way to work, and the dreaded burps start.
If anyone has had this experience, has found a remedy, or medical solution, please post!!!!