Bloating or Air Swallowing
Swallowing Air
Before my operation, I thought, maybe part of my problem with Gerd was swallowing air. I did some research on the internet on the subject and found it to be wanting. I worked on trying not to swallow so much air for awhile. After awhile though, I realized this was fruitless. If I drank a swallow of water, I swallowed about three times to clear my throat after it went down and found there was no way to stop this. Actually, I found there was really no way to reduce any air intake that I could find.
After my operation, I discovered some more things about the so called air swallowing. When I first got home after the operation, I tried to swallow about a tablespoon of water. Sometimes I could do this with much difficulty, as far as pain. During this time, I noted that once when I swallowed this gulp, I immediately regurgitated the water in the form of spittle bubbles that completely filled my month up. This happened almost instantly, after I swallowed the water. There was way too much gas to have swallowed it all.
Some time later in my recovery, I noticed that I had bubbles in my spit, which I didn't really realize I didn't have until they returned. I hadn't had bubbles in my spit for at least a couple years.
What I realized was the process that makes ones spit bubbly, is the same process that introduces all this air into the stomach. But instead of causing the bubbly spit in the month, it is doing it when it passes the les area, thus, causing all the air/gas in the stomach. When the les area gets sensitive, it causes a mucus to form around food or drink that needs to get past it. When this happens or when it hits the stomach proper, this mucus explodes in bubbles, causing all the gas.
I regurgitated some food particles early on after
my operation. Instead of being all stuck together in a big gob, each particle
seemed to be captured in a cell of spit/mucus, with some bubbles in it. I also
concluded that drinking water was harder to swallow than solids. I determined
that the water split up into infinite pieces. This meant that water formed much
more gas than a few pieces of food. More particles, more gas.
I tested this out by chewing a dried cherry into pieces and comparing it to just
swallowing the cherry whole. I was able to swallow the cherry whole, with almost
no problem, but the pieces caused discomfort. One piece, one bubble, three
pieces three bubbles and so on. The more pieces I tried to swallow the worse it
was. I could eat a piece of cheese without much problem, but it I ate a
tablespoon of cottage cheese, I almost couldn't.
Part of what I think might be happening is the les area is sensitive and/or agitated. To protect itself, it is coating what passes through, with mucus, which is causing the gas problem.
I also noted that eating or drinking sweet things
early on was easier.
Hot liquids seemed to relax the les area and not cause the mucus/bubble problem.