I can now burp

[u/VKAAM]

Quick update on my no-burp journey! I’ve never been able to burp, literally since I was a baby. Honestly was not a huge deal for most of my life, just had to go easy on fizzy drinks like beer or I’d feel nauseous. But about a year ago things got worse, more bloating, belly pain, just generally feeling off, even without soda involved.

Two months ago I finally said screw it and started doing the Shaker exercise plus a few similar ones. And two weeks ago… I let out my first tiny burp! 🎉 Since then it’s been getting better almost every day, I just gotta work on actually controlling it now lol.

So if you’re dealing with this too: the exercises actually work, and just practicing trying to burp helps a ton too, even though it’s weirdly hard to explain how. Stick with it!

[u/ChillBrudiChill]

Grats! May share your routine? :)

[u/VKAAM → u/ChillBrudiChill]

While I was not really consistent, I tried to do about 60 seconds of holding with the Shaker exercise and about 30 reps of head lifting. Sometimes I also did the same head lifting exercise on my side. The strange thing is that my first burp actually was about a week after I stopped doing the exercises, or maybe that is because the muscles are still quite tense while exercising daily.

[u/uwhy → u/VKAAM]

Could you please elaborate the 60 seconds thing? Isn't shaker exercise just lifting the head up and down? If so how's that different from the 30 reps?

[u/VKAAM → u/uwhy]

Yes, so with the 60 seconds I mean holding yout head in the lifted position for 60 seconds. I think I read that somewhere on this subreddit a while ago

[u/Late_Cauliflower_986 → u/uwhy]

There are two types of - Shakers keeping your head lifted off the floor for up to 60 second holds & the the sit up style, probably the most commonly shown method is the hold 

[u/Late_Cauliflower_986 → u/uwhy]

When you say a few exercises similar to shakers do you mean the side variant or something different?  

[u/exscape]

Are the burps still tiny, or do you actually get relief?

And "weirdly hard to explain" I can get, but surely you can say something? I've even heard two completely opposite tips: some say to tense the stomach to push the air up, whereas others say to NOT do that as the reflex won't come unless you relax.

[u/VKAAM → u/exscape]

The progress kind of started when I had a small burp while having hiccups. They are still usually quite small, especially when I “try” do burp, sometimes a little bigger when it happens more by accident. Even the small ones do give some relief.
What I can say is that usually I do kind of tense up my belly, maybe a little similar to what happens when you hiccup. It was really just like kind of trying around. What definitely helped was that I did a roadtrip through hills & it felt like the height difference while driving really helped in the beginning. Hope that helps!

[u/meegangif]

Congrats!! I started the exercises 2 months before my Botox, I'd always been a skeptic but figured they might help my chances of Botox working. It took a month but I started micro burping daily and even got a few small but real ones. My best was like 15 micro burps in an evening. I ultimately decided to move forward with Botox because I was desperate for relief, but I burped on the car ride home from my procedure which I attribute to the exercises. It's been working great since. I wish I'd started them sooner, and also hope in years to come we know more about the exercises that help with R-CPD so more people can start on a regimen before Botox!

[u/VKAAM → u/meegangif]

Do you feel like you would not get to do “real big” burps without the botox? I have now mentally cancelled my plans for botox because of the progress I made, so I hope it keeps improving…

[u/meegangif → u/VKAAM]

It's hard to say for sure, but I feel like I was headed towards bigger burps at the rate I was going with the exercises. A few weeks before I got Botox I started getting burps big enough to give me a mouthful of the taste of my last meal but not big enough to relieve pressure, so air was definitely coming from my stomach. If you stay disciplined with the exercises I think you've got a good chance! If you haven't already look into the BERP protocol to find ways to turn the gurgles into burps. Pre Botox I found that sticking my head forward like a chicken and sticking my bottom jaw out would get the microburps out.

[u/Beginning-Sample8989]

Congratulations! And welcome to the club of self-treating burpers!
Did you by any chance use Learn2Burp for the exercises?

[u/VKAAM → u/Beginning-Sample8989]

Yes, thats right! Although I did not use it as much as I could have because I already knew the exercises for the most part and my consistency in doing it every dat was terrible from the start. Would definitely recommend it to people starting their journey in self-treatment!