Sulfur-Tasting Belches

[emwangels]

I have no other symptoms such as nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, pains in the abdomen.

All I've had for the two days is; everytime I belch it smells and tastes like eggs. No, I haven't eaten an egg for several months now.

Anyone out there that could possibly help

[meeeeelee]

I think maybe you ate a bad egg. Honestly. LOL I have before, and then I had that nasty burp. Make sure yer eggs are fresh

[Dura Mater]

I had lunch today (BBQ ribs, chicken, beans and a piece of corn bread), about an hour later I started belching sulfur. This is the 3rd time this has happened to me in my life. It makes me almost throw every time I belch. I'd love to know what is causing this too!...and I am glad I'm not alone.

[Pairolegal]

I've had these periodically since I was about 10 yrs old. Usually I gt them about once a year. Certain foods can bring them on (fried chicken), but sometimes eating a large meal too close to bedtime will do it too. Usually I end up throwing up and they won't go away until my stomach is completely empty. I'm having endoscopies now to try to find out what's causing this.

[AmateurHistorian]

I apparently made myself sick from eating a batch of rice and lentils two nights ago that I had left sitting out, uncovered, for too long. I have stomach ache, diarrhea, flatulence, and yes, sulfur belches. I ended up at this forum after Googling terms such as "stomach ache," "diarrhea," and "sulfur belch." I can't find any source that explains the belches; this is the only place I could find that even discusses it.

This is not something I have routinely, just since I got sick this one time, and I don't remember getting sulfur belches before with abdominal problems.

So can anyone tell me where the sulfur is coming from? The lentils, maybe? More to the point, do sulfur belches indicate what would cure my symptoms? This is miserable. I'm tired of sitting on the can every half hour, I can't sleep (hence posting at 04.26), and I'm really ready to be over it.

Tums and Kaopectate haven't helped, and Pepto-Bismol just makes me vomit (which I maybe need to do anyway). Help!

[Unregistered]

I don't eat very often. Every other day I eat 1 container of yogurt. One day I'll eat a piece of toast. The past couple of weeks, at least 2 or 3 days a week, I'm belching and it tastes and smells like sulfur. It can't be from the food I eat... because I've had this eating disorder for a long time now. The last time I had the sulfur tasting belch I ended up being really sick, almost like the stomach flu.

I tried googling it. All it says is that it's the bacteria in your system. There has to be more to it.

[AmateurHistorian]

No, that makes sense. Bacteria, enzymes, and stomach acids break down food molecules into smaller components. Sulfur is a common element. If the foods that we're talking about contain molecules that contain sulfur, then it could be bacteria breaking off elemental sulfur, or some other sulfur-containing compound that has the smell and taste of sulfur. And perhaps, in the process, releases the gas that causes the belch in which we then smell and taste the sulfur.

If that's so, then the question becomes, why do some people have sulfur belches never, sometimes, rarely (me), or chronically ("unregistered"). I know that lots of bacteria live in the stomach and digestive tract, but I know nothing about what kinds or their specific functions. Maybe it's a bacterium that normally lives in the duodenum or intestines, but on occasion it manages to back up into the stomach where it does its sulfur thing. So in different people, depending on how their systems work, that backup would happen never, or sometimes, or regularly.

Anyway, that's my theory. Do MDs or biologists ever read these threads and help out?

Unregistered, I'm more worried about your food consumption than your sulfur belches. You're getting by on one carton of yogurt or one piece of toast a day? Assuming that you're being truthful, then either you must be very overweight, and trying to reduce, or you have anorexia.

If you're overweight and and trying to reduce, that kind of diet won't work. Eating so little food throws your metabolism into starvation mode, and your body does everything it can to *not* burn calories. To lose weight you have to eat a normal diet, just in reduced quantities.

And if you have anorexia -- if everyone around you tells you you're too thin, but you think you're too fat -- that's an even more serious condition. Either way, please call someone and talk about why you're consuming so little food. Call a doctor, a nurse, a clinic, a dietitian, or one of the all-purpose help & crisis hotlines.

Overeaters Anonymous (OA) is also an excellent resource for people with food disorders, either eating too much or too little. If you live in or near a city of any size, look in the phone book; OA will most likely be listed. If you can't find OA that way, their national website ishttp://www.oa.org. They have lists of meetings everywhere in the U.S., and contacts for people who live too far away from meetings to attend. All OA staff are also OA members, so each of them has some kind of food problem. So anyone who answers the phone/email/IM will understand what you tell them. They can put you in touch with someone near you who can listen and help. And it's all totally anonymous.

Send me an email if you want. (I'm pretty sure you have to register to do that.) And good luck to you!!

[kathyc2]

I had these egg-tasting belches two weeks ago all day, and then ended up having watery diareah all night! I felt better the next day, and I assumed it was some kind of virus, but yesterday, again with the burping hard boiled egg tast and then, last night,, horrible unending diareah and nausea! I went to the Drs. today and she had never heard of the supher tasting burps and said I probably got the same virus twice. Duh! (I HATE drs.)

I am a widow with a daughter in college and I just can't miss work again due to this, there must be some kind of answer! I am going to be scared to death the next time I get those foul tasting burbs because I know what will follow. I almost passed out last night with the cold sweats and nausea!

Any Help?
Kathy
jkcook2@juno.com

[AmateurHistorian]

I was discussing this thread in another thread (http://forums.wrongdiagnosis.com/showthread.php?t=13706), and someone made a post that I thought would be helpful here, so I'm cross-posting it. I was saying that this thread is the only thing I could find on the whole internet discussing this topic, and his point was that my search terms might have been too specific. Other people might use words besides belching, and might not know the smell of sulfur well enough to name it as such.

Have you really ingested sulphur in the past? Some people might have the same problem, but call it something else because they might not be too familiar with sulphur.
Like "acid" "sour" "belching", etc. - and then you want to read into the advice given to people with similar problems.
Rule of thumb: Try Oriental Medicine, Try NAET, for now avoid processed food, wheat, and drink as much pure water as possible.

[sgtmac_46]

OMG, Kathyc2, I totally know how you feel. I have had the EXACT symptoms for nearly 6 years now. (I know that makes you terrified...) So far, I have been unable to narrow down what food causes this, etc. etc. I have been to the Dr. about this over the years, had an upperGI, and some other tests, but they all came out positive.

Whenever I get those burps, I know that I am within 2-24hrs going to have about 4-7hrs of terrible pain and nausea, diarrhea and vomiting. This whole situation is horrible and I hate it. I wish I knew what caused it, and like you, my Dr.'s have all said they had no clue what these symptoms mean... *sigh*

K. Boone
fakeppy@comcast.net

I've been searching for years, and this is the first time i've heard my symptoms described.

I started having this when I was about 12 (i'm 32 now). About once or twice a year, usually several hours after eating a big, I get the sulpher smelling belching, and within a few hours, symptoms like food poisoning set in, abdominal pain, nauseau, vomiting, dirrhea.

Though I really don't have any insight in to what it is, it is good to see that i'm not the only person in the world who has experienced this.