Weirdest New Symptom

I have had Inflammatory Bowel Disease now for over 20 years. Twenty years!!! 

Sure, there are symptoms that are pretty standard for me, personally, but there are also times when a brand new symptom pops up and reminds me that there are always surprises. 

I have had one of the STRANGEST symptoms I have ever experienced. That symptom prompted one of the weirdest phone calls I have ever had to make to my doctor. 

Suddenly, just before 9pm last night, I had this intense need to burp. Over and over. Again and again and again. Approximately every 10-20 seconds popped out a burp. Every couple of minutes popped out a deep belch. If I moved - *burp, burp, burp*. If I stretched - *buuuuuurp*. If I held in a burp, you could hear the grumbling all throughout my stomach and digestive tract. If I held it too long, the grumbling actually reverberated through the furniture. 

At first I thought it was pretty hilarious. It wasn't accompanied by any significant pain or vomiting. I just felt gassy - with that all-too-well-known discomfort - and I kept burping. Unrelenting burping. Out of the blue! 

(For those of you wondering, it wasn't diet related. No pop or alcohol or coffee or drinking through straws or eating fruits or veggies or hard candies or gum etc, etc, etc...). 

5 hours later though? It was more than just annoying. It took 5 hours of incessant burping for my body to finally let me fall asleep. 

Then, when I woke up this morning - *burp, burp, burp*. All. Day. 

That resulted in an odd conversation between me and my doctor's nurse. I have been in a Crohn's flare for a few weeks now, so that is the first suspect and we'll go with that and see if a couple different ideas and/or medications help. 

As I sit here and continue to belch uncontrollably. 

I feel like my stomach is one of those bubble guns. Continuously blowing bubbles into my digestive tract. Every which way (it's not just coming up, but at least the other side of things is more controlled). 

I feel like I have turned into a SodaStream. 

Or that I've had a few too many Fizzy Lifting Drinks from Willy Wonka, without the exhilaration of flying - or, rather, floating - about. 

What I find fascinating is that I have NEVER in my life had this symptom. The only times I even burp like this are if I have had pop or alcohol (rare), when I am vomiting, and sometimes when I'm singing, but it's never every few seconds, and usually only lasts a few minutes. 

This is a brand new, weird, unknown digestive symptom that will likely disappear as abruptly as it arrived. 

This will go down in history as one of the most random IBD symptoms I have ever experienced - and had to call a doctor about. 🙈