Help with belching!

• I had my sleeve surgery on 03/03/2020 so I am still pretty new! I am doing everything I am suppose to do like eating slowly, waiting 30 minutes to drink, etc. My surgeon said that I should be eating approximately 3 tablespoons per meal. Most meals, I am lucky if I can get half of that amount in me because I quickly develop painful belching. Sometimes it feels like there is a HUGE belch pressing against my back. Sometimes I can walk it off but sometimes that doesn't even help. For awhile, the only way to relieve the pain was to vomit and while vomiting, I would let out that huge belch. Now I feel like I might have to vomit but as I go to vomit, I simply let out that huge belch into the toilet and I don't vomit. I hope I explained everything clear enough and sorry for being gross! I do take omeprazole daily. Thanks!

I pretty much stayed on protein shakes for the first three months. My first "meal" was a bowl of vegetable soup.

You might want to just go back to liquids for a while. Everyone heals that their own pace.

Try taking teeny tiny bites. A spoon for babies can be very helpful to you. Also, try to avoid taking in any air when you eat.

As other's have said, back up your meal plan and try more liquids. You didn't state what you're eating but at that stage I was doing protein shakes, cottage cheese, greek yogurt, loosely scrambled eggs, ricotta bake, canned chicken made wet with mayo or greek yogurt. Make sure what you're eating is plenty mushy and take tiny bites. It would take me most of 90 minutes to get through a couple of tablespoons. Some doctor's will tell you to eat for 30 minutes and stop, but I never got that advice and never followed it. I still don't and I'm still a slower eater than most at the table.

All that being said, some people are just more prone to burping. I burp a LOT still. Very little of it is painful, although I do sometimes have indigestion/nausea that is resolved by a big round of burping. Burping is also my full indicator, so it could be that even with as little as you are eating you are going "one bite too many". I know the portions are stupidly small, but that's why you can supplement with shakes.

I was also told to avoid using straws as that would possibly put unneeded air into my stomach. Anything that might be "gassy" like broccoli you should only try in very small amounts until you know what you can tolerate. Surprisingly, chewing gum can also put air in your stomach. I was to avoid to mint as well. Instead of burping I hiccup when full, and as lomg as I pay attention its reasonable. But when I overeat they become very disruptive. Hope this helps.

Newly after surgery, hiccups are a sign you have eaten too much, and/or too fast. A runny nose is another indicator. Both are really common in that first year or so. It's not so much an indicator of taking in too much air.

The issue with gum is swallowing it, not air. If you were to swallo w gum in the first months after surgery, it could easily get stuck, with dire consequences.