I paid £3,000 for Botox to make me BURP after being so bloated people thought I was pregnant
A 24-YEAR-old who was unable to burp has undergone life-transforming surgery to fix the condition.
Charlotte Boyd, from Derbyshire, was left so bloated that people thought she was pregnant – and she even had to buy clothes four sizes too big.
But now the newlywed has used her own savings, which were intended to buy her first home, on Botox surgery which she says has changed her life.
Charlotte, a hairdresser, said: “Since the surgery, I’ve done a few little burps and I feel like a lottery winner. I can’t put into words how happy I feel.
“I’m now campaigning to have the surgery made available on the NHS. It’s not fair that people should suffer.”
As a baby, Charlotte was very sick and unable to burp, but her mother put it down to colic.
When she grew up, she realised she had never been able to belch – known medically as eructation – and as a teenager, the problem became unbearable.
She said: “I’d make a kind of gurgling noise, which sounded like a frog, and it was the gas trying to escape. It was really embarrassing.
“I’d become very bloated and I looked heavily pregnant sometimes.
“People even asked: ‘Are you sure there isn’t a baby in there?’ when they saw my photos.
“I am usually a slim size 10/12 but I was buying clothes four sizes too big, to allow for the bloating.
“I was in a lot of discomfort – it was as though someone was sitting on my chest.”
Charlotte was back and forth from her GP who at first suspected she had IBS or an allergy.
She eventually diagnosed herself with retrograde cricopharyngeus dysfunction (RCPD) after coming across the condition online.
RCPD is caused by a fault with the cricopharyngeal muscle in the throat which usually relaxes to release trapped gas.
This means that people who have the condition are often unable to burp.
The sphincter is a muscular valve that sits just below where the Adam’s apple is.
Each time we eat, drink or swallow, the sphincter relaxes for a second – the rest of the time it is contracted.
When someone burps it needs to let go for a split second in order to release gas.
People with RCPD can often feel as though there is a bubble sat in their throat that they can’t get rid of.
Charlotte says: “It was a relief, more than anything. I had started to think I was going mad because nobody could find out what was wrong.
“My GP had never heard of it, and even the ENT consultant at the hospital couldn’t help, so I ended up going privately, to a consultant in Manchester.”
Charlotte and her husband, Martin, 26, had been saving for their first home, but instead used their money to pay for the £3,000 surgery.
The procedure, carried out by ENT consultant Yakubu Karagama, took just 30 minutes under general anaesthetic, and involved injecting Botox into Charlotte’s throat muscle.
What is retrograde cricopharyngeus dysfunction (RCPD)
Retrograde cricopharyngeus dysfunction is also known as RCPD
It is a term which is used for people whose oesophageal sphincter cannot relax in order to release gas.
This means that people who have the condition are often unable to burp.
The sphincter is a muscular valve that sits just below when the Adam’s apple is.
Each time we eat, drink or swallow, the sphincter relaxes for a second – the rest of the time it is contracted.
When someone burps it needs to let go for a split second in order to release gas.
People with RCPD can often feel as though there is a bubble sat in their throat that they can’t get rid of.
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Now, just a week after surgery, she is already able to do a few small burps.
She says: “I feel on top of the world every time I burp. It has really changed my life.
“I’ve come across so many others with the condition, during my research, and I want to now help them, by lobbying to have the condition made available on the NHS.”
Charlotte has set up a change.org petition to make RCPD treatment available on the NHS.