What is the treatment for my Rumination syndrome?

Question

Hello doctor,

I am a teen, and I believe I have rumination syndrome, as 5-10 minutes after every meal, I regurgitate the food I eat, but it is not digested and tastes like the food I recently ate. I often chew the food again and swallow, but it is quite annoying, and it happens for about 20 minutes before going away. It started several years ago, but I brushed it off, thinking it was nothing.

What should I do, and is there any treatment?

Please help.

Thank you.

Answer 1

Hello,

Welcome to icliniq.com.

I can understand you must be upset about your condition lasting so long. You have well described the symptoms and timings, which are very important in your case. The symptoms you mention can present for many years harmlessly, and at the time, they accompany other eating disorders such as bulimia nervosa (excessive eating) and anorexia nervosa (excessive fasting). I want to hear from you. Do you have certain symptoms suggestive of those disorders as well?

Well, rumination is a functional disorder, and it can resolve with time on its own, but the recommended therapy is diaphragmatic breathing. You can learn how to perform this at home by watching some videos online.

Secondly, you can start the tablet Ondansetron 8 mg (serotonin) thrice daily. This medication will improve gastric accommodation to prevent the reflux of contents. The diagnosis of rumination can be confirmed with gastroesophageal manometry with impedance, which is a test to measure the change in pressure across the stomach and esophagus while you do this rumination. This test is sometimes important because there are certain mimickers that present in the same way but have a completely different approach.

I hope this helps.