r/ruminationsyndrome

I've been using rumination syndrome as an excuse to eat whatever I want since I can spit it back up afterwards however I noticed rapid weight gain from this and I'm not sure wtf to do anymore

Hey, I’ve spent the last 4 years in a constant loop of eating, ruminating, and feeling like my life was on pause. If u're reading this, you know the drill: the social anxiety, the weird looks, the doctors telling you "it’s just stress," and the feeling of being a prisoner to your own stomach.

I’m a 22-year-old engineering student currently on exchange in Taiwan. At my worst, I calculated that I lost nearly 7,500 hours to this condition. I lost so much money to save my enamel, lost so many friends by my isolation, lost love relations, lost motivation.... pure hell.

Out of pure desperation, I stopped looking for "medical" cures after PPIs failed me and started looking at my body as a mechanical system of pressures and mental processes.

The realization was simple but life-changing:

Rumination isn't a "disease," it’s a failure of the esophageal valve. When abdominal pressure exceeds pressure of valve, the system leaks. I spent lot of time researching biomechanics to create a manual override.

I called it the VDR Protocol (Vagus Nerve, Diaphragm Locking, and Physical Reset).

Inside the guide:

The 4-0-6 Rhythm: A specific breathing sequence designed to manually lock the sphincter after meals**.**

Pressure Management: How to use the diaphragm as a piston to neutralize the reflux

21-Day Roadmap: The exact tracker I used to turn these mechanical movements into unconscious habits.

Why is it free?

Because this condition destroys lives. It destroyed a part of mine, and I don't want anyone else to waste years searching for answers. I spent time designing this 20-page manual to be as clear and "pro" as possible so it would actually be usable.

To be honest this is not an ad. I'm not a company. I'm just a 22yo guy who's finally eating a meal in peace for the first time in years. Fr, I was terrified of having to live with this while raising kids one day. I couldn't imagine being a father and still dealing with this cycle

I’ve put the guide on Gumroad in "Pay What You Want" (0€+) mode. You can literally put "0" in the price box and get the full PDF for free. If the protocol ends up changing your life and you want to support my research or buy me a coffee here in Taiwan, feel free to leave a tip (but only if you can afford it.)

How to get it:

Reddit blocks direct links to Gumroad in posts, so I’ve added the link directly to my Reddit Profile Bio

I genuinely want to help people suffering from this, it ruins everything. I would be more than happy to talk with you about this in the comments. I'm sending you all my strength.

Love.

TW for mental health I guess.

I’ve had rumination syndrome since I was 12. I’m now 21. It developed as I was anorexic (but not bulimic) and hasn’t ever gone away. I recovered from anorexia within the year, but the rumination syndrome stuck. I developed anorexia a second time when I was 17, and I admit that I used the rumination syndrome to my advantage. I recovered at 19. The rumination syndrome obviously stuck.

Because it developed while I was anorexic, I suspect that it may have developed as something like a PTSD (for lack of a better term here) reaction to food. I was TERRIFIED at 12 of calories (to a ridiculous extent). But by now, it’s completely ingrained as a reflex. Whether or not there is somatic disregulation every time I eat, I can’t be entirely sure, but I don’t have any conscious anxiety relating to food other than about keeping it down.

I regurgitate just after eating and sometimes hours and hours later. For example, last night I had dinner around 8:00. I’m exhausted all the time, and I fell asleep by 9:00. I woke up at midnight. Then, I regurgitated “everything” I had for dinner.

I have MILD gastroparesis but my digestion after 4 hours was 14% left instead of the normal 10% cutoff. I think it has been caused by the rumination syndrome rather than the rumination being a result of gastroparesis…

My gastric emptying seems to me to be normal and abnormal on certain days. As in, sometimes I feel that my food isn’t digesting at all, and sometimes I feel that it digests extremely quickly. Regularly, I think it’s a bit slow but not drastically.

There are many weeks where I can’t keep any food down for days. Sometimes I’m unable to keep down anything but water. Sometimes I throw up water. Sometimes I can keep down large meals that I’d usually vomit. There doesn’t seem to be any rhyme or reason to how any of it happens.

Right now, I keep down probably 1 meal every other day. I try to keep them calorie dense and also have things like chicken broth (can’t tolerate bone broth) with olive oil, and lots of supplements.

I’m desperate for help. My hair is falling out. I am exhausted. I don’t live normally in any sense. Many days I spend eating and throwing up until I can keep something down. Many of these days I am entirely unsuccessful. Including blended foods like smoothies and soups.

My weight is low (though I’ve kept it normal at certain times over the years somehow).

My doctor wants to treat me focusing mainly on gastroparesis which I think is really stupid. She wants to do it with off label anti depressants that have so many side effects—sedation (I’m already exhausted and so fatigued), seizures that can be permanent, and worse depression or suicidality (I already have both to the furthest extent that wouldn’t result in action). I’m reluctant because I don’t think the mild delay in gastric emptying is the core problem. And I don’t do well with SSRIs at all (I’ve tried many for the mental effects and all of them affected me badly).

Anyway I’m wondering… HAS ANYONE FOUND RELEIF? ACTUAL HELP?! PLEASE SHARE.

I think that if this goes on much longer, I will end up hospitalized very soon. And I don’t think my body can take it for more than 1-2 years more (I’m sure I’ll be dead.)

I’ll try anything. Please share.

Whenever I eat food, especially food that tastes good, I bring it back up and swallow it again so I can taste it again. I do this on purpose, and I’ve had this habit since I was a kid. I don't understand if this is rumination syndrome or just like a habit that I have.