Yeah, there's basically a "valve" muscle in the esophagus called the upper esophageal sphincter (either a part of the cricopharynx, vice versa, or they're the same... Not sure). It stays closed for the most part, but opens for swallowing and burping. Swallowing is generally fine, but burping not so much. You may have seen the term R-CPD in the thread, that stands for Retrograde (outward direction) Cricopharyngeal Dysfunction. There's a similar condition called achalasia, which is also treated with Botox, but that also has swallowing issues unlike R-CPD.

Anyway, the Botox helps that muscle relax. The body metabolizes it after several months, but in that time you have "training wheels" that help develop muscle memory to burp. About 80% of people are "one and done" with that one shot. I personally had a second and don't really have "tasteable" burps, but I do have small ones that seem to help.

It's funny, because before I suspected that issue in my daughter we saw a pediatric ENT (the type of doctor who performs the procedure). Knowing it's an obscure thing many doctors have a hard time grasping, I told him about it figuring it may plant a seed for some parent in the future. His response? "That's funny, I don't burp either. What you said makes sense though." I would have loved to go back to him, but unfortunately he moved across the country in the meantime. Ended up going to another doctor in the practice who is amazing though!

The main ones you see almost universally are

• excessive flatulence (it's gotta come out somewhere),
• bloating comparable with pregnancy (usually equivalent to what you'd see after several months in, but occasionally people look full term!)
• Weird gurgling noises in the throat

There are also things like hiccups, hypersalivation, constipation, and things like that that are common but not guaranteed.

My daughter has been pretty underweight for a while. I realized she's had massive farts, and a bit of a big belly given the rest of her relatively small size. She was super hard to burp as an infant (that varies a lot in adults with the condition) and it pretty much stopped after a while. Basically the bloat kills the appetite.

I was a part of the noburp community on the old site. In the last decade it's been used to cure that. The body metabolizes it after about 6 months, but having that assistance often helps build the muscle memory and people can usually burp after that. I personally had it done twice and can still do small burps at last, and my daughter (toddler, born very prematurely) had it done at the beginning of the year. Her physical medicine doctor mentioned it as a possibility, and when I told him about the burping thing he basically equated Botox in the medical community with Windex in My Big Fat Greek Wedding

I would strongly suggest getting the treatment if you can! It's a super simple procedure.

Pretty much. It affects people differently, but one guy talked to manually any doctor who would listen. Dr. Bastian in Chicagoland has a YouTube channel about laryngology (basically all throat stuff) and that guy who had so many issues with not being able to burp contacted Dr. Bastian about it. He told him to get some Botox on the muscle of the throat that releases gas, and the guy ended up flying to Chicago to have it done. Dr. Bastian is pretty legendary in that community now. He also has a very impressive background even before that.

I actually went to that practice for my first injection and was originally booked to see Dr. Bastian. He fell sick the week I was there, but another doctor in the practice was able to do it instead since I came from out of town. Honestly everyone there is great!

But also, I saw similar symptoms in my toddler daughter, who was very underweight (getting better!). It was hard, because it can be difficult enough to find someone willing to do it for an adult, but a young child? Nobody wants to take that risk. Most specialists I talked to thought it made sense, but it really wasn't their area (fair) or they'd get skeptical. The ENT we saw about it was HORRIBLE and basically chased us out because it was a zebra. Eventually I booked a telehealth visit with Dr. Bastian just to see if I was projecting my own experiences on her, and he was the kindest man. Sent a letter with his opinion for me to show other providers, and I think it really helped show I wasn't insane.

Daughter eventually had it done by a pediatric ENT doctor who has done it before. She did great for several days but snapped back after an endoscopy about a week later. We're trying again in about a month and a half!

Sorry to ramble, but this has been such a big thing for me personally!

With such a strictly utilitarian outlook on life, I bet you're a joy at parties. Why even bring one of your favorite foods to share when that's supposed to be the host's job?

It depends on the product. I don't want to be served slop, designed to generate mindless clicks but if AI is secondary to something being produced by a human, for humans, I'm a little less upset about it.

Examples: SNL used an AI photo as an illustration for a weekend upstate story joke. The star of the show was the news story and the punchline to follow. The illustration helps the delivery, but isn't the product.

I could also understand (for example) AI-generated background music when creating a video on YouTube, so long as the purpose of the video is worth a damn.

Fuck that headline. It was the president of Portugal.

Not that it would happen, but can you imagine if the case ends up getting dismissed with prejudice before trial over that?

To help quantify, that's a little under 3 pounds (1.3kg) per person, assuming perfectly equal distribution.

I wasn't expecting good news in the world of AI today, but I'll take it!

Now the question is, which Jenga block is being pulled?

There is sugar, absolutely. And that's probably where most of the calories come from. But there is also water, cellulose (fiber), and vitamins/minerals - doesn't have much non-sugar caloric value to change that balance, but it's still important. And nobody serious is suggesting you eat only fruit, so you can get non-sugar calories from other sources and it can be balanced in the big picture.

It's kind of like an appropriate amount of dressing on a salad, the good outweighs the bad and makes you more likely to actually eat that nutrition-positive food.

Source: I'm some guy on the Internet. You can trust me.

I miss the days when satire was fake

I was looking for "buzzword soup website doesn't say what the product fucking does"

Maybe that wouldn't fit in a square

It's the same jurisdiction that put 4 cops in jail for murdering George Floyd. There's a good chance that AG Keith Ellison is looking into it

Of course Stellantis was first to do it

The kind of people who would start a business (to enrich themselves) and the kind of people who value co-ops and employee-owned businesses (to enrich others) does not have much overlap. I love the idea of coops, but I do not have the skills or ambition to start any kind of business.

Saving you a click: Rand Paul, Thom Tillis, and Susan Collins voted against. Everyone else on party lines. Vance tiebreaker.

My brother-in-law didn't want to carry his jacket around at Disney World, and he didn't want to get a locker for it, so he had his dad turn it in to lost and found. At the end of the day, before leaving the park, he picked it back up.

Eh, more of a typo than anything.

That said, I had an Indian anesthesiologist ask "what do you think the last thing you remember will be before I knock you out?" "Probably you asking that quest-"