Influencer says being unable to burp was ruining her life - but Botox saved her

Lauren Petrie has never been able to burp and as a result, has suffered from extreme bloating, cramping and loud gurgling noises coming from her throat for years - and would 'fart a lot'. Although the 34-year-old, from Kettering, Northamptonshire, first noticed her symptoms at 17 years old, she said they have become debilitating over the last two years. Footage shows Lauren opening her mouth and a mini 'dinosaur roar'-like sound emerging.

The content creator and YouTuber's symptoms became so severe and frequent that it 'consumed her whole life' as she began to fear going out. Lauren eventually discovered she suffers from a rare condition called Retrograde Cricopharyngeus Dysfunction (RCPD) where the muscle at the back of her throat cannot relax to allow air to escape from her stomach. Because those who suffer from RCPD are unable to burp, symptoms can include abdominal and chest bloating and pain, excessive flatulence, nausea and gurgling noises from the neck and chest.

It was only splashing £6,000 on private Botox injections in her neck and throat to relax the muscle that she finally saw her painful and embarrassing symptoms drastically improve.

Lauren said: “It's so embarrassing. My throat would make this very loud gurgle noise. It kind of sounds like a frog. It would always happen in the most awkward situations you know even in school in assemblies, you know when it's meant to be quiet and all of a sudden my throat was making this weird noise. It was really loud and embarrassing. It sounded like a dinosaur.

“Obviously because air couldn't come up through my mouth it goes down the other way. The air has to come out some way. That breaking wind was obviously quite awkward as well. Luckily my boyfriend has a good sense of humour. Obviously for most people that's really socially awkward and what have you but for me I have a potty humour so it's fine. I started to notice it when I would go out all day.

“So if I had been going out having a meal, having fizzy drinks and what have you, talking, laughing, walking about, just taking in air... I started to notice I would get very very bloated and very uncomfortable and it would get to the point where it was so bad that I had to lie down because it was so painful.

“I've got loads of people around me that don't really care, they know my situation. Two and a half years ago it just became like a chronic illness for me no matter what I ate or drank. I'd wake up, I'd have two good hours and then I'd have all my symptoms.

“It's not been pretty, it's not been fun. Sometimes it would be so bad that it would feel like I was kind of drowning in my own air like my chest felt awful. If I had to do my job I wouldn't eat until afterwards because otherwise I would just be miserable. So I would eat after I had done my job and then I would have to lie down for six, seven, eight hours afterward just for some relief.

“It basically just consumed my whole life. It got to the point when I was in my mid-20s when I would dread going out all day. But obviously you don't want to put your life on hold, especially when you're in your mid-20s, you want to go out and have fun.

“Then when I turned 32 a couple of years ago and it was like all day every day I just put my whole life on hold, I didn't do much of anything. It's basically just a muscle in the throat that just doesn't work properly. So it allows things to go down like food, drink, I can swallow perfectly fine but it then doesn't allow things to come back up, like air basically. It doesn't relax.”

Lauren first went to her GP about her symptoms in November 2022 but said her doctor could not help so she decided to pursue private treatment with an ENT specialist. In March 2023 had her first round of 50 units of Botox injected into her neck but said the treatment did not cure her. Lauren said: I know I'm covered in tattoos but I don't like needles. I was terrified. I don't like medical things anyway, it gives me pretty big anxiety. Talking to someone who was actually very knowledgeable about what I had was like a breath of fresh air and it really calmed me down. It felt incredibly weird, it felt like someone was kind of squeezing my throat a little bit. Some people can just have one dose of Botox and they're good to go. They never have to have anything ever again, especially at a low dose."

In June 2023 she had a second round of 100 units of Botox and although this helped for a while, by February of this year her symptoms had returned. She then had a further 100 units but said this wore off very quickly. Lauren said: “I went back to basically square one, suffering every day. All my symptoms came back. I felt very very helpless because I was just like, if these 100 units aren't working what is going to help me?

“There was this one time when I went to go and saw a friend in London and we just went out to eat and we were just talking and what have you. By the time I got on the train I was in so much pain that when my boyfriend picked me up from the train station I literally laid in the back of his car and I was just sobbing because I was just like why isn't this working the way it should be working. It was frustrating.”

She went to another private ENT doctor in London and opted to be put under general anaesthetic so 150 units of Botox could be injected directly into her throat. After having the surgery on October 4 Lauren said she has been able to burp successfully and hopes the procedure has permanently fixed her condition after spending around £6,000 in total on her treatments.

Lauren said: “It does feel freeing. I was so happy. This higher dosage is working so much better. That's why I'm praying this is the dose that sticks. I haven't been out and gallivanting just yet but I do have plans for November, December time to be able to go out and enjoy myself in London - to do the whole Winter Wonderland thing and be able to eat some churros and not feel miserable.

“Now because I can burp, yesterday I managed to have breakfast and an early/late lunch/dinner situation which is something I couldn't do for years and I was just like ‘oh my god this is amazing’ and I didn't feel like garbage afterwards either. If I eat something it takes a little while to go down my throat area. Just a tiny little bit, it's just a bit slow and it kind of gets a little bit stuck but I just take a drink and it goes down. My voice is kind of patchy and ropey here and there which isn't the best.

“But I will take all of these side effects over the relief of being able to burp any day. It's so worth the money. It sucks you have to pay that much money for such a simple thing. But I'm very grateful and fortunate that I can afford it. It is frustrating. Especially when it's such an easy and simple procedure. It's just a bit of Botox, it's not a huge ordeal or anything like that. Fingers crossed this is the last one because this is getting expensive. I can't believe this is how people live because I've never lived like this. To be able to eat and not be uncomfortable is just like wow. People that can burp are so lucky.”