Why Am I Burping and Have Diarrhea?

Burping and diarrhea at the same time usually trace back to one thing: extra gas being made somewhere in your gut. The cause is usually either a germ that has moved in or the bacteria you already have reacting to what you ate. When the burps smell like rotten eggs and the diarrhea keeps going, a waterborne parasite is one of the first things doctors think of.1UMass Memorial Health. Giardiasis Most bouts pass in days, but symptoms that last for weeks are a sign to look further, since several treatable conditions cause both.

Giardia and Other Gut Infections

Giardiasis is an infection with a tiny parasite called giardia, picked up from contaminated water or food.2Manhattan Gastroenterology. Sulfur Burps and Diarrhea: What Do These Symptoms Mean? Its main symptoms are smelly diarrhea, stomach cramps, gas, bloating, weight loss, and burps that can smell like eggs.3nhs.uk. Giardiasis Eggy burps plus diarrhea after camping, travel, or drinking untreated water make it worth asking about.4UMass Memorial Health. Giardiasis

People usually catch it by drinking untreated water from streams, lakes, or wells, or by swallowing water in pools or while swimming. It also spreads between people in childcare settings and households, and through food handled by someone who is infected.

An ordinary stomach bug often brings vomiting and clears in a few days. Giardia tends to drag on for a week or more, with greasy, smelly stools, and the eggy burps and bloating stand out more. A stool test confirms it, and prescription medicine treats it.

Symptoms usually begin a week or two after you swallow the parasite, so the trip, swim, or drink that caused it may be well behind you by the time you feel ill. It helps to think back at least two to three weeks. Untreated, giardia infection can last for weeks and sometimes comes and goes, with better days followed by a return of bloating and loose stools. Some people carry the parasite with few or no symptoms, so a household member who feels fine may still pass it on. Washing hands well after the toilet and before handling food helps, as does staying out of swimming pools until the diarrhea has stopped and not preparing food for others while you have symptoms.

Pungent burps followed by loose stools can also signal other gut infections.5Manhattan Gastroenterology. Sulfur Burps and Diarrhea: What Do These Symptoms Mean? H. pylori, a common stomach bacterium, can inflame the stomach lining.6Manhattan Gastroenterology. Sulfur Burps and Diarrhea: What Do These Symptoms Mean?

Foods That Make Sulfur Burps and Loose Stools

Digestion can produce a gas called hydrogen sulfide, which gives burps their sulfur smell.7Cary Gastroenterology Associates. What Are Sulfur Burps? Gut bacteria make it when they break down proteins and sulfur-rich foods.8NYC Gastroenterologist | Manhattan Gastroenterology. Sulfur Burps and Diarrhea: What Do These Symptoms Mean? When sulfur burps happen only now and then, diet usually explains them.9Cary Gastroenterology Associates. What Are Sulfur Burps? Common culprits include:

To find your own trigger, keep a two-week log of meals, burps, and bowel movements. Look for symptoms that appear a few hours after the same foods, then cut one suspect food at a time and see what changes.

Dairy is a special case. Many adults digest milk sugar poorly, which brings gas and loose stools. Try a few days off milk and see if symptoms ease. Hard cheese and yogurt are often better tolerated than milk.

Some burping is just swallowed air. Fizzy drinks, gum, and eating fast add air you then burp up, and swallowing too much air can, in rare cases, swell the whole gut.15PubMed Central. Persistent Nausea and Gastrointestinal Distention: A Case Report of Aerophagia Slower meals and fewer fizzy drinks cut down on burping. An infection tends to keep going no matter what you eat, while food-related symptoms often ease within a day or two of changing your diet, though this is only a rough clue.

When It Keeps Coming Back

Symptoms lasting weeks suggest a condition that won’t clear up by waiting. Several look alike, since bloating, burping, and loose stools show up in most of them.

In small intestinal bacterial overgrowth (SIBO), too many bacteria live in the small intestine, and in one type they make excess rotten-egg gas.16Dr. Ruscio, DC. What Is Hydrogen Sulfide SIBO and How Is It Treated? Diarrhea may be more common in this type, though not all experts agree.17Dr. Ruscio, DC. What Is Hydrogen Sulfide SIBO and How Is It Treated? It is usually diagnosed with a breath test, which can guide antibiotic treatment.18PubMed Central. Pros and Cons of Breath Testing for Small Intestinal Bacterial Overgrowth and Intestinal Methanogen Overgrowth You drink a sugar solution and then breathe into a collection device every so often for a couple of hours. You are usually asked to follow a restricted diet the day before and to fast overnight, since food and some medicines can distort results. Because the timing of the gas rise can be hard to read, a doctor weighs the result together with your symptoms.

About 1 in 8 people have IBS, and about 1 in 7 have ongoing indigestion with symptoms such as fullness and discomfort.19PubMed Central / Elsevier. Irritable bowel syndrome and dyspepsia in the general population: overlap and lack of stability over time IBS can start after a bout of gastroenteritis.20PubMed Central. Post-infectious irritable bowel syndrome If your symptoms began after a stomach bug, that is a clue worth mentioning.

Untreated celiac disease can cause burping, indigestion, fullness, and nausea, and these usually go away on a gluten-free diet.21PubMed Central. Gastrointestinal and Hepatobiliary Manifestations Associated with Untreated Celiac Disease in Adults and Children: A Narrative Overview A family history of celiac disease raises its likelihood. When the pancreas makes too few digestive enzymes, fat isn’t absorbed, bringing greasy, foul-smelling stools, bloating, and weight loss.22The American Journal of Managed Care. A Primer on Exocrine Pancreatic Insufficiency, Fat Malabsorption, and Fatty Acid Abnormalities

After gallbladder removal, loose stools rose from about 2% of people to 47% at one month and 33% at three months.23PubMed. Bowel habits and bile acid malabsorption in the months after cholecystectomy An overactive thyroid speeds food through the intestines, which can cause diarrhea.24PubMed. Effect of hyperthyroidism on the transit of a caloric solid-liquid meal through the stomach, the small intestine, and the colon in man Weight loss, a racing heart, and heat intolerance point toward the thyroid.

Slow stomach emptying, called gastroparesis, is another possibility. It brings belching, bloating, and feeling full after a few bites.25Guts UK. Gastroparesis | Causes, Symptoms, Treatment and Support Nausea and vomiting are more prominent than diarrhea, and it is more common in people with diabetes. Simple blood, stool, and breath tests sort out most causes.

Signs You Should See a Doctor

Doctors treat being over 50, unexplained weight loss, blood in the stool, anemia, and a family history of gut cancer as red flags.26American Medical Association. What doctors want patients to know about irritable bowel syndrome Diarrhea that wakes you at night suggests something more than IBS.27American Medical Association. What doctors want patients to know about irritable bowel syndrome A single bad night after a stomach bug is different from a repeated pattern over days or weeks, so tell a doctor how many nights you are woken. Fever, persistent vomiting, and painful swallowing are further warning signs.28Journal of Translational Gastroenterology. Pediatric Functional Gastrointestinal Disorders: Pathophysiology, Diagnosis and Management Crohn’s disease can, less commonly, affect the upper gut with mild, vague symptoms.29PubMed. Oral and upper gastrointestinal Crohn’s disease Red flags don’t necessarily mean something serious is happening, but ordinary IBS or a food reaction doesn’t explain them, so doctors often look further, sometimes by examining the gut directly.

Some situations need care sooner. Get help for signs of dehydration such as dizziness or very little urine, for diarrhea lasting more than about a week, and for severe or worsening stomach pain. Black or bloody stools need same-day care.

For the appointment, bring how long symptoms have lasted and when they started, any travel, camping, or untreated water, foods that seem to trigger symptoms, and any recent antibiotics or surgery such as gallbladder removal. Likely tests include a stool test for giardia and other germs, blood tests for celiac disease, anemia, and thyroid, and a breath test if bacterial overgrowth is suspected.

What Helps at Home

Sip water steadily through the day. Oral rehydration drinks replace lost salts, and it is best to avoid alcohol and lots of caffeine while symptoms last.

Smaller, plainer meals are easier on the gut. Ease off sulfur-rich vegetables, eggs, and rich dairy for a few days, eat slowly, and skip fizzy drinks and gum.

Anti-diarrhea tablets may help mild cases, but avoid them with fever or bloody stools. Some bismuth products also treat diarrhea. Bismuth products can turn stools black, which is harmless.

For ongoing symptoms, doctors often recommend a low FODMAP diet first for IBS-type symptoms.30American Medical Association. What doctors want patients to know about irritable bowel syndrome It limits certain carbohydrates that gut bacteria ferment, leading to less gas, bloating, and diarrhea.31American Medical Association. What doctors want patients to know about irritable bowel syndrome High-FODMAP foods include wheat, lentils, barley, rye, and asparagus.32Journal of Translational Gastroenterology. Pediatric Functional Gastrointestinal Disorders: Pathophysiology, Diagnosis and Management Wheat, barley, and rye are on the list because of their fermentable carbohydrates, not just their gluten. Improvement on this diet doesn’t prove gluten is the problem, and it can’t replace a celiac test, so doctors suggest it only after initial tests.33American Medical Association. What doctors want patients to know about irritable bowel syndrome

The diet has three stages: a strict phase of a few weeks cutting high-FODMAP foods, then step-by-step reintroduction, then a personalized long-term diet. The reintroduction stage matters most, because it shows which foods bother you so you can eat the rest freely. It isn’t meant to be followed strictly forever, since long-term restriction can reduce variety and affect gut bacteria. A dietitian can guide you through it, which makes it easier and less likely to leave you short of nutrients.