Gemma Renwick visited the GP multiple times, but the NHS wasn't able to offer treatmentNeil Shaw Assistant Editor (Money and Lifestyle)10:05, 14 Jul 2026Updated 10:06, 14 Jul 2026A mum who spent years croaking like a frog because she couldn't burp has finally had her first belch thanks to Botox. Gemma Renwick has never been able to burp meaning she's experienced extreme bloating and loud gurgling and croaking noises coming from her throat for years.The weight-loss and lifestyle business owner says she's forced to try and 'laugh it off' whenever she makes the unusual 'croaky sounds' while chatting with clients or on the phone. Video shows 43-year-old Gemma opening her mouth and emitting 'croaking' sounds as she struggles to release trapped wind.The mum-of-two says she's been forced to leave events early to go home and lie flat to relieve her pain, leaving her 'anxious' whenever she leaves the house. Despite visiting her GP on and off since the age of 21 complaining of 'tummy issues' she says she was prescribed IBS tablets or told to change her diet because it could be allergies.It wasn't until she came across a TikTok video discussing her symptoms in 2024 that she self-diagnosed herself with Retrograde Cricopharyngeal Dysfunction (RCPD), also known as 'no burp syndrome'. It's a condition where the muscle at the back of her throat can't relax to allow air to escape from her stomach, and can cause bloating, excessive flatulence, nausea and gurgling noises.After seeking private advice, Gemma decided to try a £925 Botox treatment on May 28, which sees the muscle relaxant injected into the muscle to help her burp. The mum says she now feels like a 'new woman' as she is able to burp freely and hopes to spread awareness about the condition to encourage others to seek help.Gemma, from Eastleigh, Hampshire, said: "People say it sounds like a frog croaking or it sounds like a lion. I was embarrassed by the croaking sounds. You get the gurgling and croaking sounds in your throat, which is basically the burp trying to come out but it can't."It happened at school a few times, which was obviously really embarrassing in front of people. I was known as the girl that makes the funny noises and I always had a bloated tummy so it was a running joke that I always had a pot belly."I wasn't as worried as an adult but when you're in professional situations or a client at work or if you're talking to someone on the phone it is embarrassing. You just laugh it off because that's the sad reality, it's funny to people."As I got older when I started going out and drinking alcohol I just always felt sick and bloated and that's when the pains in my chest started. The trapped air just fills up so much and the only way that I knew how to relieve it was just to lie flat."Everyone knows what trapped wind is like but it's like that but times a million, it's so painful. It's not just in your tummy but in your chest too. You get breathless and feel like you can't swallow or breathe. You cannot physically eat or drink anything else because the air is there and trapped."All your clothes feel tight when you've got all this trapped wind and you're bloated and when you burp everything's loose again. Y ou can read and sign Gemma's petition asking the government to review NHS treatment for RCPD.After years of visiting the GP and finding no solutions, it wasn't until her self-diagnosis in 2024 that she began researching more about Botox treatment. Now Gemma consumes lots of fizzy drinks to encourage burping and does neck exercises in the hope it will be a permanent fix.Gemma said: "This Botox is utterly life-changing, I can't believe I waited so long to do it. If I knew what it was and if people knew that RCPD was a thing, and that that was the treatment, everybody could have it."None of the doctors have ever understood it. They basically just tell you they've never heard of it before and it makes you feel really weird because you feel like you're the only person in the world with it. It was a massive relief to finally feel like it's not just me. You feel very seen and heard and just a massive relief of 'oh my God, I might be able to get help for it'."I'd say by day four or five [after the treatment] they were coming out better and I was getting bigger burps and now I'm doing loads of burps now. It feels amazing and I haven't had any bloating for five weeks and I haven't had any wind down below or tummy issues."I just think that it should be available on the NHS. We shouldn't have to pay nearly £1,000 to get that done. I feel like everybody needs to know about it, especially GPs. It's not their fault they didn't know what it was. "But ultimately we need awareness just so the government takes it seriously so it's included in training for new GPs."