I am unable to burp, have GERD, and feeling desperate!

I am currently 21 years old. I cannot recall ever being able to burp, voluntarily or involuntarily. I would always have gas build-up in the stomach though, just couldn't burp.

As I became old enough to learn that farting in public is wrong, I learned to hold them in, and thus had no possible way to let the gas escape.

First it was the gurgling noises many people have described, which I was embarrassed of and tried to hold in at public places.

When I was about 17, I began having heartburn all the time, tums and other such medications would not work.

I have taken prescriptions for my reflux ever since. Prevacid was first, and about a year later it stopped working as heartburn returned. Nexium next, the strongest on the market at the time, and it worked well but felt harsh on my stomach, so after awhile I switched off of it. I am currently on Pariet, and have been for about 2 years. It used to work great, but again I have had constant heartburn for the past week or so.

A year or two ago, I also found out I have a hiatus hernia. I do not know which kind, but I know it also contributes to my GERD.

I have been trying to research this burping phenomenon for years, and never found an answer. But I think it may be a big cause for the reflux and hiatal hernia I have today. As gas builds up in the stomach, it should be allowed to escape, but the pressure build-up from not escaping must be a big problem.

Maybe it caused my stomach to creep into the chest cavity, maybe it caused acid to squeeze through the sphincter causing a spiral into the GERD I have today. Maybe I'm totally out to lunch. But I have learned that many people may also have this burping problem, and many people also have the GERD to go along with it.

Maybe if the inability to burp is treated before any complications, the GERD and hernia and other complications could be avoided?

I write this today because I am desperate. The symptoms were never fully healed, but the medication made it bearable, although this past week has been horrible.

Acid is not meant to be tolerated by the esophagus, yet it seeps up every day, and I cannot imagine this to be a good thing at all. I'm surprised it can be tolerated for so long, as I have been living with this for 4 years now.

I researched the only surgical procedure currently known to fix the hernia and GERD and it is called a Nissen Fundoplication. I have 3 problems with this procedure that make me not want it.
Firstly, every source I've found can only guarantee this procedure for ten years, and I am currently only 21 to begin with.
Secondly, I have also seen numerous cases of no scar tissue forming, and causing it to slip.
Lastly, and most importantly, listed in the side effects are. Inability to burp. As well as heartburn. But these are the symptoms that I want fixed.

I feel like this GERD is killing me with every passing day, but I also see that there does not seem to be a cure. I also think that the inability to burp is a big problem that should be more well known, so people can get it looked at before the complications.

Anyone with any information to help me or others please respond!