The thumb

[Tangonegro]

Fellow sufferers,
I'm in the same sh...as you, and I'm trying to understand the root cause as I was not born with it.
I was sucking my thumb from baby stage until I was 13. When sucking fingers, you constantly swallow your saliva.
It is may be the cause of the upper esophageal sphincter deterioration. But I did not have any halitosis at the time. When I reach adulthood, I start suffering from GERD, which means the lower esophageal sphincter was also impaired. This may be, allowed whatever is coming from the stomach (acid, bile, etc.) to reach my throat, and start this sh... breath thing because both the sphincters are all the time open.
It is only a theory I thought about.
Does any of my fellow sufferers sucked his thumb during his childhood ?