Anyone have a hiatal hernia?

[JunieJay]

Looooooong story short, I think my six month health nightmare has been narrowed down to my problem being a hiatal hernia. I've been through extensive heart testing, lung testing and a whole series of upper GI testing, and this is the only thing they could tell me was wrong with me, that I have a small hiatal hernia. Supposedly small enough that I'm not supposed to have symptoms, but I have almost constant chest and back pains and sometimes I feel like my stomach is pushing up against my lungs and makes me short of breath. This is only ocassionally, the chest and back pain are almost constant and are made worse by eating a big meal (which I've learned NOT to do unless I want to pay dearly later). I do have mild reflux as well, but my pain is not really always an acidic sort of pain, more of a stabbing knife-like pain. Its primarily on my left side (which is why doctors first considered it might be cardiac, but after a heart catheritization and an echo, that was ruled out, thank God!), but sometimes its on my right side too. Sometimes I get rib pain, and I'm thinking maybe its a sliding hiatal hernia? I'm only guessing from what I've read online, prior to these problems I never even knew what a hiatal hernia was. I'm going back to the Gastro doctor in a couple of weeks, just curious to know if any DISers have similar experience. Thanks in advance for any advice you can give me!

 

[mickeyboat]

No real good experience to share, but I am glad they have figured out what's going on (scary tests ). Have they recommended a course of treatment.

Is that when there is a hole in your diaphragm and your intestines come into your chest cavity? My grandmother sctually died from this. She was 97, relatively healthy, but and elected not to have surgery to fix it.

Hope you are on the road to recovery soon!

Denae

 

[JunieJay]

No real good experience to share, but I am glad they have figured out what's going on (scary tests ). Have they recommended a course of treatment.

Is that when there is a hole in your diaphragm and your intestines come into your chest cavity? My grandmother sctually died from this. She was 97, relatively healthy, but and elected not to have surgery to fix it.

Hope you are on the road to recovery soon!

Denae

Yikes. I don't know if that is what it is, I think so. Its a hole of some sort, but I didn't think the intestines were coming into the chest cavity, but then again I didn't really pay much attention to it at the time because he said it was so small it wouldn't cause symptoms.

They did put me on PPIs, 3 different kinds, which seemed to make little to no difference. I'm not on anything now, just waiting to go back to see him to see what the next course of action is.

 

[hydster]

My dad had a hiatal hernia a few years ago. He had similar to what you are describing. He was diagnosed with a sliding hiatal hernia which is generally the more common one. He was told that it happens when part of the stomach was protruding into his chest cavity through a hole in the esophagus.

His doctor told him to

Avoid bending or lifting anything heavy
Improve his posture
Lose weight
Sleep on a slant
Stand after you eat anything rather than sit

And to avoid

Caffeine
Alcohol
Peppermint
Chocolate
Fatty or fried foods
Large meals
eating 2-3 hours before bedtime


He did all that with not much success so he had Laparoscopic surgery through his belly button. Did wonders for him.

 

[JunieJay]

Yeah, I am afraid the doctor is just going to tell me I need to make lifestyle changes (I'm not terribly overweight but could definately stand to lose 20ish+ pounds, and I know I could eat better!). Which I'm willing to do if I thought it was going to help, but something tells me I am going to have to have the surgery anyway.

Thanks for giving your experience hydster. Its nice to know someone who has recovered from this. While not really life threatening, it is life altering and has really put a cramp in my lifestyle the past 6 months.

 

[hydster]

My dad said he wished he would have had the surgery much earlier. They gave him so many pills to try and he did a lot of the changes but it was still mostly the same. Since he did it he feels so much better and he was scared to have it done but didn't have a single regret and recuperated much faster than expected.

I hope you feel better soon. It sucks to be miserable!

 

[Duckfan-in-Chicago]

I have a hiatal hernia. For me, it was actually caused by snoring. There was a vaccum effect created in my throat and the stomach started to pull through.

I have been on either Nexium, aciphex or prilosec for 5 years and I don't have any symptoms now or have any foods that cause flair ups.

Prior to that I would wake up with reflux, and would, on occasion get very sharp pains in my chest or sides.

 

[JunieJay]

I have a hiatal hernia. For me, it was actually caused by snoring. There was a vaccum effect created in my throat and the stomach started to pull through.

I have been on either Nexium, aciphex or prilosec for 5 years and I don't have any symptoms now or have any foods that cause flair ups.

Prior to that I would wake up with reflux, and would, on occasion get very sharp pains in my chest or sides.

OMG!! I have that crazy apnea too!! So is the reason why you don't have any symptoms of the hernia now because you are on that CPAP machine or because of the meds they gave you?

 

[Duckfan-in-Chicago]

OMG!! I have that crazy apnea too!! So is the reason why you don't have any symptoms of the hernia now because you are on that CPAP machine or because of the meds they gave you?

It could be from the CPAP. I think that helps keep any of the acid from coming up. It's only maybe happened once in 5 years that I can remember. (I think I had a pep/onion pizza less than an hour before bed...I was getting a bit cocky. You shouldn't do that even if you don't have reflux.) This is something that was happening a few times a month. But I think the meds help because I also don't notice the sharp pains either.

It's amazing when you find out how many things untreated sleep apnea can do to you.

 

[JunieJay]

It could be from the CPAP. I think that helps keep any of the acid from coming up. It's only maybe happened once in 5 years that I can remember. (I think I had a pep/onion pizza less than an hour before bed...I was getting a bit cocky. You shouldn't do that even if you don't have reflux.) This is something that was happening a few times a month. But I think the meds help because I also don't notice the sharp pains either.

It's amazing when you find out how many things untreated sleep apnea can do to you.

All along I have thought all my problems have been from the apnea. My "apnea" is a little different tho, I don't snore, I hold my breath. I just can not get used to that machine tho.....honestly, I do try to use it but then I end up not sleeping at ALL. How long did it take you to get used to it?

 

[Christine]

Judi,

I have all the same issues as you; however, they have never diagnosed a hiatal hernia. I have a mild case of reflux due to a slightly weakened LES. Just like you, my doc said that my case seemed mild and I should not have the symptoms that I am presenting with. He did say, though, that everyone feels this stuff differently. He's had people come in with a severely eroded esophagus and they hardly have a complaint.

Anyway, I get the "breathing" issue to. Thank God it's not constant and it drives me absolutely NUTS. I have actually been told that this breathing issue is due to the reflux irritating the bronchial nerve pathways that run through the esophagus area. There are also cardiac nerves in that area, so often times, people having reflux can get a rapid heart rate.

I do find I feel a lot better when I eat basically nothing or a very stringent diet (which I'm not good at).

 

[debknight]

Have you had an ultrasound of the gallbladder to check for stones?

 

[NYBlue1]

I was diagnosed with a hiatal hernia as well after many attacks, the worse having me go to the ER thinking I was having a heart attack, I lived on meds and had attacks on and off for about 5 years. Well, one day I had an attack I could not get rid of, I use to jump up and down to relieve the pain as it hurt so much i could not sit still.

This one attack did not stop , meds nothing, finnally I started to throw up and it was hospital time. I did not have a hiatal hernia I had GALL STONES and the last attack was so bad because my gall bladder had become so inflamed it was about to burst, the doc said I was minutes away from ICU instead of just an emergency gall bladder removal surgery.

I am not suggesting you dont have reflux or maybe even a slight hiatal, all I know is I never had another attack after my gall bladder was gone and have not since, I still have bad reflux which I take prilosec for but no stabbing chest pains in 5 years. Take it for what it is, my guess its your gall bladder, have seen the same in friends and it always results in a gall bladder removal surgery.

Good luck with this, i would highly encourage you to have the doc concentrate on your gall bladder

 

[LuvN~Travel]

One thing I've found with mine, is that keeping the back adjusted properly also helps. I've got two bones right behind the hernia, that if they are out, it seems to put more pressure on the hernia. A visit to the chiropractor for me helps.
I used to have the awful heartburn as well, but the gastric bypass I had five years ago took care of that!
If you know for sure now that it is a hernia keep your options open.
Those things can be a real big pain! (Especially when you are under stress)
Kim

 

[Kitty 34]

Doesn't sound like any fun, Judi. Hope you get to feeling better real soon!

 

[Pop Daddy]

I have one, also had a lot of your symptoms including the rib pain, weight loss, diet and not so much drink and you will feel much better, they dont like to operate on them

 

[Duckfan-in-Chicago]

All along I have thought all my problems have been from the apnea. My "apnea" is a little different tho, I don't snore, I hold my breath. I just can not get used to that machine tho.....honestly, I do try to use it but then I end up not sleeping at ALL. How long did it take you to get used to it?

I used my CPAP from day 1. I haven't always used it the whole night, but my neurologist describes my usage as 'very compliant' when he reads the card in my machine. He always talks warm and fuzzy like that.

That being said, I've had 3 surgeries on my nose and throat plus I have a headache 24/7 since I started using it. Even with all this, the pros outweigh the cons and my life has improved greatly since I started. I take meds for the headaches so they're pretty minor more often than not. They were going to put me on meds for high blood pressure prior to the CPAP, but now my blood pressure is great. I'm no longer tired all the time. The most important difference in my life, though is a few months after I started using my CPAP, my wife got pregnant with our son.