Hiatus hernia

[cheesy pete]

Hi,

Does anyone on here suffer from a hiatus hernia. Had an endoscopy 10 days ago. Consultant advised that I had a small hiatus hernia and I was wondering if that is what cause the slight discofort pains in my chest. Anyone got any tips on how to minimize? Got a follow up appointment with consultant in 10 days.

Thanks as ever

Pete

[countrygirl]

I have had hiatus hernia for 29 yrs - it was caused by my unborn son who was breech pressing his big head up and nearly pushing my stomach into my throat all through the pregnancy The end result was a hiatus hernia. I have taken famotidine which is the older anti ulcer drug that just reduces stomach acid but does not get rid of all acid like the newer proton pump inhibitors do and as long as I am careful what I eat I am fine but I do have to be very careful what I eat so it does restirct my diet alot. If you cannot control your symptoms without drugs then nowadays they usually put you on omeprazole which is a ppi and this gets rid of all stomach acid - would recommend you take a multi vitamin if you take this as your body can't absorb nutrients as well with no stomach acid but it does work wonders for symtoms of hiatus hernia.

The only problem with all these drugs mine included is that once on them you tend to have to stay on them as if you try stopping you then get rebound acid ten times worse than originally- some people can just take them for say 2 weeks then stop and they only take them when they need them it depends on if you have constant heartburn or not.

Milk makes heartburn worse in the long run as it makes your stomach produce more acid to counteract the milk.

[dodo]

I am interested with your reply countrygirl. My own child was breech and I gave suffered with my stomach since. The dr didn't seem to take much notice when I suggested a hernia. I do know as well that they can cause palpitations from reading about them on wikipedia. It did explain a lot of my symptoms tbh.

I don't have burning pain all the time but do suffer with a lot if burping and gurgling in my throat.

I'm interested to know what both you guys gave as symptoms.

I quite often feel wheezy and wondered if that was to do with it all.

[countrygirl]

My main symptom was heartburn and burping.

Interesting about the ectopics as I have had them badly for over 20 yrs which does tie in with hiatus hernia

[dodo]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hiatus_hernia

Signs and symptoms
Hiatal Hernia has often been called the "great mimic" because its symptoms can resemble many disorders. For example, a person with this problem can experience dull pains in his or her chest, shortness of breath (caused by the hernia's effect on the diaphragm), and heart palpitations (due to irritation of the vagus nerve).
In most cases however, a hiatal hernia does not cause any symptoms. The pain and discomfort that a patient experiences is due to the reflux of gastric acid, air or bile. While there are several causes of acid reflux, it does happen more frequently in the presence of hiatal hernia.

Risk factors

The following are risk factors that can result in a hiatus hernia.

• Increased pressure within the abdomen caused by:
  
  • Heavy lifting or bending over
  • Frequent or hard coughing
  • Hard sneezing
  • Pregnancy and delivery
  • Violent vomiting
  • Straining with constipation
  • Obesity (extra weight pushes down on the abdomen increasing the pressure)
  • Use of the sitting position for defecation[3] (See epidemiology below)
• Heredity
• Smoking
• Drug use, such as cocaine.[citation needed]
• Stress
• Diaphragm weakness[citation needed

Interestingly all symptoms which I have. Mine is more reflux of air though in most cases.