Hiatus hernia - Awful Health issue :(

Neil79 said:
It just fustrates me even more that operations that cause so much discomfort you end up on a waiting list, if it's that severe it should be delt with within the month or much less.

Think of those with heart bypass or cancer, even those are on a waiting list it's just wrong
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In a perfect world... Cancer patients/heart bypass patients don't really go on a waiting list either. Suspected cancer patients MUST be seen/tested for diagnosis in two weeks or less.

EDIT: Yeah, meds won't do much for a HH. They'll just stop the acid reflux which isn't really what's causing you your discomfort.
 
I had a hiatus hernia fixed at the same time as I had a Nissen Fundopulation performed (basically they wrap the top of the stomach around the valve and stitch it tighly to make the valve stronger), both via keyhole surgery in the same operation. I was only 21 at the time.

I had heartburn now and then as a child. It went away then came back with force when I was 18. No matter what I ate or drank I would be in constant intermittent pain throughout the day if I had not taken my Lanzoprazole (acid inhibitor).

The Surgeon said tests recently on rats (this was Oct 2009) showed that long term on the medication that reduced acid being made can cause stomach cancer. Whereas long term acid exposure to the food pipe can lead to cancer there too.

I had the operation and the valve was tight as **** for a few months, but over 18 months on I only get heartburn if I eat or drink crap. Even then the 'pain' is laughable compared to what it was before! I cannot burp as easily as I once did, so fizzy drink gas can give a discomfort as they work their way through my intenstines and out the other end!

OP I wish you the best - I led a normal life whilst on the medication but I relied on it for a few years. I would not go anywhere without a spare tablet in my pocket!

I had the camera down my throat (they gave me a few syringes of some good stuff to get me high) and had the tube up the nose for 24 hours (which didn't give the results the surgeon wanted but he did the operation anyway). The tube up the nose was far better than I expected. It had an ethernet connector on the end with a small box clipped to my belt. It looked like I had a USB modem on the end!

My university house mates apologised to me after the operation as they thought I had been exagerating! I hate to thing how much pain people with conditions you cannot see are in, such as kidney stones or arthiritis.

However, even when the acid reflux was burning like an absolute ****, it was a mere inconvenience from when I had a major Pilonidal Sinus age 15!

EDIT: I have photos of my insides!! My hiatus hernia was a fair old size too. I haven't got a scale on the photo but judging by the thickness of the food pipe to the stomach must be a 4-5cm tear. I cannot think how I could have got it so may have been born that way (I was 4 weeks early).
 
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Wicksta said:
No medical threads.
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It isn't i'm not asking for advice, check my register date i'm not a new member :mad:

I'm just asking who else here is a HH sufferer and i'm sharing what i'm currently going through, been to the docs and hospital enough times so ocuk isn't held reliable. Got the ultrasound scan coming at some point too :(
 
mglover070588 said:
EDIT: I have photos of my insides!! My hiatus hernia was a fair old size too. I haven't got a scale on the photo but judging by the thickness of the food pipe to the stomach must be a 4-5cm tear. I cannot think how I could have got it so may have been born that way (I was 4 weeks early).
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Thankyou for sharing your story it's horrible to think what a broken HH can do, yours being 4-5 thats a very large one. Mine is about 2-3cm.

However i'm finding the flare ups to be caused by

Sitting posture
First Person Shooters can set me off, like it cramps up and i'm in agnoy really no idea why it does this. Almost like a panic reaction!
Panic, if someone gives me bad news that can set it off
 
Someone I worked with said he got heartburn badly and found that putting a book under his matress on the side where is head was (to slightly raise one end up) helped him at night. What set mine off like mad was pineapple juice, **** me that hurt!
At one point in 6th form I was sick a lot - shortly after it went haywire really.

I will have heart stiches holding the reinforced valve in place and also the hernia closed until the day I die, but the Surgeon said the stiches are designed to last a lifetime on hearts so I would be suprised if they broke.

Luckily I had Bupa cover so got through the system more quickly (although FAR from fast) and we lost Bupa cover shortly afterwards as they hiked the price so much my parent's work no longer had enough people in it to do a company discounted scheme.

The doctors told me repeatedly to lose weight as they said it would put less pressure on the stomach and reduce heartburn but at 6'3" and 100kg I am not that fat. The valve was so loose and the hernia on top just made the reflux happen no matter whether I ate fruit (the worst offender actually!), vegetables or junk.
 
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Neil79 said:
Sitting posture
First Person Shooters can set me off, like it cramps up and i'm in agnoy really no idea why it does this. Almost like a panic reaction!
Panic, if someone gives me bad news that can set it off
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Mine wasn't panic but I would know when it was about to burn.

It used to put me in a foul mood, it really did. Now I think about it, the pain was too much to ignore it was an absolute bugger.
 
Not medical advice but chair advice..

Can someone recommend me a computer chair which is comfortable and stops me slouching forward because if i'm gaming i probably don't notice i'm doing it
 
I don't have a Hiatus Hernia (I had to google what one was!) but oddly just had an Inguinal hernia op a couple of months ago, but that's totally different I believe.

I do however suffer from acid reflux quite badly and see you mentioned Omeprazole. I've had to take this on a few occasions over the last year or so, I find it helps after a couple of days of taking but normally always comes back once I've stopped the course, slowly but surely.

Sorry if youve already mentioned in the thread, but what comes first? Pain from the HH and then acid reflux? I find that stressful situations set off my AR big time and heart palpatations. I find that painful enough sometimes, can't imagine what it must be like for you - whatever you decide to do, best of luck with it.
 
Neil79 said:
Not medical advice but chair advice..

Can someone recommend me a computer chair which is comfortable and stops me slouching forward because if i'm gaming i probably don't notice i'm doing it
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weird idea but get a long belt (like maybe the fluffy belt from a dressing gown or a ratchet belt) and tie it round the back of the chair and your chest (just under your arm pits) to hold your shoulders gently back against the chairs?

after a while it should become habit to sit like that.
 
In regards to a chair get a lower back support. If you slouch it'll push into your back and be mad uncomfy. You can get them from Argos for cheap.

Although unrelated, if you get heartburn try lying down with a few pillows under your feet to keep them elevated. Yes, I know it sounds random but bare with me. If you try it, your heartburn can dissapear almost instantly when normally lying down can make it much worse.
 
Tefal said:
****ing hell neil I think it's about time you RMAd your body, duff production line :p
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Tell me about it!, I'd like to order a new stomach and valve please.

If only Star Trek was real i'd be in and out with a few beeps of the handheld scanner :D:D

Leviathon said:
Sorry if youve already mentioned in the thread, but what comes first? Pain from the HH and then acid reflux? I find that stressful situations set off my AR big time and heart palpatations. I find that painful enough sometimes, can't imagine what it must be like for you - whatever you decide to do, best of luck with it.
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Basically Acid Reflux just feels like burning, intense internal burning pretty much most of us atleast once have suffered heart burn. With HH's you can have acid reflux from doing nothing and have it burn and burn and burn sometimes 24hrs or more. Pain is pain, though it feels slightly different... But i can't give any medical advice i'm afraid, if you got a lot of heart burn visit the docs ;), but if you have a bad HH you will know about it. Also there are stomach ulcers, but again visit the docs for that
 
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Tefal said:
weird idea but get a long belt (like maybe the fluffy belt from a dressing gown or a ratchet belt) and tie it round the back of the chair and your chest (just under your arm pits) to hold your shoulders gently back against the chairs?

after a while it should become habit to sit like that.
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interesting yet useful idea that! :cool:
 
I have something in my stomach thats painful and I've had it for over 5 years. Theres no digestive, sickness, or any kind of symptoms other than discomfort and pain which goes away with a little massage and stretching.

Sounds like a hernia thats harmless, I went to 3 GPs, and even A&E once and none could tell that anything was wrong. Docs told me not to worry about it unless it worsens and there are other symptoms like sickness, fever, or swelling. They said it was likely just IBS / Acid, but it doesnt feel like IBS or heartburn because I've had those for a long time too before this started, but its not anything as bad as an ulcer either.

I'm sure its a hernia because I remember it being triggered by doing too many sit ups.
 
bhavv said:
I'm sure its a hernia because I remember it being triggered by doing too many sit ups.
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Mine was caused by weight training, i was doing flies(?) at the time spreading out the chest with some heavy weights. Not excessive i can't lift this heavy just heavy and it went down hill from there. I had a pretty bad attack when i was much younger, i had big mac n fries... The chips got lodged in my HH. I've also had refered pain into the chest and i've gone straight into emergency.

If i could change my past, i would've said NO to the gym sure being muscular is good but for me it wasn't worth the risk :(
 
You can have a Hiatus Hernia and never have heartburn, or vice versa.
They are often occur together but not always.
I think my hernia was quite big and so the food pipe had room to move up and down and side to side easily.

As Neil79 said, heartburn is internal burning of the bottom of the food pipe as acid overspills out the top of the stomach. I have heartburn tonight as I have eaten crap, drank pear cider and at work had some energy drinks. It is a mere slight discomfort though. When I was broken (and off medication) it would be intense every day without fail. The pain was so bad that without medication or the operation life wouldn't be very much fun.
 
mglover070588 said:
You can have a Hiatus Hernia and never have heartburn, or vice versa.
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Exactly!

OMG Heartburn the pain, someone help me...

Takes some Gaviscon, nope no change. At one point i was on so many reflux medication pills i'm surprised my body had any acid at all, but no it still attacked.
 
Neil79 said:
Tell me about it!, I'd like to order a new stomach and valve please.

If only Star Trek was real i'd be in and out with a few beeps of the handheld scanner :D:D



Basically Acid Reflux just feels like burning, intense internal burning pretty much most of us atleast once have suffered heart burn. With HH's you can have acid reflux from doing nothing and have it burn and burn and burn sometimes 24hrs or more. Pain is pain, though it feels slightly different... But i can't give any medical advice i'm afraid, if you got a lot of heart burn visit the docs ;), but if you have a bad HH you will know about it. Also there are stomach ulcers, but again visit the docs for that
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Oh don't get me wrong, not after medical advice - just saying I get Acid Reflux too and know it's a real pain in the backside ;)
 
Gaviscon reduces the acid a bit.
Zantac stops as much being made, so tackles the pain better and from my experience lasts longer than Gaviscon. Tbh, Gavison is naff. I only ever used it when I was off the medication for a month (twice) so tests could be done without the medication interfering. The Gavison bottle would last me about 2-3 days and that was the bigger one (500ml?). If you must buy it, just buy the Tesco version. Far cheaper.
The 50mg Lanzoprazole tablets I took 1 a day of were (at a guess) zantax times 25.
 
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