Hi! We had this conversation last month, if you forgot here is the link to it! Good luck!

Here is a link that might be useful: Hiatal hernia

I think she's specifically asking about seeing a chiropractor, etc for the problem. I don't think that was mentioned in the last post.

I don't have any answers, but hopefully some one will. If your doctor ok's it, I'd seriously think about trying it; but be sure to check with your doctor first. You never know it could hurt something or make something worse.

Have you discussed surgical repair with your doctor? Sometimes surgery is the best solution. I would hesitate to try any of the techniques that you mentioned. Any of them would probably ease muscle tension, and that would certainly make you feel better, but I just can't see how it would fix the underlying problem.

Thank you for your comments. I was concerned about trying this therapy but thought if others had had success, it would be worth it. I will do as you suggested and go back to my doctor and see about surgery repair. It doesn't seem a popular solution here in Canada.

Michelle, I appreciated all your imput last month and I have had great improvement on the Reflux. Thank you.

Jean

DH has one and has had for a long time. Now he's bleeding from it and went and had all the test done for the surgery but was told he's not a candidate for it. In July he had to have a blood transfusion and now last Fri. his hemoglobin was so low he had to have an iron infusion. It's something he's going to have to go through the rest of his life. He's been on prevacid for years and now on something else to help with it.

Jean - I just found your post and the previous thread about hiatal hernias. I have what my doctor called a "sliding" hiatal hernia, meaning that the top of my stomach sometimes slides up through my hiatus into my chest but not always. Most often it is caused by the position I sleep in. If I happen to roll over in my sleep and sleep on my stomach I will wake up in the morning with problems and those problems will get worse during the day and sometimes last for three days. I have moved and changed doctors a few times since my problems first occured and every doctor understood what I meant when I called it a sliding hiatal hernia - but I think different people call it different things. Anyway, with a sliding hiatal hernia you are never a candidate for surgery since your problem is considered temporary.

The first thing you need to do is get that endoscopy (if you haven't already). After they scope you they'll know if there is any damage to the esophagus or just how bad the situation is.

There are many tricks that sufferers use to calm the situation down, what works for one person may not work for others. There are also many things that will trigger the problem, so your triggers may not be the same as somebody elses. Over time you will discover what triggers your problem and what techniques solve the problem but without surgery to correct it you may never be cured of it (don't think I am promoting the surgery - I'm not. But I do know people that love the outcome of their hiatal hernia surgery. My problem isn't surgery worthy).

The mechanics involved with a hiatal hernia make me think that there is little any of the professions you mentioned could do for you except maybe help calm your nerves. The hiatus is an opening in the diaphragm muscle. I just can't imagine a massage or similar treatment that would affect it. Breathing exercises could improve its strength but this problem is not due to a weakness of the diaphragm. Stretching your torso could help re-align your internal organs but as far as I know there isn't an stretching position that targets the esophagus or stomach (organ).

It took me over a year to calm mine down. If things get bad I sleep in a recliner (the elevated bed trick didn't help me). I drink apple cider vinegar every day whether I'm having a problem or not. I no longer take any drugs for this problem. The best treatment for me was to get up and walk around, back when things were really bad the dog got plenty of midnight walks around the block.

Hello Patches & Trianglejohn - your postings are encouraging.

Just an update: I have been on meds. 3 1/2 mo. and following the DO NOT list and the MUST DO lists and I mean every single item listed. I am feeling much better and I feel I am managing the reflux very well now. I also had choking (aspiration) sessions 4 times/day and 3-4 times each night. They were so exhausting but they have just stopped and I am so relieved. The hiatal hernia is still my biggy!!! I cannot bend the slightest or I get severe pain. By slightly I mean, brush my teeth, make the bed, sweep floor and just forget about tying shoes or picking up something off the floor. I want this hernia surgically repaired but I don't know who to see or how to push to get it done.

Last week I had a colonoscopy done and I told the Gasteroligist??sp about this hernia. He said if I sent my endoscope report and a referral by my doctor he would look at it and set up an office appointment for me. He is very good! I guess it is a start. What qualifies you to have the hernia repaired?

I have gained some excess weight that I would like to loose but I find it hard to do exercises and I am scared of setting off a painful attack. I do walking even if I get sore but I was wondering about other things like crunches, weights. Do any of you have suggestions?

To me it sounds like you should get the surgery but I'm not a doctor. There isn't much more you can do, any strenuous movements will set off an attack so you won't be able to exercise to lose weight until the hernia goes away.

Apple Cider vinegar is just a tool to re-train your stomach when to make stomach acid and in what strength and what amount. It doesn't do anything to acid reflux. I was told that as we age our stomach lining gets lazy about stomach acid production (part of this could be due to H. pylori bacteria which is everywhere and pretty much everyone over the age of 40 that drinks city water has it). Splashing the walls of your stomach with tiny amounts of acid help to re establish the right acid at the right time. For me it took a solid year of sipping to see permenant results. All the pills available are acid supressors meaning they either stop completely or cut in half the amount of acid your stomach makes. This isn't a great thing for your stomach or food, since the acid bath your stomach performs is an important function - BUT, you don't want extra stomach acid splashing up into your esophagus either which is what normally happens with a hiatal hernia. So I would keep taking acid reflux pills if you are. You need to slow down acid production until you solve the hernia thing.

It sounds to me like the top of your stomach is poking up into your chest cavity like permenant hiatal hernia does. Either the stomach gets pinched by the muscles of the hiatus and this causes pain or the opening (hiatus) itself gets stressed by all the object poking through it (also painful).

The surgery they used to do (10 years ago) was to simply go into your belly through tiny little openings (no big incisions) and take the top portion of your stomach (which is like a floppy rubber sack) and stretch a section of it up and around the junction where the stomach and esophagus meet. This little wrap around of stomach tissue makes the top of you stomach stay below your hiatus which would end the pain. It works like thick rubber band around the bottom of your esophagus. Your stomach adapts after a while to it so you can then eat normally (stomachs are stretchy and flexible). Everyone I know that had this surgery loved the results. It was considered a minor ordeal with minimal time under anesthesia and only a few tiny scars. In their case it was covered by insurance and not that expensive.

I don't believe they will do the surgery without first performing a endoscopy of your esophagus, which is similar to a colonoscopy but without the 'cleaning out' chemicals.

Reading the above is very similar to myself. I have found elevating the bed to be really helpful. More helpful than I thought for such a little increase in height. In bed I hardly notice the difference.
Diet has taken a little longer to perfect, just knowing how much of something I cant eat and how much is too far. I found: www.teammead.co.uk/hiatushernia really helpful. Foods that I didn't think would upset my stomach are listed here, so I try to avoid these now as well. It has helped me alot though. Happily enjoying the small treats. i do find though that the Omeprazole does sometimes leave me feeling a little sick in the morning, however aftre maybe 1 hour it tends to die down. Somebody suggested to me that I try taking it at evening, instead of first thing in the morning, but im worried having an empty stomach overnight will cause worse feelings than I get in the morning with feeling sick.

Here is a link that might be useful: Hiatus Hernia: Help and Advice

A hiatal hernia is generally located in the stomach area or the esophagus, the swallowing tube that connects the mouth to the stomach. This tube passes through the diaphragm, and often grows too wide, causing acids and foods from the stomach to regurgitate back up into the tube. Hiatal or hiatus is the medical name for an opening or tear. Therefore, a hiatal hernia often occurs if a small portion of the stomach is pushed up through that opening, causing symptoms such as heartburn and chest pain as well as acid reflux. A variety of treatments for hiatal hernia repair are available, including laparoscopic surgery.

Here is a link that might be useful: Hiatal Hernia Repair Surgery

I too have a HH. It seems that whenever I have a bowel movement I feel bad afterwards. And it seems sometimes after going up a flight of stairs. Does anyone else feel worse after these two?

I thought the HH was in your esophagus, how could a chiropractor help with that.

Do not drink ingest vinegar. It causes your body to retain water and you may go into congestive heart failure. My Sister told our Mom to drink water with a little bit of vinegar in it. Her legs started to swell and the doctor said he was giving her water pills to get rid of fluids and the swelling and here she was drinking vinegar. After she quit drinking it the swelling went away.

I could give an advise to be aknowledged about this disesae, probably the best way is to prevent illness or choose the best way for pushing out hernia. You can serch for more information here <a href="http://hernia-treatment.net/symptoms-repair-hiatus/hiatal-hernia-symptoms-treatment/">hernia-treatment.net</a>;

This is an old post but I didn't see a very simple solution that worked for my hubby. Raise head of bed about 6 inches. Takes a little getting used to but ended hubby's problem. Something about the hh getting acid in it from stomach & that irritates you when you eat & causes the misery. Like taking a large pill without much water-seems OK at the time but next time you go to eat or drink something it hurts because the pill dissolved part way down your throat. HH gets irritated will sleeping & gives you pain later when you are up!! My hubby didn't have to do anything else so it was great solution. Happened that our bed is adjustable, the bottom of it screws down to close to the floor. You may have to raise the head up with large blocks of wood or I think they have some cup like things now to raise beds up but just raise the head . Sure cheaper & better than taking meds rest of your life!