Hiatal Hernia and Panic Attacks(Need some insight)

Digestive health
1

Hello all!

Before I begin:

-No history of cardiac issues(done around 4-5 tests, all clear)

-GERD for several years(Diagnosed 3 years ago)

-No particular family history aside from late 60s diabetes and high blood pressure late life.

-20 years old male, no drugs, no smoking, no alcohol, healthy diet

-Only real issue? Stress and sensitivity.

    I've been suffering immensely due to an unknown illness. It'd cause long term tachycardia, general panic, insomnia, clammy cold hands, the whole slew of things. Generally what your body says when it wants you to know something is very wrong. I'd be fine one moment, and then suddenly have a weird feeling in my chest(turns out that was my hernia being pushed up from a stomach spasm) and then have a panic attack slowly come up. Of course, it's my body reacting to this, so it wasn't diagnosed as an SVT. I've had ALL the cardiac tests. Holter, Stress, Echo... You name it. I legitimately thought too many times that I was going to die suddenly and no one would know what was wrong with me. My heart would race and sometimes feel like it was going to just stop. I never passed out, it never happened without a precursor of panic(so if the tachycardia comes up SUDDENLY, like 90 to 160 in a couple beats, it's likely a cardiac issue). I starved myself in fear of having even more issues, but it turned out that it made it far worse. After year of being sick like this, the symptoms seemed to subside and disappear. I was fine for a while. I could run, do whatever with no issues. Then one day, it showed up again. Mysterious. I'd have runs of the same panic, the same chest pain, the same acid reflux...

I took all the damn tests, but it was a hernia. The doctors demanded I take a CT to make sure, but I prefer not to have a huge dose of radiation at only twenty. I went to a chiropractor and had my stomach pulled and it got rid of all my symptoms immediately. All those 150-160 BPM panic attacks, all those sleepless nights, all those times when I swear I was thinking I was going to die... 

I'm far more sensitive than normal people. I notice things wrong with my body much more clearly and feel much worse. No one understood what was wrong with me(I had telltale signs of a hernia even then, back pain, chest pain, belching, acid reflux). A hernia that was missed by endo-scopy obviously isn't that big of a deal, right? Wrong. My hernia isn't permanent. It straightens itself out and cramps up repeatedly. It can come and go, but it comes with a vengeance when I have long term stress or if I stress my GI.

The point of this isn't to say that doctors are wrong, or that you shouldn't trust them. It's just that if you want to be healthy, you have to do your own research and find your problem if the fixes aren't working(this sadly happens more often than not). PPIs made me feel worse. My stomach spasms cause hernia and this hernia makes me feel god awful like I'm going to die(panic attacks randomly). 

I'm having bouts of my hernia again, but when I use my chiropractor's method of pulling my stomach back down, VIOLA! No panic, tachy's gone, feelings of dying are gone. 

Stress is a killer for any disease for the stomach. A lot of people say that "stress doesn't cause problems with health", but stress affects the sympathetic nervous system and parasympathetic nervous system. It slowly breaks that balance and makes everything spiral out of control. The body's a well oiled machine and one part that breaks makes the whole thing stop working. 

The final thing I want to point out is that although there are set definitions out there of symptoms and various things for various illnesses, DO NOT TRUST THEM 100%.

Everyone's body is different(if this is hard to understand, think of it like this; everyone's minds are different, right? So obviously, the way they handle things is definitely going to be different!). They may be the same anatomically, but the way they react to certain drugs and the like is VERY DIFFERENT. The was the main issue I have with the current healthcare system. Far too many times do people have horrible reactions to different medications because of misdiagnosis and drug rejection from their bodies. Some people experience heart attacks like they're chest discomfort and some people experience them like it's the end of the world. Some people don't even noticed GERD and some people have straight up freak-outs that are chalked up to anxiety. 

That aside, how is everyone doing with their hernias? Hernias generally are considered "untreatable" aside from surgery, but even to that, I find that a good lifestyle with activity can hold back even diabetes. I still get bouts of breathlessness(one in the middle of the night when my stomach is completely empty, but a glass of water tends to fix it quite nicely), but it's significantly better now that I know what's wrong with me and can get a hold of my own health. I'm just curious, how many of you hernia sufferers have felt this before? I feel like I'm the only one who has such violent symptoms from what I've seen. 

Thanks and good luck with your road back to health!

-Dan

2

My 27 year old son has the same symptoms you describe. His hernia is a sliding hiatal hernia about 2 cm. He was greatly suffering with very little relief taking PPI's but then a referral to a psychiatrist changed his life for the bettet. He was diagnosed with general anxiety disorder and is taking meds and actively participating in his assigned cognizant behavioral therapy (CBT). I don't thing the meds are doing much for him, but the CBT is amazingly effective. He is a new man now. He still experiences some panic attacks, but they are much milder and shorter.

Maybe the same approach will work for you.

Good luck

3

Dan i hear everyword your saying, i went months with all the above for 5 months  back and forth to a&e in the middle of the night, othen in a&e one night after thinking i was going to die  the doc said i think you have a hernia, yip confirmed with as 3cm sliding hiatus hernia, i then done my own research cut out bread, spicy foods red wine and became to realise what set me off, for 6 months i was ok until last week “lifes stress” has set me off again,  been back to doctor and has said as i am worrying about the hernia it is causing me panic attacks !! This really gets to me as i know its the symptoms of the hernia, gas and stomach pushing up putting pressure in my heart! Back to sleeping upright and no foods for 3 hrs before bed with smaller portions, i have had no caffine for 18 months either only herbal tea in the morning! It is so good to hear and read about similar experiences ! 

4

It really is amazing to hear from others with the same things! It feels terrible, but it's not something that's likely to kill you on it's own. Best we can do try and slowly recover from it. Good luck on your journey to a happy healthy life! I mean, hernia's a better alternative than hearing you have some cardiac disorders. Chin up, buddy!

5

Hi Mate,

Mad to hear this stuff, I’m the exact same as you with nearly everything just a year older than you. 

I’m in severe pain a lot of the time but have had this for over 2 years now really struggling with it most of the time.  At the moment surgery looks like the only way out (hopefully) touch wood that it would work. I haven’t been to a chiropractor or anything.

You have any tips ?

Cheers, Bryan 

6

I’ve been having panic attacks, racing heart and even more oddly I can feel something move in my chest and I lose my breathe for a second, I do have a hiatal hernia as well, my doctors thinks I may be feeling it move.. I’m wondering if anyone has experienced this? I also have sternum pain and pain under left breast. I’ve had ekg, blood test, X-ray, endoscopy and colonoscopy, the only thing that was found was the hiatal hernia. 

7

When I was 18, I was diagnosed with anxiety and panic disorder because I would go to the hospital thinking I was dying. I spent years of my life on various psychotropic drugs and in/out of several mental facilities with all the doctors and psychiatrists always trying to convince me that my palpitations, racing heart, anxiety, panic..etc were all caused by my own mind. I knew in my heart that they were wrong and they would always say I was in a form of denial. I know without a doubt that I have a hiatal hernia. Sometimes a little warm water and a few jumps on my heels first thing in the morning will bring my stomach down, but at times when I’m real stressed, its ongoing for even years at a time. Food and drinks will do it. When the indigestion gets real bad, I know that it causes my vagal nerve to get irratated thus throwing me into an abnormal heart rhythm. When that happens, I then feel the anxiety response kick in… the oh crap my heart..(main organ) is going crazy! in return making me much worse. I’ve been. able to fight the head game as I get older, but sometimes it goes too far and I have to deal with the temporary insanity for a few hours. The thing that worked best for me in my life for stress was LSD, but you can’t explain that to a doctor without getting looked at weird. I didn’t care for the feeling during the trip, but the months afterwards had me feeling like…(myself). I was confident, rational, outgoing, caring, empathetic, just an all around great person. That lasted about 6 months from only one experience. Meanwhile a doctor wants me to take chemicals they say are ok that don’t do anything except make me worse. it is insane. Years ago, doctors were highly regarded. Now we just have our symptoms grouped into a database and they pick and choose what is wrong. I just wish I would have been a bit wiser in my late teens and never taken any psychotropic drugs for a problem that was with my digestive system… which turns out to be the first brain.

8

You’re having palpitations due to your vagal nerve getting irratated from your hernia. Causes your heart to feel as though you’re having missing/skipped beats. when it gets thrown off, you’ll get a feeling like a hard thud. I know the feeling all too well. self-daignosed on my end. Look up Roemheld syndrome and feel free to educate your doctor.

9

First thing in the morning on an empty stomach, drink about 8 ounces of slightly warm water (little warmer than room temp). Be standing during this. Bring your elbows up and your hands to up around your chest bone. Stand up on your tip toes and bounce down on your heels 10 times. afterwards, take 10 breaths rapidly. Reapeat once a day in the morning until you feel relief. This has helped me bring my own stomach down sometimes.

best

10

hi gmag,

was there any particular reason you started taking the magnesium citrate or were you advised to take it ?

thanks

11

Very helpful info, as I am going through very similar issues and have been for 15 years. The anxiety of not knowing makes it 100 times worse. I’ve been diagnosed with health anxiety and GERD, but i really feel its a hiatal hernia after reading everyone elses stories. Thanks for sharing. Hope all is well.

12

I’m on my way to do ultrasound now. doctor thinks inguinal hernia. I’m on medical leave because it got so bad.
panic attacks, shallow breathing, stomach pains, bouts of hypertension even atrial fibrillation.
upper endo clean, colonoscopies clean.
doctors tried to label me with anxiety.
nobody wanted to fill out medical leave paperwork.

absolute nightmare. mine would come on if I was stressed, or right leg at 90 degree angle to chest. mine must be pressing on a nerve.

finally took a nurse practitioner to figure it out.

glad to find this post.

13

hi there.
hiatal hernia patient here .
my hernia has been causing me panic attacks , heart arrythmias and whatnot, I’d really appreciate it if you could talk to me more about the way you relieve your own symptoms.
it feels so good to know that im not alone in this…

14

I had panic attacks for over twenty years. When a surgeon found and repaired an unknown hiatal hernia i had while undergoing another surgical procedure. It was a blessing in disguise, my debilitating panic attacks went away immediately like a miracle, like somebody hit an on and off switch.

I could breathe easier, but it was a different type of breathing, something i wasn’t used to, maybe normal breathing? Turned out it was something i wasn’t used to because i had been breathing entirely wrong the past 20 years, I probably felt that was the normal way to breathe all this time, but it wasn’t, along with the acid reflux and gerd causing me to not breathe normally.

Now I can do anything and am not afraid to finally live my life. The surgeon told me: I bet the other doctors for the past twenty years said you had asthma, panic attacks etc, he said it was the hiatal hernia causing all those symptoms. Hmm so it wasn’t in my head after all, I knew 20 years ago, the panic attacks, asthma, Gerd, had to be something physical and this just proved it.

So please don’t suffer, insist on getting tests and if something is wrong, in my case massive gerd causing me not to breathe properly causing panic attacks. But the doctors in the past never told me I even had a hiatal hernia, yes or no. All they kept saying is you have asthma and panic disorder!! If they just said I did had a hiatal hernia instead of, oh just take protonix and tums and live with it, i would have questioned more and went to the right doctor to have the issue addressed with surgery. This probably would have saved me with over twenty years of suffering breathing issues and panic attacks.

Any personal questions on my journey, email me at theshop62@aol.com and I can answer any issues or questions you may have. Thank you

15

barium swallow with contrast is only real way to detect hialtal hernia, endoscope is not real reliable they missed
mine three times but when they dis the barium swallow stomach scan they found it right away

16

i have these issues also but mine also involves shortness of breath. my endoscopy is scheduled for June 15. i cant live like this.
would love to find a chiropractor tgst coukd do what yours does.

17

6 months later, mine turned out to be my back! just had 2 laminectomies on my lumbar spine, and this was the root cause - nerve compression. stomach is good, everything else good. healing up and hoping this was my only issue. Get CT scan and MRI when docs cant figure it out.

18

there are times i just cant burp like air is trapped, takes a awhile b4 i can let out this big giant burp b4 i can be relieved, then times im nauseated …
trying to lose weight cause i didnt have too much trouble with the hiatel hernia, anyone get like that?

19

i had panic attacks, but i didnt know its associated with the hernia, but now its acting up my hernia and i feel panicky, did u have problems with not be able to burp like ur full of air u cant get out? then after awhile a big burp comes out and you feel relieved?

20

very insightful story Dan. I could say my case is identical to yours. Im also trying the stomach “pull down” technique on myself, but I’m not sure wether i actually pull down my stomach or not. Could you post a video (YouTube) or a link which i could use as a guide ?
Thank you in advance.