Im a 29 year old male diagnosed with a 4cm sliding hiatus hernia over 8 years ago. Recently i have been suffering really bad with it and have been back to the doctors and they have refered me to see a surgen. Im am currently on 2 omeprazole 20mg and 1 ranitidine 300mg a day. Over the past few days i have been getting sharp pains in my chest and back mainly when swallowing food or drinking. Does anybody suffer this problem aswell as the pain is quite bad .
Hiya Andy,
Yes I have exactly the same as you with reflux. I'm 37 and been suffering for about three years. Been referred to the surgeons but they won't give me an operation. On the same drugs as you and strong painkillers. I have pains alot of the time and it hurts whatever I eat.
I am been referred to another hospital so hopefully they will do something. I feel am getting depressed over this. My appointment is on 30th of march.
I hope the surgeons sort you out Andy.
Kind regards
Clare
I hope so too iv got an appointment on 18th february. Im also on strong pain killers but had to come out of work today due to the pains in my chest and back when i swallow. I was thinking of going to the hospital tomorrow if it dosnt settle down as i cant eat with it. It not reflux thats causing the pain so i dont know what it is.
Hope eveything goes well for you
Andy
Thanks Andy.
I'm on co-codamol and tramadol. What painkillers are you on?
Clare
I am on co-codamal 30/500 and amitriptyline. I was in tramadol but i had bad side effects from it. Im hoping i dont get fobbed off on my pre op now if you did.
Andy
I have similar problem., if I sit for a while pain/burning gradually goes. If not Tramadol and a hot water bottle does the trick. Amitripyline is awaste of space, even as its primary use depression and side affects are bad. Your experience with Tramadol may have been the omeprazole. Get off acid suppressents, read up on them and you also may have bile reflux
Hi Andy.
I suffered with a sliding hiatus hernia for years. I didn't have pain or trouble swallowing as you do, but I twice became dangerously anemic from slow bleeding over time. I also have been taking omeprazole for years. One night when I got into bed, I felt so horrible -- my stomach hurt a lot and I could hardly breathe. I went to the doctor and had x-rays and other images taken. They showed that my stomach has moved up into my chest cavity by more than 50%! I saw the images on the computer screen and couldn't believe my eyes. I am bloated, I have trouble breathing, and also digesting.
I'm now scheduled for corrective surgery, which they can now do without opening you up. The doctor said that the symptoms would go away afterwards, although it takes six weeks for full recuperation. It's scary to have trouble swallowing and to live with bad pain. I hope you can get to the bottom of your problem and get some relief.
I was on the tramadol before i was on the omeprazole so i know it wasnt them and the pain seems to be constant
That sounds horrible Lee. My doctor was telling me about the surgery for it. He said it is now done by keyhole and they make 5 small cuts.
I think ill go hospital in the morning to be on the safe side after hearing that, hope everything goes well for you
Andy, good luck. Checking it out can only be a good thing.
My surgeon does it by keyhole (we call it "laparoscopic" over here) and has done many successfully. I'm not waiting, because my overall health is good, so it seems now would be the best time before something else happens to me (aargh!). Best wishes for your health and well-being.
All the best for you operation im sure it will be worth it when you fully recover. Its a slippery slope getting older its always one thing after another
Hi Lee,
Just looking through the posts here. I'm quiet new so just getting to grips with whats what! I read your comment with interest. Can I ask if the omeprazole has helped over the years with the breathing ? Also, when do you mainly get these shortness of breath symptoms ? Would you say you eat an average meal for a man of your size or would you say you have a tendancy to over eat ?
I finally plucked up the courage to see the quacks this morning and I went with a determination to get my breathing issue sorted. I mentioned this forum and that in my opinion I have Hiatus hernia. She gave me the standard and predicted response which was one month of omeprazole, 20mg in the morning and lets see how we get on.
Fingers crossed, my first ever dose tomorrow morning!!
Avy
Hi Andy, I also have had hiatal hernia and all the pain in my chest and back for years. I also have trouble breathing. All the medications I have been on don't do much. I had surgery last February and had the hernia wrap. I felt good for about 4 or 5 months and then started having issues again. It has came undone and I am going back in for surgery again next month. My stomach is in my chest, so the doctor said he has to put everything back where it should be. Facing a 4 or 5 hour surgery and hoping this is the last. Good luck to all
Hi Andy. I also have a hiatus hernia now for over 10 years. Now this is weird but you can get relief by chewing two DGL tablets as soon as the pain hits. It takes about 15 minutes to kick in and great at night as the effect lasts for at least two hours allowing to get to sleep. Doing this I have managed to avoid getting on the opiat slippery slope. If you read this forum you will find many who have used DGL to wean off pp's.
I forgot to mention something very important that the surgeion told me.
There's NO MEDICAL CURE for a hiatus hernia, other than corrective surgery, especially one that's moved up into your chest cavity. Even losing weight (if you're overweight) won't help. Medicines, like acid blockers, may alleviate heartburn, but a hiatus hernia is a STRUCTURAL PROBLEM that can be fixed only by a surgical procedure to move the stomach back into the abdomen, below the diaphragm, secure and reinforce it so it stays in place.
Since it's done laparascopically (or keyhole) with tiny inscisions to accomodate cameras and instruments, they don't open you up, so it's much less risky and shorter recovery.
Hi Avy. I'm not a doctor, but I'm learning as I go. I just sent another note to Andy, which appears in the thread. Omeprazole is an acid blocker... it lowers the level of acid that your stomach normally produces to help digest food. It can also block absorption of nutrients.
That said, the doctor told me that many people use it for years without ill effect. It helps with heartburn and acid reflux, which can be a great relief and also a source of other problems. However, if you have a hiatus hernia that slides up through the diaphragm into your chest (a paraesophageal hiatus hernia), only a surgical procedure will correct it. There's no medical cure, as my surgeon told me.
After sitting up at the hospital all day i have been told that my stomach is pushing up into my chest. I cant go to work for atleast 2 weeks. I have been given some sickness tablets to help keep the food down and told to continue with my othet tablets. I cant loose any more weight, i cant put any on as im only 10 stone. I know the tablets only help to try and control the acid but they seem to work to some extent
Hi Andy, So glad you wend to the hospital.
It seems you've become a member of my stomach-in-the-chest club (sorry about that). Did they mention the procedure for repair? Whether they do or not might depend on how far your stomach is protruding into your chest.
If you haven't already done it, I suggest Googling "laparoscopic paraesophageal hernia repair". There's a wealth of info about it, including diagrams that can help you see exactly what's going on in your insides. Knowledge is power!
Anyway, keep reporting in. I'll do the same after my surgery. Best of luck and feel better soon,
Lee
They never mentioned the procedure for repairing. Ill have a look on google a bit later and see what i can find.
Its a horrible feeling when you can feel it pushing up. The doctor told me to stop bending, no heavy lifting and if you cough or sneeze, put a little pressure on your stomach first to try and prevent it moving up further.
Yes i will keep reporting. Do you know when your surgery is yet?
It really does feel awful, and you have my full sympathy. I'm sorry you're having so much pain. I've been relatively symptom-free, which is why it went on so long before being discovered. Had I seen a better doctor two years ago, I might have done it already.
The procedure is scheduled for a week from today, Tuesday, January 27th. It's only an overnight hospital stay, since minimally invasive surgery involves much less, if any, pain, bleeding or risk of infection, although these are still risks.
I'm not feeling too thrilled about the recuperation... soft foods at first (mashed potatoes, here I come) and no activity for the first two weeks. Altogether, the doctor said it would take 6 weeks to recover fully, but I'm adding two more weeks for good measure. At least it will be almost Spring -- it's been so cold in NYC recently.
The post-op side-effects -- bloating and gas -- aren't pleasant, but aren't terrible either. I guess I'll get back to walking, bending and other activities gradually. I think it'll be worth it when it's done, since waiting until I'm older can only be worse.
The risks of not doing it are: trouble swallowing (which you already have), trouble breathing (which I seriously have) and, most scary of all, the stomach becoming twisted, so oxygen is cut off and the cells of the lining die. Since you're under observation, I'm sure this won't happen.
All in all, I'm looking forward to getting it over with.
Don't drink alcohol or carbonated drinks, and don't eat spicy or acidic foods... you've probably figured that out for yourself. I hope you can relax and minimize the pain in the meantime, until they decide on next steps for you. You definitely shouldn't have to live in pain like this.
Take care of yourself,
Lee