Seeking advice on abdominal pain and Hiatus Hernia. Lots of confusion.

Digestive health
1

Firstly, thank you for reading this and providing any advice. Apologies for the long post, but I wanted to provide as much information as possible.

I have, for the last 8 months experienced bouts of intense abdominal pain. Such to the degree that I have needed to lay on the bed/floor due to fear of fainting/passing out and nausea. The pain appears in the lower abdomen along with bloating and lasts typically 30 minutes or so, before it eases and continues as a minor belly ache. During investigations with various doctors, I have had;

* numerous blood tests. All clear.

* blood test for celiac desease. All clear.

* hpylori breath test. All clear.

* I was told I had gastritis and prescribed omeprazole, which helped but didn't stop the pain from accoring.

* I was told I had GERD and precribed Lansoprazole, which again didn't stop the random pain, but also made me feel horrible. Especially headaches.

* I was sent for an abdominal ultrasound which confirmed I had kidney stones in both kidneys. I have since had an abdominal CT scan at a urology dept who have said I don't have kidney stones, and the CT scan I saw, didn't (in my inexperienced opinion) show up anything. Some doctors believe this is an incidental finding, rather than related.

* In addition, I had a gastroscopy which confirmed I have a 3cm sliding hiatus hernia.

I do suffer from minor acid reflux, beltching and flatchulence but nothing too significant. 

The abdominal pain typically occurs in the early hours of the morning, well after I have eaten or druck anything. I liken it to a chemical reaction. I can turn over on to my side and all of a sudden my stomach is churning and the pain begins to build. 

My current doctor insists on continuing down the "kidney stone" route until he gets a formal report from the urologist, but I have also convinced him to refer me to a gastroenterologist.

My question (after such a long post) is; 

Do you feel my symptoms are related to my Hiatus Hernia / GERD / Reflux in your opinion or experience?

I eat a fairly good diet, but am currently cleaning it up even more. I don't tend to drink fizzy drinks or too much alcohol (honest) but happy to try most self-help things as I am not a fan of medication as they typically make me feel worse.

Any thoughts, advice is very very much appreciated. Thanks.

 

2

Hello Jaybro

I wish I could help you more, I must say I would continue to have doctors do test to find out your problem. I have Gerd and a 8.1 cm haital hernia and the problems i have are first breathing, belching and gas after eating almost anything, my diet is very limited to very bland and very small meals, I also have pain in between my shoulders. I am going for surgery in February. If this comes to surgery just make sure the surgeon you choose has done many haital hernia surgeries.

From what I have read haital hernias can effect each one of us a little different but I have not heard of it affecting the stomach area with pain. Hope you find what is causing this pain. Jo

3

Hi Jaybro

After a lot of time suffering I was diagnosed with having acid reflux and after furher investigations a hiatus hernia.During all this time , i,m talking years here, I would mention that I also had a severe pain in my lower abdomen but no one showed any concern and no investgations were carried out.

It was only when i started getting blood on my toilet tissue and I mentioned it to my friends wife and she to appease me that her mum use to get that and then added not knowing I was also getting pain that her mum use to get pain in her lower abdomen and she had diverticulitis. I have since been to the hospital and the consultant sad that it could be and has placed me on a high fibre diet.So far it seems to be working so ask your gp or consultant whether you could have it. Good Luck.

4

Hi Jo.

Thanks for your response. My gut feeling (excuse the pun) is that my abdominal pain isn't related to either my hiatus hernia or kidney stones but wondered if any others had experienced the same.

I intend to continue investigating this through with my doctors and hopefully we can understand what it is, so I can make the changes necessary.

Thanks again.

 

5

Hi Ted,

Thanks for your response. It's proven difficult to get my doctor to understand that I believe my pain is not kidney stone related, but hopefully now he will refer my to a GI specialist.

I believe I get a fair amount of fibre in my diet, but I am currently cleaning my diet up and looking out for ay triggers. I will look into diverticulitis.

Thanks.