Hiatal hernia? Anybody?

[newboots]

Yet another tale of body grumbles.

I was diagnosed with a hiatal hernia about 7 years ago. This is when the place where your esophagus enters your stomach stretches or widens, and part of your stomach makes its way into your esophagus. Generally gives people heartburn/GERD.

I never had much in the way of heartburn. I was diagnosed with GERD but the antacids and later, proton pump inhibitors never made any difference. I just stopped taking them. My symptoms are a feeling of pressure (more or less between my boobs), minor pain, and shortness of breath. Sometimes the pain is greater and guess what? Chest pain, shortness of breath, chest pressure - you get sent to the ER. I've been to the ER three times with this constellation of symptoms (and once, for good measure, my bum left shoulder was acting up). They give you an EKG before they copy your insurance card!

Mostly I don't go to the ER. The last time I did go was in March, because my chest pressure and shortness of breath were acting up on exertion. (We were hiking in the White Mountains and I couldn't do the trail we started on. I was stopping every 2 minutes to breathe.) I'd never had these symptoms paired with exertion before. (P. S. It didn't turn out to be a heart attack.)

Lately I can't tolerate much exertion at all without these symptoms. Walking through deep snow at the mountain Thursday was exhausting. Thank goodness for a lift ride! I live on the third floor now, and my symptoms are almost constant. I'm very afraid I'm going to need surgery.

Anybody else had a hiatal hernia that got really bad? Anybody had the surgery? I'm seeing my (new) primary in February, but I'm going to try to get a GI appointment soon. Thanks for reading all this!

 

[santacruz skier]

I'm so sorry to hear this. I hate this getting old ####. No experience with hiatal hernia but plenty of other aches and pains. My hip started hurting when I skied bumps last week (probably my lovely form ha ha).... as I swung around to ski the next bump that I didn't anticipate !

 

[newboots]

Yes, @santacruz skier - it definitely gets worse with age. Funny, though. One symptom is sometimes it feels like your food won’t go down all the way. Guess what! Is doesn’t!
when I was diagnosed and read up on it, I realized I had had that symptom for as long as I could remember. I couldn’t even drink water too fast without a feeling of the pipes backing up.

But indeed, this is common in people in their 60s. There’s a lot that’s great about being this age. But some of it stinks!

 

[santacruz skier]

Yes, @santacruz skier - it definitely gets worse with age. Funny, though. One symptom is sometimes it feels like your food won’t go down all the way. Guess what! Is doesn’t!
when I was diagnosed and read up on it, I realized I had had that symptom for as long as I could remember. I couldn’t even drink water too fast without a feeling of the pipes backing up.

But indeed, this is common in people in their 60s. There’s a lot that’s great about being this age. But some of it stinks!

I’ve had that before where it feels like food isn’t going down... had no idea what it was...

 

[newboots]

I’ve had that before where it feels like food isn’t going down... had no idea what it was...

Don’t self-diagnose based on my general ignorance! I had that feeling as a child (and now much worse), but it may be common. Apparently some form of this hernia, extremely mild, not treated unless symptoms arise, is very common in the Medicare crowd.

 

[Abbi]

Yes, @santacruz skier - it definitely gets worse with age. Funny, though. One symptom is sometimes it feels like your food won’t go down all the way. Guess what! Is doesn’t!
when I was diagnosed and read up on it, I realized I had had that symptom for as long as I could remember. I couldn’t even drink water too fast without a feeling of the pipes backing up.

But indeed, this is common in people in their 60s. There’s a lot that’s great about being this age. But some of it stinks!

I believe the Rolling Stones got it right decades ago: “ what a drag it is getting old“!

 

[COcanuck]

Yet another tale of body grumbles.

I was diagnosed with a hiatal hernia about 7 years ago. This is when the place where your esophagus enters your stomach stretches or widens, and part of your stomach makes its way into your esophagus. Generally gives people heartburn/GERD.

I never had much in the way of heartburn. I was diagnosed with GERD but the antacids and later, proton pump inhibitors never made any difference. I just stopped taking them. My symptoms are a feeling of pressure (more or less between my boobs), minor pain, and shortness of breath. Sometimes the pain is greater and guess what? Chest pain, shortness of breath, chest pressure - you get sent to the ER. I've been to the ER three times with this constellation of symptoms (and once, for good measure, my bum left shoulder was acting up). They give you an EKG before they copy your insurance card!

Mostly I don't go to the ER. The last time I did go was in March, because my chest pressure and shortness of breath were acting up on exertion. (We were hiking in the White Mountains and I couldn't do the trail we started on. I was stopping every 2 minutes to breathe.) I'd never had these symptoms paired with exertion before. (P. S. It didn't turn out to be a heart attack.)

Lately I can't tolerate much exertion at all without these symptoms. Walking through deep snow at the mountain Thursday was exhausting. Thank goodness for a lift ride! I live on the third floor now, and my symptoms are almost constant. I'm very afraid I'm going to need surgery.

Anybody else had a hiatal hernia that got really bad? Anybody had the surgery? I'm seeing my (new) primary in February, but I'm going to try to get a GI appointment soon. Thanks for reading all this!

Full disclosure, I am a Family Medicine MD, do not take this as medical advice since I don't know your entire history. The laparoscopic Nissen fundoplication surgery is typically what is done for a hiatal hernia after conservative treatments have failed (weight loss, modification of food, etc). Fairly straightforward surgery (I assisted on many during med school/residency), good recovery times and low risk of infection depending on the size of the hiatal hernia. Very large ones may require an open surgery instead of laparoscopic. Generally they like to perform an EGD prior to the surgery. The GI team is not who would perform the surgery, but they can do the initial work-up. Try to find a surgeon who is either thoracic or minimally invasive who does a good number of these every year.

My husband has a hiatal hernia, good luck with your repair, you sound like you probably need it!!

 

[newboots]

Well, that's just what I've been reading - corroboration. Always a good sign!

When I was first diagnosed I read that the side effects of the surgery included not being able to belch (!!!!), unable to vomit, and other unpleasantness and immediately decided against it. But the symptoms were so much milder then.

Weight loss is recommended. I'm about 10 lbs. overweight - I wonder if that could be making it worse. Well, I'll see the doc tomorrow, virtually. Don't try to go to a clinic or office with shortness of breath in the time of Covid! They won't have any of it. Never mind if you've had the symptom for many years. Grumble.

 

[BackCountryGirl]

My husband had this surgery. The hernia was undiagnosed (by VA docs) for years until it got so painful that we thought he was having a heart attack and went to the er. Emergency surgery was needed. He recovered well and it certainly got rid of his reflux!

 

[newboots]

My husband had this surgery. The hernia was undiagnosed (by VA docs) for years until it got so painful that we thought he was having a heart attack and went to the er. Emergency surgery was needed. He recovered well and it certainly got rid of his reflux!

Thanks for your encouragement! I get reflux only very rarely, but the chest pressure, chest pain, and shortness of breath have landed me in the ER three times - so similar to cardiac symptoms.

(FYI to everyone: the docs in each ER insisted I did the right thing, despite my protests that I was certain it was the HH, not a heart attack. I don’t go in whenever I have the symptoms - now that would be daily - but I did go in the first time this happened as a result of exertion. That was new and alarming. One doctor even told me that if they screened everyone who came to the ER, for whatever reason, for heart attack, they would save innumerable lives.)

 

[Abbi]

(FYI to everyone: the docs in each ER insisted I did the right thing.... One doctor even told me that if they screened everyone who came to the ER, for whatever reason, for heart attack, they would save innumerable lives.)

I gave myself an ambulance ride the first day I started on Medicare because I had a few things on the women’s heart attack checklist. Dizzy, cold sweat, nauseous, awareness of my chest existing ...... The EMTs and the ER staff all concur with what you were told. Of course I felt almost perfect by the time the ambulance got there and definitely shook up my neighbors! And it does seem to take a day to get out of the ER if it was a potential heart attack. They do a lot of tests just to make sure. And then you have to find a ride home if you went in an ambulance!

 

[newboots]

It's certainly a big pain to go to the ER, no doubt. And I felt sheepish each time, because I knew it wasn't a heart attack, but the symptoms had escalated to the point where that niggling worry was going to keep me up at night. All of the hospital staff, at each hospital, did their best to allay my sheepishness. They unanimously told me they would far prefer that I show up and it's a false alarm, than put it off or not come at all.

<end public service announcement>

 

[Alisonpv]

I had an undiagnosed hiatial hernia. I had bariatric surgery in 2018 (gastric sleeve, lost 170lb!). And in the pre-op process/testing they found a hiatial hernia, so they fixed it while they were doing the bariatric surgery anyway.

I can’t speak for recovery for that procedure alone, but recovering from both was not bad at all. I laid low for about 5 days, had some nausea, had to take tiny sips of fluid basically continuously to stay hydrated. After 5 days, it was all downhill. I was back to “normal” (tiny tummy new normal) in less then 2 weeks.

 

[newboots]

Thanks for posting this. Glad to hear your surgery and weight loss were successful!

 

[Alisonpv]

I felt a little bit like I got a BOGO ;)

 

[newboots]

When I read this, I was secretly hoping if I got the hernia surgery they could somehow take an inch off my belly!

 

[Abbi]

When I read this, I was secretly hoping if I got the hernia surgery they could somehow take an inch off my belly!

Ummmmm that’s liposuction!

 

[newboots]

Ummmmm that’s liposuction!

Oh, let a girl have her fantasies!