Are You Sure You Have a Hiatus Hernia?

Posted , 4 users are following.

I was wrongly diagnosed with a mid-sized hiatus hernia (HH). For 1.5 years I was on 40mg Esomeprazole for Hiatus Hernia and GERD (although there was no sign of it). 

Fast forward 1.5 years...I had a barium meal test to confirm whether I did have an HH or not. Barium meal took like 25 minutes, it confirmed I didn't. 

I was shocked. My new gastroenterologist was correct. He thought my reflux was allergy related and that in endoscopies, due to retching, the stomach CAN in occasion push upwards to create the appearance of a hiatus hernia

I had another endoscopy 2 days ago. Lo and behold, despite retching during the procedure, I don't have a hiatus hernia! 

My first endoscopist who misdiagnosed me couldn't even recall what type of hiatus hernia I had (sliding or para-oesophagul), he just stated in his report that I had a mid sized HH. 

The endoscopy is absolutely brilliant for detecting everything and should definitely be done (I was advised to be completely off PPI's 10 days before the endoscopy), but if all you've got is a hiatus hernia, a barium meal test could be beneficial.  

 

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2 Replies

  • Posted

    Thanks for this piece of information.

    I m now thinking I must get a second opinion.

    We're you having chest pains and belching a lot too?

    • Posted

      Night time reflux (can feel the acid slightly above the stomach region i.e lower oesophagus region). 

      Shortness of breath

      Chest burning

      Burping whenever I had more acidic foods, but they were almost like gas bubbles trapped in my oesophagus - burping is only useful if there's enough gas built up otherwise a burp of gas will be replaced by a new gas bubble in my experience. 

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