Hiatal Hernia Misdiagnosed Anxiety Through the Roof

Posted , 4 users are following.

In 2020 I was diagnosed with a hiatal hernia, after being rushed to the hospital with suspected heart attack. The consultant took a chest xray and said it was a large hh!

Today I have just had a Gastroscopy and was told I had not got a hh, there was no sign of one at all.

Initially I was so happy, but then after sitting thinking I am beside myself with worry. The xray I had must have shown up something. If it isn't a hh, what the hell was it.?

After googling for three hours, I have concluded there must be a mass of some sort there otherwise it wouldn't have shown up. Lung cancer is just one of the things I now believe I have.

How can this be misdiagnosed, I am literally distraught...

0 likes, 6 replies

6 Replies

  • Posted

    sorry you are going through this. However googling is not going to give you your personal accurate diagnosis. When we google like that our mind starts to race and come up with conclusions that are not based on fact but only on fear.

    when you had the symptom you could’ve been having and anxiety panic attack at the time. And perhaps that’s why nothing shows up now.

    these things have happened before to people and the vast majority of times there really was nothing there.

    x-rays can be very deceiving at times. It might look like somethings such as a hiatal hernia when in fact it’s not real clear and sometimes x-rays can be cloudy looking.

    The person reading the x-ray may not have had a lot of experience or may have thought they saw something that wasn’t there.

    relax . unfortunately this is common.

    stop googling would be the best thing you could do it’s just going to scare you for no reason.

    just get your yearly complete physical check up and if that’s OK then move on with your life and enjoy it. You are most likely 100% fine.!

  • Edited

    Thank you so much for the reply. My anxiety is sky high at the moment. The fact I thought I had a hernia, explained the pain I was getting, now I'm just back to square one and the worrying all over again. My Aunt thinks I should speak to someone about health anxiety, but I still think I have problems yet to be diagnosed. Anxiety is such a vicious cycle.

    Your reply did help me somewhat, so thank you for that, it really is appreciated! X

    • Posted

      Maybe you have a sliding hh. t

      These are tricky to diagnose because on tests sometimes they can be seen and sometimes not.

      I was diagnosed with a small hh and later with another endoscopy they said not...go figure.

      Maybe read about this.

      All the best x

    • Edited

      It does sound weird that I don't have a hernia, because I literally have all the symptoms, even down to not always being able to swallow properly. I guess I will just never know!

  • Posted

    same thing happened to me. I started Pepcid AC Max(nothing else helped me in fact made me worse) and sertraline 25 mg and i am 90% better and hopeful to get to 100. Just my thoughts. I know your pain CJ

    • Posted

      It is difficult knowing just what to do. I can't just keep questioning Dr's and consultants diagnosis. At some point I just want to live again without this constant worry!

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