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Hiatus Hernia and breathing issues

Posted , 43 users are following.

Kristo
Kristo

Hi all.I have a 3 cm sliding haitus hernia and rather alot of symptoms lately all with witch i can kind of deal with exept one,and its breathing issues or to put it better i have the stamina of a old man and i am only 33.when i walk stairs or pick something up i have to stop and catch my breath.I would go to the gym 4 times a week and now well i am basicly house bound.went for the lungs and heart tests and all seems fine there.its 5 years now that i have this thing,but the last few months i am struggling as not being physicly able is getting to me.doctors seem to be a bit lost here when it comes to this and feels like i am on a goose chase with these tests.Does ANYBoDY experience this?

2 likes, 137 replies

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  • eric16160
    eric16160 Kristo

    Posted

    Update..

    No symptoms yesterday, besides a small mishap with some canned fruit where I inhaled the juice while eating....

    It's the diet guys, plain and simple.   Next week I'm going to slowly re-introduce foods into my diet to see which ones are going to be a problem.  Today I only took half a Nexium and tomorrow I will only take 1/4, and Friday I'll be off the Nexium. 

    There's no way I'm staying on a PPI for life, as they reduce the absorption of calcium and vitamin b, so diet control is the only real answer.

    I tested negative for the H. Pylori. 

    This thing requires a major lifestyle change, so it's not easy but in my opinion, the only way to do it without surgery.

    Here's a recap of what i've done so far:

    -Took nexium for 2 weeks started by taking two a day (one in morning, one at night), now tapering (by cutting 1/4 dose) over a 4 day period.

    -Smaller meals broken up throughout the day (eat about every hour to hour an half)

    -No dairy

    -Soft foods diet (mashed potatoes, green beans, immitation crab meat, peanut butter, canned fruits, soggy cereal with soy milk etc...)

    -No gerd foods (tomatoes, coffee, alcohol, citrus, chocolate, mint)

    -No gassy foods like beans or carbonated drinks

    -No eating at least 6 hours before bed

    -Walk a bit after eating

    -Sit up after eating during the day

    -Eating A LOT of peanut butter to maintain my calories

    -Walking everyday for exercise

    Today is day 5, and I got to say, I haven't felt this good in at least 6 months.

    Will continue this diet routine until Monday.

    On Monday, I will slowly re-introduce hard foods starting with things like lean chicken breast and whole wheat bread.  In my opinion (again, not a doctor this is complete speculation) I think the Nexium doesn't allow hard foods to be digested properly thus causing more problems with "food hanging around" and bloating the stomach thus causing more shortness of breath. But again, only with hard foods, so that's another reason I don't want to take it for life.

    There's something I want to try after I re-introduce hard foods which is an LES exercise someone mentioned on one of the other threads where you take carbonated water and use it to exercise the LES once every other day by drinking it until it produces a burp feeling.  You hold the burp for 2 to 5 minutes and then release.  Worth a shot in my opinion.

    I'll probably wait a week to post another update (so Wednesday of next week).  Hopefully I'll still be feeling this good!

    • GI_GIRL
      GI_GIRL eric16160

      Posted

      Eric dont forget to put the head of your bed on blocks to raise it up

      at night

    • eric16160
      eric16160 GI_GIRL

      Posted

      Thanks GI GIRL.  I do have a wedge pillow that I bought on Amazon.  It's like 12 inches high, but honestly I've been sleeping towards the bottom of it lol and some nights kicking the thing off the bed 
  • eric16160
    eric16160 Kristo

    Posted

    Just to clarify something, I ate canned grean beans, and the beans I didn't eat were like Pinto or dried beans.  The canned grean beans, canned peas, and pretty much any canned vegetable is safe for me.
  • eric16160
    eric16160 Kristo

    Posted

    And I forgot to add:

    -I take a daily multivitamin

  • Kristo
    Kristo

    Posted

    I feel a bit better latly and not to sure ehat i have done to make that happen.But got on the bycicle and did not even do 500m and after i started to feel nausia and weak.it hits me harder after than during exertion.it passes after a while(hour or so).

    Still dont get it.heart and lungs are fine went several times to check this and always no problem.went for a spirotromi yesterday and lung are even above average for my age and weight.Its so confusing all this nonsense because logically thats the first things i think of when this happens(heart?lungs?).Just hard to except my bowels does this(((

    • eric16160
      eric16160 Kristo

      Posted

      Yes, it feels like you're having heart failure or something but that's just not possible with my age and fitness level.  Did you eat anything before exercising (sometimes a little of the right food can help)?  What kinds of things have you changed in your diet?  Have you tried to the water technique where you drink a quart of water and jump up and down to pull stomach down (I always ate a little salt when I did that to make sure I didn't DIE of water intoxication lol)?  

      Obviously talk with your doctor about the water technique before trying it.  I only did it once a day, because I felt that's just too much water for more than once, but I found there was some relief when I did this (whether it was placebo, who knows).

    • Kristo
      Kristo eric16160

      Posted

      I have done the water thing yes.and it does give some relief.what i moslty do throughout the day is i press on my sternum(if thats what it is)or just a little below or on my stomach and jump,and it does help i think.Wonder if it shifted a little hence i feel better.As for eating well yeah i just had lunch before the cycle but i did not over eat.it was fish with i must admit a rather thick sauce(resturant).Its just the feeling is so bloosy bad it feels i am dying and i am not one for drama or overreacting either.Anyway seems you are making some progress.Have not really changed much in my diet,just wheat i cut out and try not to do fatty stuff.coffee and chcolate is also a trigger.although there is no trigger like excersise and excersise is what i love most.gonna g postal soon,))
    • GI_GIRL
      GI_GIRL Kristo

      Posted

      Take a pill or whatever medication you are on an hour before you

      exercise or take an inhaler if you have one.

    • eric16160
      eric16160 Kristo

      Posted

      Yes, that pressure is just awful when exercising. Before I knew what this was, I woud chug a beer after my runs as it would "calm me down" , but surprisingly it did take away the symptoms until the beer wore off lol.  Sounds like we have similar symptoms, but the difference between you and I is that you've been diagnosed with a hital hernia whereas I'm only guessing.  I have heard the massaging technique can work as well.  

      Something else to look into is hyperventilation syndrome.  It's possible our condition is causing this.  I'm investigating this route.

      Hope you can find the answers to this thing soon.  We have to keep looking until we can totally solve this issue, as it will reduce the quality of life.  I'm hoping it will miraculously fix itself though.

  • eric16160
    eric16160 Kristo

    Posted

    It's early morning, and I know I said I wouldn't update until next week but there's been a change overnight.

    Woke up this morning with nausea and shortness of breath again.  It started last night not long after I ate a bowl of cereal at around 6 PM.  I usually only eat one bowl in the morning, but yesterday I added that second bowl.  I really noticed the shortness of breath last night again when if I was doing something, it was sort of like I was hyperventilating but I'm still convinced this thing is diet as notice the change and the worsening of the symptoms.  Also, I bought turkey breast lunch meat and ate that before dinner, but I doubt that's the cause (but I won't take it off the list).

    I believe it's time to consider I may have a wheat intollerance, or maybe it's the gluten?  It's also possible the reductions in my Nexium dose could be leading to silent reflux again.

    Something else to note... I wear a BodyMedia armband that tracks my sleep, and yesterday I got 6 hours and 30 minutes of sleep.  Today I woke up feeling like I had been hyperventilating in my sleep, but only slept 5 hours.  

    So here's the game plan for today:

    -Going to cut gluten from diet today by not eating the cereal, and I will have to replace those calories and vitamins with more canned fruit and protein (need more iron so I'll eat more turkey breast lunch meat)

    -Going to hold my Nexium dose at 1/2 dose to see if my body needs to adjust to the drops

    Will update again when something changes...

    • Kristo
      Kristo eric16160

      Posted

      Could very well be wheat mate.You have to give it a month or more and you will feel bad during it.My wife is gluten intolerant,so i get alot of info from her.Its worth a shot
    • Kristo
      Kristo

      Posted

      And sometimes you will eat wheat and it will do nothing,and another time it will hit u hard
    • GI_GIRL
      GI_GIRL eric16160

      Posted

      Eric

      I think I mentioned Celiac Disease a few days ago that is when u can't

      tolerate Gluten. Things like Wheat and bread have gluten.U may need to go gluten free

  • eric16160
    eric16160 Kristo

    Posted

    Also should note, when I say it started yesterday after eating the bowl of cereal in evening, I mean the "episodes" started again, not that  I mean I've been short of breath since 6 PM yesterday. 
    • wanda39848
      wanda39848 eric16160

      Posted

      I have been told to stop eating grain. Only breakfast cereal that I have is Puffed rice and because there is very little fibre in it have been told to put Physilium hush with it. You must drink plenty of water depending on your size. I am only 50kg and am supposed to drink at least 1litre per day. Also you should be able to eat gluten free weetbix because they are not wheat but sorghum. Also no dairy or sugar  Rice milk or almond some can tolerate oat mild. Some Drs say soy rice milk but i havent tried it yet. Look for the milk with the least amount of sugar. i don't eat cakes or biscuits. have rice cakes instead' The breathlessness is becausee the bowel swells with gas that onecannot pass and an overloaded bowel. IBS can cause ruptured bowel. My brother in law was diagnesed with prostatr cancer and he used to stress and his IBS got so bad and he was never told that he had to take somethging for stress or change hisdiet and stop eating acidic foods becausestress causes excess acid. His bowel ruptured and they gave him a stoma bag. He went into such a frenzy that he died shortly after. It is a very dangerous disease if not caught. I have iterated before that the trapped gas can cause stroke and/or heart attacks as well.
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