Hiatus Hernia and breathing issues

Hi Dave

The Baking Soda contains a lot of salt. Only drink

a little. Do not do it all the time. Chewing gum helps

GERD. I was a GI nurse for 20 years. I started having

symptoms of GERD ACID REFLUX DYSPHAGIA

a week ago. I have burning chest pain. I hate awhile to

get an endoscopy i am getting a barium swallow next week.

Your inhaler probably will need 2-3 days to work. You can get sob

from acid reflux and the PPI. Maybe ur not eating enough. Are

u on a lot of meds? Are u taking your without food. Of course do not

take the PPI's with food. They have the wrap surgery for a hiatal

hernia. I called my dr last night cause i was having such pain

he suggested Gaviscon. I bought at the store it didnt help

at all. I take pain med for a back disability it really helps

Have u thought of taking a H2 blocker with the PPI's

zantac pepcid or tagamet. I know it isnt fun. I want

to know what is going on. I cant stand it after 1 week

Bye.

Hi GI Girl, thanks for your reply. I only have a small amoubt of bicarbonate of soda, I read about that being good for GERD on the Dr Oz website.

I will try chewing gum, never knew that helped, how does that help do you know?!

I have stopped my PPI's now, trying to go without, not successful right now. Though I think that maybe to do with my trying to put on weight.

Last year I had a painful seperation, lost some weight, down to 132 lbs at 5'10". The last month or so I've been eating more to try and gain weight, but I guess more food equals more stomach acids, more chance of reflux! Hence maybe wht my problems have worsened recently.

I also have noticed I have sores either side of my lips. I'm wondering if this is caused by stomach acids, as night time I often wake if sleeping on my side to find myself dribbling saliva out. Sometimes the pillows damp from it. I guess this is reflux coming up.

Thanks

It does appear thT YOU HAVE AN ACIDIC STOMACH AND STRESS CAUSES EXCESS ACID. I SUGGEST THAT YOU TAKE YOUR ppi'S AND DON'T EAT SUGAR. I HAVE THE VERY SAME THING AND I DO HAVE A SMALL SLIDING HIATUS HERNIA BUT THE GASTROENTEROLOGIST SAYS THAT IT IS NOT MY HERNIA THAT IS CAUSING THE PROBLEM. I WAS BORN WITH DIGESTIVE PROBLEMS. aPPARENTLY LOTS AND LOTS OF PEOPLE HAVE FOOD INTOLERANCES AND THAT IS WHAT I AM BEING TREATED FOR. AM NOT TO HAVE DAIRY, WHEAT OR FRUIT UNTIL I GET MY ACID LEVELS DOWN. i HAVE POLYPS IN THE NECK OFTHE STOMACH FROM CONSTANT REFLUX IFi JUST EAT ONETHING OUTSIDE MY DIET. i ALSO DRIBBLE A LOT OFEXCESS SALIVA IF I EAT OUTSIDE WHAT I AM TOLD. TODAY I TRIED A BANANA AND AM SO BLOATED IT HURTS RIGHT UP MYTOP SPINE AN UNDER MY RIB CAGE. HOPE THIS HELPS. PERHAPS MAYBE GET THE DRTO GIVE YOU ANDANTI DEPRESSANT UNTIL YOU CAN GET YOURSELF OVER THE SEPARATION.

Hi Dave

Gee I wish I could lose weight.

It doesn't. matter what happens to

me I still gain weight and can eat LOL

In regards to chewing gum

Chewing on a piece or two of gum, it seems, helps force fluids back into the stomach and flood the esophagus with alkaline saliva, neutralizing acids that cause the characteristic burning sensations.

The cracks T the corners of your mouth are fungal. It is called angular cheilitis or perleche. It isn't uncommon. People who get chapped or dry lips have a tendency to luck their lips or sides of mouth with their tongue because of the dryness.

This can also occurr if f dentures are not removed and cleaned regularly, dryness and can turn into a chronic yeast infection. A lack of teeth, especially the back teeth that support the face, cheeks and lips, the collapse of normal biting causing the

cracking or the fissures in each corner of the mouth. It can also occur from vitamin B sufficiency. A anti fungal cream can be ordered from your dr try gargling with peroxide and baking soda just gargling. Because of the missing teeth irregular biting u will get drooling at nite. Just make sure u brush your teeth really well before bed. Hope this helps

i have exaxtly thesame problem. I have a small hiatushernia but the gastroenterologist says that it is not that causing the problem. i have Irritable bowel syndrome. It is a food intolerance. Thee are still working on my diet. They say there is nocure but if you eat just what you van and not the foodsthat your digestive tract cannot digest you will begin to feel well. I have had mine for many years and was always told Hioatur hernia. At last i have found someone who is interested in treating me and not wanting to operate. Histus hernia ops do not fix the food intolerance problem and you eill have the same issues until you get it sorted out.

You could be having a panic reaction to the breathlessness.  I know when I was having it really bad, I had those same symptoms of shakiness and confusion and sort of a derealization feeling.  All signs of a panic attack.  Which is understandable as not being able to breath (or should I say feeling like you're not able to breath) is horrific. Your symptoms an wanda's all sound so familiar to me, we're in a similiar situation guys.  Can't say it's caused by the same thing, but the symptoms are on par.  

Its scary man.Today i ran after the bus,was not more than 50 meters and then it started again.Go pale,shaky,things start pulling tight arounfd my shoulder and chest,and more.This feeling then hangs around for a few hours gradually subsiding.So freaked out here.i am in no pain though just serious discomfort.anyway i hope you guys get fixed and the help you need,and good luck

This post is ancient, but I'm having similar symptoms. did you ever solve this?

Ya gotta go of that nexium slow.Never thought about nickel though.Alot of food have it?

The "rescue dose" was successful, and I haven't had to take anymore, and I'm still without heartburn.  I suppose it may come back, but I hope not! 

Yes, I'm convinced at this point it may just be an allergy causing my problems.  Something else...  Last night, close to bed I had two huge bowls of cereal without milk, and this morning I woke up with nausea, racing heartbeat, bloodshot eyes, and shortness of breath.  Here's what I think may be happening.  I think during the night I'm getting Rhinitis which is congestion in the nasal air passage way, most likely from allergy to nickel.  This in turn causes sleep apnea, gastro intestinal problems, and most likely explains a lot of my problems.  It would also explain why a low dose of benedryl seems to relieve some of my symptoms.  I'm going to avoid cereal with any kind of wheat or soy in it (I can still have rice cereals), to see if it helps.  

Yes, wheat and soy both have nickel in them.  There's definitely a lot of foods to avoid, but what I'm hoping is if I can eliminate nickel from my diet for awhile it will reduce my nickel levels enough to where I'll be able to eat half way normal again later on.  

This again is just experimentation, but everything was going pretty well until I ate that cereal!  You could discusss with your doctor about trying an antihistamine like benedrly just to see if you have an allergy.  Then if it works, it will be a matter of figuring out what's causing the allergy.  It's worth looking into at least, but you were actually diagnosed with a hernia, which I haven't been.   I only assumed I had one, so out cases may be different, but our symptoms sound the same.  

Sounds you are making some progress.you have been helpfull my friend.. really.its a game of deducktion at this point and yuo doing a great job

Thanks Kristo.  Feeling like I'm dieing everyday was something I decided I wasn't going to put up with, so major dietary changes were neccessary.

Just a quick update as things have made big changes in 24 hours... It's now 5 am, and I woke up feeling refreshed with no symptoms.  It appears what I'm doing right now is working.  I'm not on any PPIs, and yesterday I took a probiotic.  I experimented yesterday with eggs (as I wasn't sure if eggs could also be causing any symptoms), and I was able to eat two eggs in the morning with no symptoms.  At this point, I've narrowed down my problem to wheat, dairy, and nickel, with not being able to differentiate wheat and nickel due to wheat containing nickel.  

I'm not going to do anymore experimenting with the diet for a couple of weeks and hold where I am now.  Hopefully I can have two weeks of peace from symptoms.  Then I may experiment with dairy at that point.  This diet plan is pretty healthy actually with eating mostly steak, chicken breast, bacon, eggs, potatoes, avacados, strawberries, apples, and watermelon.  I also take a men's multivitamin once a day, and now I'm adding a probiotic once a day.  

I'll probably throw in a couple more veges to the mix like red bell papper and cucumber, but I'll update this thread if anything changes.  I'm having bloodwork done next week, so that will give me my blood counts.

Hope you can figure out what's going Kristo.  Never stop searching for a solution to this, as it's a big hinderance to good quality of life.  

 

Eric,

I have been following your script above and read with great interest as I have exactly the same symptoms as you. Most on this forum share one or maybe two symptoms but yours are identical to mine. I have been suffering for years and to be honest almost gave up.....but i'm not the giving up type!

Can I just say how much I admire your tenacity to see this ridiculous problem through. You have gone through so much and yet your still prepared to fight. I admire that in you alot. 

So here is my story and in brief. I too suffer from breathing problems mainly after eating. I have had it for years and after much trouble my wife persuaded me to see a specialist. After a few tests (blood, edoscopy etc) I too was diagnosed with HH, refulx and H Pylori. My specialist gave me the usual drugs which I took over a course of a week in the hope of clearing the infection. That was step one. I am now awaiting a 13 c urea test on the 18th November. If this proves clear I'm just wondering what the doctors next move will be. He explained that my problem was not unusual and this gave me a great sense of ease.

I'm 44 years of age and I would describe myself as slender build and reasonably fit. I can run 10k without any issues. I can do the day to day stuff easily as long as its physical I'm fine. Ask me to eat a hearty meal well then I'm all over the place. I cant breath, talk or even think straight. Due to the poor levels of oxygen I'm taking in I have nausea and poor episodes of recollection. I forget easily and I have discovered my levels of creativity fall. My poor breathing is more pronounced when I'm standing and less when i'm sitting. Here is a brief list of other random things I have discovered :

1. Eating late is a no no. Allow atleast 4 hours before sleeping.

2. Nixium has been my savious. Tried purely by accident. Limited to 14 days I believe. This has been by far the best drug for me and I have tried omeperozole, zantac and others. None have worked as effective as Nixium. Strange really.

3. Gaviscon is great but not always. Cant understand that.

4. Exercise is fantastic but for how long can I continue with the exhaustive regime of running, walking after a meal, circuit training, yoga, pilates. I have two young kids to maintain and i'm self employed. My energy levels are a valuable resource and I cannot be exhausted all the time.

5. If I sit down after a meal I am sort off  at ease but I tend to get better relief if I arch over my desk to relieve the symptoms of poor breathing. Not a great look or good for posture. If I try to sit straight then thats when I struggle with my breathing.

6. Eating less and frequent is my best advice. But i'm a foodie so thats not great either.

7. Done the low wheat and dairy thing and this didnt really work.

8. Tried the mushy food diet even saw a food specialist who gave me a list of items to avoid.....basicaly everything and nothing hard on the stomach. Just not practical at the end of the day. Worked temporarily though!

9. I get some relief if I pull my shoulders back and expand or puff my chest out. But then thats not great either as I can't maintain that for ever. 

10. Distraction techniques work so if I focus away from my breathing then things tend to disapate or I forget about the breathing episode. One needs a mantra or technique like a switch to flick when the troubles start. Not easy and one needs to be strong minded and have 100% belief in the technique.

11. I have discovered that my problem is definitley food related although  cannot say 100% if its an intolerance to something. I'm not going to waste my time to discover as the intolerance could be anything. I'm too exhausted to work it out now. All I can say is that after eating an average or large meal I bloat which then puts pressure on my diaphragm which in turns limits my lung capaicity.

12. I just cannot get a full breath in no matter how hard I try. People have noticed me struggling for breath although I conceal this well. 

13. Tried the asthma pumps an they dont work.

14. When I dont eat I feel great...not practical again.

15. Could be IBS related although not sure here.

16. Sitting down for long periods of time have defintley contributed to my problems.

Will add to the above Eric but would love to hear from you on what you think on the above.

Avy

 

 

Hi avy, sorry you're going through this. It really requires HUGE lifestyle changes to solve this thing, and it really does need to be solved, as you will go through much unneeded suffering until you fix it.

Yes those posts above were from this summer, and I've had several changes since that time. The extreme shortness of breath subsided about 1 month after the above post. What I believe was happening there was Esophagitis that took some time to heal. From what I've read, esophagitis can cause shortness of breath. Now the causal factor could be a number of things that I won't list. But I have learned a lot about the thing...

Now to your symptoms. I'll first ask you some stuff, do you find yourself coughing much (especially in the mornings)? Or sometimes when you're laughing do you find yourself coughing? A lot of throat clearing? If not, what about before you started taking Ppi's or treatment?

You did say your symptoms improve on empty stomach, so we can pretty much say it's food causing your symptoms.  IBS does not cause this, you can totally rule that out, IBS affects the lower bowels.  

"All I can say is that after eating an average or large meal I bloat which then puts pressure on my diaphragm which in turns limits my lung capaicity."

That is exactly the feeling I was getting really bad this summer. I can still get it if I eat too much or lie down too soon after eating (or eat foods that relax the LES (Chocolate, Mint, too much Alcohol)). That feeling from what I've learned is most likely the LES valve not sealing properly and allowing stomach contents up into the esophagus. Now you probably won't get the classic heartburn symptoms as Ppi's just reduce the acidity of acid, but it's most likely still going up into your esophagus. Depending on the level of damage the acid has done to your esophagus you may have esophagitis (but he probably would have seen that on the endoscopy). If you haven't research LPR, that's a good place to start. There's a digestive enzyme called pepsin that can go up into your upper esophagus, and you won't have the classic heartburn symptoms, but it can get into your lungs and stuff. The pressure on the diaphram causing shortness of breath, I feel may be something to do with sensitivity in the lower esophagus sending those signals to the brain.    

 

Eric,

As always I am very grateful for any input you give to me and your advice is so valuable as I believe I share the same symptoms. I have just looked into LPR and I now believe this is where I am – Thanks so much for your help on this. Been searching for years and to be honest never came across this. As you explained it’s not quite the classic GERD but along the lines of mainly causing the shortness of breath which is the primary debilitator for me.

You asked about the clearing of throat or coughing in your message above and I have to say its not quiet as much as it used to be. However, upon reflection, I would definitely say that I have that hoarseness in my voice and that constant clearing in the hope of getting a clearer voice. Its like the mucus just won’t go so I have to constantly swallow my way through. I would also add that I can at times feel the acidity in my mid chest or esophagus after eating. It burns away and to be honest I have sort of gotten used to it being there. Further and if I really think about this, I can actually taste the acidity in my throat after a meal although never really accepted or did anything about it. Sheer ignorance on my part.

I note also your suggested diet changes and reckon I will have to remove the chocs, sweets, fizzy drinks, wine or alcohol in general, possibly dairy, citrus fruits, tomato based products and caffeine. All of these are doable and I don’t think I would miss them if my life improves. Reading your note I am now also convinced that I have esophagitis. Years of abuse, eating late, take outs, fast eating, excessive drinking, late nights may have finally caught up with me. Just total ignorance on my part that somehow I am a super human being and all will be ok eventually. Sort of a head in the sand mentality – not good!  

I have now decided to lighten my meals in the evenings. Just had a basic vegetable soup and a slice of bread at 6.30pm. I want to see how I feel in the morning, hoping for a flat stomach, less coughing and hopefully no breathing episodes. So far I feel ok although the white bread seems to causing me some acidity. May leave this next time

Eric, which PPI’s have you tried and which ones if any have worked for you ? I’m just curious here. I’m fairly convinced the specialist will give me a concoction of these as his next move!!! Nexium seems to work for me. How about H2 blockers….have you tried any ?

I also note from my research with LPR the doctors can do a pH monitoring test, which involves placing a small catheter through the nose and into the throat and esophagus. Here, sensors detect acid, and a small computer worn at the waist records findings during a 24-hour period – Interesting!!!

Ok, will leave you with the above and apologise for the lengthy messages.

Avy

I did try Nexium when I read it could heal the esophagis, but come to find out Nexium is just a mirror reflection of the same molecule as Prilosec, though strangely the nexium made me nauseated.  Honestly I don't think I need anymore anti-acids on board at this point, as I'm not "feeling a burn".  With LPR I believe it's more of a problem with the LES valve and other factors (which they're still debating).  So I'm just taking Prilosec twice a day (though I'm looking to taper off of it soon and experiment).

Just a quick note about raising the head of your bed in case you've done it wrong... Don't just put the blocks under the maitress.  This will actually put more pressure on your middle.  The idea is get the whole bed up to an angle, so put the blocks under the actual frame.  

Yes, you can find a ton of information about LPR on the web (what to eat, what not to eat).   Something I tried to post but for some reason was marked for review was to try the "water technique".  Every morning upon waking up (when you take the first PPI) to quickly drink about 2 cups of water, pull hands up to your chest (so you sort of have wings now), go up onto your tip-toes, and fall back onto your heals.  You should feel a good jolt.  I do this about 10 times.  Now after 10 times, pant for 15 seconds, leaving the hands up to the chest.  The idea is to bring the stomach down (if you do have a hernia).  They recommended doing this every morning...  Definitely talk to doctor about it though, and if you have back issues, that jolt can be quite a shock to the body, so be careful.

Something else to try (talk to your doctor first)...  IF you feel you may have an allergy (or intolerance), a good way to test it is with benedryl.  Take a benedryl, and if the symptoms clear up after 20 minutes of taking it (mainly the coughing), you may have some sort of intolerance along with the LPR.

My thinking on this is if I can get the hernia down (if that's what I have), and keep it there using the water technique, I'll eventually be able to come off the PPI's, but still keep the LPR diet in place for now.  I'm hoping that area where the stomach is coming through (the keyhole and the LES) will heal and strengthen.  I'm not to keen on surgery, so I'm hoping to avoid that.  

regards

 

 

The shortness of breath luckily has mainly gone for me.  You may just have to go through a period where it's more prominent like I did, I'm not sure really.  Again I feel it may be the contents of the stomach aggrivating an already sensistive lower esophagis.  But there's other things too like the vagus nerve, and just the hernia pushing on the lung in general.  Hopefully your GI doc will be able to tell you what it is, but that was by far the worst symptoms I had this summer.  Complete and total nightmare when it was occuring.

And there's the possibility I fixed the darn thing myself with all that stuff I did over the summer  lol

Oh and just a note about taking the benedryl to "test for intolerance", I would always take like just about 1/4 to 1/2 of a tablet, so it didn't make me feel drowsy for the rest of the day.

Avy, how are you doing now? Any update? Your story is the mirror image of mine and I am just sitting here trying to figure out what happend to me. 

A year ago, I had the worst shortness of breath that come on an hour after eating and scared me so badly, I went to the ER. Nothing could be found, I had every test under the sun and I was told it was anxiety and to take Xanax. 

This went away for about 2 weeks and has been back ever since. I just got diagnosed with H. Pylori stomach bacteria and am taking a natural therapy to get rid of it. I am awaiting to see the gastro doc for an endoscopy to find out what he thinks. 

This breathing issue leaves me dizzy, probably from the hyperventalition I do when I can't get a good breath in. I sit and belch most of the day and told that is probably the H. Pylori bacteria.  Then when no food is in my stomach, I breathe a bit easier. I am at my witts end and scared at times when I can't get a good breath in. Any update would be so wonderful to see if you or Eric have found relief. 

Thanks 

Hey guys, 

I was suffering from the same thing as everyone has described, shortness of breath and hiatal hernia but have more or less cured it now.

1 before bed at night, listening to some relaxing music and very gently I'm talking finger tips so soft that it tickles, run your fingers around your stomach area (1 in to the left of your solar plexus. Close your eyes and consciously think about relaxing the muscles of your diaphragm, stomach, ribs, back etc. this should feel really nice and extremely relaxing, continue to do this until you feel a spasm around the stomach, I'm not sure whether it's the ab muscles or the stomach itself that spasms but in either case it would give instant relief, regardless how bad your feeling, how much you've eat or what you've eaten.

2. Start doing "ohm" chanting and singing, do it as often and as long as you can. I'd like to do it every day for several hours but life doesn't let this happen. Try to rack up 10 minutes. The reason this works so well is because hiatal hernia will interfere with the vagus nerve. When this occurs your digestive system doesn't work properly and food and gas build up which puts pressure on the stomach and forces it up. Reactiviting the vagus nerve gets the bowels going again. This will also get all the breathing muscles working better.

 3. If your cracking your lower back, stop doing it.

4. Don't massage out "trigger points" in the diaphragm, ribs, psoas or quadratic lumborum. I found these to provide temporary relief but in the long run made things worse.

5. Don't try to "manually" pull the hernia down as some YouTube vids suggest, this doesn't work and usually made me feel worse.

6. Start playing a wind instrument, I use the didgeriedoo (1/4 inch pvc pipe).

7. Take a lot of cold showers and baths. Not sure why this works but it just does.

im not sure which of these is the silver bullet but I just adopt a shotgun approach. If you do these things, you will be able to take a full breath again and won't feel like your going to pass out after walking up a flight of stairs. Heart rhythms will go back to normal and you won't feel that horrible gut pressure. 

Let me me know if any tries this and has some success.