Hiatus Hernia and constant burping/belching
Posted , 48 users are following.
Hi there,
this is my first visit to this site and am hoping someone can give me some tips or advice for my condition. I am a male, 57 yrs of age.
I have had heartburn/indigestion on and off for years. For the past 6 months to a year I have regular bouts of severe burping/belching and acid reflux. I often feel bloated/uncomfortable in the upper stomach area even though I am not a heavy/big eater ( except on occasions when going out for meals - when the bloating/burping is worse )
I have just been diagnosed with a hiatus hernia after having an endoscopy, and am waiting to see my gp for medication. I have previously had a blood test for the Hpylori bug which came back negative, though the doctor took a biopsy during the endoscopy to check for it again. The doctor who carried out the endoscopy seemed to think that the hernia would not be the cause of my burping/belching - does anyone have any similar symptoms and possible remedies ?
Prior to having the endoscopy I was on Omneprazole ( 20mg twice a day ) which had little, if any effect. This burping/belching/bloatedness is really getting me down - any advice/ remedies would be much appreciated, thanks.
5 likes, 77 replies
hans1954 TSJ
Posted
Hi, I have the same problem, I am a male 63. It initially started one day at work when I felt light headed and nearly passed out and it kept happening more frequently also while driving, real scary. I later discovered that if I burped in time I could prevent the light headedness. One of the symptoms is that I would feel some pressure and mild pain under my breastbone towards the left and as soon as I burp it would go away. I've had this for about 5 years now.
I've had a Gastroscopy, Endoscopy, Barium Swallow, been to the Chiropractor, the reason I visited the Chiropractor was because I got some relief every time my wife popped my back. Ten visits and did not help. My GP and Chiropractor did mention that my stomach has pushed up but no hiatus hernia. My job can be stressful sometimes, could it be anxiety?. When I'm driving and I feel the light headedness coming on I hold tight onto the steering wheel and push my body forward to burp, also twisting my body sideways helps with the burping. The burps can be very deep and loud but it doesn't matter cause I'm alone in the car. I work 8-4pm and hardly burp during this period, it all starts when driving back home after work.
Don't burp much when I'm lying down and I do sleep well at night.
Don't know what to do.
Guest hans1954
Posted
pieter02207 hans1954
Posted
hans1954
?Reading your comment I m like....OMG, that's exactly what I get
?I had a appendix opp about 6 years ago and since then the belching started, it would also start with a slight pain in some extremity, often in the chest and arm. The only way I can explain it is that it felt like a vain was being pumped up. this was then always followed by a burp and the pain would disappear. This went on for years but changed slightly about a year ago. I was driving from work and suddenly felt a bit of a dizzy spell followed by increased heart rate and then started the excessive burping. This was an extremely scary feeling and ultimately resulted in my first panic attack, adrenalin shooting through my boddy, sweaty hands, cold sweats, heart racing, thought I was going to die..
?its been about 8 months since then and still get the burping on a regular basis, however lately its being accompanied by the dizzy feeling and then the burp, and most often when driving. I feel like it may have something to do with the pressure from my belt or seating position.
?my biggest problem is that since I had the panic attack my brain associates the feeling I get from the "pre burp" with the onset of the panic attack so now every time I start getting dizzy and start burping, I get stressed that I might be getting another panic attack. I'm spending far to much time focusing on this issue, with makes me feel very negative about life and depressed.
Today is the first time I went to a GP about this as I need to take action against this problem, its starting to control my life. He gave me 40mg esomeprazole to try for 7 days to see if there's any change.
?he suggests that the bigger issue , witch is driving, or making the stomach or burping worse is the anxiety
?he put me on essitalopram 10mg. So I really hope this helps, I have also been taking pro bionics and started a diet a week ago, not that I'm really over weight, but hope this might help.
?please keep posting all your stories, it helps allot hearing that we are not alone in our struggle
kimk143 TSJ
Posted
I just got diagnosed this week. In December, my new GP wouldn't give me more Omeprazole claiming is causes osteoporosis. I looked up the studies and they were too small to be conclusive. My endocrinologist said that a calcium supplement would counteract the risk.
After a couple months of heart burn and 25 pounds of unexplained weight loss, the belching started.
Is it just caused by somehow sucking air into my hernia when I breathe? It is the worst when I go to bed. I belch continuously for a couple hours each night.
I am hoping for suggestions to alleviate the discomfort and embarrassment.
Cmcb89 TSJ
Edited
I'm so happy I've found this thread, because I've been suffering so badly for the past 6 months. I'm 28 years old and have experienced constant daily burping- hundreds of times per day since October. I've suffered from Panic Attacks and Anxiety for years, so it shouldn't come as a surprise that I'm dealing with GI issues. There are many emotional components involved with this condition, and the more I burp, the more depressed I feel!
I'm scheduled for an Endoscopy this coming Tuesday. I'll be sure to report back with the results! Stay strong, everyone! We're all in this together, and we WILL find answers!
Guest TSJ
Posted
michael1701 TSJ
Edited
mary05657 michael1701
Posted
If they only "think" the hernia "could" be causing your burping, Michael, you may not want to rush to surgery. The condition I have, small intestine bacterial overgrowth (SIBO), includes belching as a symptom, as do other conditions. I will sometimes belch constantly for hours, in the middle of the night. In my experience, mainstream doctors know to prescribe meds and recommend surgery, not necessarily how to get to the bottom of what's causing the symptoms and work to heal that. If you want to consider other possible causes for your burping, you may do well to look to other practitioners, such as a naturopath or functional medicine doctor, or an MD who practices more holistic medicine.
gary123b TSJ
Posted
SassBox1 TSJ
Posted
YouTube. Says she cure her own hiatus hernia (and reversed her GERD) through diaphragm breathing and gentle belly exercises to help the herniated stomach drop, then build the diaphragm back up to strength with easy breathing techniques. Takes time but she said it has worked for her. Does lots of really interesting videos. Holistic self help. Seems a really nice lady.
I have just started working through her videos but have been diaphragm breathing for a few months now. Has helped me no end.
Also, just a health tip for burping, but eat your main/biggest meals during the day, not in the evening. The LES loses function over the course of the day and everything slows down at night, slowing digestion and building up gas. Burping results, esp in morning.
SassBox1 TSJ
Edited
I have no idea why the medical establishment continues to deny that Hiatus Hernias are the cause of GERD-related belching when it's brutally obvious they are smack bang in the middle of the blame pile.
I had a small one and I was non-stop burping as soon as it became obvious my system had started to go wrong. Every time I ate or drank, or I stood up or sat down. If I walked from one level of a building to another, I was a mess of burping. I do not want to be on Omeprazole or any of those acid-reducing medications for life (I see them as dangerous and counter productive personally) and so I learned to manage the gas by changing my diet (more green and wholefoods), gentle stomach massage to move the stomach down and learning to diaphragm, or belly breathe.
Pam Fox, aka 'Wonder Vegan' on YouTube helped me enormously. She's doing religious videos atm but go back through her video history and there's a wealth of info on how to self-help, manage and even heal your gas-related GERD. She discusses burping/belching a lot. Also, diaphragm breathing when done correctly has been shown in small scientific studies to improve quality of life scores for patients with belching problems. And it's all for free. It's worth a go and it definitely helped my symptoms improve drastically.
The diaphragm is actually part of the LES, it's the outer 'crural' muscle. If you can tone and tighten that up by breathing correctly then in theory you build another layer of defence against the acid and gas coming up. I hope the image below shows up, or you can copy or follow the link to the picture of the diaphragm as related to the LES.
https://f6publishing.blob.core.windows.net/3662c24d-1ede-46bc-a8e1-1e09221c733f/WJR-5-28-g001.jpg
mary05657 SassBox1
Edited
This makes a lot of sense, SassBox1. I had a small HH diagnosed by endoscopy over 20 years ago. When I first went to GI complaining of belching, according to my record, it was occurring around every 3 months. Well, it became much worse than this over the years and has kept me up for hours many nights, and all night on at least a few occasions. I do have more belching when I'm in my car, and it will happen when changing position, like getting up from a chair, as you said. But most of my symptoms are at night when I try to sleep. And it's random. It might happen one night and then not for a few, and sometimes it's several nights in a row. Last year, I actually had a period of 2 months with no symptoms (Feb and March)! I have no idea why.
I treated as for SIBO for several years, doing rifaximin and neomycin, as well as all the herbals, motility agents, etc. I tried all the various diets. I avoided gluten for about 4 years but went back to eating gluten in Nov 2018 and found it made no difference.
I was just thinking, before reading your post, of maybe getting another upper endoscopy to see if the size of the HH is different. But I have to say over the past few years my trend has been for improvement, and maybe I should focus on the things you mention. I did see a pelvic floor PT last summer and she instructed me to do diaphragmatic breathing, which I do every morning. I've never gotten the knack of the abdominal manipulation to move the stomach down (have seen those videos you mentioned). Maybe I should try that again. Thank you for your post.
SassBox1 mary05657
Edited
Hi mary05657,
Yeah I mean the holistic method is worth a try from my pov only because I'm a big advocate of people learning to self heal than solely rely on quite harsh drugs. Which over time, well, we don't know the damage they can do to our systems.
Of course, the holistic methods are not going to necessarily work for everyone. And people are free to use them alongside their medications, as they see fit. The way Pam explains it is that with time and upwards pressure, the stomach moves north and finds a 'new home', pushed up into the diaphragm/hiatus area and attaches itself there, using the sticky glue-like film that coats all our internal organs. She calls it 'new adhesions' and says that if you watch any video of a fundoplication or hernia fix you can see the surgeon cutting through this film to get to, and free up, the organs.
So her words, though not scientifically proven, make a lot of sense to me. I think my hernia was fairly recent and small, and so the work to correct things didn't seem to take much time to see results (although I have no idea if my HH is cured'), perhaps because it hadn't had chance to get lodged up there. It may be more tricky for someone whose stomach has been in that position for many years and is harder to move down. I'm not saying these are the only causes of GERD or gas-related reflux. There could be many mechanical or disease-based reasons why reflux occurs. But everyone I know with a HH can see the relationship between it and burping, whilst many doctors just brush it off.
But my point is about giving the diaphragm breathing a try if you can, and stick at it, IF it's not painful or uncomfortable for you to do. It's a muscle that falls out of shape in our adult lives as we tend to shallow breathe from our chests, and fail to get enough air into the lower sections of our lungs (thus working the diaphragm properly). Pam's method is to fill the lungs fully and push your stomach out on the inhale and then gently let it fall on the exhale. Without pulling your abs in tightly. Most belly breathing vids teach you to pull your abs in but this will only add more pressure where you don't need it. The whole experience should be gentle and comfortable, more akin to meditating than a work out.
Like I say I don't know if I'm 'cured' but I do know that within months my horrible symptoms of burnt throat, froth (I could froth on tap as if I had rabies), globus throat, chest pain and endless belching were gone. I have some way to go because I still get slight sternum pain and I don't think I've moved my stomach down entirely. And I do blob on my diet at times. So I need to really focus and get back on track. But the belly breathing I now do continuously, even when walking (which was initially very difficult) and sleeping. It comes naturally now. Better air flow to your lungs boosts your oxygen to blood and brain supply, aids the vagus nerve and of course, can help with the symptoms of reflux. I wish you the best of luck with it if you choose to continue and hope it relieves your symptoms. If it does not, we are not without other options. x
mary05657 SassBox1
Posted
Thank you again, SassBox1. I am going to try it on an ongoing basis.
mary05657 SassBox1
Edited
SassBox1, when you say you "blob" on your diet at times, what do you mean? Are there specific foods that you can count on to result in symptoms? I'm having trouble understanding why certain foods would result in more symptoms, since hiatus hernia is a positional issue rather than a functional one. Unless certain foods cause gas to build up in the stomach and that causes it to bulge to where it doesn't belong. In my case, symptoms seem to be more random as related to what I've eaten. I can eat something one day and be fine but eat it again several days later and have symptoms.
I find it so odd that my belching is at night when I try to go to sleep, when I would think there is nothing really in my stomach. I don't eat late into the evening. And once the belching starts, the bloating follows. So perplexing to me.