Hiatus Hernia - Anyone else with similar experiences?

Hi. Sorry in advance for the long post. 43 year old male here, moderately overweight (mainly around large gut and chest) with a stressful job. Looking for advice, people with similar issues.

My gastric issues started when I was in my early 20’s, and I suffered terrible acid reflux. I mainly put it down to a hedonistic lifestyle and poor diet, but I was young, ignorant and suppressed it antacids. Carried on into my 30’s, and I did eventually see a doctor as it was getting quite painful. He diagnosed Gerd and put me on PPI’s (low dose, as and when needed). These definitely helped.

However when I hit my mid 30’s, things got significantly worse. I started getting pain in my gut/chest, at the bottom of my chest, right in the centre. But it was a different kind of pain to the acid reflux burning pain I got in my chest, and the attacks were not necessarily accompanied by acid reflux. It ranged from an annoying aching and gnawing pain (that could last for a few days), to a severe stabbing pain (that would last from an hour, up to a few hours). Eating and some food was definitely a trigger, also stress, but lying down at night was the main one. I would frequently wake up in pain in the middle of the night and have to go and sit up downstairs until the pain subsided. Position often helped. I also felt fatigued, but that’s partly due to it interrupting my sleep. Multiple trips were made to my GP, but he was always convinced it was just Gerd and upped my PPI. Hard to say if they helped or not really, certainly nothing helped once the pain had actually started (other than strong painkillers). Eventually he sent me to the specialist at the hospital. I had an ultrasound, xrays, blood tests and an endoscopy etc, which revealed a small hiatus hernia and and a gallstone. However they seemed to think that the gallstone was asymptomatic and Gerd+Hiatus hernia was causing the pain and discomfort. They didn’t feel any medical intervention was needed, other than lifestyle improvements and PPIs. I also got diagnosed with a slightly fatty liver (not alcohol related), but not too significant at this point.

Fast-word a few years and I seemed to have got the better of it. I went from almost daily issues, to being virtually problem free for a number of years, with just the occasional bit of reflux, and I rarely took any meds at all. However this Christmas the problems came back with a bang. The acid reflux started to come back slowly over a few weeks but then I eat a huge amount of indulgent food on christmas day, and I have also had a lot of stress recently due to bereavement, and... BOOM...it was back. I woke the next day early in discomfort, same as i used to get, and by the end of the day I was in absolute agony. It continued through the night and I was staring to suspect gallbladder/stone issues. After getting no sleep and no let up in the pain (longest attack I can remember) I called 111 – who insisted on a trip to hospital as the pain was in my chest. In fact the pain was so bad this time they gave me some Morphine. All tests were fine, and the doctor said they think also bad Gerd+Hiatus hernia, not gallstone (as my liver function was fine, enzymes not raised). It took a few days before I really felt good again, and still have some discomfort a few days later.

I’m not surprised it came back when it did to be honest, everything was in place for its return. However I have never been entirely confident with my diagnosis over the years. All the signs do point to my hiatus hernia causing the pain – large meals, certain foods, lying down… but it’s the level and duration of pain it sometimes reaches that wonder about. And the fact that it frequently doesn’t appear to coincide with any other issues like reflux, and can happing even when on regular PPI’s. Could something else be going on? At the gallstones really a red herring? What is actually causing the pain? Or is this typical Hiatus Hernia symptoms?

Has anyone had a similar experience to me? Any insight you could share? Any tips on how to manage an attack of pain? Thanks.

0 likes, 0 replies