Hiatus Hernia - Breathing Problems.

I would say is a combination of both, you have the problem but anxiety is making the breathing problem much worse.  Now, this was posted a year ago.  Can you give us an update?

I am suffering from hitus hernia. it was known in 2013 and thereafter regular treatment is going on I am taking rebeprazole 20mg and domeperidone 30mg daily and gulag husk in night. But breathing problem started from last one year. please advise get rid from breathing problems.

I have the exact same problem. Let me know what you find out. I also cough non stop to the point of choking.

hi i have been reading all the comments in this forum and i have been diagnosed with a hiatus hernia with grade 3 gord, ive been getting reflux everyday for 10 months and have tried loads of tablets but nothing seems to be helping im on renatidine 300mg at the moment with pansoperazole 80mg the highest doses but they are still not helping i am constantly breathing heavy without realising until my partner tells me i am, im constantly sweating and in pain most days ive been diagnosed with a large hernia, im 25 with a newborn baby and a 3 year old i find the hernia restricts my everyday life. i have changed my lifestyle walking more eating less crap however im putting on weight too quickly still, have blood in stools so my health is really bad due to the hernia ive been to see my gastro team in my local hospital but ive been told that they wont fix it or operate on it until it gets stranglated can anyone tell me if all my symptoms are common, i also sometimes dont want to do anything as the gord is really bad and so is the pain especially just after a meal i cant eat half as much as i used to        thanks james

Hello well i been reading all these comments and i got to say it all sounds like same symptoms i have, but my family doctor says that i can't get my hernia fixed there is no surgen that well do it unless it is life threting i guess. My doctor says i have copd thats what causing my breathing problems but i am certin that the hirnea is the problem. I can't ty my shoes with out loosing my breath. i have wicked Acid Reflux to the point i am puking up acid filled food this all asprates into my lungs causing my blood presser to sky rocket. i am on rabeprazole it helps but when these  "attacks" happen i also fine it hard to breath i dont' know if this makes since to anyone but is there any suggestions. oh i live in canada by the way

Hi Guyofchelt did you ever get this sorted. I have a 3 cm hiatus h and suffer from breathing problems. All tests say I'm OK

I have had similar problems with a large hiatus hernia. Several months ago I received great advice from an alternative practitioner. He suggested that I try melatonin. He referred me to an article, suggested I print it out and take to my GP. She was very open-minded and gave me a script for Circadin. The result was almost instantaneous in terms of relief from the reflux.

I'm currently having increasing difficulty with asthma-like symptoms which come on after relatively mild exertion (like going up stairs). I have had asthma since I was a child and have been using the general medications to try to keep it under control. An asthma specialist has been exploring my breathing with a spirometer and has prescribed the additional use of Bretaris. There has been no change in the breathing.

I too am wondering whether there is a link between the hiatus hernia placing increasing pressure on the diaphragm and lungs.

I have osteoarthritis in my spine and have lost nearly 10cms in height in about the last decade. I wonder about the implications of this on the amount of space available for the various organs associated with breathing and digestion.

I have discussed repairing the hiatus hernia with a surgeon - at about the same time I started having positive relief after using the melatonin. He was very frank about the possibility of the repair to the diaphragm ripping at some later stage and suggested that I defer an operation for as long as possible.

With the increasing difficulty breathing, I am starting to think that the time for the operation might be approaching.

The possibility of there being a link between hiatus hernia and breathing difficulty is difficult to discuss about with specialists whose focus is on one or other of the seemingly unrelated internal systems operating in close proximity to each other inside.

Have a look at the article about melatonin and see if its use provides you with some relief:

Curr Pharm Des. 2014;20(30):4807-15.

Mechanisms of esophageal protection, gastroprotection and ulcer healing by melatonin. implications for the therapeutic use of melatonin in gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD) and peptic ulcer disease.

Brzozowska I, Strzalka M, Drozdowicz D, Konturek SJ, Brzozowski T.

(They're from a Polish university)

I had the same issues , but with throwing up my food soon after I ate ..... going in for surgery tomorrow morning , hopefully this will work....

I hope you have a good "people plumber" - good luck. P

I recently started to have "air hunger" or what apparently is also called pseudo dyspnea. I do not feel short of breath but I have periods where I feel I need to yawn and cannot get that "end of the yawn relief" as I call it. Some days it happens every few minutes ... all day long. Activity and exercise do not affect it. I had blood testing done to rule out a pulmonary embolus (blood clot to the lung) which was negative. My chest x -ray was normal. My oxygen saturation was 99-100%. I was told it is probably from anxiety (even though I do not feel anxious) and I was prescribed Xanax - which hasn't helped. I researched it and found numerous similar stories. Then, I happened to run into a friend who is a doctor and he said it could be from my reflux and suggested I try a different medication than I was on. So I started taking Prilosec (Omeprozole). I then startd researching air hunger in relationship to gastric reflux and found an article that said we have nerve endings in our esophagus that can be damaged from the reflux and send false messages to the brain that we are short of breath. In any case ... I still have the air hunger (whcih has never interfered with sleep) but is has lessened in frequency, so I am hoping it is the Omeprozole healing my espohagus. I also gained some weight over the holidays so I am hoping that losing a few pounds will help and probably should eat smaller meals. I hope this helps a little but of course every case is different.

Hi there, I went through a similar experience to Guy 3 years ago. I had a second surgery to resolve a post operative infection. 2 weeks after the second surgery, I began to experience spells where I could not breathe and literally was trying to gasp but could not for 5 to 10 minutes, the longest spell was 20 minutes. It was terrifying and I would be drenched in sweat at the end of it. I went from doctor to doctor to find a cause and they looked at me as though I was mad and they tried to put me on anxiety pills! Finally, a GP concluded that I have a Hiatus hernia and put me on Pantocid every day and then gradually reduced the dosage to twice a week. I have since been advised by a specialist to remain on Pantocid twice a week for the rest of my life. He also looked at me like I was mad when I described my breathing problems and chest pain. The pill should always be taken on waking half an hour before eating or drinking and note that the treatment needs to be continuous, so it is no good taking a tablet only when you feel something coming on, although you can take an extra tablet when that happens. I often have these pain at the top of my chest on either side towards my shoulders and was told 3 years ago that this was because of my anaesthetic. I still have these pains 3 years later. You are the first people I have found that had the same problems as I do.My suggestion to all is to go to different doctors until you find one that will listen to you. Secondly, it also helps to eat low fat with no spices and pepper or acidic foods. This helped me immediately. I sympathise with you because it is a truly horrible experience to struggle for every breath, have chest pains and then be told its anxiety when you know it isnt.

So grateful to have found this thread on Hiatel Hernia!  Thank you to all who have taken the time to share.  It seems I inherited the "stubborn" gene from by parents and as a result choose to tough it out with medical issues.  I am now 65 years old and have dealth with almost 30 years of daily migraines.  Fortrunately, I am still here and for the past couple of years went from golfing everyday (poorly) to being a couch potato.  Living in Florida the past several years allowed me to enjoy all 12 months!

But, as I mentioned I began having breathing issues and chest pain and finally went to a cardiologist who ran me through a battery of tests to exclaim, nothing wrong with your heart, it is in great shape!  Long story short, allowed docs to experiment and

they focused on my thyroid and had me up to 175 mg of synthroid daily.  All the while my breathing issues continued and lung physician examined me and also indicated all is good????  Finally said enough is enough, and started to google everything I could find and bingo...... hiatel hernia symptoms resulted in finding this thread.  Thanks to you guys, I suggested to my physician that we search for a possibility of hiatel hernia

and I just completed Chest Xray, Cat Scan with dye, and Upper GI with barium swallow.  Will learn tomorrow what is going on.....  Lesson learned:  Don't be afraid and research on your own..... if I remained passive with my doctors, I may very well still be suffering from chest pain and breathing issues!   A big thank you to all who have contributed to this thread.

All the Best,

John

 

I can add to this - I suffered with reflux since about 15 years old, given ranitidine for years, more recently Omeprazole 20mg which I take daily, and am now 40.  I exercise regularly, am in good shape and top end of healthy weight.

A few months ago I suffered a shortness of breath with panicky symptoms while on my cross-trainer, ended up in A&E on NHS recommendation, heart, lungs etc. OK, GP tried to give me Prozac for anxiety but I never took it as I know I'm not depressed or anxious.  After a few days rest (signed off with stress) the symptoms went away quite suddenly.

At my suggestion I was given an endoscopy which showed a Haitus Hernia.  Suggestion: take Omeprazole every day and up doses / also take antacid liquid if needed.

?Last Saturday on a run with  my daughter I suddenly felt short of breath and had a quick onset of panic/hyperventilation symptoms (dizzy, black spots in vision, pins & needles in hands and lower face) despite sitting down and trying to breath nice and slowly.  That day I realised that the pressure/pain in my chest was back and 4 days later I'm still suffering from a feeling that my breathing is not satisfying and have the pain/pressure in my chest.  Just to be sure I checked with GP again, heart & lungs all fine.

From reading around a lot ?I feel that this is likely due to the stomach moving through the hernia/getting strangled/etc. which somehow causes the shortness of breath and ultimately panic/hyperventilation at the time of movement/strangulation/whatever.  I guess that if the stomach pushes through more than normal or gets pinched that causes distress and the onset of other symptoms, if it slips back to "normal" then the symptoms disappear rapidly.

The GP has sent me for blood works as Omeprazole can have tingling hands/face as a side effect (as I understand it from low blood magnesium/potassium/calcium levels) though that's unlikely to have caused the sudden onset of symptoms.  ?I'm hoping that "normal" happens soon because I'm really fed up of this even after 4 days.

?I've also noticed that I'm not getting reflux at all recently while on Omeprazole, so while that helps with the acid burn it seems to have no effect on the other symptoms.