Posted 4/9/2016 1:11 PM (GMT 0)
At a year you should be done healing, so it's time to visit the gastroenterologist and the surgeon, both. Second opinion. Your wrap could still be evolving, though, so caveat emptor. I couldn't burp until the second year and now am fine in that department.
A surgeon is likely to say get the wrap stretched. Gastro may say try medications first.
I'd ask for a barium swallow, including upper small bowel. You need to see what's going on. It isn't necessarily the stomach! I'm going in for that (also called upper GI) in a couple of weeks, 6 years post-op for pain I suspect is re-herniation because it's above the diaphragm.
It's hard to figure out where the pain actually is by yourself. The large intestine is right under the stomach, which is also right next to the heart.
One thing the docs won't even think of is food intolerances/allergy/ sensitivity. If you ever reacted to a food or an ingredient in a food before surgery, you will still have that problem. That could even have been part of the diagnosis that got missed originally. I still don't tolerate rough things like toast and have the sulfite sensitivity and lactose intolerance. Do you drink milk, eat cheese or ice cream, have cream in your coffee? I wanted whipped cream on my strawberries yesterday and had to eat 6 not-delicious Lactaid tablets with it.
How to find intolerances: Look up "food journal" in the archives (the search box at the top of the page). Other keywords "food allergies" food sensitivities" and more that will lead you to all sorts of helpful posts. Keeping a journal/log/diary is easy and free! No doctor's visit necessary.
You can have a sensitivity or even true allergy to things added to foods that you don't even know about and may not be listed on the label. I have reacted to sulfites (a preservative and bleaching agent) not listed on cashews.
My reaction feels like gas in my stomach. I have learned that when I push hard, bear down like trying to have a bowel movement, like trying to get up a gas bubble, I am doing "Valsalva maneuver" which often stops the reaction. You might try that one.
My surgeon's residents have insisted I need my wrap stretched and have threatened to do it if I let them do a scope, even though I will put in writing that I refuse that. There's nothing wrong with my wrap! (Except that my hiatal hernia may be back after some severe vomiting/heaving events, although nothing ever comes up.) (To give the residents credit and more criticism, I have a wimpy swallow and pills often get stuck, but stretching won't cure that.) I'd recommend holding off on stretching and try everything else first, even if it takes you another year, and it might!
If you have an inkling that you might have a food intolerance, see an allergist. I actually had to see 3 before finding one who had even heard of sulfite intolerance. Gastros and surgeon's won't know anything about it. My allergist had me keep the journal and together we found what was triggering my feeling of bloating. I still get it back if I don't read labels!