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Hiatal hernia and low stomach acid

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GERD & Acid Reflux
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Posted 2/16/2015 12:41 AM (GMT 0)
I have been having reflux lately and my doctor put me on Protonix. She says I have too much acid, but when I did the home tests, it showed too little. My herbalist says my stomach is very high, but I don't know if that means I have a hiatal hernia or not. What does someone do if they don't have enough acid but have a hh? Do I take anti-acids or not?
Posted 4/26/2015 11:43 PM (GMT 0)
Hi I am interested to know what the home test is that you did? I think I may have low stomache acid too as I feel worse on ant acids. I feel better with apple cider vinegar....opposite of what is usually given.
Posted 4/27/2015 12:11 AM (GMT 0)
There's an acid challenge test described pretty thoroughly on the internet, using HCL supplements. I don't have any details, but I did read about it somewhere. It's basically a pass-fail type of test.
Posted 4/27/2015 1:19 AM (GMT 0)
Hi Luv2Dance

Unfortunately, GI doctors do not believe in Low stomach acid causing reflux so they will never test you for low stomach acid. But there are medical and naturopathic doctors that disagree with them. Also, a PH monitoring test only measures how much acid is coming up your esophagus. It does not measure how much acid your stomach is producing.

I know from my own personal experience that low stomach acid can cause GERD/LPR. When the stomach acid is too low, you are dealing with delayed gastric emptying where food is staying in the stomach too long. When this happens, you experience GERD/LPR, bloating, burping.... and in worse cases possibly vomiting.

The only way you know for sure if you have an hiatal hernia is to get the proper testing.
Posted 4/27/2015 9:25 AM (GMT 0)
I'd be skeptical of anyone diagnosing a hiatus hernia without a proper test like endoscopy or barium swallow.

If you do have a hiatus hernia then it doesn't make as much difference whether low or high stomach acid is present, you will get reflux which can cause symptoms. A bit of trial and error is needed to see what eases symptoms best for you.
Posted 4/27/2015 8:24 PM (GMT 0)
I agree that you need a barium swallow and probably an endoscopy to look for and evaluate a hiatal hernia. I had a type 3 hiatal hernia (a large paraesophageal hernia). My barium swallow showed significant reflux from the abdominal stomach to the thoracic stomach. That is, a large portion of my stomach was above the diaphragm and into the chest--reflux from the stomach below the diaphragm to the stomach above the diaphragm. The esophagus had been displaced to the right; thus, reflux could not be induced into the esophagus.

Essentially, with a change in my anatomy, I did not have acid reflux into my esophagus which had nothing to do with the production of acid--it was simply a matter of changed anatomy. Of course, before the last 3 or 4 years I had suffered significant acid reflux into the esophagus for many years until the hernia changed and became severe (stomach in the chest).

Hope this helps,

-Tim
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