Hiatal hernia symptoms and want to do?

Greetings: I too have a hernia plus most of your symptoms. Actually, I should say I had those symptoms. Please read my story and do some research on your own. Best of luck


about four months ago I was referred to an ENT Clinic complaining of recurring hoarseness, post nasal drip, asthma and frequent throat clearing. After examination and testing I was diagnosed with LPR, a form of reflux. The ENT protocol for treating LPR, as approved by the American Academy of Otolaryngology, calls for a six month treatment with a Proton Pump Inhibitor (PPI) that essentially shuts off your stomach’s production of hydrochloric acid. The apparent theory being that stomach acid is causing the symptoms. At no time was I tested to determine my current level of stomach acid. I was given a prescription for a PPI (Omeprazole-Prilosec), a strong stomach acid suppressant. After two weeks and no symptom relief, I stopped the medication and started researching LPR on the Internet. This led me to the two books, “Stomach Acid is Good for You” by Jonathan Wright, M.D. and “Fast Tract Digestion-Heartburn” by Norman Robillard. PhD. I found many other resources including Chris Kressor, Dr. Axe, Dr. Perlmutter and Dr. Mercola that suggested that low stomach acid and its replacement was the key to treating LPR and even GERD. Accordingly, I tested myself for low stomach acid and determined it was quite low. I started taking supplemental HCL/w/Pepsin and worked up to five 648 mg caps with most meals involving protein. Within a week, all my symptoms vanished. I am now down to taking only three or four caps as my stomach is apparently starting to produce its own acid. Since starting supplemental HCL with Pepsin, I have not had one bout of asthma or hoarseness. Neither have I had a post nasal drip or throat clearing episode.
Most GI and ENT Docs will dismisses the work of Dr. Wright and Dr. Robillard as lacking sufficient scientific evidence to be of value as accepted treatment protocols. However both doctors report success using their methods with Dr. Wright reporting that 90% of the patients he has seen for reflux tested for low stomach acid and were helped by taking Betaine HCL with Pepsin. I suggest you get Dr Wright’s book as a starter.

Thanks for the replies.

I have taken Prilosec for the past month but it has made no difference. As I said in my post I do not have acid reflux, or any type of reflux, and I never have heartburn. While medications may help with acid and heartburn I don't see how any medication is going to help with the heart irregularities. It's my guess that gas pressure in the stomach is pressing on the vagus nerve and causing the problem. My regular doctor concurs with this.

I'm thinking that after I have my endoscopy next week and know more what is going on I will need to make a decision on whether to have surgery or try to continue as I am. I'm thinking that if the hernia is small and not likely to cause any major issues I will likely try to continue on as I am and hope things will improve. If the test indicates that the hurnia is large and a large portion of my stomach is in my chest cavity then I'll likely go ahead with surgery since in such a case it's likely only to get worse, and also in such a case other serious complications can arise.

I have never been positively diagnosed with a hiatal hernia, however I have an endoscopy scheduled next week. The hernia diagnosis has been based on symptoms. As I said, I've had these symptoms in the past and at that time I wore a heart monitor for a month which showed all sorts of irregular beating but no atrial fibrillation and my heart doesn't race. Mostly I have PVCs premature ventricle contractions, and two to three rapid beats in a row. It was determined then that it was nothing to be concerned about, just an annoyance. Those heart beat irregularities went away but now they are back. As I said, the heart problem tends to go away when I burp.

The theory that my regular doctor and I have is that I have a hernia and the stomach moves up through this and causes symptoms then at times moves back down and the symptoms go away. Hopefully the endoscopy will correctly diagnose me, but I'm wondering if my theory is correct whether the endoscopy will indicate a hernia if the stomach is in its proper place when the test is done. I had been feeling well for a while, then all last week I felt miserable so I got the referral to the gastroenterologist whom I met with this past Tuesday. The test is scheduled for next Wednesday, but since yesterday morning I've felt great. I'm sure that if I did something strenuous the symptoms would return, but I don't know if it is wise to deliberately make the symptoms return for the test if they aren't present at that time.

Well currently my symptoms are back again so it's likely that I will have symptoms during the test. In reading more about hiatal hernias I believe my symptoms are more that of a para esophageal hernia than that of a sliding hernia. Where it seems sliding hernias are usually associated with GERD it seems that GERD symptoms are less associated with para esophageal hernias and I don't have heartburn or acid reflux. A para esophageal hernia would perhaps more likely give the heart symptoms I have.

However I have realized that I have more symptoms than I thought I did. I have symptoms I never thought as acid reflux or hernia symptoms. Things such as a lot of phlegm in my throat, clearing my throat a lot and coughing after eating. Related or not I also tend to frequently swallow wrong when drinking water or swallowing saliva and I end up coughing and choking on the water or saliva. Currently I am also having a dull aching sensation from under my chin all the way down to my abdomen. Perhaps while not a burning sensation maybe it is the effect of acid reflux.