Hiatal Hernia

[Caitlyn336]

I just got a CT scan done to check for fistulas, none of those were found. The report does say small hiatal hernia.

Would this explain feeling full after a small amount of food? How about feeling like something was stuck deep in my throat. I am having a hard time swallowing my vitamins. (Yay horse pills)

The ordering doctor has not yet called me to go over the results at this time, I am unsure what they will make of this. But if I know it is causing problems I will be more upfront about doing some form of treatment. Not that I know what that means either...

 

[mtseeg]

I was also found to have a hiatal hernia following an upper GI twenty years ago to evaluate acid reflux. In my case, it was minor and considered an incidental finding. From what the doctor told me, many such hernias are congenital.

Depending on the extent of your hernia, it may or may not present with symptoms. It depends on how much of your stomach has crept up into an area it should not be. Your doctor should hold the answers to this.

 

[Caitlyn336]

Not sure if it rules out congenital but I have had multiple CT scans in the past and they have not put this in the findings.
Okay I will wait patiently (not) until the office goes through the results and gives me a call.

I am having a colonoscopy next month to evaluate my crohn's. In your opinion is this worth asking for an endoscopy to be preformed at the same time?

 

[nitty]

Hi!

I have a small hiatus hernia (caused by two pregnancies) and my symptoms are the same as yours. The feeling of a lump in the throat I find arises when I am stressed and having more acid reflux. This should be relieved by trying some Gaviscon Advance.

You can get what is called a 'sliding' hiatus hernia - this is what I have - so the top of the stomach can move up or down through the wider gap in the diaphragm. My theory is this: As there are receptors at the top of the stomach which detect how full it is, these can pass on false messages when the top of the stomach is in the wrong place. I can often struggle with a meal and feel really full, only to feel absolutely starving again shortly afterwards.

I take a long time to eat now as I make sure I chew food really thoroughly, otherwise, if I feel uncomfortable later on it will be because there is a bit of food that is stuck at the bottom of my oesophagus. I first went to the doctor about it after an incident involving pineapple - about 4 hours after eating some pineapple pieces I bent down to do something at floor level and suddenly up shot that same pineapple, completely undigested and obviously having never met any stomach contents!!

My hernia was diagnosed formally after a gastroscopy. I now take a low dose of Omeprazole which works well for me.

 

[Caitlyn336]

Thank you for the information! I'm also noticing that when I strain to go the the bathroom I begin to feel like I may vomit. Is this also the hernia or just results of not feeling well??

 

[nitty]

Could be either. I don't have a phobia of vomitting so if I feel like that I just bend over the loo and manage to 'get it out' (a bit yuck, I know), but it's not like normal vomitting as there is no acid there as it is stuck before reaching the stomach.