Hiatal Hernia

I have a small hiatal hernia. Was wondering if that might be having an effect on the aerophagia that struggle with. Any thoughts?

I don't know. Probably something to ask your doctor about.
I have a small hiatal hernia...rarely have anything more that a big burp when I first get up.
Only twice in 8 years have I had bad aerophagia to where it was really uncomfortable and made me ill.

It could definitely make a difference and if a lot of patients we saw are anything to go by, getting the surgery is worthwhile too... quite common.

My gastro doctor once told me that about 50% of mature individuals have a HH but most don't know it. Only if they have a problem and have an upper GI or endoscopy will it be accurately diagnosed.

Julie...I had the fundoplication surgery almost 15 years ago...doesn't prevent a HH from reoccurring years later.

Julie wrote:It could definitely make a difference and if a lot of patients we saw are anything to go by, getting the surgery is worthwhile too... quite common.

Julie, how recent is your experience seeing these cases? I have a small hiatal hernia but the only remark I ever heard about operating on them made me not even look into it. But that was in the mid 80s. The surgery then involved placement of a pessary to provide support, and when we got a pessary in Pathology that had been removed, the doc commented on their less than stellar success rate. Wondering if the procedures have improved. But when I think about it, I saw only 2 removed in 7 years working there, doesn't seem like failure was exactly rampant.

There's such a wide range of severity with hiatal hernias. My symptoms aren't too bad so I'm glad to not have to consider it. Worse case I saw when working at the hospital was an elderly woman who was going into surgery to remove a huge mass on her upper left lung. The OR was prepared to remove the lung. Turned out her hernia was so bad her stomach had prolapsed into her chest cavity and had worked its way up and over the lung and was hanging behind it. I imagine after her surgery she felt like a new woman.

I would think any time an area is structurally altered it has the potential affect function, but each case could be different.

Ok, it was quite long ago and the patients weren't 'ours' but some of ours (neurosurg) did have them and were looked into... however I know things have changed a lot since then.

At one time, a doctor told me to drink some water when I got up in the morning and then jump off a stool. Often that will pull the hernia back into place. That's called a sliding hiatal hernia. I certainly would not recommend this in place of taking your doctor's advice. I did not take that advice and my hernia disappeared on its own.

I had to have a procedure for another reason and that's how I found out I had a HH. I was told not to give it another thought. I haven't... altho I might try what Ford Guy mentioned. Ya never know...

I have a small HH that probably contributes to aerophagia.

At 14.5cm pressure and above, I could feel little bubbles of air being pushed into my stomach everytime I relaxed, blurp, blurp, blurp. It stopped at 14 or below.

I never sleep on my back so I asked the DR if I could be re-titrated on my side only to find the lowest pressure that would work, and he agreed.

The new study showed I was well controlled by bi-pap at 6/10.

When I got at home it wasn't enough through my mask; I titrated myself up to 8/12, my AHI is always under 2 and I've only once felt any bubbles (it was last week, and I'm a bit worried that something may be worsening... but that's another story).

So yes, the lower the pressure the better, and yes, HH does probably affect aerophagia in my lay person's opinion/experience.

It was a 20 year hiatal hernia and my stomach in my diaphragm that made me have the surgery. At that time they found I was not exhaling my C02 and that is when I was put on the cpap machine. Without that surgery, I would have surely died sooner than later

Hiatal Hernia can mean two different things ..... Sliding Hiatal Hernia, very common, stomach slides up into chest cavity and then slides back down. Without major issues, these type hernia are normally left as is. The other, Paraesophageal Hiatal Hernia, not nearly common, stomach herniates into chest cavity and stays there. This can be dangerous, especially if your stomach strangulates (my Father's did) it is life threatening. I had the Fundoplication surgery with Paraesophageal Hiatal Hernia repair done 3 years ago. Can't burp (or vomit) and I seem to be swallowing air with my CPAP use, which makes me extremely bloated.