Hiatus hernia treatment....what worked for you?

[SleepyKat]

Dd who is 18yo has had a hernia. Diagnosed over a year ago via endoscopy but dr said it’s probably congenital. She’s certainly had symptoms for years.

She was prescribed omeprazole which she took for a bit but I admit her compliance hasn’t been the best. She tends to take it if she has symptoms rather than prophylacticly. She also has coeliac disease and loads of Food allergies so stomach issues are common and food is very restricted.

She’s done all the lifestyle stuff of not eating too close to bed, small meals, doesn’t drink tea or coffee or alcohol, she’s never smoked, isn’t overweight.

She’s been in loads of pain for the last few days and is struggling to eat. Went to the walk in on Friday in extreme pain and saw the nurse who gave her another omneprazole prescription. I have read her the riot act about taking it every day and have bought her one of those weekly pill boxes now so I can put that and her other meds in the box, keep it on the worktop and monitor that they’re been taken. And yes, I know I shouldn’t be doing this at her age but I’m at the end of my tether.

Today she can’t eat. She tried a bit of breakfast and feels like it’s stuck. So won’t eat anything else. She’s in quite a bit of pain. If she keeps taking the omneprazole every day how long before it kicks in?

Anything else she can be doing?

I had one which caused me huge problems, I had it repaired at the Princess Grace hospital in London. My insurance paid this made a huge difference.

You need to find a good specialist to discuss, I am not aware if the NHS do repairs

Thanks. I think if taking the medication regularly doesn’t work we’ll have to ask about surgery. She’s thin enough without struggling to eat due to this.

Keeping a good and symptoms diary and identifying and avoiding triggers may help.

I think the surgery means you can never vomit again, should you need to.

For me it was the right advice about taking Omeprazole. I was taking it with orange juice at breakfast. Actually it needs to be taken with water, at least 30 minutes before breakfast. Smaller meals help and not too much acidic food. It takes a few days to really get going. She really does need to take it every day though.
In the mean time she Could try Gaviscon as well? Try soft foods and blended foods (she could have smoothies etc?).

There is an exercise that you can do for hh but you have to do it religiously every morning.

1. As soon as you get up drink a large glass of warm water
2. Put your arms over your head
3. Stand on your tip toes and drop on to flat feet repeat 6/7 times

The weight of the warm water in your stomach forces the hernia down to where it should be.

1. Put your arms by your side and breath rapidly (pant) for ten seconds this tightens the diaphragm and helps stop the hernia from sliding upwards.

It's not a quick fix and you have to do it every day but it's really helped me. (Oh and take the omeprazole everyday too)

Your Poor girl. I have a HH and I know how scary it can be when you can't swallow or bring food back up. I am on omeprazole 20 mg daily. It took a while to get thing right- I was on 40 mg when it was 1st diagnosed because they thought I might have an ulcer, then after 2 months I stopped taking it and my symptoms came back, after a bit of trial and error, I'm settled on the 20 mg now and it seems ok. I get flare ups if I eat too much rubbish - cakes, fatty food, or heavy meals - sometimes I push against the boundaries and I get a return of the symptoms.

I find a low carb diet with plenty of veg and pulses helps me and I take plenty of full fat natural yogurt, and I drink kefir daily - I'm sure this has helped me.

I used to drink lots of water and was surprised to be told not to drink as much liquid, especially after a meal as it puts pressure on your sphincter between your stomach and oesophagus
Hope this helps

Thanks everyone. I bought her some peptac today. Will tell her about the morning exercises but not sure she will do them. Ditto the food diary!

Sucrafete on prescription is good. I think it's expensive so they rarely prescribe it.

No greasy food and porridge for breakfast and one of those good bacterial yogurt drinks helped me.