Hiatal hernia

so after battling severe vomiting and acid reflux my G.I doctor has found a hiatal hernia and stomach swelling. Im constantly having pain in that region so that explains a lot! I always figured that the pain was from a lack of bowel movements due to the high dose of iron that I take for my anemia! He gave me some pills, and nexium as well. I noticed that a lot of you on here have had your hernias repaired. My G.I doctor told me that surgery is not necessary, and that I can cope with it by eating smaller meals. In the back of my head im thinking "dude, I'm sleeved how much smaller can my meals get?!?" Lol. Im considering talking to my bariatric surgeon to get his opinion on the hernia, and also to try and get deeper into why my stomach is constantly inflamed. Has anyone not had their hernia repaired? If so, how are you coping with it? Whats your eating schedule like? Has anyone delt with constant stomach inflammation?

I would talk to the Bariatric Doctor. Leaving Hiatal Hernias alone is a much more 'old school' train of thought. Years ago they didn't really do Hiatal Hernia repair (my dad had one for decades, and suffered), but new research has shown the acid can damage the esophagus over time, so they are quicker to do it.

As we have altered anatomy, I would always get the opinion of the Bariatric Doc...

Its a definite will do

Hi Queen,

I don't know if this helps, but I had my band removed partially because we thought it was aggravating my hiatal hernia problem.....I was already planning on being sleeved at that point because the band was really not working for me and I was throwing up at odd times....sometimes I could eat everything in sight and other times I couldn't swallow water.

I was on Nexium for a long time and it really helped, but I still had some breakthrough pain at times. I had an endoscopy in February and even I could pick out the hernia on the film (I know how to read dental films, but not endoscopy).....it was a doozy. Anyhow, my surgeon said she would repair it at the time we did the sleeve. She wanted me to continue with Nexium for 3 months after my sleeve (at first they had me taking powdered Nexium.............OMG............beyond vile). Now, I'm just past 3 months out and no longer need it on a daily basis, but I'm afraid to stop it altogether.

Some of the things I learned for myself is that eating too late is a big problem, drinking too much diet Snapple causes severe relflux especially in the middle of the night and that sleeping on my right side was even worse than the diet Snapple. Sleeping on my right side doesn't seem to be a problem anymore because the part of the stomach where the acid pools during the night is gone.....but out of habit, I still try not to sleep that way.

I'm taking Nexium about every third day right now and it seems to be fine.....will continue until I see my surgeon in November and see what she suggests. So far, so good.

Smaller meals.....yeah, they don't get much smaller that what we're able to eat now, do they? I think that your suggestion about speaking to your bariatric doctor is the best choice....who better than the one who already operated on your stomach?

As to my eating schedule, I don't know if I can help because I'm still in weight loss mode, but thankfully I no longer suffer with the problems I had before my hernia was fixed. Did they also check for gall stones?  I understand (not sure if this is correct or "rumor") that those pains are similar.

Either way, I hope you feel better soon.....if you're taking Nexium, at this point, I recommend that you take it pretty much the same time every day so that you have constant relief. Good luck, I hope you feel better soon.

Thanks. I've been trying the nexium to see how it goes for me until im able to speak with my wls surgeon 

Only certain kinds of iron constipate. Others, such as carbonyl or heme iron, cause no constipation.

I take 1000mg of ferrous sulfate in pill form daily. Not sure which category it would fall in out of the irons that you stated, but what im taking causes me constipation on top of previous intestinal issues that I've had before the sleeve...

Ferrous sulfate, ferrous gluconate, ferrous fumaraide -- and of the ferrous salts will cause stomach upset and constipation.

Carbonyl iron is the least expensive option of those that do not constipate. Heme iron won't either, but it's less common and more pricey.

I also recommend that you change the type of iron you're taking and talk with a bariatric surgeon.  

I did chat with my doc about repairing vs. not repaired prior to having it fixed. His stance was so long as the symptoms were manageable, to just leave it be. In my case, I had reached a point where I couldn't keep solid food down so something had to be done. I suspect if I had not lost a fair amount of weight from it though, maybe he would have held off longer. It is much higher risk for them to go in for a second repair. Is this your first or second hernia?