Aarrgghh! A Hernia Too?

[Twister2]

Hey all, I had my biopsy yesterday and it turns out that on top of the Celiacs I also have a Hiatal Hernia! Like I don't already have enough stomach pain! Geez.....sorry, just needed to vent.

[jaimek]

If it makes you feel better, I actually had a hernia a couple years ago (before being diagnosed with Celiac). So, you are not alone. The surgery wasn't too bad but I was in some pain afterwards. Good luck!

[gf4life]

I had a hiatal hernia when I had my biopsy. It was not severe, and it was also not there at an earlier endoscopic exam in 2001! I read that the endoscopic exam can actually cause a hiatal hernia. I don't know if that is actually true, but in my case I am suspicious.

If yours is not very bad then there are things you can do to help your body to heal. If you would like I can look up the information and pass it on to you. I had been symptom free from my hernia for about 10 months, until recently I got a viral illness that sent me to the ER and the constant vomiting ended up causing the hernia to return...Long story short, I did the treatment again and am already feeling better. No more acid reflux. I still have to be careful not to over eat, or eat irritating foods. Also eating within two hours of going to bed can cause problems, so it is best not to eat or drink a lot before bed.

Anyhow, Happy Thanksgiving and God bless,

Mariann

[lovegrov]

Hey, along with celiac I had a slight hiatal hernia, diverticulosis, AND a double ingunal (sp?) hernia. Has surgery for that last one 8 months after the celiac diagnosis. Ouch.

richard

[debmidge]

My husband has had 3 hernias (not the hiatal kind) - the direct inguinal type over the past 10 years.

My theory is that his undiagnosed celiac disease, which was causing him to lose body fat over the years, is an indirect result of the hernias. My theory is that somehow he got to the point of thinness where his body has started to deteriorate his abdominal muscles because it has used up the fat (almost like when a dieter is warned that they must exercise so that they lose body fat and not muscle). Anyway, this is my theory on this.

The question now is how does one build up the muscle wall again if you can't gain weight and it hurts to exercise (he developed his 3rd hernia and refuses to get surgery because he feels so weak). How can they perform surgery if there's really no muscle tissue strong enough left to work with ?

This story is the result of 4 gastros since 1977 misdiagnosing him. He wasn't diagnosed until 2003.