Hiatal Hernia

[Trainbuff26 0]

Hey everyone! I was sleeved on May 17, and I've been doing great with it, but a week after I went back to college in August I began having an unusual problem: I started burping all the time. It happened basically overnight; one morning I woke up and realized I could bring up a burp whenever I wanted to and I could not rid myself of it. Gas-X did nothing, and both the Reglin and some other medicine my surgeon had me try did nothing (and that Reglin made me feel really bad!) On top of that, I just didn't feel right and knew something was wrong. Well, last Thursday when I went for my check-up and had some bloodwork done, I talked about this with my surgeon and he had me undergo an Upper GI X-Ray. And what do you know: they found I had a hiatal hernia. I know some of you guys had one before you had the sleeve, but 'veI got one afterwards. Reading about it online, it seems that most people don't know they have one, but I do, and that the best ways to treat it are to eat small meals, lose weight, take heartburn medicine, and not lay down after a meal (which I never do). I'm doing all these things because of my sleeve, and I was taking 40mg Nexium, but he prescribed me 60mg Dexilant to see if that would help. I can't really tell a difference, so it looks like I'm going to have it repaired near the end of the year. I'd like to ask: has anyone here dealt with one of these? Did you have the same symptoms? I did a forum search on here about hiatal hernias and it seems some people had the same symptoms, but I just want to make sure. I'm curious how I'll feel if I have it repaired, as it requires another laproscopic surgery. If any of you can tell me anything about these things, I'd love to hear it. Other than that, my sleeve has not caused me one problem and I've now lost 206 pounds in all, counting my weight-loss before the surgery. Thanks!

[Foxbins 625]

Before my sleeve, I burped a lot and had heartburn, but I thought it was because I was fat. My surgeon repaired my hernia when he did the sleeve. Post-op, I was still burping but that was due to the CO2 gas and swallowing air when I ate and drank. I'm taking 10 mg of omeprazole a day for heartburn, don't know if I'll still have it if I stop the meds.

Congrats on the 200 lb loss!! That's great!

[KellyL 173]

Sorry to hear you are having problems with a hiatal hernia. I have read somewhere that a high # of obese people, something like 80-85 % of overweight people have one. Normally they should be fixed during the sleeve. But yes, losing weight can shrink them a good bit. Wow, your weight loss is amazing, congrats to you!!!

[Trainbuff26 0]

I actually asked my surgeon right after surgery if I had had any hernias, as I had read of many people on here having on going in, and he said I didn't, so yeah I find it really odd that one has just now formed. Oh well, it looks like I'll probably have it fixed later. I tell you, I hope I never have to have another GI Tract done; that barium stuff was beyond nasty! The one thing that scares me about having hernia repair surgery is the fact that I'll be blown up again since it's laproscopic; the gas pain I had from my sleeve was very unpleasant and I don't want to feel that again. But I'm thinking that he wouldn't have to blow me up as much for this surgery. And no, it's definitely not the gas from my sleeve surgery causing me to burp; that gas was gone two days after surgery. I'm also having no heartburn, just burps. And it always feels like there's something in my throat or stomach because of it. This hernia is trolling me I believe

[RSREED53 4]

MIne was repaired 1o yrs ago when I had my RNY--no problems thereafter! I do sometimes chew 4-5 Tums, but the hernia has not been a problem postop. That surgery was an open incision one, so did not have the scope procedure. Now, my sleeve was done by laparosope May 31st. I am all healed up mostly, lost about 45 pounds now, and still working to get the remaining 40 off for maintenance. Good luck--the repair surgery is good--my hernia was the size of the surgeon's fist, so I needed it fixed! Ronda

[weho 103]

I had one repaired during surgery that I had no idea I had. I wonder if maybe you had a small one that went undetected during surgery. But I find it odd that you would only now be experiencing symptoms even after having lost so much weight. I hope that this can be resolved without surgery, but if it would make you feel better and prevent additional problems it might be worth the surgery as a last ditch effort. Good luck to you.

Did you have surgery this year or last? Either way, I am so impressed by your progress. We are related I had my surgery on 5/17 also. Wow, you are doing great!

[Trainbuff26 0]

Yes, If I'm going to have this hernia surgery it'll be this year as I believe the insurance company will cover it completely. My surgeon said it might have been dormant when he worked on me and then decided to wake up. Lol, let me explain: I did have the surgery this year, but I lost 140 pounds on my own without the sleeve and even though he told me I didn't have to have it by this point, I still wanted it so I did and I've lost 66 more thanks to it. My weight loss was slowing down around the time I had it, so I was very happy. As I like to say, he converted me from an H1 Hummer to a Toyota Prius