Hiatal Hernia

[redls1]

I just had an endoscope done and was diagnosed with acid reflux and a hiatal hernia. I have been on prilosec and numerous others for years. The doctor suggested I continue with the prilosec and adjust my diet. I dont eat that bad but, just not great. I vomit on a daily basis and am just plain tired of it. Dont have another doctors appt for 2 weeks. Would anyone suggest going for the suggery and getting it over with or hope that diet change and continued medications might help somewhat? On a side note I am curently salaried and and wouldnt have to worry about time missed but have opted to step down to an hourly position. Is it wrong to try and get this done asap while in a salaried position?

 

[Azraele]

Have you tried talking to a specialist?

Vomiting on a daily basis is bound to cause some serious damage, not to mention the unpleasantness of the act itself.

Hope you get better!

 

[redls1]

Yeah the specialist is the one that did the endoscope, takes forever to get an appt. I have been vomiting on a regular basis for over a month and am just sick of it. Thats why I am thinking of telling her I want the surgery. She wants me to stay on prilosec and watch diet, i nthe mean time nothing changes and have to wait weeks to see her again. Figure just go for the gusto and get it over with.

 

[tdog44632]

Get a referal from you primary care doctor to see a surgeon, and see what they say. I would not think that prilosec and diet changes would do anything for for such an incompetent hiatal sphincter. Maybe get a second opinion from another GI doc.
Tony

 

[Fangorn]

That's a pretty big operation for acid reflux, man. I've assisted in a couple open procedures, where we do it either from the chest cavity or from below the diaphragm. I would stay on the medications for a while and let it be. Of course, there are some serious complications from surgery.

Change your diet, avoid alcohol, spicy foods, acidic foods (tomatoes, citrus), put some blocks under the head of your bed to get gravity on your side to fight reflux...stay on the proton pump inhibitors.

 

[redls1]

Guess Ill give the diet change a couple of weeks. Ill kill all my alcohol and try to change diet. Kinda hard because Im allergic to turkey and chicken so I eat alot of meat and fried foods. Guess Ill have to broil my seafood. Thanks for the replys.

 

[Harvey]

There is a new outpatient surgical treatement for acid reflux, developed at the Mayo Clinic, called the The Stretta procedure. Do a search on Google.com for word combos, including Stretta, Mayo and "acid reflux" (in quotes). You may want to bring the info to your doctor's attention to see if you are a candidate for this.

Hope that helps ya.

 

[Pliablemoose]

I work in a teaching hospital & there was a study just published that strongly suggested avoiding the surgery & just taking the prilosec or whatever new drug they come out with next time, don't remember the specifics, but the conclusion was pretty clear, avoid the surgery...

 

[Farbio]

i have the same problem...haven't gotten to the daily vomiting, but had much trouble with eating and being able to do anything cuz of the incredible heartburn. i have been on aciphex for almost 4 years now and it works quite well at preventing much of the heartburn break throughs. tums takes care of it when i do happen to break through, so i can't really complain much anymore

as far as the mayo surgery, you sound like a perfect candidate. my dad had it done over 2 years ago and has loved it and the side effects of it. the basic procedure is that they take part of your stomach and wrap it around your esophogaus to hold your pyloric sphincter closed like it should be. the surgery is microscopic, so there is only 4 incisions across the bottom of your ribcage where they insert the scopes and lasers. recovery is quite long though....i think my dad was on bed rest for about 2 weeks and a month before he was able to do full days back at work. the side effects are quite good though....it shrinks your stomach, so you lose some weight which is probly never a bad thing, and it lets you eat almost anything you want...the only thing my dad still doesn't like is soda cuz the carbonation makes him feel funny.
he did have one bad side effect though, almost a year ago he woke up in the middle of the nite with terrible pain and we had to take him to the er and he was coughing and retching so hard that he pulled the wrap loose and ended up having to go through the surgery again. this time he came out of it much better and they found that he hadn't healed correctly fromt he first one, which caused the pain. since then, he has been great and having no problems at all.

feel free to pm me or email me if you have any specific questions that i can answer for ya