Hey, yep, I also have a hiatal hernia and it is horrid at times. The chest pain, stuff getting "stuck" on it, the GERD, etc. I have tried at least a million different medications, all with mixed or no results. I avoid large meals and all acidic foods, and that helps alot. Just for the heck of it, I have been using a chiropractic method for relieving the hernia problems, it costs nothing and of all the things I've tried, it works the best. Maybe you should give it a try, you have nothing to lose. When you get up in the morning, drink about a pint of warm water. Then do about 15 of the following exercise--rise up on your toes and then quickly back on your heels, make it a sudden forceful movement. Sometimes I just bounce up and down, as if I'm trotting on a horse. The theory here is that the warm water relaxes your esophagus and hernia and adds weight to your tummy, and the bouncing uses gravity to pull the hernia back down a bit. I've been doing this for a month or so and must say I feel like an idiot when I do it, but it has given me more relief than any of the many pharmaceuticals prescribed. Another thing that really helps my hernia is horsebackriding--that bounce, bounce, bounce, must push the hernia down a bit. I've never felt better than I did after a week at a dude ranch in the Rockies. I'm thinking of finding a place near home to ride once a week, not just for the enjoyment but as "hernia therapy." Good luck!! Let me know if you try this and if it helps at all. I found this advice at a website on Hiatal hernia, I'll try to dig out the address for you.
GERD w/Hiatal Hernia Origins
The first time I started to have IBS/GERD troubles was when I switched to a more stressful career. At this time, I also became vegan. I would have sulfur smelling burps and vomit at night after eating too much before going to sleep. It was awful.. Now I just can't lay down after eating for a few hours, which puts quite a limit on my sex life. Luckily, my lover "really" loves me and is ever-so-patient. My wedge pillow is an integral part of the head of my bed for nights when things aren't going down well for whatever reason. It keeps me from having acid reflux and barfing anyhow, but the stomach upset will still have its course.Yoga also has helped me, doing lots of tensing & relaxing and breathing into my abdomen. Starting the day with a shoulder stand feels good, because it is the only time in the day that I can do that (builds up muscles around esophagus perhaps) if my stomach is emptying properly. I feel as though this is definitely a First World dilemna, or at least a 21st century dilemna-- due to highly processed foods, fast-paced lifestyles, and being in an overall SPASTIC society. Are there any traces to these sorts of troubles in hunter-gatherer tribes? (just out of curiosity)Thanks, everybody!
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