Hiatus Hernia

ratsbeyfus

I'm having a bit of a crappy year. I manged to damage my achilles in late December (which I posted on previously) and it now seems that I've got a Hiatus Hernia. I've been off work for much of the last fortnight with chest pain, and am taking lots of meds to tackle the heart burn.

So, I'm wondering if there are any other sufferers out there and how (if at all) it has affected your bike riding? At the moment I can't imagine getting on a bike again for quite a while as even going up the stairs causes chest pains! I can give up wine, chocolate, tomatoes, and all the rest but can't imagine giving up the bike!

Heeeelp!

keef66

I have a mild hiatus hernia which untreated leads to acid reflux and chest pain.

It is managed pretty well by a daily controlled release lansoprazole pill. I still have to avoid pork pies, too much pastry and fresh baked bread, but apart from that I can eat pretty much what I like. Also have to avoid eating / drinking a lot late at night, otherwise it's coming back up when I go to bed.

I also have to be careful with things that involve bending down, like gardening, working on the car, painting skirting boards etc.

No problem at all on the bike

You sure it's the HH giving you the chest pain when going up stairs? Have you had your heart checked?? Pain on exertion which resolves on resting suggests angina to me.

grantstats

I had a HH 5 years ago- absolute nightmare not helped by a slow diagnosis resulting in acid burn up my throat to my mouth. Great way to lose weight though- dropped 2.5 stone in a year.

Did a bit of research on diet and found that for myself tomatos were fine as was white wine and chocolate all in moderation (that key word that gets bandied about). Also when sleeping, slept with my chest and head raised to stop acid from coming up.... sounds gross I know. I Also ate some time before going to bed so that the stomach had calmed before sleeping.
Protein shakes etc to help supplement my diet (to put weight back on) didn't work too well- too heavy and often just ending coming straight back out again.

Led to a discussion with a nutritionist and the advice was finding soft fibres (hard fibres cause increased acid which I am sure you know is not good). Oats, apples, lentils are all good. Bran etc are hard which are not good.
I also found eating small amounts continously worked- rested the stomach and intestines.

My HH came from a form of IBS which I still struggle with every now and then- normally eating and drinking too much. Can be managed and I use Buscopan IBS to control cramps and acid (works for me and not recommending would work for you). I was also on Xantac and a couple of other meds.

I also found that if I excercised I became ill with chest pains, cramps and acid reflux. It took about 6 months for the HH to sort itself out. Best to rest and get sorted first. Hope this helps just what worked for me. Hope that you feel better soon and if I can help with anything else let me know

ratsbeyfus

Cheers guys. I had my heart checked and it's fine. The meds I'm on have got rid of the acid burning pain, but I still have a chest pain which fels like a stitch. I managed to get out on the bike this week and felt great afterwards so am feeling a lot chirpier now! It's good to hear that you've managed to live (and ride) with the HH.

Thanks for your help!

ireland57

I had one some years ago and an operation fixed it. Had to; it was doing internal damage.

The tablets I was on had a 10% chance of giving cancer too so ....fook that.

Knowing what I know now I probably could have repaired it with better diet. My diet would have been regarded by most as good but the food didn't suit my internals.

Getting rid of acidic foods from the diet is well worth looking at imo.

Ride the bike, do what you got to do with food, have fun. Long easy rides if necessary.

The fitter and healthier you get the better it'll all work out.

You'll discard any unwanted foods and any not so good habits along the way with a bit of perserverance.

ratsbeyfus

Thanks ireland57... I am currently discarding foods and eating habits at a rate of knots... Amongst others are, no alcohol, no coffee, no chocolate, no fun. The idea is that once I feel better I will start to reintroduce each item one at a time to see if I get a reaction - booze is first on my list as I miss my glass(es) of wine on a Friday/Saturday/Sunday night (sometimes Monday and Thursday as well, and if its a hard week Tuesday/Wednesday :oops: ).

Out of interest what tablets were you on? I'm on Lanzarazopole (or something like that) and Motilium for 6 weeks, and the acid pain seems to have gone. I'm not keen on the sound of that cancer thing though! :shock:

keef66

I'm on Lansoprazole for as long as I'm still alive, and grateful for it. Don't know the dose. If I forget one I know about it by lunch time. Sometimes If I overdo the gluttony I have to take an extra one. Not aware of any cancer risk with them.

Unless you've been prescribed Lanzarote, in which case I'm jealous.