Hiatus Hernia Causing Pancreatitis??

[Guest guest]

Hello all-

I'm not certain if this is the right place to ask the questions I

have or not, but here goes.

Two nights ago,, my mother ended up in the local ER with what she

feared was a strangulated hiatus hernia. She has had the hernia

since she was 20 or so, and is in her mid-50's now. Since November,

she has told me that the pain she has with an acute hernia attack is

different than previously, and the other night the ER doctor

diagnosed her with an inflamed pancreas. There were no tests done on

her so far as I know. I realize that she would have to go to a

doctor to be properly diagnosed, but I am wondering if she is having

acute attacks of pancreatitis because the hiatus hernia is pressing

the pancreas into the spine. She says that she does not have the

pain in her midsection unless she is in the midst of her hernia

acting up.

I'm at a total loss here.

Thanks-

[Guest guest]

Dear ,

To the best of my knowedge, a strangulated hiatus hernia would not cause

your mother's pancreatitis. It's odd, though, that you ask this question,

because when I initially consulted a physician at a 24 hour clinic when I was

suffering with a then undiagnosed acute pancreatitis attack, the very confused

physican at first throught I had a strangulated hiatus hernia! After much

painful poking and prodding, he tried to push the lump beneath my navel

" back into place " , bringing on such excrutiating pain that I started to see

stars

and was gripping the table in agony. He said that if it had been a hiatus

hernia that it would have gone back in place, and then reached the

conclusion that his diagnosis was incorrect because my organs weren't

behaving as they should!!! That's when he gave up and referred me to a

surgeon at the local hospital. A few hours later it was confirmed that the lump

that he'd been poking, prodding and pushing around was actually a large

pseudocyst in the tail of my pancreas.

It's probably more likely that your mother has just developed pancreatitis from

some other cause, either gall bladder related, or perhaps Idiopathic. I won't

even mention what you've already discussed with another member, and the

conclusions that the ER personnel erroneously made.......a mistake that's

made all too often! It wouldn't surprise me to find out at some future date

that

the reason the current statistics say that alcohol is one of the highest causes

of pancreatitis is because that's an automatic dx that's made and recorded,

and then never changed on record when it's later discovered that the cause

was actually something else! Out of the thousand and more members here at

the PAI, if polled, I think you would see that it's a smaller percentage with

alcohol causes than all of the other.

At this point, the best thing that your mother could do would be to find herself

a good gastroenterologist who can order the right tests to get to the bottom of

the cause of her attack, and more importantly, advise her and treat her so that

she will know what she needs to, to try to prevent another one. She will need

guidance on her diet and those precautions that she should take to mimimize

her pancreatic difficulties.

She should be advised to follow a low fat diet, avoid any products that contain

alcohol, and will, perhaps, be prescribed pancreatic enzyme supplements

and pain medication that will help her if she has further problems.

Please keep in touch with us and let us know how she's doing and what

develops with her continuing care. If you have any questions at all about

pancreatitis, or other things on your mind, please don't hesitate to ask them.

With love, hope and prayers,

Heidi

Heidi H. Griffeth

South Carolina State Rep.

SE Regional Rep., PAI

http://pancassociation.org/anthology.htm#Heidi

Note: All comments or advice are based on personal experience or opinion,

and should not be substituted for consultation with a medical professional.

[Guest guest]

wrote:

> Thank you so much for your exhaustive reply! >

Oops.....I can be long winded, can't I? Sorry if it was too much!

> Right now, she's literally afraid to eat, and is living on a liquid diet.

She's

followed a low-fat diet for her entire life, and doesn't drink at all, so right

now,

we're all just hoping that she can avoid another attack.>

She sounds very sensible, and one can easily understand her fear of eating

after what she's just been experiencing. Do encourage her to drink lots of

water, as much as possible! It's important to keep the pancreas well hydrated

and she may notice some improvement in her pain levels if she can keep

herself well hydrated, too!

With love, hope and prayers,

Heidi

Heidi H. Griffeth

South Carolina State Rep.

SE Regional Rep., PAI

http://pancassociation.org/anthology.htm#Heidi

Note: All comments or advice are based on personal experience or opinion,

and should not be substituted for consultation with a medical professional.