Hiatus Hernia, SoD, loss of smell & taste...all linked?

[Mellie28]

Hi all,

I stumbled across this forum when searching for answers and wondered whether anyone could possibly shed some light on a few things for me...

For 8+ years I have been suffering with bouts voicelessness, sometimes they last months, there can be months (or weeks) between bouts; I've never managed to work out a cause. Then, shortly after this started my sense of smell and taste disappeared. My GP sent me for a CT scan, I've had numerous cameras down my nose and no cause has ever been found.

My GP also sent me to a speech therapist about my voice. As he couldn't find a cause he surmised it was psychological and tried to send me for counselling as I was "clearly depressed" (that's not the case at all).

Fast forward a few years and I start to get pain in the right side of my abdomen. An ultrasound revealed a polyp on my gallbladder so that was removed last April (2016). In October 2016 I was hospitalised with abdominal pains. I saw 3 consultants, the first said it was IBS, the second said it could be sphincter of oddi dysfunction then the third said it was an ulcer. The third gave me omeprazole and discharged me to await an endoscopy.

I knew I didn't have an ulcer; my symptoms were nothing like those of an ulcer. I attended the endoscopy to be told I have a small sliding hiatus hernia. As my endoscopy came back clear - that is without the ulcer - the consultant discharged me without seeing me again. I chased the 2nd consultants opinion and am currently waiting for an ERCP.

It just so happened that when I went for my endoscopy I had no voice. The nurse asked if I had a sore throat and I said no, my voice just goes. She mentioned this could be due to something called 'silent reflux' which has never been mentioned to me before. So, my question is, in your expert opinions, could all of my symptoms be linked? I have looked into it and it would seem so.

If anyone has links to journals, papers etc. which could prove/help with my hypotheses that would be great. I feel I need to go back to the GP armed with info as I've been fobbed off until now.

Thanks in advance

[Hidden]

It does sound as if the trouble with your voice could be reflux, and the hiatus hernia would certainly be consistent with that. I am not sure about the loss of sense and smell.

One thing you might try is to obtain some acid testing strips from your pharmacist / Amazon. Your saliva might have a significant reading for acid/alkali. I am not sure how reliable they are, but it would provide something for the doctor to explore.

One thing that might be an issue is how serious is your hiatus hernia, and could/should it be repaired?

[Mellie28 in reply to Hidden]

Thanks. I'll look into those strips.

It's only tiny (1cm) but I do struggle with swallowing on a daily basis. I've not actually seen anyone about the hernia, the nurse told me I have it, consultant discharged me and that's that but I'll make an appointment with my gp.

Thanks again

[winnie4711]

Afraid I can't help but your doing the right thing by gathering all the info. Good Luck and hopefully they find out what the course of it is.

[gutlesswonder]

The differences between GERD and LPR (Laryngopharyngeal Reflux -sometimes known as Silent Reflux) are subtle and not very well understood...............in deed they may be completely arbitrary.

I have a post in preparation to try and shed some light on this. Watch this space, hopefully no more than 1-2 weeks.

[focused1]

Hi ...noticed your post was a year ago ...any progression ? Hope things are better for you .

[focused1]

Hi - noticed your post was a year ago . Any progression ? Hope you are feeling better than when you last posted .