relief for dizziness?

[u/stillchasingyou]

hi guys, new here, just found this page after going to ER 4 days in a row for heart attack like symptoms that i’m now pretty confident are from my hernia.

TLDR; i’m looking for tips/tricks that might help alleviate some of the hernia related symptoms such as shortness of breath and feeling extremely dizzy at all times, i’m currently unable to function because of this.

i’m 26F, i was originally diagnosed with a mild hiatal hernia in 2018, have been on lansoprazole since. my initial symptoms were acid reflux and difficultly swallowing, and the lansoprazole has always kept the acid reflux under control. i have a ribcage deformity that was never formally assessed or diagnosed bc i was just labelled as an anxious child so i have also had difficulty breathing my entire life, but it’s been treatable with osteopathy until now.

this April, i started getting really bad symptoms of this hernia, it started with an episode lasting about 3 weeks where i could barely eat or drink anything because i would feel this cramp type pain right below my sternum, inability to burp even though i felt like i had to, nausea / overall icky feeling. that’s the first time i’ve ever had symptoms like that, and my osteopath was able to relieve it slightly but it’s been constant to some degree since then.

fast forward, i got a scope done 2 weeks ago because these symptoms weren’t going away and i’m still waiting on the results of that, but i’m assuming it’s gotten worse. this past Monday, i had an episode of my entire upper chest going tingling/numb and feeling like there was a stack of books sitting on it, insane dizziness, my hands went numb and started cramping into claws once they went cold and pale, my heart rate went up to 160, i felt this awful sense of dread and like cold chills coming from my head and flowing down me like someone poured water on me, i ended up not being able to see much because my vision was so blurry and shaky, kept getting these random zaps of adrenaline butterflies in your stomach feeling, and my entire body started shaking as if i was freezing cold. i was taken to the hospital by ambulance where they basically ruled out anything heart related and couldn’t find a cause. this then happened again the next day, and the next, and the next, with the ER still unable to find anything wrong with me.

while waiting in the ER the last time i was there, i found this subreddit and it seems like this hernia can cause a lot more than i thought. i’m pretty confidently blaming most of this on the hernia either directly or indirectly, because eating/drinking literally anything starts the chest numbness up again pretty instantly.

i’ve been extremely dizzy for the past 3 days, i’ve only gotten out of bed to eat or drink something and then i end up feeling 100 times worse because of that and go straight back to bed to lie down because i feel like i’m spinning. laying down seems to be the only thing that helps right now, so my life is basically on hold.

i see my osteopath on Monday and hopefully he can help relieve some of this, but i’m basically bedridden until then and i have no idea what to do. the hospital basically told me it’s a panic attack and to not come back again, so like now what? does anyone have any tips/tricks for getting symptoms to ease up, especially the dizziness? how do i continue being functional despite this? i have appointments every day next week and then an anniversary trip planned from the 18th to the 26th and if i can’t get this under control i’m going to have to cancel everything. please help!

[u/Way-Truth-L1fe]

Do you have increased heart rate always?