# Peppermint and Hiatal Hernia: Please Help!



## ratobranco (Nov 6, 2007)

Hello all,I am a fellow IBS sufferer and in early June I started taking Pepogest peppermint oil capsules. It provided significant relief for me. The only side effect was cooling around the stomach area, which was almost welcomed. However, towards the beginning of July (after taking the Pepogest for about 4 weeks), I started to feel a dull pain at my solar plexus. After dealing with this pain for a few days, I discontinued the Pepogest. Well, the pain eventually developed into extreme heartburn that I am still struggling with to this day. I strongly suspect that I have a hiatal hernia, and I am tortured to think that I might have caused a lifelong condition simply by trying to treat my IBS. The problem is, before June, I had never had heartburn. So I was wondering what people's experiences here has been with peppermint oil. Thanks for your help,--Brian


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## Kathleen M. (Nov 16, 1999)

One of well documented side effects of peppermint is it can increase heartburn/acid reflux.It relaxes the smooth muscles both of the colon and of the upper stomach so it can loosen the sphincter that normally keeps the acid in the stomach.If you got enough reflux to damage the esophagus it might take awhile to heal, and you should probably check with the doctor. If it is this bad they may need to take a look-see and put you on some medicine to help things heal up.I don't think the pepermint would cause you to get a hiatal hernia, but if you had one already (or were likely to get GERD even without a hiatal hernia) it might have bumped you from asymptomatic with a tendency to have those problems to symptomatic.K.


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## ratobranco (Nov 6, 2007)

Dear Kathleen, Thanks for your response. I was hypothesizing that maybe the peppermint oil caused incompetence of my ileocecal valve which might have then somehow caused increased pressure in my stomach and therefore the hernia. I imagine that this is BS, but my mind is torturing me right now...A couple of days before I started feeling the hiatal hernia like pains (chest pressure, etc.) I had a bad bout of vomiting. Do you think that might have been a potential cause for the hernia?Thanks again for your help,--Brian


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## Kathleen M. (Nov 16, 1999)

As far as I know relaxing any sphincter in the colon (the IC is between the small intestine and the colon) is not going to cause pressure that would force your stomach up through your diaphram.not without blowing out a lot of other things, and if it is leaking it would not be making more pressure, if anything it would be making less.I don't think there is much of a way to tell from the pain if it is GERD or HH. They are in the same place and have a lot of the same descriptions.Peppermint oil CAN cause GERD. because it relaxes sphincters and making the sphincter at the top of the stomach relax allows acid to wash up into the esophagus which can cause lots of pain and once the esophagus is damaged it will take awhile to heal. Usually they can't fint anything that caused an Hiatial Hernia. They find them in asymptomatic people when looking for other things. If you have one found now, you may have had it all along.In any case it sounds like it is time to go to the doctor, not diagnose yourself from websites.K.


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