Patients often ask how they can tell between "legitimate" digestion issues and anxiety. They want to know if the cause of their symptoms is "just anxiety" or something else.

With Hiatal Hernia Syndrome common symptoms include acid reflux, heart palpitations, shortness of breath and anxiety. But too often, while the reflux can be confirmed, visits to specialists fail to find anything wrong with your heart or lungs, and then when the complaint of anxiety or panic attacks is added to the list of symptoms, you can be labeled a patient with "health anxiety", thus dismissing your symptoms. It is insinuated that, other than your reflux, your symptoms are likely "all due to stress", meaning it's "all in your head".

This is not only unfair to you it's inaccurate.

The truth is the Hiatal Hernia Syndrome does cause anxiety via 2 routes: the spasming of your diaphragm which causes your nervous system to secrete stress hormones because of the decreased oxygen, and because of irritation to your vagus nerve which can also cause anxiety.

It's a physical and neurological cause that is very real and the good news is, very treatable, naturally. The solution is to get to the root cause of what's creating your hiatal hernia, which isn't difficult to do.

Now what if anxiety is a symptom you have in isolation? Meaning you've been an "anxious" person for quite some time but don't have any of the other symptoms we've been discussing.

Here at Root Cause Medical we would evaluate the following 7 factors:
1. Diet - we know the standard American diet is full of chemicals and artificial ingredients that can cause anxiety, brain fog and mood swings, to name a few.
2. Food sensitivities - if you look at gluten, which is a common food sensitivity, it's interesting to note that it's neuroinflammatory and can most definitely cause anxiety. Realize that can be the main symptom, despite having little to no digestive complaints.
3. Genetics - SNPs ("snips") that you inherit from Mom and Dad can influence your ability to deal with stress and make you less able to clear stress chemicals, as an example. I tell my personal story in the video... But know that specific nutrition for specifics SNPs can calm the waters and no longer have you feeling anxious.
4. Toxins - we evaluate for many toxins, but as an example, mold toxins pass across the blood brain barrier and can cause brain inflammation and anxiety as a result.
5. Microbiome - we know that there is a strong gut-brain connection and that an imbalanced microbiome can be responsible for psychological symptoms such as anxiety.
6. Hormonal imbalance - it is well understood that hormonal imbalance can create the symptom of anxiety, along with others.
7. Lifestyle Basics - in this category we address such things as sleep hygiene, exercise, hydration and more.

I could write a book on the 7 topics above, but suffice to say that evaluation of the factors pertinent to you and your health history can be very impactful when getting to the root of anxiety.

Anti-anxiety medications are too freely used to "band-aid" symptoms while doing nothing to address the root cause. Their side effects also concern me as they include aggravating digestion with causing upset stomach, nausea, along with loss of libido, weight gain, emotional blunting (people say they feel like a robot and it's scary), and suicidal thoughts.

The good news is that much can be done to get to the root causes of why you may suffer anxiety, whether it's secondary to hiatal hernia or not.

If you've been suffering with anxiety, we'd love to help. You can reach out to us for a consultation and we'll let you know if we're a good fit for you. Call us at 727-335-0400. We're here to help.

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#anxiety #hiatalhernia #acidreflux