My husband seems to have a hiatal hernia. His doctor told him that he had an obstruction in his esophagus, and wanted to do an endoscopy, along with the procedure that "pops" whatever is in there. He told him to have a "barium swallow", but my husband couldn't swallow the barium fast enough, and they abandoned the procedure. My husband doesn't plan to use doctors any more, except for insulin, since he has Diabetes I. He has changed his diet over the past year, and lost weight. He is also taking essiac tea, and both of these changes have made a difference in the amount of insulin that he has needed.

Look in to gymnema sylvestre as well.   it is not only a sugar blocker, but it also helps with beta cell regeneration.

He can swallow foods, but then they get stuck. I read about hiatal hernia - pulling the stomach down, and I started doing that(lying down position, very gently). It works for awhile, and he is able to get the food down fairly easily. Sometimes, though, he reverts back to his original problem, where the food gets stuck, and he develops a lot of phlegm, in his stomach and esophagus. Then, he throws up, only phlegm most of the time.

Sometimes, the only way he can get the food down is to eat a little ice cream along with the food.

Today he had the phlegm, which he slowed down by taking probiotics, but now he has pain, which he thinks is the bottom of his lungs, on his left side. He says he can feel his valves, and that they seem to open and close at the wrong time during these rough times. He keeps waiting for the food to go down, and the valves to open up. It seems much worse when the phlegm builds up. He is in pain when the phlegm is there.

He has also been drinking bentonite and on the days he doesn't drink it, the problem is much worse. If he eats pineapple, that seems to help, too.

Any light you and your friends can shed on his condition would be extremely appreciated.

Here is an old post discussing hiatal hernias:

http://curezone.org/forums/fm.asp?i=1486694