Editing a hidden field

when I edit a hidden question..... does the original submitter see my notes?

If the user has an access to the edit link, then the answer is yes. The user can see it if he/she opened the edit link.

I suggest you disabled the "Send on Edit" function of the email alerts. In this way, when you edited a submission, the email alerts will not be sent. You can do this in the "Advanced" tab of the email alert.

Hope that helps. If you have any questions, let us know. Thank you.