“I got my gall bladder removed about a year and a half ago. I’ll be 22 in August. I ate healthy as a kid and apart from the occasional fast food and sodas kept to a decent diet when I got older. I never went through a heavy drinking phase or anything else… so of course when I started having severe stomach pains the last thing that came to mind was gall bladder issues. I suffered for over a year with the pains on and off. I thought that it was perhaps a food allergy (my friend suggested this because he suffered from pains in the stomach) because I’ve always had horrible allergies. I cut back on dairy food and started taking allergy pills, but nothing helped. I came online and researched possibilities and thought that perhaps it was an ulcer so I began taking tums which would help the pain a bit. The last six months prior to my surgery were absolute misery. I didn’t have insurance, so I put off going to the doctor for as long as I could. I was literally living on vegetables and fruit, but still had the pains on a regular basis (up to 7-8 times a week prior to my surgery). Thankfully, when the pains started becoming much more regular, my insurance became active. I made a trip to a doctor immediately who prescribed medicine for ulcers and sent me to get an ultra sound. A day after my ultra sound I got a call telling me I needed to see a specialist immediately so that I could make an appointment for surgery. I couldn’t even wait the two weeks and ended up in the emergency room and had it removed the next day.

After the surgery I had a real hard time getting rid of the gas and was in absolute agony. I didn’t go to the bathroom for 5 days or so, and the gas was just NOT leaving my body. My doctor told me to start taking Sienna which has helped, but I still have not returned to normal. I have to take up to 8 Sienna a day in order for it to be effective. If I go a day without it, I end up EXTREMELY bloated and just exhausted. Unfortunately, the Sienna makes my stomach cramp horribly so I find it hard to take when I know I’m not going to be near a bathroom or am going to have to be really active. My hair is also extremely brittle. I’ve tried everything. I’ve even gone to the salon and had them deep condition it quite a few times, but no matter what it doesn’t work. I try drinking water, but find it hard. Actually… I find drinking anything hard. I take two sips and I feel like my stomach is going to explode. It’s miserable and I really hate this. I still have no idea how my gall bladder got bad, but I have theories. I used the shot for birth control (the one that you don’t have your period on for a year) and I honestly think that did it for me. I used the shot about 2-3 years prior to my gall bladder, and since then my period has been irregular. I hear the hormones can affect digestion… so yeah.

I’m just furious because I was never told how severe it can be after surgery. I guess it doesn’t matter, because I doubt I had a choice. What I really think it falls back on is our society. We preach so much about being little stick figures, but no one is preaching about just being HEALTHY. Issues with the gall bladder can easily be avoided if people are educated.”