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Ongoing Complications (1000+)
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My story nearly identical, I had GB out in Dec last year and have what I can only describe as the “same pain” i had before i had it out??? The pain is on the right side and up under my ribs, I feel so hopeless and worried. I have such a busy life and 3 children and living with this pain is mindbending. Doc sending me for ultrasound now to check liver?? Don’t feel like she is listening to me though. I have had 3 c-section, appendectomy and the gallbladder removal so I think my insides are a bit of a mess. Did they check your liver?? I am worried now I have some damage to my liver my mind is racing on this. Any support would be appreciated after all that surgery I am still having problems!!!!
“A few times in the years following the removal of my gallbladder I had attacks, gallstone attacks (there can be no forgetting those!) and the doctors wanted to cut the Sphincter of Oddi, which they concluded finally after several ER visits–and denial by them that there could still be gallstones–but I refused. I’m glad I did, as it was the second last attack I ever had.
Conclusion, I had small gallstones, and small stones(my surgeon told me after), a few must have already been in the bile duct when the Laparoscopic surgery took place. Seems perfectly obvious now and so logical, just surprised the medical profession was so keen to look for other reasons or to find a more harsh solution than was necessary. It’s been 3 years since my last attack, which was a roll around on the floor woozie with some discomfort the rest of the evening.
I now eat normally and sometimes worse. A little too greasy sometimes. But what used to really set me off was avocado, which is quite fatty(though healthy) and a food with one of the highest amounts of magnesium. Magnesium relaxes the muscles(the bile duct is a muscle-Epsom salts are largely comprised of magnesium, hence such a bath relaxes people thoroughly and can even gives them ‘the runs’). And then the bile in the liver is triggered by the avocado’s fat content, there’s then a rush of bile from the liver, down the supple relaxed bile duct, pushing on any last stones, creating an attack. Just magnesium could cause an attack or just fat, the two together… definite attack for me.
Probably 5 of my attacks before and after had been started by avocado, and I love guacamole. So, yeah, patience anyone with those attacks. I wouldn’t advocate surgery on the bile duct unless you’ve explored all your options and waited it out. Eventually all the stones, pebbles, sand, will pass. I now eat my old kryptonite, guacamole and avocados, daily. So, yeah, this will pass, or did in my case.
I would advocate a natural cure as opposed to getting the gallbladder removed, or at least trying it. I was too chicken but sometimes wish I had. Your digestive system will never be perfect again but no big problems.
And to avoid ever getting gallstones, too late for that now– too much dairy and fat, bad fat, gallstones being comprised of cholesterol or calcium. And that’s my take on it. Hope it helps somebody. Good luck.”
“the doctor that did the surgery for me, told me that if you have diarrhea that its ok, but if your stool is yellow or orange, running a fever , shaking, disorientated , or pain worsen to call him immediately. doesn’t mean that something is wrong but, something could be, and you should have it checked. I would think that your surgeon in pre and post Op- would of told you this, this is why you were to have the person that would be taking care of you, to go with you, so that they also could remind you of what you needed to be doing or not doing , feeling. Take surgery serious, and what the doctor has to say serious. some of these posts are crazy. “” my stool is yellow and I have a fever”” IM SURE THE SURGEON SAID CALL ME IF ANYTHING GETS WORSE. if nothing else the nurse or receptionist should be able to help you.
and they should of also told you, or you should of asked, that 5% of people who do get gallbladder surgery can not eat certain foods, its not because of the doctor its the way your body digests foods. your gallbladder was hurting for a reason, it could no longer store the ‘bile’ it needed to aid your digestion. so please, if you cant eat certain foods, stop eating them, find something that works. My grandmother when she got colon cancer found out she could not eat anything with flour in it, so she has to go all to whole wheat’s. so don’t forget to read labels and find out what works for you instead of complaining you cant eat your curly fries and elephant eat in one sitting. Also if your in pain, go to the doctors. sometimes it takes just that one doctor to find it for you, it took me 20 years to find out that my gall bladder was in some serious damage. but so far it has been worth it!”
“Hi there. Don’t know if your father is having the same problems so I wanted to write you. My husband had the same problem.
After he removed his gallbladder, he started getting the same old symptoms after a few months.
After we did some research, I found out the gallstones are not necessarly produced in the gallbladder. They can also be produced in the liver. That is where all bile is produced. Gallstones are basically bile, cholesterol, mucus and calcium that have hardened. So what happens when you remove the gallbladder, and if you still don’t take preventive measures that caused them in the first place, like proper diet you will start forming them. At this point they are called liver stones. The stones get trapped in places of the liver and also common bile duct.
I was shocked to find out that a lot of doctors don’t really know where gallstones are really formed. Because gallbladder surgery is such an easy procedures, doctors don’t really learn much about the functions of the gallbladder, prevention and cleansing the gallbladder in school. They only take a crash course. I know this because my nephew is a doctor.
There is a very good article about this here, Gallbladder Pain. Simply goto the article section to an article called “”should I undergo gallbladder surgery”” and it better explains what I just talked about. If your father is still having pains it is probably because his body is forming liver stones. He needs to find a way to dissolve those stones and also change lifestyles for prevention. That is what my husband did and he no longer has pain.
Hope this can help you and your father.”
I’m 25 years old had my gb removed just over a month ago now. I used to be able to drink and drink and drink, never feel ill, or get drunk or anything. Since the removal, every time i try to drink I vomit, I feel like an alcoholic whose taking those pills to make them sick if they drink. I’d rather have the gall bladder episode pain, then vomiting left right and centre. I’m young I want to enjoy it. Some one mentioned ARTICHOKE TABLETS, does anyone know where to get these from?
I had my gallbladder removed back in the 90s as a result of lactose intolerance (lactaze in milk not being digested, so forms gallstones). I now stick to soya milk and the only cheese with very naturally very little lactose, parmesan! But still found you can’t eat everything else you like as doctors say (it doesn’t even sound right, does it?). Too much fat and I am full of painful gas and/ rush to the loo. Sometimes I have pain on right side after a heavy meal. So – my advice, stick to low fat diet, restrict your fried fold, french fries, cakes etc (which are fat loaded) and even gassy drinks, which seem not good for me. If I stick to this, no problems at all, but when other people cook or I eat out, it gets tricky. I carry diahorrea med with me at all times just in case!
I’m sorry to hear about your pain as well. I’m a little fed up myself. I had my gallbladder taken out last December. I’m glad to say that pain is gone but if I’m not constipated I’m constantly having diarrhea. Sunday I started having this pain on the right side below my ribs and around the side of my waist..I have started Gavin pain attacks every time I eat. I went to the er they took a catscan of my organs and found nothing. They sent me home with pain meds and told me to see my regular doc in three days. I woke up Monday in severe pain took a pain med and set up an immediate appointment with my doc. I went in only to leave with no answers and pain meds. The pain was awful so I went back to the doc on Wednesday he said I think it’s intestinal. I had had the worst pain attack Tuesday and decided to take a stoppages er with a mild laxative which helped the constipation. Now today I’m so sore can’t stop the diarrhea. Put myself on a barley diet. I am at my wits end! Why do docs tell u eat whatever want after surgery..seriously! I’m also lactose intolerant allergic to peanuts. Can’t eat meat anymore, spicy foods or anything high in fat and all I want to do is scream! It seems I do really good and then I eat one thing and start from ground zero!
“Reading all these messages about still having gallbladder pain has really made me feel better. I feel like I’ve been to a support group. These are the same exact problems I’ve been having and I’ve had my gallbladder out for 3 years! The pain is absolutely excruiciating. I’ve found that the only relief is throwing up the bile that is in my stomach, but that is dangerous and not the way I want relief. I haven’t been eating like I should, but the thing is, I don’t have pain generally after I eat. It is mostly when I am hungry. If I don’t eat something as soon as I get a hunger pang, the upper stomach pain is too much to handle and I have to go throw up bile! Its not just the pain that bothers me, its the embarassment. Imagine being on a first date and having to excuse yourself to go throw up. (that’s happened to me more than once) I have suffered long enough….this really sucks. Thanks for listening. Oh yeah, and the doctors I’ve seen can’t help me either…
Addie”
“Hi I had my gallbladder removed 17yrs ago, I suffered from this pain for around 10yrs then it disappeared, but low and behold 7yrs later it has now returned, Doctor says I have gastritis caused by bile going straight into the stomach, he has recommended eating 6 small meals a day, but this does not help. Severe pain comes on all at once, in middle of stomach in between my breast bones, and moves over to the left and in the middle of my back only thing that relieves pain for fifteen minutes or so is making myself sick,
I am at a loss now with the pain and will be asking for an endoscopy, how did your test go?”
“IS GALLBLADDER SURGERY EFFECTIVE?
The answer to all of the above is “”sometimes””.
Abdominal pain, nausea, gas, bloating, and diarrhea are common following surgery. Postcholecystectomy syndrome (after gallbladder removal syndrome) may include all of the above symptoms plus indigestion, nausea, vomiting and constant pain in the upper right abdomen.
Sound familiar? You’re right — gallbladder attack symptoms. Up to 40% of people who undergo gallbladder surgery will experience these symptoms for months or years after surgery. How is this possible? You no longer have a gallbladder and that was the problem, right?
Look to the whole biliary tract. Now that the gallbladder is no longer present to act as a reservoir for bile, the common bile duct may expand as the bile backs up in the bile duct between the sphincter or muscular opening at the small intestine and the liver from which it flows. If it drips constantly into the small intestine this can cause problems of a different kind. However, this syndrome with accompanying pain appears to have the flow of bile obstructed by either a narrowing of the sphincter or a malfunction of the sphincter.
“”Functional biliary pain in the absence of gallstone disease is a definite entity and a challenge for clinicians.”” which is to say that at this point in time, they don’t really know what to do with gallbladder problems that aren’t related to gallstones (2) and “”Often, following cholecystectomy, biliary pain does not resolve…”” (2) which means after gallbladder surgery you may just be stuck with the pain.
So in conclusion, your best bet may be to try and fix what is wrong if that is possible, before taking it out. Sometimes, that is just not possible. ”
My stomach looked bloated and pregnant when they found out my gallbladder crystallized. It has been one year since my surgery and like others I have horrible swelling and bloating and even swelling in my legs at times. I watch what I eat and try not to eat any salt. I would ask your Dr. about this if it could be a future issue. If anyone knows how to get rid of this bloating please respond. The Dr. told me he couldn’t find anything and just see if this continues, he said maybe in the future we can run a few more tests. I feel lost not knowing what to do for the bloating and swelling.
i had my gallbladder taken out on april 3rd 2009. i woke up from surgery in more pain than i started with. i ended up staying whole weekend in hospital for a same day procedure…..thhe whole time im ultimate pain i cud barely breathe……or talk……my urine was so brown i really thought i was peeing blood. they send me home on the notion that i had gas and had to get up and move around to get it out and i wud feel better…..i went home and for eleven days with out pain meds grew even more ill……the nurse finally told me to come in after i started crying on the phone……well thats where they discovered bile had been leaking in my this whole time…..i was dying..they pput stint in and sent me homenext day and said bile wud absorb……i looked like i was overdue pregnant……i lost over 20 pounds i am very tiny by this time so u can only imagine how sik i look…….so when i get home i knew something still wasnt right i still was not getting better…..i had to be rushed to er the next night……the stint didnt work!!!!!! i had to have another one put in…….so as of right now i beleive i am no longer leaking but i am still in a lot of pain….my tummy is still big and hard and i have no energy…..i wuud like to know if anyone can help me understand how long recovery is and if anyone can just email me and me be able to talk about my experience as well as theirs……just need some encouragement and to know im not the only one
“Well I see having your Gallbladder out doesn’t really change anything. I had mine out Nov., 2010 and I’m STILL in a lot of pain. It turns out, after the pain got so bad I couldn’t stand up straight, and going to the ER, that my Bile Ducts are infected and twice their size. They thought a stone got caught in the Central Bile Duct, but a CT Scan showed no stones were blocking them. Anything I eat I get sick, I’ve lost 20 lbs since the surgery, and 85 lbs since this whole thing started before the surgery. I’m going in to have a EUS (endoscopy w/ultra sound) in two weeks, but have to have a bunch of tests before that.
Strange thing, before the surgery everyone told me that they had no problems after having their GB removed. Now that I’m having problems, those same people are now saying they too had problems and still are. They said they didn’t want to scare me, WHAT???? I’m in more pain now than when I had my GB!!!
DK”
“Hi,
I had my gallbladder out back in 2005..when I was only 15 years old. The doctor said I was the youngest case he had ever seen, and said I probably started to develop the stones when I was about 11 years old…I got to keep the stones and they are the largest any of the doctors at the hospital had ever seen( roughly the size of half a golf ball..and there were THREE of them) one got stuck in the bile duct and I developed pancriatitis so I went to the emergency room with pain and speant over 9 hours in there with no pain meds and no diagnosis.and after half an hour of being at the emergency room I was completely jaundice.then finally they did an ultrasound and found the stones. after NINE AND A HALF HOURS, after about a year of me thinking that severe pain in my back and ribcage was just my back out(my mom told me it was and thats why I never went to the hospital..only the chiropractor..BIG MISTAKE) The doctor couldn’t figure out why I got them so young..other than a family history of them..my Cholestoral was perfect and I was pretty healthy for being overweight. Now its been four years and for four years I have had to live with having diarrhea at the least twice a day every day,bloating so much it causes pain, and having to rush to the bathroom about 10 minutes after eating something(not everything affects me all the time..one day I could eat really fatty or greasy food and be fine afterwords and the next time have to spend 20 minutes in the bathroom in pain or just sitting somewhere doubled over from the cramps.) Also getting dehydrated so easy..and being tired a lot..I have to admit this is better then the pain my gallbladder was causing, but the doctor did not give me the facts that my life would change so much..for the rest of my life. A lot of people tell me “”oh all you have to do is eat healthier”” and it’s like..how is that going to help when even a lot of so called “”healthy”” food messes with me?…I just wish it wouldn’t have happened to me so young…and now that I live with 6 other girls..and we share two bathrooms I get paranoid constantly that they will hear me in there during one of my episodes…it’s really embarrassing. But I guess I have to live with it because theres no way I am taking more pills..I already have to take two different pills every day for other health problems(including severe allergies and Dermographism…and some syndrome that makes me have the time of the month endlessly(when i was 11 I had it for 4 months with no stopping…I was bleeding to death.. so I have had to be on the pill for about 8 years now.) and benadryl on many occasions. So more drugs would not be in my best interest. I am happy to hear that a few people do not have many or any bad side effects of gallbladder removal..but for those of us who do..at least we know we are not alone.”I have this same problem pain killers all down my right side … my surgery I got a hematoma hit liver and sent home with collapsed lung 500 ml of blood … I have so much pain and yes had done way back in 2007 … i dont think will go away my dr said it is skin tissue but when I am bent over I dont think so pain and lump is big …
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