Ongoing Complications (1000+)

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    i am on this board reading because i have had a lot of the same problems. I read one from George above and have to agree that Food has made the biggest difference for me. I have cut out all pain killers, red meat, oils and dressings, butter, alcohol, all sugar (other than fruit) and of course anything fried. I hope i can reduce my risk of another attack with the food i intake. Another HUGE thing is plenty of water and exercise to keep things moving well. my GI dr. in torrance, CA is great if anyone needs a referral and i have also been going to a Naturopathic dr. as well. I have to believe that what goes into our mouths is what triggers these attacks. i was a big wine drinker and took pain killers often for back pain, when i had the bad attack and think that must have had something to do with it. also, i had been taking antacids….leading up to my big attack and turns out i had no stomach issues. i think once the gallbladder is out, we are forever sensitive to that area being overworked….for our bodies to get rid of the toxins we put into our mouths. Another great tip is the Bragg’s Apple Cider Vinegar, i now drink it about 3 x times a day with meals to help digest my food. i think it works. who knows. Good luck, i know first hand how scary it can be, because no dr.’s seem to realize how normal this problem is, not everyone has IBS in this world! would be great if doctors would learn to figure out the source of the problem and not suggest pills to deal with only the symptoms.

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    i am on this board reading because i have had a lot of the same problems. I read one from George above and have to agree that Food has made the biggest difference for me. I have cut out all pain killers, red meat, oils and dressings, butter, alcohol, all sugar (other than fruit) and of course anything fried. I hope i can reduce my risk of another attack with the food i intake. Another HUGE thing is plenty of water and exercise to keep things moving well. my GI dr. in torrance, CA is great if anyone needs a referral and i have also been going to a Naturopathic dr. as well. I have to believe that what goes into our mouths is what triggers these attacks. i was a big wine drinker and took pain killers often for back pain, when i had the bad attack and think that must have had something to do with it. also, i had been taking antacids….leading up to my big attack and turns out i had no stomach issues. i think once the gallbladder is out, we are forever sensitive to that area being overworked….for our bodies to get rid of the toxins we put into our mouths. Another great tip is the Bragg’s Apple Cider Vinegar, i now drink it about 3 x times a day with meals to help digest my food. i think it works. who knows. Good luck, i know first hand how scary it can be, because no dr.’s seem to realize how normal this problem is, not everyone has IBS in this world! would be great if doctors would learn to figure out the source of the problem and not suggest pills to deal with only the symptoms.

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    PLEASE HELP. i HAD MY GALLBLADDER REMOVED 15 DAYS AGO, AFTER 4 DAYS AFTER REMOVEL i HAD PAIN AND HIGH FEVERS WENT BACK TO ER THEY DID A CT SCAN THEY SAID FOUND 2 INFECTION ONE BEHIND THE LIVER AND OTHER BEHIND THE BELLY BOTTON THEY GAVE ME CEPHALEXIN 500 MG 3 X DAY AND BACTRIM 2000 MG A DAY, STILL SICK FEVERS AND PAIN, WENT BACK TO ER, THEY SAID NOTHING WAS WRONG WITH ME, WENT TO ANOTHER HOSPITAL THEY TOLD ME THEY FOUND BILE BY MY LIVER WHERE THE GALLBLADDER WAS, TOLD ME TO TAKE THE KEFLEX AND I SHOULD GET BETTER, IT HAS BEEN 15 DAYS NOW i AM STILL RUNNING A FEVER OF 101.5 AND PAIN IN MY RIGHT RIB AND SHOULDER AND STOMACH, TELL ME IS THIS NORMAL TO HAVE A FEVER LIKE THIS A SICK FOR 15 DAYS please help

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    Mine is huge. I look ready to give birth. This has been 11 years now. I get bigger and bigger. I was 115 when I had surgery and now I have gotten so big I am 151. I am 5.3 1/2 in and cannot carry this weight. Every test has been done. I have constipation so bad I have to take Fiberall. It started 1 year after my surgery. I had a different procedure a year after the gallbladder surgery and BANG major changes. I have gas pockets now under my left rib. Took pictures and showed my Dr. He just cannot figure it out.

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    “i had mine taken out 2/6/09. i did ok starting out but after 3 weeks, i was miserable. for the last 2 weeks, i’ve been having blood work and ultrasounds. the pain is 10x’s worse than the attacks i was having prior to surgery. the week before surgery, i was in the ER twice. my gallbladder was full of stones and scarring so it had been an issue for a while. i always thought i was having colon attacks til i had one so bad that i ended up in the er. anyway, today is monday and i’ve been in horrible pain since last thursday. my ultrasound results came back today and showed an enlarged common bile duct and a stone. i was told this was fairly rare. my pcp said he couldnt get me in with a gastro until mid april. i came home today and just cried my eyes out. there is NO way i can wait that long. so i did some research online and called around. i told my story to a nurse at a clinic in the town near here. she is working me in this wednesday and said i may get lucky enough to have the ercp done on thursday.

    my advice to you all that are still in pain, do not ignore it and feel free to get a second opinion. you can’t put a price on your health and life. also, as for the bowl problems, i am taking Colestipol. i only take it twice a week (sunday and thursday) otherwise i would be constipated. it is a prescription. and it does help. hopefully that will help some of you.

    i have gone through a bottle of 60 percocets in the last 6 weeks and just got 20 more today…. i feel like i just cant take this anymore. i’m only 29 years old and feel like i’m falling apart thanks to this surgery. mentally and physically, i am just worn out. have any of you needed another surgery after the first one? thanks in advance.”

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    I had the surgery June 2006, and before I had I thought I was going to die…it was so painful, I even developed Hepititus-C (Yellow Jundis); mind I don’t take drugs and I am not a drinker, but something happened to my liver where I was not able to get the GB surgery immediately. Anyway I’m fine, but note this afteer the surgery I was prescribed Protonix (Acid Reflux) and pain medication which I did not take (Vicodine) makes me sick, and was given restrictions on the type of food to eat (Might have to do with the liver problem), maybe you should try because your body has not healed in 14 days…takes about ayear. I lost alot of weight during this time also. After the year you will find that the 3 lumpy scares will have gone down. OK, the food you should be eating right now is low acid/gas contents, scrambled eggs, chicken soups, cranberry juice, tuna, chicken (not fried-yet), no beans (cause gas), and right now everything you eat should be going right through you (A BM almost after each meal)or maybe it’s just my situation, the filtered bile from the liver is stored in the GB sac. I did have some pain too after. The body needs this time to heal itself donot try to resume your normal activities until pain eases up. The food will be a trial and error for you because we re-act to foods differently…diffinitely leave the boiled eggs and beans alone or ask your Doc about Protonix (Acid Reflux reliever). Hope all works out well for you…you’re in God’s favor.

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    I had the surgery June 2006, and before I had I thought I was going to die…it was so painful, I even developed Hepititus-C (Yellow Jundis); mind I don’t take drugs and I am not a drinker, but something happened to my liver where I was not able to get the GB surgery immediately. Anyway I’m fine, but note this afteer the surgery I was prescribed Protonix (Acid Reflux) and pain medication which I did not take (Vicodine) makes me sick, and was given restrictions on the type of food to eat (Might have to do with the liver problem), maybe you should try because your body has not healed in 14 days…takes about ayear. I lost alot of weight during this time also. After the year you will find that the 3 lumpy scares will have gone down. OK, the food you should be eating right now is low acid/gas contents, scrambled eggs, chicken soups, cranberry juice, tuna, chicken (not fried-yet), no beans (cause gas), and right now everything you eat should be going right through you (A BM almost after each meal)or maybe it’s just my situation, the filtered bile from the liver is stored in the GB sac. I did have some pain too after. The body needs this time to heal itself donot try to resume your normal activities until pain eases up. The food will be a trial and error for you because we re-act to foods differently…diffinitely leave the boiled eggs and beans alone or ask your Doc about Protonix (Acid Reflux reliever). Hope all works out well for you…you’re in God’s favor.

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    I had my gall bladder removed in 2001.. My symptoms and discomfort I had prior to the removal did not improve but rather things got worse. I had the horrible not reflux but regurgitation is what I would call it of stomach contents, worse when laying down. I could not digest fat really at all for about a year as I had alot of nausea after eating foods w fat or food of any kind really but mainly fatty foods where my worst. The dr’s dont warn you of this possible complication as it is not with everyone. Alot of people have diarreah after gb removal, I did not. I had digestive issues and bile reflux not acid reflux. It was quite horrible and was sick for a couple of years with digestive problems until finally my body adjusted to the loss of the gb. I ate many small low fat or fat free meals and took reglan (metaclopromide) and also domperidone which I had to obtain out of the usa cause we do not have it over here, it helped alot though. It does get better though I promise, it is real slow getting there. I feel for anyone whom goes through this. Give it at least a year or so and you will gradually see improvements. Good Luck!!

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    “Hi all
    Have come across this thread as a result of continuing my research into my partners upper abdominal pains.

    Today my partner was discharged from Hospital after being admitted on Saturday morning with severe upper abdominal pains (again)

    She had her Gall Bladder removed approx 7 years ago and has been suffering from bouts of pain ever since, varying from mild to extreme (9/10 on a pain scale and so say much worse than child birth).

    She has had many tests over the years to try and diagnose the cause, Xray, MRI Scan, Barium meal, Endoscopy (camera into stomach), endless blood tests but all have come back negative apart from some elevated levels from the liver.

    The symptoms are described as a pain at the front and upper abdomen (just below the sternum)
    It starts off mild and in the extreme case builds up to an intense pain then eases off again.
    Sometimes it will pass on its own before getting to the “”severe”” stage but on four occasions (inc this weekend) the pain has reached the severe stages and doesn’t fade. On all 4 occasions when it has got this bad she has ended up in hospital on morphine to control the pain.
    When the pain reaches its more severe stages it starts to radiate round to her back as well.
    She describes the bad attacks as starting mild, building up to severe and then easing off again. Then the length of time at severe level increases whilst the easing back to mild decreases, leaving her in almost constant severe pain.

    In addition to all the tests that have been done, she has also tried many medications to try and control or eliminate the bouts of pain.
    For the last 18 months or so she has been taking Amitriptyline which is actually an Anti-Depressant that has also been proven to deal with chronic pain among other things [URL=””http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amitriptyline””%5DAmitriptyline – Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia[/URL]

    The Amitriptyline has been working very well so far with no severe outbreaks of pain and only the odd mild outbreak.
    Unfortunately she is not able to take the amitriptyline at the moment due to being 32 weeks pregnant.

    Once the baby is born I want to start investigating the cause of her condition again as we would prefer to deal with the cause instead of her just taking medication for the rest of her life.

    One area that I want the doctors to look at is Sphincter of Oddi Dysfunction as the symptoms of this seem consistant with what my partner has been experiencing. More information of this can be found here: [URL=””http://yourtotalhealth.ivillage.com/sphincter-oddi-dysfunction.html””%5DSphincter of Oddi Dysfunction[/URL]

    There seem to be many people who experience similar problems post gall bladder removal and I have seen first hand on many occasions just how painfull it can be.

    I hope my account is of use to people and wish you luck in trying to find a cure for your problems.”

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    “I had my GB removed last Thursday…my dr told me I could eat whatever I want now. I understood it to mean…trial and error…well, I guess last night I found my first error…OUTBACK! This was the first red meat i’ve eaten and I got a pain that was WORSE than the 3 attacks I had right before my surgery. Doubled over. Couldn’t move. Sweating profusely. High Fever…
    Am I never going to be able to eat meat again?
    Not that I’ll die, but I just don’t want to keep trying if there’s no point.
    I lost over 40 lbs not eating meat…and I finally got myself to a great weight and have been getting into shape…I would hate to think this was all for nothing!
    Please let me know!
    OH – also…prior to the surgery, I hadn’t been eating anything by clear broth and non-fat crackers…so, the attacks started on March 1st(out of the country), I was back in the country on March 4th and in for surgery on March 5th. I’m a 33 yr old female who had a PERFECT gallbladder until 2 months of IV Rocephin for Lyme…I still wonder if I really don’t need my gallbladder!”

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    “My husband had similar issues, turns out he had undiagnosed coeliac disease. I suggest its worth one more blood test to check, when he started to eat gluten free, pain went with it.
    Heunfortunately also got non hodgkins t-cell lymphoma from not having it diagnosed early enough, and had to have chemo and everything for duodenum cancer so its well worth ruling out. He had no symptoms of being coeliac, none at all, and is 61.”

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    I have suffered with extreme bloating and gas with gurgling sounds ALL THE TIME for the past 8 years or so. It is embarrassing and annoying. I have pain in my abdomen off and on. And my stomach is always swollen. A recent blood test indicated elevated levels of something or other that my Dr. said indicates pancreatitis. I also have a hiatal hernia – does this contribute to the bloating?? Who knows. I am scheduled for an UltraSound to verify the presence of gallstones and my Dr. said we would then remove my GB. After reading all of these posts it appears that the symptoms everyone gets AFTER the surgery is exactly what I have now. Before reading these I had hope for a pleasant future without gas/bloating & pain but it seems to me that the majority of you continue to struggle. I know that I am tired a lot more and that I cannot lose weight no matter how hard I exercise (1.5 hrs perday and 4-6 days per week) and I eat very healthy – I track EVERYTHING I put in my mouth – but if the symptoms continue after the surgery then there is no point. I have tried probiotics in the past that seem to calm the symptoms. I would much rather take a natural remedy internally everyday than to have permanent damage caused by the removal of the GB. Thank you to everyone for helping me “see the light”

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    I had emergency surgery 3 weeks ago to have my gallbladder out also.. I went tO my post-op yesterday and explained to the Dr. about Itching and diarreah. He said to take metamucil, a few tablets before each meal or follow the directions on the bottle. I bought some yesterday and am pleased to report a huge notice in the itching, and that’s only after 10 capsules. I also take clacium for the diarreah and it helps too. I have had people tell me Questran helps them, but I wanted to try non-rx first. I weighed roughly 116lbs when I went into surgery and I now weigh 104, so I can’t afford to lose any more weight. I have started ensure and eat a lot of yogurt, brown rice and toast with a little peanut butter on it. I know its rough but hang in there and I hope metamucil will work for you….it binds the bile, make sure you drink plenty of water or you won’t feel so great being constipated. You no longer will have bile in your stomach because the liver, unlike the gallbladder which just stored it and released it as needed, your liver allows it to constantly flow into your intestines. Good luck and post back how your doing!

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    “Thank you everyone for your information, I had my gallbladder out 3 months ago now. I had to return three times to emergency in severe agony with a very sharp and throbbing pain in my right side under the ribs. My surgeon and his team did every test they could think of and while still in pain sent me home saying there was nothing wrong with me. Max dosages of morphine did nothing for the pain, I spent days in hospital, everyone avoided me as there seemed to be nothing that could be done.
    I went home with packets of morphine, but then the pharmacist said try Buscapan which is an antispasmodic, this helped, I went back to my own doctor and he gave me valium as well. If I can catch it in time, the Buscapan works, but if not I have to take some valium also. This controls it and I am hoping that the nerve and spasming will settle in time. Hope this can help someone else.
    Kate :-)”

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    “Hi,

    I just stumbled across your message.I myself have had myGalbladder removed over 9 months ago. I to am still having the same trouble. I have tried everything to help but nothing does. I went to the Doctor yesterday and he told me that some people have to live with this the rest of their life. Needless to say I was not happy about this. Can I ask you a question? Do you have severe pain right after your food goes down and the diahrrea shortly after? And for me It doesn’t matter what I eat it still does it! I am half afraid to go out any where because you know what is going to happen. Anyway I hope yours goes away in time, some people don’t have many problems afterward and then some do. I would just try to give it some more time.Take care!TINA

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