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Ongoing Complications (1000+)
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“I had my gallbladder out about a year ago. I had the same type of things after the surgery where my stomach felt big and ever since I have had terrible gas issues. My doctor recommended a low fat diet before I even had the surgery for afterword, which for me was no big deal because I already was following one, the problem was when I ventured off it. I think the triggers are different for different people, but for sure it is when you eat fats, that is what the gallbladder does is breaks down fats, there are different types of fats and you may have problems with one or more of them or all. It may not be the daily itself, the daily product just may be high in fat where a low fat or fat free dairy product may not cause a problem.. I have a problem with animal fats but do fine with fats from nuts, oils, even deep fried foods as long as the meat portion is lean I do ok with. Even now with my gallbladder out if I go off that diet I will get pain if I eat meats that are not lean. The pains are not like they were before the surgery where I am doubled over with on the scale of 1 to 10 I am at 11, but for sure I am uncofortable, and for a couple days sometimes afterword, and I have a gerneral blahh feeling as well. For me what seems to help more then anything, and this actually helped some before the surergy too, is when I am feeling like that, eating fruits for some reason makes me feeel better, escpecially melons. Sounds silly, but for me that is what tends to help my particular body. Do you think your belly feels so big because you are gassy? You could try taking Gas X or something simular. I hope you are feeling better soon, I would try to follow a low fat diet with plenty of fruits and veggies. The other thing to do is to check with your doctor, it could be that you are having a complication.
Kelly”
“DIAGNOSIS SUGGESTION. After 12 years of attacks of RUQ pain, I think I have finally found a diagnosis! I want to share it, in hopes that it helps someone else. If you have pain and you recently had your gallbladder removed, or if you had a Hida Scan (gallbladder fuctionality test) and the test caused the same RUQ pain, or if you have undiagnosed RUQ pain at all, you should at least look at the Sphincter of Oddi (SOD) dysfunction. The SOD is the muscle that controls the release of bile from your bile ducts and pancreas. The dysfunction causes severe colicky RUQ or sternum pain like a kidney stone, it can cause increased liver and pancreatic values (but often does not, mine has not in 12 years, or like with gallbladder issues, the elevated values may not show up until days or even weeks after the attach), vomiting, nausea, etc. My pain generally is focused directly under the right ribs, but sometimes radiates to the center of my sternum and my back. I had my first attack in 1999. Since then, I’ve been given over 40 diagnoses, and undergone multiple procedures and nearly a dozen surgeries!
I saw a Mystery Diagnosis show on SOD dysfunction over a year ago and thought, “”No, that can’t be what I have because I’m not as sick as the patient on the show.”” Well, I wasn’t then, but after 12 years, the attacks got really bad after I had my gallbladder removed, and I finally developed some other symptoms of SOD dysfunction – certain foods, especially greasy, high fat foods can trigger an attack (literally, a bite of greasy food can cause a pain like an ice pick through your ribs, but the next bite of something not greasy is fine); vomiting (finally, though I’ve nausea and diarrhea for years, I had to puke before it became a real symptom), and low grade fever. After being admitted to the hospital for dehydration and malnutrition because the latest attack left me unable to eat or drink for several days, I still had to insist that the doctors keep me in the hospital when I was rehydrated to try to find the cause of the problem or otherwise, I’d have ended up right back there again since I still couldn’t eat. Luckily, I caught my gastroenterologist on rounds at the hospital before he was real awake that morning. (He’s the best in town, but his favorite answer to a suggested diagnosis is “”Oh, you don’t want to go down that road – if that’s what it is…the treatments are terrible or it just means it could be a number of things or well, that might be it, but let’s not test for it, let’s just try more drugs). However, I just hit him with the question first thing – I said “”I looked at the symptoms for SOD dysfunction and it sounds a lot like this…what do you think?”” He replied “”Oh, you have classic SOD dysfunction symptoms….”” Then he caught himself and added that the treatments are dangerous – they can cause pancreatitis, but doesn’t say you can get it if you don’t treat it! He then goes on to recommend that I see a neurologist for chronic pain treatment (i.e., drugs), when I’m having an attack that could be causing damage to my pancreas and liver! He also neglects to mention that SOD dysfunction can be tested for by having a pain management doctor or neurologist inject lidocaine into the muscle to numb it. If it works, they can also do injections regularly to keep the muscle relaxed, or if that fails, there are procedures for cutting the muscle but some of these techniques are still being studied for long-term effects. There are several studies going on right now at various medical schools around the country, so SOD dysfuction seems to be a relatively new diagnosis. That said, anyone who’s pain got worse after gallbladder surgery should definitely check into this disorder, and if you have RUQ pain, at least look it up on the Internet.
I’m hoping to get the injection into the SOD muscle this week and will provide an update on whether this works. Thanks to everyone for their posts – it really made me feel better knowing I wasn’t the only one with this pain, but I feel awful that so many are suffering through this too! Please let all of us here know what your final diagnosis is, when you get one, so others can know what else to ask their doctors. I am so tired of doctors telling us not to look up our symptoms on the Internet also. We should be knowledgeable about our treatments, conditions, alternative diagnoses! If I had accepted any of the diagnoses prior to this one, who knows how sick I’d be by now? With this condition, I’ve been diagnosed with everything from interstitial cystitis, IBS, endometriosis and scar tissue to “”something Western medicine cannot cure.””
Also, would everyone please tell their worst diagnosis ever? And your worst experience with a doctor (don’t name names)? I think it would help me (and hopefully others) to know if doctors are as condescending and awful as they are with me! If I ask a question, I’m “”doubting”” them or questioning their judgment (anyone does that to you, find another doctor). I’m also working on putting together some information for a letter to send to the doctors and hospitals that didn’t diagnose me properly and would love to know if everyone’s comments would be the same as mine. I plan on copying the appropriate medical boards on these letters to see if they’ll at least address the issue of patients like us by insisting that doctors take more continuing education courses or something!
You are all in my prayers! May each of us find a diagnosis and live a pain-free life again! In the meantime, may we all do our part to make getting a diagnosis easier for the next person, who could be our father, mother, child, sister, brother…. ”
“Well I can empathise with you on this score- I had my gal bladder removed 14 th oct 13 …. And I had stopped any drink since 28 th sept in preparation and fact that I’d felt so ill for so long…..and 4 days ago had my first drink….having tried to WANT To have a drink and failed miserably several times before this……well……NEVER AGAIN Have been my resounding words……. Worse than a gal attack…felt sick, motion sick, whilst stationary….and diddent even enjoy while was trying to have fun and a drink….this by the way is WAY. Out of character and I did enjoy a glass of wine or two and loved my dark beers…….
Still having internal pain and feel a fraud for such and the eating still diff…..and nothing normal has really resumed as far as what I feel I can try and eat…..don’t get me wrong it’s a joy not to have the pain in my upper back etc and was under no illusions I could resume eating for England ….but getting advice and direction is very hot and miss and not quite sure what to believe and try…… Hey ho…….bring on crimbo- NOT……..”hi I have exactly the same symptoms . Ive had my gb removed early 2011 and woke up with an extra scar and remebering waking during the surger . The surgeon never mentioned any of these things . Ive also lost at least 20 pounds . Ive been hospitalized 4 times with sever side and back pain . Its terrible and like you ive also tried every anti depressant or anti epileptic drug on the market and im quite sick of the pain. Ive only been to one hospital for treatment . The same hospital that I had the surgery in. I changed primary care doctors and am with a whole new group of doctors and hospital. Two visits they had no doubt it was nerve injury caused by the gb removal. Ive been refered to a neurologist who has to perform a nerve conduction to verify exactly which nerve has been damaged . The dx is THORACIC NEURITIS. ITs something for an entire group of doctors to tell me that “i need to see a pschaitrist ” “the pain is in my head” and treat me like im an addict looking for pain meds. ALL I EVER WANTED WAS A DX AND PROPER MEDICAL CARE. when I have proof of the nerve damage as they suspect it will be lawyer time. IM sick of not being able to do the most simple things like hold myself up , exercise or just walk around like a normal person. THE PAIN CAN BE EXTREME to the point of tears. MY husband has to rub my side and back every night with icy hot . I Take anxiety meds, anti depressants and now narcotics . I could not tolerate lyric ,gabapentin,venlafaxin, wellbutrin, I took ibuprofen 800 mg as prescribed then was dx with gasteritis . Its a no win situation. YOU ARE NOT ALONE . I feel the pain all day everyday . Never goes away …just some days are a little easier to make it through than others. GOOD LUCK TO YOU
Hi my name is Jodi. There’s somethings that all Doctors do. They FORGET to tell you everything until your hospitalized for it. When they remove the Gallbladder it causes the Liver to give off more bile into our stomach. Which is maybe why some people have a nausea feeling right after eating or drinking anything. For my investigation to help me understand the gallbladder to help understand Acid Reflux, to Diverticultis, GERD, and Gastropareisis. I’ve learned some by research and a lot from my doctors have screwed up on and it’s bad when you have to go to your pets vet and ask them for amount of their time and explain this or that. THAT’S Bad. Feel Free to reply to me. Other wise I hope this gives you somewhere to start your reseach to help you and others out there with these conditions. Any comment is better then no comment; because it could be that clue of where to start to get your answer(s). Thank you for your time and I hope things are better. Happy Holidays to you and yours. Jodi
Hello! I had my gall bladder out last august. I haven’t had diarrhea, but have had softer stool, and painful cramps when i have a bm. However, I have found that specific things trigger these. Caffeine and spicy foods send me into painful cramping. It’s a pain. But now that I’m pregnant with my second child, I suppose the lack of caffeine is good.
Hello! I had my gall bladder out last august. I haven’t had diarrhea, but have had softer stool, and painful cramps when i have a bm. However, I have found that specific things trigger these. Caffeine and spicy foods send me into painful cramping. It’s a pain. But now that I’m pregnant with my second child, I suppose the lack of caffeine is good.
well…I had my gallbladder out in August of 2003 and I am still having terrible pains. A week after my surgery I ended up at emerg for severe pains, nausea and chills. I was scheduled top return to work in a week…the 4th time I was at emerg. they found out I had jaundice and my liver and kidneys were shutting down. I still feel the same or worse but all the bloodwork and scopes and ultra sounds come back showing nothing. I was at the doctors again today and he prescribed an anti depressant and some pain killers…the pain killers were at my request since its the only way to get through some days. I gained about 15-20 pounds in the first month after surgery but not any since yet I keep going up in sizes because I can’t stand to wear anything that is remotely tight….I am completely frustrated and fed up with all the doctors and afraid to try the flushes becuse of IBS and very sensitive stomach.
I am adding my name to the list of those with post cholestectomy pain. I had my gallbladder removed in 1986 and have had recurring “ghost gallbladder” pain off and on ever since. I’ve had endoscopy done and liver enzymes blood work which from time to time show elevation but no cause found. I wonder about stones being in the duct? Also often after this pain I will notice a change in the color of stool from normal to very light in color. Is this not an indicator of a stone? The pain generally begins in the right midsection and radiates to the right back and up the neck and jaw. It feels like a gripping, grinding pain that travels sometimes from right to left deep within. I generally just remain very still until it passes. There seems to be no one thing which precedes the pain as a causitive. Don’t know what good this forum is when the doctors don’t seem to know the cause or to even be concerned. I’ve been told that it was “nothing” and “it is your heart” and was put on a medicine for angina which didn’t do a thing. Had stress test done….no problem found. But the pain still recurs and I shudder when the now familiar pressure begins.
“My wife is in the same boat. After giving birth to twins, she had gallbladder problems & had to have it removed. They described it as ‘sand’ in the gallbladder.
Now, 4 years later she started having massive pain on her right side/abdomen area. She is a constant pain level 6, but eating *anything* causes it to spike up to 10. Sometimes she has attacks even without eating. She describes the pain as exactly the same as right before they pulled her gallbladder.
Many ER visits and 1 hospital stay resulted in…well, nothing at all. Every test as the rest of you describe were all negative. I did reading on the web leading me to SoD, but didn’t mention it to any doctors.
She saw an entire team of GI’s, with the end result being 95% probably that she had SoD – but the GI would not do anything about it. He referred her on to a Doctor at Jackson Hospital (at the University of Miami). We had to get records to the doctor & wait, but finally saw him.
After reviewing her case, he’s going to do the surgery & cut the muscle (and check for anything the tests might have missed) – that’s next week. In addition to the potential for complications, my real concern is that this does nothing to help the pain.
She’s lost 30 or so pounds in 3 months, and I’m very scared that if this doesn’t work the next step will be.. nothing. The doctor briefly mentioned the possibility of simply learning to live with it.
It does seem weird in this day & age that there are still problems people can have that not only have no cure – but have no diagnosis either. Not to belittle some other incurable things, but at least they can be diagnosed if not cured. This feels worse since no one really seems to know what the cause is.”
Iam the same as everyone esle had my gallbadder out 3yrs ago and have suffered ever since with feeling sick all the time and to on the toielt My gallbadder was full to the top when i had mine removed The DRS told me when i leavet the hospitial no speacil diet lol that was a joke well let me tell ya something if you wernt meant to have a gallbadder you wouldnt be born with one id give anything to have mine back it has only made my health worse since its been removed B12 injections every month cause i store iron cause iam on the toielt all the time back pain feeling tierd all the time and the list goes on
“After reading all the above posts I feel better that I’m not the only one with problems. I had my gallbladder out a year and a half ago and at first all was fine. And then the diarrheahit. I’ve had it a few times and I noticed I can’t eat deep-fried fish and chips anymore. Luckily I can still enjoy my milk, but I think I might have to cut down a bit on that. And highly fatty meats makes me feel ill.
My problem was that a lot of times my diarrhea hit the same time as general stomach bugs were making the rounds, so I don’t know if I’m just more susceptible to those than before or if I just have horrible timing.
I have phantom pains in my side too, like the gallbladder is still in there and acting up. Now that is truly creepy on a whole new level!
I try to eat as healthy as I can. I try to get my fruits and veg in and keep it low-fat and keep the caffein low, but I still have problems. Are there any fruits that I should perhaps avoid? Does watermelon give anyone problems?
I guess it will just take some trial and error to figure out what I need to avoid and what I can eat.”
I have had my gall bladder out now for 3 months and I still have pain that starts under my right rib cage, then radiates to my back. My stomach swells up so bad and the pain is comparable to what I think a heart attack would feel like! I mean, doubled-over and crying, while having trouble breathing, until it subsides, which is anywhere from 20 min to an hour! I have had 2 c-sections and this hurts WAY WORSE!! I take Prilosec every day and have lost 21 lbs since my surgery, but this on-going problem is TERRIBLE and I don’t know what to do about it!! Does anyone have a solution? TKS!
“hello all,
seems like many people are experiencing issues post gallbladder removal. Mine was removed about 1 1/2 yrs. ago (I wasn’t informed by my surgeon either bprior to or after surgery of my liver. Since that time i have to be close to a bathroom after any meal, as I sometimes have to run to the bathroom anywhere from 5-20 minutes after eating. About two months ago, I started with daily, very painful, lower absominal cramping that would not subside, even after going to the bathroom. I’ve had lower-mid back pain as well since the surgery. Certain foods do seem to irritate the cramping and need to go to the bathroom, but the foods that irritate do not always irritate.
I’ve had ultrasound, ct scan, colonoscopy, various culture samples and only have come back with some unidentified fluid in the small intestine and some mild thickening of the ascending colon. Docs say could be beginning of crohn’s disease, diverticulitis or some type of colitis. They don’t think it is IBS because I don’t get relief after going to the bathroom.
It is very frustrating, interferes with the quality of your life, interferes with your daily activities,etc.
I’ve seen some reports that say seeds and nuts used to be believed to irritate the digestive system, now have seen newer reports that there is no real research to support it.
Anyway, wanted to share my experience as well as everyone’s dilemma with what to do and how to live a better life with these symptoms.
Thanks ;)”
I have always been thin. But since I had gb and hundreds of stones removed, tears and leaks repaired and some bile ducts partially removed I have put on 55 pounds over 2.5 years. Totally unlike me. I am over fifty. Not a typical problem for me. I have a slim body type and a fast metabolism. It changed my system. I see everyone’s posts and I think some of those who don’t have this problem don’t understand that it really does change your system for those who do understand and are offering suggestions, I am thankful. It is baffling. I have totally changed my diet. Not that I needed to that much. I’ve always eaten pretty well. Also, being over 50 or my age slows the metabolism as well. I guess I’m just sharing a little empathy.
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