Ongoing Complications (1000+)

[DataCurator]

My wife had her GB removed 4 weeks ago at first any fat would cause diarrhea but now she is getting constipated which she has had that for years. I was hoping the GB removal would fix it she had it removed because it caused paid for 3 years they kept saying it was acid reflux but after a few times we found it was after she ate fatty foods her GI orded a hida scan it was 35%. They said she had no stones and it was up to us to have it out or not. She couldn’t wear a bra all day it would cause pain and she had to pull on the front all the time and contort her body. When the surgen pulled the GB out she told us it was full of black bile which she said was a good thing because that black bile was a sign that the GB was causing the issue. Now she complains that her breath is bad and her teeth feel dirty eventhough she is brushing 3-4 times a day. She says her body oder is stronger now I don’t notice anything maybe her body just adjusting to not having a GB. This last week she has been doing better still has to watch out for fatty foods but thats okay less fat is better.

[DataCurator]

I am delighted I found this sight as I was curious if anyone out there has experienced abnormal weight gain after gallbladder surgery – without altering your diet from befor the surgery.

[DataCurator]

hello i just wanted to thank u for writing that! b4 i came to this site today i thought i was alone, the doctors here act like they have no clue and i struggle with this every single day much like u said that hunger pain in the morning is the hardest for me, but i in no way can get anything down but a sip of water to swollow pain meds and then sit wit a heating pad and pray to jesus for the pain to stop, i hope u dnt mind but i just wanted to ask does pain meds help u? i feel terrified that i will need these for the rest of my life?? and the doctors have put me threw hell about them but i dnt know any other way to make then pain stop or atleast livable..ive tried everything i can think of super hot showers forcesing myself to drink water or like some crackers which only mkes it worse? sorry to bug u with this but it seems like u know alot about it and i feel helpless.. one last questions plz do u think all this pain means there is somthing really wrong inside our bodys? thank u very much for ur time and i really hope u feel better!!!

[DataCurator]

It was comforting to hear everybodies experiences as I to have just started to recover from my Gallstone Lap Surgery. I had a drain inserted during op but still developed leakage due to blockage of drain resulting in the most excrutiating pain I have ever felt. In one day post op I developed Pancreatitis, Fever, Uncontrolable vomiting, had stent put in 1 day post op which lead to the discovery of further damage to my right lung & diaphram which really made it impossible to breath thank god for Morphine or would quite happily wished for death. I too have to return in 7 weeks to have a stent removed & am suffering anxiety incase something else goes wrong. Good luck to you all & thanks again for sharing it has helped because I don’t think people who haven’t experienced this can fully understand the frustration & pain it causes.

[DataCurator]

Had my gb taken out August 2011. Was fine for 5 weeks. Started having constant diarrhea, bloating, shooting pain in my right ribcage area and back pain on the right side.Feels like im having a gb attack,but with no gb. Went to my GI few months later he put me on Dicyclomine 20mg. Said it would help with the “spasms” and dirrhea. So far If I am taking my medicine on a regular basis It takes the pain away.Does not help with diarrhea tho. If I stop taking it for a week or a little more the symptoms come back. The gi thinks I am having mucsle spasms due to the surgery and that I have ibs. My acid reflux recently came back so he now has me on protonix as well. Still getting really bad gas tho in my chest. Just wish all this would go away for good.

[DataCurator]

Hi I had my gall bladder removed in March 2008, after spending a year living with attacks, which my doctors told me were panic attacks, I was put on anti depressants which did not do a thing and was told to take Xanax when i have an attack which did nothing. I landed up at the doctors just before easter and he put me in hospital, had an endless batch of blood tests done, my liver enzymes were way out about 222, and had slush in my gall bladder. Had it removed and was doing fine, but still have loose stools, dr put me on a stomach nerves tablet dopeth to stop the rush which does help but I still get mild attacks of nausea and diareaha i have been watching my diet and taking a daily vitamin / vitamin c and Omega,. I would like to know if anybody is having an success with the Quertin (I think that is what it is called). I am sick of feeling sick and have two boys to run around after and it is really getting me down. I have very little appetite and only eat because I have to, I get the shakes sometimes and feel feverish but do not have a temperature and feel muscles fatigue in my arms and legs, this sometimes lasts a few hours and other times a few days. Can anybody give any advise? Thanks

[DataCurator]

I had my gallbladder removed last April. After I had it removed I continued having pain…the same as before I had it removed. I have had 2 CT-scans and everything is normal. I have been referred to a gastro and will be going next month. I wish I would have left my gallbladder alone.

[DataCurator]

i had my gallbladder removed 5 years ago and i know all about the fatty foods, the grease, the stress , but somtimes, it wouldnt bother me, but then out of now were , in the last few months i get these violent attacks. Somtimes they happen in the middle of a bowel movement . at the beggining or at the end of one…. sometimes the food dosent even digest and stomach acid along with broken up feces comes out ….also just before these attacks happen my kidneys hurt until it travels through my bowels…..the really bad ones make my anal area feel like im turning inside out ……i found a stringy film yesterday in the toilet after one of my attacks….chroans runs in my family aswell as diverticulitus…im going to set up a colonoscopy soon but i fear for the worst…seems that here latley no matter what i eat after a few days i have an attack and they happen more frequently…..i was 29 when the gall bladder was removed but ive always had stomach problems…im not sure what i have?

[DataCurator]

“Congrats to those that have had GB removal with no problems.

I had mine taken out in August of 2008. Afterward I felt great for a while since the constant pain was gone, but then started to have a lot of acid reflux and frequent burning stomach pains and diarrhea. My doctor put me on a generic Zantac 300mg that I take every night before I go to bed, and another medication called Colestid which is a large white pill that absorbs the bile that is just sitting in the small intestine all day. I started off having to take 2 pills 3 times a day but now I just take 1 pill in the morning and 1 at night and my stomach has been working better than ever before.

My only problems now are that I still get pains every now and then where my gall bladder used to be – sometimes all the way down the right side of my belly button to my inner thigh leading me to believe that my appendix is going to go out on me. But then it does away and there’s no problem, so who knows. My biggest concern is that since I recovered from the surgery and have gotten my stomach issues straightened out, my stomach has done nothing but get bigger. I have gained weight ONLY in my abdominal area for the last year. I’m 5’8 and am currently 173lbs and it looks like I’m 6 months pregnant. It’s affected my posture even, which has been rough lately because I also have 2 herniated discs in my back (one thoracic and one lumbar) and the extra weight sticking out is pulling on both. Before I found out about the disc problems, I tried all kinds of different things but had no luck. It’s like my body forgot how to digest things and just packs on fat to burn later for energy. I have really lowered my sugar intake to just natural fruits and the occasional soda/beer. I’ve also gone to eating a lot of chicken, vegetables, lean beef, and other healthy foods. I eat organic egg whites for breakfast instead of cereal. I’ve been eating better than I ever have in my life, and before my back problems took me away from working out, I was 45 days into the “”P90X”” workout program and had felt stronger than ever, but my gut just continued to grow. It’s unbearably frustrating. I have always been so skinny it’s been tough trying different things to eat right and maintain a healthy weight. I can’t afford to pay cash for cosmetic surgery or I would definitely do it just to give my body a head start so when my back is healed I can get back to working out and hopefully keep the weight off. Any suggestions? ”

[DataCurator]

“just my opinion. i have had alot of back problems also. sometimes if i do get lucky enough to be right around regular then my back does start hurting me. and it is normally on the left side for me. some days i can actually almost outline my colon it is so bad. i had my gallbladder out about seven years ago and i have been living a nightmare every since. i take meds anytime i get ready to eat but it doesnt always help. just sometimes.

I am having problems on my left side since and when I eat anything I end up in the bathroom. Now I feel a large mass on the left side as well and it becomes knotted up and hard at times. Anyone else experience this and can it be fixed.”

[DataCurator]

Hi – I had my gallbladder removed in May due to a polyp. All went well, feel great now and pain-free BUT I’m putting on weight like never before! Can’t understand why – continue to eat a healthy diet as always and have even joined a gym, going every other day. Still the weight creeps up, now 6lbs more. I’m still a healthy weight for my height, but hate this constant gaining.

[DataCurator]

I’ve been reading these boards for months, but this is the first time I’ve ever joined or posted. Have had digestive problems for years, starting with (my own fault) anorexia nervosa in 1979 at the age of 16. Anyway, last August I became sick with diarrhea in one night. Horribly sick. I went to urgent care after about five days. They said it was the stomach flu and to drink Gatorade. It didn’t get better. I could make this very long, but to sum it up, I saw eight doctors and a naturopathic doctor. Nobody had a clue what was wrong. One even put in my chart that it was in my head. Had a colonoscopy, lots of blood work and four sets of stool samples. I asked every one of them if it could be my gallbladder and every one of them said no, until the eighth doctor. She sent me for a Hida Scan and I had a 12% ejection fraction. Had my gallbladder out in January and have been more sick since the surgery than before it. Incapacitating diarrhea and dizziness, nausea, but only have vomited once (green), terribly bitter taste, pain where the gallbladder was and basically the same thing that most of you have written about, including the depression. An endoscopy revealed a hiatal hernia and gastritis. There is no doubt that my gallbladder was bad, but I don’t believe it led to the illness that began that night. I had eaten some bacon that was out of date, but was frozen and I thought it would be ok. Stupid move. I never do things like that and I know in my heart that was what did it. I believe that I probably had H. pylori, which cannot be detected through stool samples. I think that my body rid itself of the bacteria, but left me with gastritis. Wish I wouldn’t have had my gallbladder out, but can’t change it. I take six Welchol tablets a day. Anyway, through a lot of research on the web I found “Bentonite Clay”. I would highly recommend all of you Google it. It has been used for thousands of years for healing. The clay absorbs the bile in your stomach. I buy it at a health food store and you can either get liquid or powder. I buy the liquid for the simplicity of it and it doesn’t taste bad at all. A very large bottle runs about $20. I was going through a large bottle of Pepto-Bismol every six days, a small bottle of Maalox a week and a lot of Imodium. I’m pretty much off of all of that now, with the Welchol and the Bentonite Clay. I take apple pectin and lactobacillus acidophilus also. My gastroenterologist had put me on a PPI, but through these boards I realize that I do not have acid reflux, but bile reflux so I have stopped it. I believe that healing comes from God and I know that He has heard me and will heal me in His timing. Until then the Welchol and Clay have helped me tremendously

[DataCurator]

I also had the laproscopic gallbladder surgery 12 years ago.I have had symptoms off and on of nausea,pain,enormous bloating and yellow loose bowel motions with little warning.Trying to see what foods make it worse as dont want any more surgery as it is complicated Drs have said.No tests have shown anything abnormal but mild elevated liver tests.Dr wants me to have cholesterol meds with side effects the same.Pray for some breakthrough for all.

[DataCurator]

I had gall bladder surgery 2 and a half years ago. My stomach felt big for a long time. It took a month or so for it to feel back to normal. Also, there is no longer a place to store the bile from your liver. It used to slowly go into the stomach from the gall bladder and then digest. Now it is sent directly through the duct into the stomach so the more fat you eat the more is released. Try to eat things without fat for awhile until your body gets used to it, and don’t eat a lot at a time. Do not starve yourself or you will never adjust. If you continue to have problems there may be a blockage in the bile duct and you may want to have that checked. Ask your doctor about a medicine they have to help the stomach until you adjust.. After a a few months I felt back to normal and after a year I could eat anything. It gets progressively better.

[DataCurator]

“Hiya
I am in exactly the same position as you, within minutes of me eating, and sometimes even while eating, I need the toilet. I won’t eat out anymore, I don’t eat breakfast as I panic that I will need the toilet on the way to work on the bus.
I had mine removed in 2007 and I really wish I researched it, we went on holiday to Spain last year and I could not sample any of the lovely food and could only eat in the hotel cause I knew there was a toilet near.
I was on that orange powder stuff you mix with orange juice (sorry cannot remember the name) but it did not help me. I take 8 imodium a day and even they don’t help most of the time.
A few of my biggest no no’s are lettuce, any dairy and burgers.”