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I don’t know why you people do no read all of the posts on here. I have posted several times. Have your doctor write you a script for cholestyramine powder (generic orange flavor) . This comes in a round can, loose powder form. I take half a scoop each morning with my orange juice and that is the end of it. Those whining about constipation,,,change your dossage to what works for you. I never have a problem and eat whatever I want. A secondary benefit fromn this is lower cholesterol.
I had mine removed almost 2 years ago and I still have pain Sometimes severe, but I always have some kind of pain going on in my stomach area chest lower abdomin up into back towards the right shoulder, stomach just hurts al the time.I was told pains would go away and my body would learn that the gallbladder is no longer there.I can’t eat as much as i did before the surgery, but feel full and bloated all the time this sucks.It makes me worry all the time that something else is going on, I have had several panic attacks since my surgery, I have been back to the doctors and they have ran all the tests and say every thing checks out normal.They make feel like I’m nuts or something.
My gallstones were asymptomatic and were found by accident during an ultrasound for another reason. I was told to leave them alone until 5 years later, when I started experiencing painful abdominal bloating and a GI recommended I have my GB removed. No tests of any kind were done to determine if the bloating was caused by anything else. I had my GB removed almost a year ago. Since then the bloating has continued and, in addition, I have terrible pain in my upper right quadrant just under my ribcage, especially after I eat. My doctor has admitted to me that having my GB out was a mistake. Tired of feeling poorly, I sought the opinion of another GI who diagnosed me with celiac disease. After total elimination of gluten from my diet, I still experienced the same painful bloating. I eventually determined on my own that I was allergic to carrageenan, a food additive, which is found in many dairy products and salad dressings. MSG is another culprit. Because of my celiac disease, I have many food sensitivities. If only my first GI had done a simple blood test to check for celiac, I would not have had my gallbladder removed. I recently found a new doctor, a holistic MD, who does not recommend having your GB removed unless it is absolutely necessary! Anyone contemplating having your GB removed, I urge you to get a 2nd and perhaps even a 3rd opinion from a holistic physician who has other ideas of how to treat gallbladder pain. If I could turn back the hands of time and reverse my GB surgery I would. I was in great health before my surgery and now I feel awful most days. I have found that eating a low-fat diet and taking a digestive enzyme and Cholacol help to relieve the pain somewhat.
This sounds like my case a bit too…I first had server upper-right abdominal pain in 2004 where I was rushed to the ER. After some tests they diagnosed this as a kidney infection and gave me some medicine. The second attack came in early November 2008, once again I was on my way to the ER. They tested me for kidney stones, I have none. I had the pain again in late November, back to the ER. This time they did a CT scan and ultrasound and found 2-3 small gall stones. They said I was having ‘gall attacks’ caused by these stones. I had my gall bladder removed laproscopically in December of 2008, and the pain in my upper-right abodmin has not gone away. The pain has actually been occuring even more. I have already had two of these attacks with discomfort on a daily basis. The pain is so intense it brings me to my knees, I have even passed out once due to the pain. I usually get the pain in the mornings and after eatting greasy foods.In the past 2 weeks, I have been to the doctor 4 times and had blood work, ultrasound, x-rays and an MRI done. All of these came back normal. Now they are suspecting me for Celiac Disease, and I am going in for more tests shortly. If this is true, goodbye wheat. Did I mention that I already have severe food allergies to soy, milk and peanuts…I need to fix this pain because it is ruining my life… oh yea, I am only 25.
“Hi! I had my gallbladder out in 2004 and experienced bloating and pain and daily diarreah for the first 3 years. Then I decided to lose weight and changed my eating habits. I haven’t had to cut out fiber in fact I super fiber myself. I consistently get 50 grams of fiber daily. The bloat and gasiness from beans is sometimes painful but nowhere near as painful as in the past. As for fat, that still gets me. I switched to a mostly lowfat diet and no longer deal with what I used to call “”the 15 minute rule””. Before I went lower fat I inevitably would have to run to the bathroom within 15 minutes of eating. It was embarrassing. No eating in the car on roadtrips.
The change didn’t happen over night, once I switched to high fiber and lower fat, it took about 4 maybe 5 months for my body to adjust and now I am regular and only get the “”15 minute rule”” when I eat something especially fatty, like deep fried most anything.
”“Hi! I had my gallbladder out in 2004 and experienced bloating and pain and daily diarreah for the first 3 years. Then I decided to lose weight and changed my eating habits. I haven’t had to cut out fiber in fact I super fiber myself. I consistently get 50 grams of fiber daily. The bloat and gasiness from beans is sometimes painful but nowhere near as painful as in the past. As for fat, that still gets me. I switched to a mostly lowfat diet and no longer deal with what I used to call “”the 15 minute rule””. Before I went lower fat I inevitably would have to run to the bathroom within 15 minutes of eating. It was embarrassing. No eating in the car on roadtrips.
The change didn’t happen over night, once I switched to high fiber and lower fat, it took about 4 maybe 5 months for my body to adjust and now I am regular and only get the “”15 minute rule”” when I eat something especially fatty, like deep fried most anything.
”I had my gallbladder removed over six weeks ago. The operation seemed to go well and I was in and out of hospital on the same day. After a week I noticed what felt like the original pain before the operation had returned. The pain has been terrible most days and mild on others. I’m due to have some scans this week and I want some answers. I feel worried and tired by the whole thing. My Gp seems uninterested and makes me feel like I’m exaggerating. Malcolm
“I had my gall bladder removed in December, 2010. The first 6 months were fine, but after that, I started to get pain under my right ribcage, up high, which is only relieved when do stretching exercises.
I was told by my surgeon that it could take a very long time for my liver to completely heal on the inside from the trauma of having the gall bladder removed and even though my exterior was healed, to treat my interior gently. I have a hard time believing that such healing would take 2 years?
I wear underwire bras, and I can’t wear a bra all day since it puts pressure directly on the spot that gives me pain when I sit down. Now, two years later, I’ve gained around 35 lbs, and have a hard mass in my upper abdomen. Unfortunately for me, the best I can do for myself is research, as I am unemployed, and have no health insurance. I don’t qualify for medicaid as I make “”too much”” on unemployment. So going back to a doctor is out for me.
I’ve modified my diet to easily digested foods, and have opted to eat foods that are recommended for the treatment of a hiatal hernia. I may have one – I may not. Who knows? I certainly won’t know until I can get health insurance, but my symptoms tell me I do. Acid reflux, pain in back, and the hard mass in my upper ab.
The pain in my right side just won’t go away, though. It’s okay in the mornings and afternoons as long as I don’t sit a lot. If I’m driving or I find I’m sitting for long periods, I wind up in agony during the evenings. The only thing I can think is that there is too much pressure on the surgical site.
My surgeon told me that the removal of an organ from the body makes room for the other organs to shift. This sounds like it could lead to many complications and I’m wondering if this pain and the hiatal hernia symptoms aren’t a part of that “”shiftin.”” Anyone have any advice (that doesn’t include “”go to a doctor”” since I have no money, insurance or medicaid)?
Stretching DOES help. I hang off the side of my bed to stretch my abs out every night. It truly helps with the pain – but let’s face it – when I finally get a job and go back to work, I doubt I’ll be able to stretch my abs out that way! 🙂
I’m 51, never had health issues, and until now, never had a belly. Now I look 5 months pregnant. I’d really like it to go away (without giving birth! hahaha!)
Any takers on this one?”
🙁 I had my GB out on 5-30-07. It was done laproscopically. Instead of an overnite stay I was in hospital 3 days with intense pain during the whole time. I was told the pain was from all the air that was pumped into my abdomen for the procedure. The pain continued for another 3 or 4 days after my discharge from hospital. I was on heavy doses of pain meds while in hospital and came come with lortabs to help manage the pain. Finally, all the air has left my body and I don’t have to deal with that any longer. Now however I have other issues to deal with. What to eat, how much to eat, when to eat, etc.. I have tried no fat, low fat, fat and it all causes great gas pains especially when lying on my left side and the gas migrates into the area where my GB use to be and the pain is extreme. I do not know if it is caused by what I eat, how much I eat, or when I eat. Some days I JUST DO NOT EAT and that usually feels better in the long run. My weight is down to 135 from 165. All this started about 3 1/2 months ago and I am just about at my wits end. It is good to read that for some life eventually gets back to normal. I am trying to identify with those individuals and press on in hope that I can one day join their ranks.
I had an out patient surgery 3 weeks ago (remove my ovals). He took some pictures during the surgery of what looks like my gallbadder. (that should have been taken out in 1975). He said it appears to be a lot of scar tissues around the area. I am having discomfort on my left side, I get full very fast, and it feels like at times there is something under my left ribs……can you help me?
“I too had chronic diarrhea after having my gallbladder removed and an ERCP with sphincterotomy. I kept thinking it would get better but finally about 8 months after the surgery I couldn’t stand it anymore. I never wanted to go out in public because I knew the cramping and diarrhea would come without much notice. Anyway, I saw my GI doctor who explained to me that since there was no longer a gallbladder to store the bile there is an influx of bile into the intestines. It is the job of the small intestines to reabsorb what bile that is not used to form feces. When there is too much moving through too quickly the small intestines cannot absorb it and it moves into the large intestine. The large intestine is responsible for absorbing water and doesn’t know what to do with the bile so it quickly gets rid of it (hence the cramping and diarrhea). Fortunately there are a couple of medications whose off label use is bile salt binders. They bind the bile in the intestine. The 2 I know of are Welchol and Questran. Welchol (which I take) is a pill. Questran is a powder you mix with water. The Welchol is personally a Godsend. I take 2 pills every morning and I am usually good to go. If I don’t take it one day I sure regret it!
Hope this helps. My biggest issue now is constant nausea. It’s especially worse in the morning and has been going on every since my GB removal in Oct. 07. I’m not sure what’s going on there. No one else seems to have an answer for me either”
I have had my gallbladder out in january and have gained 10 pounds, I was tiny and loved it, now it’s really hard for me to lose it, I stopped eating much I eat very little and exercise exclusivley…i started taking enzymes 2 or 3 weeks ago my stomach doesn’t hurt as bad, but when pressed on it hurts. I don’t have a good doctor either, he has given me tests and pills that make me sick. I haven’t lost weight since taking the enzymes, not sure what to do next
I just found this forum this evening, and just registered. I have good and bad news, based on my own experiences. This week will be 18 years since I had my gallbladder removed. I still have most of the symptoms that have been described, except for chest pain. That doesn’t happen very often luckily, but when it does, it only lasts for a few minutes. A fatty meal will induce symptoms. And, for years, everytime we went out to dinner I needed to time how long it was going to take me to get home to the bathroom, or know where I could find a decent bathroom not far from the restaurant. (hope that wasn’t too graphic.) I accidently discovered that, by eating yogurt with active cultures everyday, within several weeks my symptoms slowly started to subside. It took about a year before I could skip a day. After several years, I could skip several days, etc. At the beginning, if I skipped too many days, I would be running to the bathroom again. Now, after all of these years, I can skip a month without yogurt. (I’m not too fond of yogurt, but also found that fat free frozen yogurt works just as well, if it has active cultures.) I am symptomatic again, but it has been several months since I had yogurt of any kind, so I will have to start with this again. Keifer works just as well, and has more kinds of digestive enzymes, but it is difficult to find where I live. I just thought I would pass this along because, if you persist, this really does work. It has been keeping things under control for me for the past 13 years. Hope this proves to be helpful for someone.
“I had my gallbladder out 7 weeks ago. The first 3 weeks were great but then I developed severe and frequent diarrhea and gas pains to the point where I was afraid to go anywhere due to my lack of control and accidents.
My Gastro Dr. put me on 2.5 mg of Lomotil 2x a day and I haven’t had any problems at all ever since! Great stuff… the only downfall is it makes me sleepy & lightheaded but my body seems to be slowly adjusting to it.”I have been eating nothing but grilled fish, vegetables, rice, oatmeal, etc. I don’t eat any meats other than fish anyway. Last night I had the severe stabbing pain in my upper right ribs area and threw up half my dinner and then the pain went away. I am afraid I do have the sphincter of oddi disfunction and whether I like it or not I’m going to have to get the ERCP done. I don’t want to continue on with these attacks. Every day I wake up worried if I’m going to have an attack at work or somewhere far from home. I have heard quite a few people say they still had pain after the ERCP was done so that scares me as well. I definitely don’t want to live like this the rest of my life. I was healthy before I had my gallbladder removed. Now I feel tired all the time and can look forward to painful attacks atleast twice a month! Jazkat, thank you for sharing your story with me. I am leaning toward getting the ERCP done now because it has been 3 months since I had my gallbladder removed and I’m still having pains and vomiting. I shouldn’t still be in pain after 3 months! I just pray if I do get the ERCP done that will eliminate the pain! If not, the naturopath option sounds like a good idea to me.
