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I am so glad to have read all of these posts. I had my gallbladder removed 7 years ago and within a year I started having problems. I have pain and a knot in my upper abdominal area. The pain radiates to my back and shoulder. I also have constipation problems and a feeling of fullness. When the surgeon removed my gallbladder, he said it did not have gallstones but it was inflamed. My Dr. diagnosed me with IBS but I just can’t believe that is the only explanation. Now I think I will discuss this with my Dr. on my next visit. I experience this pain almost every day. Atleast now I know I am not crazy or the only one out there. Thank you for posting your experiences.
I feel like im going crazy and dying .I have a mass where my gall bladder was about four inches by four inches .its killing me inside it hurts my rib area and back .I have done mri ct ultsnds xrays etc.the doctors can feel my mass but can not identify what it is .ive lost thirty lbs cant eat cant sleep .extermly tired .queasy all the time .my doctor doesnt seem to understand how much this affects my life .how can I get someone to open me back up and see what this lump is .
“Since I had my gallbladder removed in July last year and gallstones removed from the bile duct, I had to be admitted on a further two occasions because there was a tear int he bile duct and the bile was leaking into my stomach. When this was finally diagnosed, the bile was drained away over a period of a few days. Since the operation, I have put on a lot of weight even tho’ I am eating more healthily and exercising more.
I have tried cutting down on my food intake but have still not lost the weight. I am 68 Kgs (10 stone 9 lbs) and am 5ft 2 inches tall.
Can you suggest a reason for the weight gain and is it related to the oepration? ”
Bloating feeling lasted for about six weeks. My stomach still looks bloated though, it gained weight in that area or something is different about about it. My clothes still do not fit the same. I went from a size 11/12 to 14/15. Other than that I have not had any problems.
I had my gall bladder removed 3 years ago, at first all my problems seemed to disappear. Now i have noticed that my stomache is swelling up like i am pregnant and i am suffering from pain in my right side under my ribs. I have been advised that i might have stones in my bile duct and may require an ERPC, [tube down throat to take stones from bile duct]. I have told my doctor about the bloating, and he also says this is quite common with gall bladder problems.
I had my gall bladder out about 8 years ago. I had a lot of digestive heartburn, but not diarhea. I just read under another message for IBS that Slippery Elm Bark helped her (from health food store) and she had that problem all her life. But she said if you are on other medication, you should check with your doctor first. I found that will gall bladder removal, everyone’s symptoms afterwards are different. I have to not eat many raw vegetables, but can even eat coleslaw if I just eat a little bit and it is finely shredded (I love coleslaw). I am on Nexium which helps a lot! It is the best one for my chemistry I have been on. I don’t like to be on medicine, but I found I would be limited to basically a bland diet if I don’t take it. Hope this helps! And don’t overeat anything–it will make you miserable! I did gain weight and am battling to take that off now with diet and exercise–which I have always done, but have to be much stricter now because much harder to lose any weight. Of course, I just turned 50, so that may be why, also.
“I had a lot of problems with diarrhea and then constipation. i am sure it
started after my gallbladder was taken out. I was diagnosed with irritable bowel syndrome and put on fiber pills, which helped, but I had to carry extra clothes, wipes to clean up,etc with me all the time. Earlier this year I switched to a multi-grain bread, that’s crunchy, and seldom have bowel problems anymore. But I have to watch what I eat very closely.
I also have problems with very severe chestpain that is not heart related.
I continue to have reflux problems, hungry all the time, and burning stomach. I have no idea how to fix this problem. Any ideas? ”OMG I had surgery 3 years ago and I awoke after surgery with a very bloated tummy and to this day everyone asks if I am pregnant even though I am 51 years old. I have a tiny waist size 12 in clothes until u get to my tummy and then I need size 16 pants to go around my tummy but my butt and legs I take a size 11 pants. I wish I had never had the operation. Unfortunately they don’t make enough swing tops out there to cover the stomach. I would do anything to have a flat tummy again.
I had my surgery 2 weeks ago today with the laparascope. I too was assured that after 7-10 days I’d feel pretty much back to my old self. Well my old self never had indigestion. I have IBS but never diarrhea like I get now. But worst of all is the right-side pain. As I sit here typing I’m trying to breath ‘over’ the pain (old Lamaze technique) and it helps. The other day I was trying to rub off the remaining sticky tape residue where I assume my gallbladder used to be and I got a terrible searing, tearing kind of pain and now that spot is sore to touch most of the time. Guessing maybe I just disturbed a healing spot but I feel awful. Nausea and occasional lowgrade temp (no more than 100). I’ve called the doctor, spoken to his nurse who assured a call back. That was 3 days ago. Today he’s in surgery. I don’t want to sound like a hypochondriac but I assumed I’d be back to work in another week or so (I’m a personal chef so lots of lifting, time on my feet). Not like this, or at least not with real pain meds. I also have fibroymalgia, which has flared up but this is not fibro pain. It helped to read this forum though and see that I am NOT loosing my mind or imagining the pain. Hope everyone finds relief and answers soon. Do you get the feeling that sometimes doctors think this pain is in our heads or we’re exaggerating it? After all…they figure they removed the cause right?
“I had my gallbladder removed December 13, 2010. I’ve gained 40 pounds since then! I’m in a total panic and nothing I do seems to help. I’m severely constipated and the doctor told me it was normal not to have a bowel movement for 5 days – 2 weeks. Hello? Is he joking? I have to take 2 heaping capsules of Miralax DAILY and then barely something comes out. It feels like I’m carrying a concrete brick around in the front of me. Is there any answer for this? What can I do? I’ve started exercising more than I ever have and continue to eat non-fat (as I have for the last entire year before surgery & lost 77 pounds) and the scale just keeps moving up. When will it ever stop and is there a way to make it stop? I’m so freaked out I don’t know what to do. I’ve reduced my food so much I feel sick all the time from the bile in my stomach. Yet, if I eat anything it adds calories. I’m in a vicious cycle. HELP PLEASE – I’m now searching for another doctor because this gastro is an idiot telling me that about bowel movements.
”it sounds like we are having the same type of thing. From all the research I have done, and the non (or small) response to PPIs, antacids, etc, I am inclined to believe that it is bile or a combo of bile and acid. I had an endoscopy about a month before my GB surgery, and it was totally clean. No H. pylori, no esophagitis, no ulcers, etc. During the surgery, it was found that my GB was necrotic and infected (gross…) and that I had three 2cm stones. I have been doing some searches on bile reflux and it seems like the only “cure” is medication and/or surgery. Lifestyle and diet changes seem to have minimal effects. I am a vegetarian, so I think my diet is pretty low fat already (in response to the other post), but I am going to try to reduce the fat even more. So far, it’s been about 1 week on Prevacid, and it’s gotten a little better, but still not 100% gone. I agree that I just want something to get rid of the horrible symptoms. The feeling of something stuck in my throat is really distracting and sometimes really painful. At this point, if surgery is an option, I’m willing to do it because I really feel like I will never be “normal” again without doing something!
I too have had my gallbladder removed exactly 2 years ago. I can say 2 months after having it removed, I still feel like I have stones. The same pain I get keeping me up crying at night. My thing is.. I have not been back to the doctor again after my surgery. I have spoken to a few people, and they tell me the pains never did go away for them either. Have you checked to see if you have an ulcer? or acid reflux disease? This is what I have been told may be the cause of my pains. But still feels like I have gallstones
“Hi, I just had my gall bladder ( micro surgery) removed 2 weeks after I found out It was sick( stones) and I will say it was the best thing I have had done.I was told by my nurse to hold off on eating fat,greasey foods for 3 weeks when the doctor said 2 weeks. The nurse said it will cut down on having the runs to the bathroom better than 2 weeks and so far she was right. So far no runs. My surgery was done on Tues, morning and I was back home the some day.Very little to no pain, never used the pain meds,I was given ..Having this surgery has not changed my life any. Only take it easy for a few days.Three days after surgery I cleaned the carpet. Oh”” I for got to tell you I am 62 1/2
So if you are thinking about this surgery GO 4 IT .But first check with your regular doctor,have chest x rays,and blood work done ahead of time,and even a ekg. This saves your surgeon time and you money.
GOOD LUCK ”“I’ve been reading through the last few pages of posts and I can say that for some people, there truly are problems post gall bladder removal. Up to 40% of people who have their gall bladders out will experience side effects (for some, they last months, for others, a lifetime).
So for those of you who are lucky to not experience any problems, go ahead and post comments about your own experiences but I would urge you not to make blanket statements telling people that nothing will happen and that everything will be fine. For 2/10 people, that will not be the case. And those people need to be forewarned so they can make an educated decision about whether to have the surgery.
Like those who have previously posted issues, I too have had issues post surgery. I had always been very slim but since the surgery I have steadily gained weight in my stomach area (10 lbs/year), despite no changes to my diet.
It has been 10 years since I had my gall bladder surgery and I am still experiencing digestion problems (alternating between constipation and chronic, painful diahrreah). I seldom have a regular BM. When diarreah occurs, I have hot flashes lasting 15 minutes until the BM is over, and severe abdominal pain. There is also a visible grease line in the toilet bowl and I can see where the fat is NOT breaking down. When I have constipation, I experience bloating, exhaustion, and blurred vision.
I have been told these reason this occurs is because the bile is no longer being regulated when released into my intestines. The gallbladder facilitates and regulates the flow of bile in your body. So when that facilitator is taken away, quite often that the flow will be not as efficient, ie. too much at one time, or not enough.
Without the gallbladder, the bile is not as readily secreted in the body, and the liver can become overwhelmed when faced with large amounts of any fats, especially saturated fats and hydrogenated fats. For some people even small amounts of fats can cause discomfort.
One of the side effects of gallbladder removal can be the dumping of bile which can send someone running to the bathroom immediately after eating. On the flip side, your body can also sometimes experience a decrease in the secretion of bile which results in weight gain as fat is not broken down.
If you think of your problem as a biliary (bile) problem as opposed to a “”gallbladder”” problem you are more on the right track to understanding how to take care of it.
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.”
I had my gallbladder removed on the 13th of January. I had to go back to the hospital two days later for an ultrasound and an iv because I was dehydrated. It’s now the 31st of January and for the last 3 days I’ve been throwing up. I can’t keep anything down. I am running a fever. I had a few sips of gatorade this morning and that has stayed down so far. I wondering if what I am experiencing is normal?
