At what point should you go to the hospital? (gallbladder related)

[phorsenuf]

I've been dealing off and on with suspected gallbladder problems. This afternoon I started feeling yucky. I have some pain in my side, some indigestion, a little heartburn, but not that stop you in your track pain.
But, my shoulder is killing me! Its in that referred area. I'm also running a low-grade fever, have some chills and a killer headache.
I tried calling the Drs. office but they were closed. I didn't wait for the answering service to pick up.
I know people sometimes roll their eyes about medical advice being asked here but I know many of you have been through this and I'd like to know what you think. I don't want to just run off to the ER for no good reason.

BTW- the last thing I ate was a chefs salad at around 1:00.

Thanks!

 

[MScott1851]

As an ER nurse, I say go ahead and go. If you tell them that this is an ongoing problem and you want to get treated before the pain gets excruciating, they will probably sympathize. Let them know you called your MD and didn't get a return call. I would leave a message with the answering service, though.

I swore up and down the last time I had a gallbladder attack that if I ever had that pain again, I was immediately going to the nearest hospital and getting the damn thing cut out. I was on vacation and didn't want to go to the hospital, because I knew exactly what it was and didn't want to have surgery out of town. So I laid in bed curled up in a fetal position moaning and dry heaving after I had thrown up my body weight in bile.

GO.

 

[Nancy]

I have no idea when you go, but if you are uncomfortable and in pain I would probably head to the hopital.

My Mom just had gallbladder surgery while on vacation in WDW. She was taken by ambulance to the hospital, mainly because they didn't really know for sure what her problem was until they did a cat scan on her. Her gallbladder was really sick (the docs words) and she stayed in the hospital for 2 days after surgery because they were afraid of infections. I do have to say that she looks 100 % better today and it will only be 1 week tomorrow since the surgery.

 

[MinnieM3]

go go go! they can do a quick ultrasound and tell you right away if something's up. Mine hit with the excruciating pain thing while I was teaching! Ugh! Don't wait, please.

 

[phorsenuf]

The thing is I don't have that excrutiating pain like I've had before when you can't even take a breathe.
I think I'll wait it out since It feels a little better. I think the thing that concerned me most was the low garde fever and chills.
I know when I've called the nurse before she has always asked me this and I've never had them.
I'll eat something too and see what happens.
Thanks guys!

 

[Planogirl]

Go! You should make sure it's your gallbladder and you might be able to get rid of the thing. I had an attack some years ago and had no idea what it was. DH took me to the hospital and they diagnosed a gallbladder "so distended that no more gallstones could fit' per the doctor. I had it removed and my only problem is sensitivity to fatty items, not a bad thing.

Good luck!

 

[Hillbeans]

I know from previous posts that you've had problems with your gallbladder, so please go to the ER and get checked out.

I think you're only putting off the inevitable and the sooner you get that thing out of you the less likely you are to develop something worse down the road. I don't need to keep repeating that my mom died of Gallbladder cancer at 66 and it's mostly because that thing became so diseased.

And MScott is right...you don't want to be throwing up Bile...my mom needed an external bile bag for the last 7 weeks of her life, because she was throwing it up too. She was even throwing up worse than that, but i'll spare you the details.

Grossed out yet? You don't want to even think about that, believe me.

Just go....

 

[BCVOwner2002]

I would say you should go too. I have been having problems with my gallbladder for several months and just had an ultrasound last week. Currently the pain is bad enough to do anything but I know I'm going to need to get it removed eventually. Annmarie

 

[dmslush]

When I was scheduled to have mine taken out, I had a mild attack that morning.. nothing really bad. It was just a little pain and upset stomach. I actually attributed most of that to nerves. I was only 21 and had not been having trouble for very long, but didn't want to be like mom and suffer for years and years.

Well, my surgery ended up lasting for nearly 5 hours because my gallbladder was so swollen and infected that everytime they started to touch it, it would start splitting. It actually took them several hours to move it out of my body without it rupturing. LOL, I was in surgery so long that mom thought I had died and no one would tell her

But, moral of the story is that it would have ruptured if I had let it go much longer, and I wasn't even feeling that bad. So, GO GO GO GO GO GO to the ER. Get scheduled to get that poisoned thing out of you!!!!!!!!!

 

[roseprincess]

Please go to the ER!
I had a really bad experience from gallbladder attacks about 7 yrs.ago.
I had doubling over stomach pain for a few hours every three weeks. I waited so long (almost a yr) to go to the ER because I had infant twins at home
I was taking care of. My dd when she was an infant had 3 heart surgeries. So this is why I waited a yr before I went to get checked out about my excruciating pains. When I finally went to the ER, they did tests, etc. And I was admitted with really bad pancreatitis, my test results were so off the charts, the doc said I could have died from this.
I was on oxygen, the doc almost put me on a ventilator because my o2 levels were lower than they should have been. I was on Hyperal, no food by mouth for 2 weeks, except ice chips and popsicles. I had central lines( IV's) all over my body. I had to stay in the hospital for 2 weeks, got out and then had to go back in for 2 more weeks because of complications (blood clots) from my central line. Was in CCU for 2-3 days b/c of the blood clots.
When I finally got to go home from all that, I went in the next month to have my gallbladder removed. Had to wait for my pancreas to clear up and get healthy before I had my gallbladder surgery.

I have been doing fine since. God really got me thru all that.
And the thing was, I am a nurse. I haven't worked since my twins were born.
My primary doc told me, " it's always the nurses who get into real trouble with their bodies like this because they always help others and put themselves on the back burner". Which ended up being true for me.

I don't mean to scare you, that is not my intention. But I really think you should get checked out.


Rosemarie

 

[arminnie]

I had the most hideous gallbladder removal (I could write PAGES about it) 4 years ago. I went to the ER 3 times in 4 days thinking that I was having a heart attack. The idiot doctors told my father and sister that I was a hypochondriac and a mental case and that I didn't have anything wrong with me.

My hairdresser finally diagnosed it - only after my 3rd trip to ER when I BEGGED them to do an ultrasound did I get diagnosed by a doctor.

The short version of my saga is that my gallbladder came very, very close to bursting (as bad if not worse than a burst appendix - 40% fatality rate by some accounts). I spent 2 weeks in the hospital for a laparoscopic gall bladder removal. I had tubes out my liver for weeks afterwards and was in excruciating pain for months. (That doesn't even cover the part where the surgeon cut an artery in my neck trying to put in a stent and left me to bleed to death).

So the short version is: Get the darn thing out. Gallbladders do not heal themselves but only get worse.

I had my appendix out while on a trip to WDW in 2003. It was done with open surgery and was such a non-event that I went to Candlelight Processional at Epcot less than 48 hours later. A gall bladder removal should be just as easy.

 

[drgnfly30]

If you are in enough discomfort to be considering a trip to the ER, I'd go... I've never had any gall bladder issues but a friend of mine did & it's nothing to mess around with! Your body is telling you something... I landed in the ER last fall... I really didn't 'think' I was 'that' sick but when I wasn't getting any better something told me I needed to get my butt to a Dr... on Thanksgiving!! They told me in triage that they almost threw me on the stretcher & cut my clothes off because my vitals were so bad... had me on an ekg, oxygen, and IV within minutes.

 

[Nancy]

I had my appendix out while on a trip to WDW in 2003. It was done with open surgery and was such a non-event that I went to Candlelight Processional at Epcot less than 48 hours later. A gall bladder removal should be just as easy.

You sound like my Mom. They took her gallbladder out Wednesday, she left the hospital on Friday afternoon and on Saturday we were pushing her on a wheelchair through Magic Kingdom and Epcot. She just had to ride It's A Small World and Peter Pan.

 

[arminnie]

You sound like my Mom. They took her gallbladder out Wednesday, she left the hospital on Friday afternoon and on Saturday we were pushing her on a wheelchair through Magic Kingdom and Epcot. She just had to ride It's A Small World and Peter Pan.

Mickey will motivate you!!

 

[becobscot]

I would say please GO. I had my first attack when my DS was about a month old. I waited 3 years to have the surgery. Over those three years I had many excruciating attacks. When I finally decided to have it out I could have kicked myself for not doing it sooner. I had the laproscopic surgery in the morning and went home that night. I didn't take any pain medication and experienced only soreness when getting out of bed for 3-4 days! What a relief not to have those debilitating attacks anymore. Sorry this is so long but I hope you will take prompt action on this and take care of yourself! I wish you all the best!

 

[mckryan]

Knowing you have past gallbladder issues, and given today's symptoms, I agree with everyone that has said you are putting off the inevitable. Fever means there is an infection. The infection could be your gallbladder or something else. Given your other symptoms, I'd guess gallbladder. My husband had just a couple of attacks, and we didn't know what they were. When he had the last attack, it was bad. He wouldn't go to the ER, but he did go to the doc first thing Monday morning. They sent him to the ER and he was scheduled for surgery the next morning. He gallbladder was very septic, and the doctor was shocked he was not in more pain than he was. Please don't put this off so long that it becomes an emergency surgery.

 

[dmslush]

How are you feeling today?

 

[phorsenuf]

I am feeling better this morning. No, I did not go last night.
I don't seem to have a fever today, so thats good. I ended up eating afterall last night and aside from some indigestions and ALOT of burping LOL, I did OK.
I'll see how today goes. I do have an appointment with my Dr next Tuesday so if I make it till then we'll make some decisions at that point (I hope).
I suppose in a way I'm being a little selfish to myself because if it needs to come out I have to wait until after tomorrow. LOL I just have to many important things to take care of and I'm afraid if I go to the hospital they may keep me.
Now of course if I develop that "knock you on your butt, I can't take a breath it hurts so much pain", then I'll go. I guess the fever is what caught me off guard yesterday. I'll take my temp again in a bit (still drinking my tea) and if its still there then I'll call the Drs. and see what they think.
Thanks fo all the advice....I'm such a big baby tho!
Another thing too was, which I didn't want to metion last night, was my DH was out of town and I was alone. I didn't have anybody to run the whole thing by and get his thoughts on it. I guess too I was just a little nervous about going to the hospital by myself. See....big baby! LOL

 

[Cinderella's Slipper 2015]

Definitely go. I had to have mine out and I actually should have had it out sooner. I was training to run a 1/2 at the time and I just likened it to a runner's stitch at first and then I figured I just couldn't eat anything citrus cause that would cause pain in the same area. One day when I was at work I was hit with this excruciating pain in my right side and I literally couldn't move. I went to the hospital but by the time I got there the pain had eased off and all they did was blood tests, which led them to believe it was a bladder infection. They gave me antibiotics for the "infection" and sent me home. This was on a Thursday and by Monday I wasn't any better so I went to my own doctor, basically told them what was going on and she made time for me. She sent me for an ultrasound, she spoke to the radiologist and insisted she do the ultrasound because they didn't have time to wait. Yep, it was the gallbladder. She sent me to see a surgeon that she knew at her old hospital and he saw me on his rounds one day. I actually managed to get a surgical appointment for the next week. He told me on my post-surgical follow up that it was a good thing I had the surgery when I did. He hadn't seen a gallbladder as bad as mine and that it was actually pre-cancerous. If I'd waited any longer than I had...

 

[Missy1961]

You do realize this thread is from 2005, right?