Gallbladder experiences? Anyone?

[DebbieB]

I had mine out almost 3 years ago. It started as a pain in my upper right side. It didn't go away so I went to the doctor. They sent me for an ultrasound, nothing showed. So they sent me for a hida scan, it showed 19% function. Referred to a surgeon, had the surgery a couple weeks later, laparoscopic. I was off work a week, wasn't bad. Haven't had any problems since.

 

[Marchand63]

Had mine out 28'years ago so I am sure things have changed. First let me say I am a coward and surgery scared the, well scared me.

I thought I was having a heart attack, I was 26. The ER Dr told my I had a gas pocket, yeah right. So a month later I ended up in the ER again, yeah gall bladder. I met with surgeon, to scared to,consent so went through 6 months of pain. I finally collapsed because I couldn't even drink water without an attack. I actually signed myself out of hospital AMA. So next day go to work, collapse, emergency surgery which cost me part of my liver.

My advice, listen to the Dr's, I should have.

 

[Minerva Mouse]

OP, what did you decide?

I haven't had surgery yet, but found out today that I need to have my gullbladder removed. This wasn't the diagnosis I was expecting, lol (but who is). Something started feeling weird in March, I just knew something wasn't right, it started with some mild pain right in the center of my chest/stomach below the bra line, along with pain on my left side/front, in the area where your bra is worn, (still not sure if the two are related). But, x-ray didn't show anything on my left, and the ultrasound showed multiple stones in my gullbladder. No infection, no sludge, but lots and lots and lots of stones. I sit at a desk all day, along with an hour long drive too and from work, and the sitting is atrocious.

I never thought of it like a balloon, but I like that analogy, cause that's exactly what it feels like now that it's been mentioned. It's like someone shoved a balloon in the center of my chest, and inflated it 8 to 10 inches, and it's pushing everything else into area's where they aren't meant to be. It's extremely uncomfortable and I have some mild nausua, and some of the other icky stuff mentioned.

My Dr., said no to low fats until after surgery. Hopefully I'll find out tomorrow how soon we can get this ball rolling, because the pressure is miserable, please just take it out.

Question for anyone who might know are "good" fats a no during this time as well (avacado, almonds, olive oil, etc?) TKS.

 

[poosiegirl]

I just had my gallbladder out on Friday, 3 days ago. I started with horrible abdominal pains on Easter Sunday that eventually ended me in the ER that night. They did an ultrasound and a CT with IV contrast. I was too nauseous to get the oral contrast down. Neither of those scans showed anything. They sent me home with medicine to control the spasms, nausea, and pain. By Tuesday it was clear that whatever was wrong wasn't going away so I went and saw my primary doctor. He believed that my gallbladder was the problem and ordered a HIDA scan. I had that Wednesday morning and it showed that my gallbaldder emptied less than 5% (normal is around 30-35%).

I saw the surgeon the Monday after that (a week ago today) and had my gallbaldder out Friday. I'm still tired and sore but I already feel better than I did last week. My appetite is slowly coming back and I'm no longer nauseous. Hopefully by the end of the week I'll almost back to normal.

 

[poosiegirl]

Just wanted to add. My surgeon said no to all fats. Your gallbladder doesn't care if they are "good" or not. Honestly I was so nauseous and all food seemed to make the pain worse, that I ate the bare minimum.

 

[Minerva Mouse]

Just wanted to add. My surgeon said no to all fats. Your gallbladder doesn't care if they are "good" or not. Honestly I was so nauseous and all food seemed to make the pain worse, that I ate the bare minimum.

Thank you, that's why I asked and you put it perfectly. Logically I'm thinking but it's "a good fat" and then thinking "but does my gallbladder care" lol.

 

[SharonZ]

If they suspect gallbladder problems, I would get the HIDA-scan.

 

[here757]

Had mine removed years ago...
I'll tell you this IF you smoke. QUIT . It extended my recovery time by 2 weeks.
Get up and move asap. Moving around helps the gas they pump into your body exit.

 

[ols386]

I had my gall bladder removed in 2005. My main symptom was pain in my stomach, right in the center. It occurred after eating things like red and green peppers (not the spicy kind). The pain lasted anywhere from 20 minutes to a couple hours.

 

[Kae]

I woke up 2 years ago a friday morning about 4 am puking my guts out think hard dry heaving but large amounts of bile. Went to dr at 8 was at Hospital at 11 for ultra sound. Surgery at 3 home by 7. Took a week to recover just felt like a had the flu. First and only attack I had.

 

[PigletsPal2]

I had my gall bladder removed the Thursday before Mother's Day last year. I had excruciating abdominal pain (and I have a very high pan threshold), but I just kept thinking that if I burped, I'd be OK. Finally on Thursday morning I couldn't stand the pain any longer and had DD#2 take me to the ER. Long story short, my bile duct was filled with gallstones and my gallbladder had a few good sized stones of its own. First surgery to clear bile duct, then several hours later, second surgery to remove gall bladder. Don't know why they couldn't do both under one anesthetic. Had laproscopic for both, three teeny-tiny incisions for both. Rebounded quickly and went home on Saturday. I'm a quick healer, and I was back to normal in a week. If it makes a difference, I was 69 years old. Many years ago, I had a tubal ligation on a Tuesday and served Thanksgiving dinner to 23 people on Thursday.

Queen Colleen

 

[amberpi]

My ex had his removed in 2014, mom in 1984. Its so not a big deal (unless you're given to hysteria like my ex). Glad he wasn't around when I died, was in a coma for 6 days, in the hospital for 10 weeks; had to relearn to walk. Its all temporary and you'll be fine in no time!!!

 

[Shmily1]

Mine was not like most of yours. Mine woke me up in severe pain, so bad I was holding a pillow over my head screaming into it. DH asked if I needed an ambulance and I told him he had to get me somewhere or I was going to die. I had two babies with no pain meds but this was so much worse. The ER said it was GERD and sent me home. A month later, I went to the Dr and they said my gallbladder was full of stones. I had it out on tax day, went home that afternoon, and back to work a few days later. It wasn't bad at all but the backache I had for several years was gone.

Good luck to all going through this. It is so much better once it is out.

 

[FlightlessDuck]

My symptoms first presented as a minor queasy/hungry feeling over the weekend that turned into a "holy crap somebody shanked me in the right ribs!" pain a few days later. I was diagnosed with stones, and had my gallbladder removed two months later.

Your symptoms didn't say "gall stones" to me right away. So, I dunno...

I developed a bile leak after my gallbladder was removed. I got an infection and then had to have a drain in for several weeks after the stent they tried failed horribly. I was very fatigued for the next 6 weeks. The actual laproscopic surgery wasn't a big deal (I had very little pain at the incision sites afterwards), but the bile leak kicked my butt.

After the leak closed and the drain was out, things have been fine for the most part, although I seem to get the occasional bout of painful gas. And I can't eat raw onions any more. But I'm not sure either of those are related.

I will get the occasional ghost pain, about once a year.

 

[Shmily1]

My symptoms first presented as a minor queasy/hungry feeling over the weekend that turned into a "holy crap somebody shanked me in the right ribs!" pain a few days later. I was diagnosed with stones, and had my gallbladder removed two months later.

Your symptoms didn't say "gall stones" to me right away. So, I dunno...

I developed a bile leak after my gallbladder that was removed. I got an infection and then had to have a drain in for several weeks after the stent they tried failed horribly. I was very fatigued for the next 6 weeks. The actual laproscopic surgery wasn't a big deal (I had very little pain at the incision sites afterwards), but the bile leak kicked my butt.

After the leak closed and the drain was out, things have been fine for the most part, although I seem to get the occasional bout of painful gas. And I can't eat raw onions any more. But I'm not sure either of those are related.

I will get the occasional ghost pain, about once a year.

DD tells me that's from the scar tissue. It was my first surgery so I had no idea but she's had 3 C sections, a tubal, and a hysterectomy before she was 25 so she knows about scar tissue.

 

[bdcp]

DH had his out about 8 or 9 years ago. He also had sludge. Never really had pain but had a feeling like someone was rubbing a rock across his lower ribs. His HIDA showed his function was something like 15% or so. Dr said, no one, outside a newborn baby possibly has 100% function. He had no stones. He had laparascopic surgery in the am and was released right before lunch. We stopped at Starbucks and had tacos for dinner. He recovers from anesthesia very quickly. He never had any of the possible issues after the fact. My mom had hers out when she was about 51 or 52 as did my grandmother. So far, my sisters and I (49, 56 and 57) haven't had ours out. My nephew had stones at age 17 and had his out within a week of his one and only attack. I think my mom and nephew were both diagnosed via HIDA scan also.

 

[Abirdlookingdown]

Warning: Gross stuff ahead. If you don't want to hear about constipation, trapped gas, pain and suffering , this is not your thread.

So I've been having some tummy issues since the end of March. I have been having a pinching, twisting feeling in my lower left. I then had a horrible bout of diarrhea that hurt on the left while it was going on. I thought I had an ovarian cyst pushing on something so the gynecologist had me do a trans-vaginal ultrasound and it was fine. Nothing on the left side. Gyno said it was probably diverticulitis, sent me to my gastro.

Gastro ordered abdominal CT with contrast and bloodwork. It showed diverticulosis and a lot of poop, but no other issues. He told me to get Magnesium Citrate (aggghhh) and take it. i did and it cleared me out. That was this past weekend, mostly Sunday.

Monday I started feeling like I had a big balloon under my ribs. It was a 10 on the discomfort scale, not pain exactly but MISERABLE. I was in a meeting and had to drape my arm over the back of the chair to take pressure off my guts, stretching my abdomen out as much as possible. UGH. I took ultra-strength Phazyme and charco-caps all day with zero relief. I ended up in the ER.

The ER did another abdominal CT (four days after the last one) and said I had thickening in my gallbladder wall and fluid around it. They did an abdominal ultrasound and it said I had sludge. They said, go see this surgeon for a consult on Tuesday and then have it out on Thursday.

Soooo, that was all really fast for me with a normal CT on Thursday and you need surgery on Monday. I also don't know if this will solve my problem since I don't have stones. Esp. since this started on the lower left and I still don't know what caused that (diverticulosis alone won't unless it's inflamed or infected, and mine wasn't).

Can you please share your symptoms with me and your experience with the surgery? I do not want unnecessary surgery. And, this may sound petty, I have a non-refundable vacation to the beach in 3 weeks and I want to be able to get in the Gulf.

Since Monday I have only been able to eat very small amounts and am avoiding anything I think might make it angry but although I haven't had the level of that sensation back since Monday, my upper abdomen feels a little hard and it feels like a smaller balloon is in there, and a band around my rib cage. The discomfprt has been in the center or on the left, not the right. No shoulder blade issues either. I do have a hiatal hernia.

Thanks for reading this far.

Hi! Did you ever get to know what exactly was the problem that you had? Did you have to remove your gallbladder? I have a number of similar symptoms and was really curious to know. Thanks in advance!!

 

[BadPinkTink]

Hi! Did you ever get to know what exactly was the problem that you had? Did you have to remove your gallbladder? I have a number of similar symptoms and was really curious to know. Thanks in advance!!

As you just joined and this is your first post I'm going to take pity on you and respond.

This thread / conversation about gall bladder surgery is 3 years old and is known as a zombie thread here. The original poster has not been active on Disboards since 2017 and I very much doubt that they will respond.

I have recently had laparoscopic gall bladder removal surgery, so I might be able to help you with information you require.

 

[MsAmerica]

Please be careful. My DH was suffering with "something" for about a week. One Thursday he came home early from his office and asked me to bring him to the ER. He spent 13 hours there and they sent him home with the warning that they didn't know what was wrong with him but to return immediately if he started to feel ill again. Less than 24 hours later, he passed out at home. I called 911 and one EMT noticed he was yellow. Turned out he was jaundiced ( a dx I hadn't heard of for years ) and his gallbladder was infected, blocked, etc and needed to be removed.
Usually, if your gallbladder is "brewing" its only a matter of time before it'll have to be removed.

 

[Selket]

Hi! Did you ever get to know what exactly was the problem that you had? Did you have to remove your gallbladder? I have a number of similar symptoms and was really curious to know. Thanks in advance!!

I agree that you've resurrected a very old thread. You may want to start a new one? I had unusual gallbladder symptoms somewhat like the OP - I think many people have the stabbing attack sort of pain and mine was never that. I had fullness, bloating, nausea, etc. that would come and go. Scans showed stones but the surgeon also said my symptoms were atypical so perhaps something else was going on as well. I did eventually have the gallbladder out and, long story short, it did help with some of my symptoms but not others. They did remove several really large stones - the surgeon was sort of amazed. I wish it had taken care of all my issues but that wasn't the case for me.