Let's Talk Gallbladders.

[my3kids]

For anyone who has had to have surgery to remove the gallbladder, what were your symptoms before the surgery? Where was the pain? Is it always gall stones, or is there gall bladder disease also, or do the stones cause the problem?

 

[Pooh67_68]

My sister had her gallbladder removed. Her pain was on her right side. Chest, shoulder around to her back, felt like a heart attack.

Do a search on www.webmd.com

 

[Kristi1357]

I had my gallbladder removed last summer. My first attack was out of the blue, three weeks after DS was born. It came on really quick with severe pain in my chest. I thought I was having a heart attack and had DH call 911. The pain was so bad, I was doubled over and vomiting within minutes of the onset. Turns out I had stones blocking the duct. When they went in with an endoscope a day later to try to grab the stones (blood work on my liver enzymes was worse), they were gone/dissolved.

They sent me home and told me to make an appt. in a month or so for removal. They refused to remove it while I was already in the hospital for the attack. And not to eat any fat in the meantime.

I ended up with a second attack 2 weeks later, just as bad as the first, but at least I knew what it was this time. And I was so paranoid, I was eating no fat during those 2 weeks. It took 8 doses of morphine for me to feel better! They removed my gallbladder 3 days later. I wasn't going to let them put me off this time!

Good Luck!

 

[Hillbeans]

Not going to preach here, but please, please please take great care if you have a chronic gallbladder problem. My mother did for years. Gallstones, pain, etc., but she never had it removed. She probably could have had it removed years ago, however she choose not to because it would have been major surgery. I think from years of gallstones and other problems, it became diseased and she passed away last August at 66 from Gallbladder cancer.

I'm not trying to scare anyone, but after all the research I did (and this cancer is thankfully rare) the only thing in common with most who had it was chronic gallbladder issues.

I've heard it's very painful (gallstones). Please take care of yourself.

 

[aprincessmom]

Started a month after DD was born. First felt like a stomach flu...vomiting, severe abdominal pain, feverish. Went away for a few days and then came back one day during breakfast...only this time it wasn't like a flu, felt like I was having a heart attack. Shortness of breath, pain in middle of chest radiating to the shoulders and down my right arm, tingling of fingers, etc.

Got to the emergency room where they took my blood pressure then asked how long it had been since I had my baby. Told them and they said "It's a gall bladder attack", did an ultrasound and blood tests and admitted me immediately. The stones were blocking my bile ducts and I had bile in my blood to the point where they had to stabilize me for 72 hours before they could operate.

The operation was a piece of cake...laprascopic surgery which was much less painful than the c-section I had one month earlier. Felt no soreness or pain and was fully recovered within about 10 days.

 

[DisneyAddict_M]

My sister had her gallbladder removed last year. She described the pain as contractions that just wouldn't go away.

 

[Chattyaholic]

I had my first attack when I was pregnant with my son. It lasted several hours and most of that time I laid in bed, in the fetal position, in severe abdominal pain, moaning and groaning.
My doctor said it was "just the baby pressing on your rib cage"

I had my second attack after he was born!! Couldn't blame it on the baby that time! I had eaten a can of Chef Boyardee ravioli and I threw up about 20 times in a 24-hour period and the only time the pain in my stomach went away was when I was throwing up!!

Went for tests and the doctor called and said I had a "big rock pile" in there. This was in '77 and I was in the hospital a week after they took it (and my appendix) out and I have about an 8" scar. No more attacks though, I was happy to have it out!!

 

[piglet too]

I suffered from chronic gallbladder attacks for over four years. I was so young (about 18 or 19 when they first started) that the doctors never thought it was my gallbladder. My attacks mimiced appendixcitis (sp??) too. I would have severe right abdominal pain with nausea and some vomiting. Food did not seem to influence the pain one way or another.

They finally did "one last test" to try and figure it all out. My gallbladder should have reacted over 80% but was something like 14% instead! My stone was in the duct, shapped like the duct too, and probally never had been found otherwise.

Go see your doctor, and I hope you feel better soon!

 

[ducklite]

Oh, do we have to

Just kidding--hope you're feeling better. It sounds ike a terrible thing to go through!

Anne

 

[mtblujeans]

My Dad had had gallstone problems and didn't know what it was. He had had alot of ulcer problems in his youth so wasn't sure what was going on. He had chest pains and stomach pains with bowel dysfunction. They thought he had heart problems because he was in his 50's. They were preparing to do some type of heart testing on him - they were going to stop his heart and restart it to check for damage - I was an adult by then and not living in the same town so I am not sure of the details. I guess an Internist figured out it was gall bladder/stones before they did the heart procedure (thank God - I thought that was the dumbest test I had ever heard of!)

They opened him up to remove the gall bladder and found that stones had tried to pass and "got stuck" in the duct. Inflammation turned into infection and had affected every organ and tissues in that area. They had to open him up completely from the mid chest front to the mid back to clean up tissues manually. Then he was on antibiotics for a loooooooong time and they had to keep checking him to make sure everything cleared up inside. They told him they were surprised he had lived as long as he did!

I had gall bladder problems just a few years later. I had ALOT of heart burn and stomach problems from it. My parents suggested gall bladder or ulcer so I went to the doctor asking to have both of those checked out. They did ulcer tests and ultrasound on gall bladder. Found stones in the gall bladder so I decided to have it removed before it became a full problem. I was one of the last patients in the area to have full surgery. After the surgery, I had gas problems and alot of bowel pain and dysfunction. My doctor could not figure out what the problem could be. He called other doctors he knew from around the country to ask them of my symptoms.

I have what I am told is a rare situation where the bile my system produces, which previously went to the gall bladder, floods my digestive system and is too much for it. My digestive track is constantly putting out this extra bile that my body does not need/use in the form of diarrhea. I don't digest some foods well (ie. corn) so I imagine I am lacking some vitamins from foods but I take a supplement. I take a prescription daily called Questran in powdered form to help bile bypass my system. Aren't you glad you asked?

Don't hesitate to go to the doctor if you are unsure of something. Your body's defenses can only take you so far! Gall bladder and ulcer tests are painless - there is no reason not to check them out!!

 

[phillybeth]

Originally posted by mtblujeans
I have what I am told is a rare situation where the bile my system produces, which previously went to the gall bladder, floods my digestive system and is too much for it. My digestive track is constantly putting out this extra bile that my body does not need/use in the form of diarrhea.

It's not that rare. One of my coworkers has this chronically, and I suffer from it from time to time. Just about everyone I know who has had their gall bladder removed has this occasionally. Doctors just don't tell you about it ahead of time.

My gall bladder attacks started off like indigestion and stomach gas, and would get better after a few hours. I didn't even know that's what they were. The one that sent me to the emergency room started with nausea and quickly progressed into the worst pain I have ever had, and I am no weenie when it comes to pain. It felt like someone shoved a knife in my chest right under my breastbone and was yanking it back and forth- I truly thought I was having a heart attack.

 

[Alice28]

I had my gall bladder removed almost two years ago. It started out as just feeling "strange." I felt like I had a very hard time catching my breath for a couple of days (my symptoms began on a Wednesday). I felt like I was going to panic because of the strange feeling in my chest, and yet it went away if I laid down or laid in the tub. On late Friday, early Saturday, my urine started to turn orange so I called the hospital and they said to come in pronto. At no time had I had that excruciating pain a lot of people have when they have an attack. So the doctor examined me and was puzzled, but when he pressed on that upper right quadrant of my belly, I almost jumped off the table. Sure enough, ultrasound showed I not only had stones in the gall bladder, but one was stuck in a duct between my GB and liver (hence the orange urine).

the next day, Sunday, they did a procedure where I was put in twilight sleep and they put a tube down my throat and got the stuck stone out that way. Monday they did the surgery and removed the gall bladder. The surgery wasn't bad- four small incisions and the recovery time was about 12-14 days. I do get, um, well I will just say it, diarrhea if I eat very fatty, fried foods or rich sauces cause now it's too much for my system, but not all people have this reaction.

 

[G&J's Mom]

Originally posted by Chattyaholic
I had my first attack when I was pregnant with my son. It lasted several hours and most of that time I laid in bed, in the fetal position, in severe abdominal pain, moaning and groaning.
My doctor said it was "just the baby pressing on your rib cage"

Wow, this is exactly what happned with me. I was about 8 months pregnant with dd. Something I didn't know until it happened is that this problem is common in pregnant women. Anyhoo, affter dd was born, my attacks got worse and more frequent. I swear I would have gladly gone through labor again then experience this horrible pain. My doctor confirmed through blood tests that yep, there was a gallbladder problem and his dumb nurse set up a surgical consult for a couple of days after the last attack, but said that I could not get an ultrasound for a month??? HUH?? Since the surgeon would not do the consult without the xrays, how was that going to work out? After numerous phone calls to my doctor, I was fighting a losing battle. In the interim, I ended up in the ER twice and the last time 2 months after dd was born, I decided I was walking in for the second and last time. I told the nurse straight up, if someone here does not take out my gallbladder, then just point me in the right direction and I will take it out myself!! This was about 12:30 pm and about 3:30 they were wheeling me into surgery. They said that the stones were many and were possibly in my ducts. I stayed over night, and in a few days I was a new person. What an ordeal!!!

Denise

 

[my3kids]

Thank you all so much for your experiences. I have been to the doctor, although at the moment I'm okay. He has scheduled a gall bladder ultrasound for tomorrow. His guesses are gall stones or hiatal hernia. Strange though, my biggest problem is in my upper back under my shoulder blades. He did the pressing under my sternum and it was a bit more sensitive on the right than the left, but no really painful. But, as I said, I combined my questions about that with a check up, so I wasn't in the throws of a big painful episode at the time.

 

[Mishetta]

Is it you having the gall bladder problems??

 

[Sonya]

I thought it was labor. It felt like contractions but I was throwing up so much. We went to L&D where they said I was in labor. I guess the attack had started it. I had it out 2 months after DS was born. I never want to go through that again!
If you do have it out, it isn't a big deal surgery. I have 4 little scars all over my belly but I could have gone home from the hospital that night but I wanted to get a good nights sleep before going home to my 2 month old. I was up and walking around almost as soon as I got back to the room!

 

[my3kids]

Mishetta....yep, some sort of problem. I think between gall bladder surgery and hiatal hernia surgery, I'd pick the gb to come out, but, alas, I have no choice! But, it still may be nothing. Ultrasound tomorrow.