Who here has had gallstones and/or gallbladder removal? UPDATE:FINALLY GOT THE HIDA!

[cherbear]

Good luck with the appt and stay away from dairy. That is one of the trigger foods for most everyone.

thanks!

Good luck with the appt. It will be fine!

thanks!

Wow, I am so glad I found this thread. I am going Monday for an appointment with my doc to get started on a diagnosis. I know it is my gall bladder, I have all they symptoms.

One question, how long until you can lift after surgery??

This is the main reason I have been putting off going to the doctors about the pain I am having. I have a 2 yo that needs lifting pretty often.

Melinda

glad I could help ya out!

I feel the same way as you. If they don't find anything I will be in complete and utter SHOCK! and I will b/c that would mean back to square one. I would put money on it! If it's not my gallbladder then I must be dying.

ooh wish I could answer that...I'm sure one of those that have had it done can chime in.

Let us know how your appointment goes Monday! I know it's hard waiting! It's been killing me to wait 2 days for this appointment!

 

[breezy1077]

Good luck with your appt. cherbear!

 

[cherbear]

Okay..I'm probably going to forget a lot, but I'll try to recap as best as I can. First of all, I had to fill out paperwork AGAIN even though it wasn't my first visit. They said every 12 months, and I apparently JUST hit the 12 month mark. Then, I had to wait over an hour to get to see the doctor. Mom and Dad were with me so we talked about stuff, mainly my symptoms, and I had brought some of my research with me to show them, so we had that to look over. Mom read all of it herself. She loves reading stuff like that.

I told the doctor everything I could think of. He didn't seem to like the fact that I went in with my own "diagnosis." So he came up with something else to test me on as well: Celiac disease. I was able to get that bloodwork done shortly after the appt. to get it over with. Just to appease him I guess!
Here are the highlights:

• My mom said she was shocked they didn't test my gb last year. He said "she didn't have any symptoms that pointed to the gallbladder" Okay, Can you say COP OUT?!
• When I told him about the lettuce and stuff, he said something about maybe catching a "bug" ---a 2 year bug? geez! I explained to him that this was NOT the first time I have seen it come out whole. It has happened for a while now, but that this is the first time I researched it to find that it was actually a symptom for something. He didn't really have much to say to that.
• The best part was when he said something along the lines of: "not all your symptoms point to gall bladder" like he just WANTED to prove me wrong. Hmm...I wanted to say: Okay, if I came to you with a broken toe, it's purple, it hurts, it won't bend, but my finger is hurting too, are you going to say "well, not all your symptoms point to a broken toe" ? My point is, not everything has to be related. I just simply wanted to give him as much information as I possibly could. He really ticked me off, but he did say he "wants to get the gall bladder checked out" so he ordered an ultrasound and I called in between there and running over to the place to do the bloodwork. They had Friday morn available, which I can't do b/c of work. And they had Saturday at 9 AM so I took that, and my cousin is going to go with me since Mike is working. The only thing I have to do is fast from midnight the night before. No problem at all.
• Referring to the chest pain, he prescribed me Aciphex because I might have acid reflux/heartburn. (C'mon doc, I know what heartburn feels like and that was NOT it. Felt more like a heart ATTACK. Seriously! I just took the little samples and smiled and nodded because I was getting what I wanted ultimately (the ultrasound). If he had written me a prescription for acid reflux pills I would have told him to go ___ himself! (fill in the blank!)

I just hope the US shows something, so that I will have quick results, and not have to wonder anymore. I don't want to have to take the HIDA. And if so, I don't want to have to beg him to give me the HIDA scan. If that's what it takes though, I will demand it.

If I think of anything I missed, I will come back and let y'all know.

Saturday just can't get here fast enough for me!!!

 

[lmillercrew]

I had my galbladder taken out when I was 20 and 7 mos pregnant. I had the pain in my chest and up into my left shoulder like you described. The pain in my abdomen went completely around my side and into my back. Being that I was pregnant, the doctor's in the ER chalked it up to "heartburn". I was drinking Mylanta straight from the bottle. It wasn't until I went to the ER for the 3rd time in 7 months, and my white blood count was elevated did they do an ultrasound. You are VERY right to insist that there is something going on with your body. If you do get your galbladder out, which I hope you do, there are other things that go along with that too. You will have a "cleansing" about every 3 days. I cannot tell you, without being gross, that you will need to be close to a bathroom and the need to go will cause you pain and sweat. You may also have phantom gallstone pain after they remove your gallbladder. My surgeon told me that you can still get stones, but they will pass through your liver directly instead of the gallbladder.
Good luck, and if you have any questions you can ask. I'm not shy. I don't know how to pm though.

 

[cherbear]

I had my galbladder taken out when I was 20 and 7 mos pregnant. I had the pain in my chest and up into my left shoulder like you described. The pain in my abdomen went completely around my side and into my back. Being that I was pregnant, the doctor's in the ER chalked it up to "heartburn". I was drinking Mylanta straight from the bottle. It wasn't until I went to the ER for the 3rd time in 7 months, and my white blood count was elevated did they do an ultrasound. You are VERY right to insist that there is something going on with your body. If you do get your galbladder out, which I hope you do, there are other things that go along with that too. You will have a "cleansing" about every 3 days. I cannot tell you, without being gross, that you will need to be close to a bathroom and the need to go will cause you pain and sweat. You may also have phantom gallstone pain after they remove your gallbladder. My surgeon told me that you can still get stones, but they will pass through your liver directly instead of the gallbladder.
Good luck, and if you have any questions you can ask. I'm not shy. I don't know how to pm though.

wow...when you were PREGNANT? I didn't think they did that. I hope it didn't cause any problems to the baby. Did you still deliver at full term?

thanks for the help....all this information is making me very prepared for everything to come.

so again, thank you ALL!

also I just added something to the list in my update (so you would not have seen it yet) and it relates to what you just said. Heartburn my butt!!
I will post it here as well:

[*]Referring to the chest pain, he prescribed me Aciphex because I might have acid reflux/heartburn. (C'mon doc, I know what heartburn feels like and that was NOT it. Felt more like a heart ATTACK. Seriously! I just took the little samples and smiled and nodded because I was getting what I wanted ultimately (the ultrasound). If he had written me a prescription for acid reflux pills I would have told him to go ___ himself! (fill in the blank!)

 

[cherbear]

The back pain is getting worse (under the ribcage)...maybe not worse, but just more frequent. And I have the shoulder burning now! I've never experienced that before. It feels almost like a pulled muscle in my right shoulder, and it kind of pulsates---is that what y'all felt?

 

[KigerKat]

Hey cherbear - I hope everything goes well for you!

I had some problems about 10 or 11 years ago with what my doctor thought was my gallbladder. For about a month, everything I ate passed right though me. Gross, I know...

I was lucky, and didn't have any discomfort or pain associated with it, and I lost about 15 pounds! I found the only thing I could eat were things like soups and dry sandwiches. After a couple of weeks, I finally called my doctor and got an earful for not calling sooner (I was only about 20 yrs. old). When I went in, my doctor started poking me all over. I screamed when she poked me in my ribs (first pain from all of this). She immediately said, "Oh - your gallbladder's gonna have to come out!"

Needless to say, I freaked. I've been very lucky, in that nothing bad has never happened to me, so the thought of surgery really freaked me out.

Anyway, I went for an US, which showed nothing. So, my doctor ordered some kind of weird test where they injected me with some stuff to make my digestive organs show up on an x-ray. (All I remember is "CCK") The stuff made me soooooo nauseous - . I remember I had to lay completely still and hold my breath when they took the x-ray. In all, I think I had to lay there for about 2 hours. No fun.

For some odd reason, the day after that test - my symptoms went away. I don't know why, but my "deposits" were normal again. Doctor poked me in the ribs again - no pain. Go figure. I say that radioactive stuff cured me! I've never had a problem with it since then.

I'll be thinking of you during your surgery, and I hope you have a safe and speedy recovery!

 

[lmillercrew]

You mentioned feeling like you were having a heart attack? That's exactly what it feels like. I comes up under your rib cage, up into your arm. It hurts so bad. I can't tell you how many nights I sat in the fetal position, facing the floor, rocking back and forth. It's aweful!
Yeah, they don't like to do that surgery when you're pregnant because all of your insides are all smooshed together, but since my white blood count was elevated they didn't want to risk infection. So, they completed the surgery and then I fought off labor for 3 days, and spent 2 weeks in the hospital throwing up. Your surgery should go a lot easier.
I did carry the baby full term and she is now 16. It was a crazy time. Keep us informed on what's going on.

 

[cherbear]

Hey cherbear - I hope everything goes well for you!

I had some problems about 10 or 11 years ago with what my doctor thought was my gallbladder. For about a month, everything I ate passed right though me. Gross, I know...

I was lucky, and didn't have any discomfort or pain associated with it, and I lost about 15 pounds! I found the only thing I could eat were things like soups and dry sandwiches. After a couple of weeks, I finally called my doctor and got an earful for not calling sooner (I was only about 20 yrs. old). When I went in, my doctor started poking me all over. I screamed when she poked me in my ribs (first pain from all of this). She immediately said, "Oh - your gallbladder's gonna have to come out!"

Needless to say, I freaked. I've been very lucky, in that nothing bad has never happened to me, so the thought of surgery really freaked me out.

Anyway, I went for an US, which showed nothing. So, my doctor ordered some kind of weird test where they injected me with some stuff to make my digestive organs show up on an x-ray. (All I remember is "CCK") The stuff made me soooooo nauseous - . I remember I had to lay completely still and hold my breath when they took the x-ray. In all, I think I had to lay there for about 2 hours. No fun.

For some odd reason, the day after that test - my symptoms went away. I don't know why, but my "deposits" were normal again. Doctor poked me in the ribs again - no pain. Go figure. I say that radioactive stuff cured me! I've never had a problem with it since then.

I'll be thinking of you during your surgery, and I hope you have a safe and speedy recovery!

wow! What a story! that tests sounds like the HIDA scan but I could be wrong. Oh I HATE being nauseated! I really hope I don't have to take that test. Hopefully if they see something on the ultrasound he won't make me do any more tests after that!

Glad you haven't had any problems since then. It's a miracle!

thanks for dropping by and posting!

You mentioned feeling like you were having a heart attack? That's exactly what it feels like. I comes up under your rib cage, up into your arm. It hurts so bad. I can't tell you how many nights I sat in the fetal position, facing the floor, rocking back and forth. It's aweful!
Yeah, they don't like to do that surgery when you're pregnant because all of your insides are all smooshed together, but since my white blood count was elevated they didn't want to risk infection. So, they completed the surgery and then I fought off labor for 3 days, and spent 2 weeks in the hospital throwing up. Your surgery should go a lot easier.
I did carry the baby full term and she is now 16. It was a crazy time. Keep us informed on what's going on.

Yup, that's right. It was CRAZY. I haven't felt that intense pain since then, though. I feel a little bit of pain in my chest every so often today but nothing like before. I am feeling the "shoulder burn" as well.

fought off labor for 3 days?! I am so glad that everything worked out for you in the end, but I'm sorry you had such a rough time of it! I'm glad I'm getting this taken care of BEFORE I have kids!

I definitely will!! If an emergency were to occur, I have a DIS friend who I talk to outside of the DIS that would come and let y'all know about it. Don't worry though, I will be fine!

Just a quick question for my gallbladder buddies laughing , does anyone ever feel spasms in the stomach area? I'm not talking about painful ones, just like muscular spasms. My belly feels like it is spasming and by the way it's very bloated right now. yuck!

 

[cherbear]

Just a little something I found when researching gallstones:

Gallstones usually form in the gallbladder and remain there. (Rarely, they may dissolve and disappear in the gallbladder.) On occasion, however, they can pass from the gallbladder and into the duct leading from the gallbladder to the intestine, the common bile duct. If they do not get stuck in the duct there usually are no problems except possibly a transient episode of pain. If they get stuck in the duct for a prolonged period, they can obstruct the flow of bile through the ducts. This may lead to jaundice, infection in the bile (cholecystitis, cholangitis), or pancreatitis (inflammation of the pancreas). It is generally not considered a good thing to be passing gallstones.

I found that on medicinenet .com

Just thought it may be interesting for a lot of people here.


I also looked up some stuff on Celiac disease (which I highly doubt I have)

Celiac disease is a problem with digesting gluten. Gluten is a kind of protein found in foods like bread, crackers, and pasta. With celiac disease, your immune system harms your small intestine when you eat these kinds of foods. This makes it hard for your body to absorb nutrients that keep you healthy.

What are the symptoms?
Symptoms of celiac disease include:

Gas and bloating.
Changes in bowel movements.
Weight loss.
Feeling very tired.
Weakness.
These symptoms can be very mild.

Some people vomit after they eat gluten. This is more likely to happen in children than in adults.


How is celiac disease diagnosed?
Your doctor will ask questions about your symptoms and do a physical exam. You may have blood tests to see if you have certain antibodies that could mean you have the disease. To make sure you have celiac disease, you will probably have an endoscopy. In this test, a doctor uses an endoscope-a thin, lighted tube that bends-to look at the inside of your small intestine. During the endoscopy, the doctor may take a small sample of tissue to be tested in a lab. This is called a biopsy.

Often celiac disease is mistaken for another problem such as food intolerance or irritable bowel syndrome. You may be treated for one of these problems first.

After your celiac disease diagnosis, your doctor may do more tests, such as an X-ray, a stool test, or a bone density exam. These will help your doctor find out if you have other problems, such as osteoporosis, that can arise when you have celiac disease.

Okay, so the symptoms are just like that of any other stomach problem. All the symptoms mesh together, but he just pulled that disease out of the air to test me on. I'm not sure he even believes I would have it, but he's just covering his butt and didn't want to listen to me and JUST test my GB.
See that part I have italicized about the endoscope? I already HAD that done. They claimed they took a biopsy and it came back clean. You'd think they'd be able to see anything that was wrong, wouldn't they?

So what are y'alls thoughts on this?

 

[Poohbear123]

............................about 7:30am having my GallBladder REMOVED! I have been suffering for about 4 years off and on now, I just chalked it up to being Lactose Intolerant, but than, about 2 months ago, it really flared up, and off to the Dr. I went. I have been avoiding "fatty foods" for about a month now, and have lost about 5 pounds, but I am not having a Good Time! So, I had my ultrasound done a month ago, and was referred to a surgeon, and now it will be OUT by this time tomorrow, and hope I will be home by than too! Best of luck to those who are suffering now, just get IT OUT!

 

[KigerKat]

Just a little something I found when researching gallstones:

You sound so much like me! Anytime I have an "odd" symptom of somekind, I start Googling and looking things up on WebMD and freaking myself out!

Another quick story (and more recent): The day after Thanksgiving, I had a weird spasm in my left thigh muscle. I didn't think much of it, since we were Black Friday shopping, and I thought my muscles might have been stressed and fatigued from standing in so many lines all day.

Well, the next day I noticed the top of my thigh was starting to go numb. Now I started freaking. I looked up all kinds of stuff online and had myself convinced that I had a rare disease in my nervous system that only affect about 30 people a year in the US - but still terminal. And I thought for sure I had it because WebMD said that one of the *possible* yet unknown causes was a flu shot. Well just a month before these symptoms started I had a flu shot.

To make a long story short (too late ), I made an emergency appointment with a neurologist, and I have a pinched nerve in my hip. I'm gonna live!!

So, don't scare yourself like I did and do all kinds of self-diagnosing. The neurologist I saw said that the internet has been both a blessing and a curse in the medical industry - it really helps to educate people, but at the same time can make them read way too much into their symptoms and really get them scared.

 

[KigerKat]

............................about 7:30am having my GallBladder REMOVED! I have been suffering for about 4 years off and on now, I just chalked it up to being Lactose Intolerant, but than, about 2 months ago, it really flared up, and off to the Dr. I went. I have been avoiding "fatty foods" for about a month now, and have lost about 5 pounds, but I am not having a Good Time! So, I had my ultrasound done a month ago, and was referred to a surgeon, and now it will be OUT by this time tomorrow, and hope I will be home by than too! Best of luck to those who are suffering now, just get IT OUT!

Good luck to you! I hope you also have a speedy and safe recovery!

 

[cherbear]

You sound so much like me! Anytime I have an "odd" symptom of somekind, I start Googling and looking things up on WebMD and freaking myself out!

Another quick story (and more recent): The day after Thanksgiving, I had a weird spasm in my left thigh muscle. I didn't think much of it, since we were Black Friday shopping, and I thought my muscles might have been stressed and fatigued from standing in so many lines all day.

Well, the next day I noticed the top of my thigh was starting to go numb. Now I started freaking. I looked up all kinds of stuff online and had myself convinced that I had a rare disease in my nervous system that only affect about 30 people a year in the US - but still terminal. And I thought for sure I had it because WebMD said that one of the *possible* yet unknown causes was a flu shot. Well just a month before these symptoms started I had a flu shot.

To make a long story short (too late ), I made an emergency appointment with a neurologist, and I have a pinched nerve in my hip. I'm gonna live!!

So, don't scare yourself like I did and do all kinds of self-diagnosing. The neurologist I saw said that the internet has been both a blessing and a curse in the medical industry - it really helps to educate people, but at the same time can make them read way too much into their symptoms and really get them scared.

thank you. Oh I'm not scared, not at all!! I am happy ...happy that I might have actually found out what's wrong with me so I can get it fixed! Not scared at all! If I had not done the research I did, I would still be sitting around not knowing. And suffering just because I figured going to the doc would do nothing but run up bills because all they do is say I have IBS.

I am glad you're gonna live!

 

[cherbear]

............................about 7:30am having my GallBladder REMOVED! I have been suffering for about 4 years off and on now, I just chalked it up to being Lactose Intolerant, but than, about 2 months ago, it really flared up, and off to the Dr. I went. I have been avoiding "fatty foods" for about a month now, and have lost about 5 pounds, but I am not having a Good Time! So, I had my ultrasound done a month ago, and was referred to a surgeon, and now it will be OUT by this time tomorrow, and hope I will be home by than too! Best of luck to those who are suffering now, just get IT OUT!

Wow! A month ago? Why did it take so long for them to get you into surgery? Was that them, or did you need to schedule farther out for personal and/or work-related reasons?

I'd love to also know what should I expect to see on this ultrasound? If I ask the tech they should show me, right? Did you see the stones in there?

Good luck to you, will be thinking about you tomorrow!

 

[Poohbear123]

Wow! A month ago? Why did it take so long for them to get you into surgery? Was that them, or did you need to schedule farther out for personal and/or work-related reasons?

I'd love to also know what should I expect to see on this ultrasound? If I ask the tech they should show me, right? Did you see the stones in there?

Good luck to you, will be thinking about you tomorrow!

Thanks for the well wishes, it really didn't take that long, I had to have a Colonoscopy too, so that was last week. I went to my Regular Dr. about 1 month and a half ago, and the ball started rolling than. Plus the Ultasound before that, so I guess it seemed like a long time. Best of luck to you Cherbear!

 

[cherbear]

Thanks for the well wishes, it really didn't take that long, I had to have a Colonoscopy too, so that was last week. I went to my Regular Dr. about 1 month and a half ago, and the ball started rolling than. Plus the Ultasound before that, so I guess it seemed like a long time. Best of luck to you Cherbear!

Wow! You are lucky! I wish I had your doctor!!!!!!!

Good luck tomorrow morning! I will say a little prayer. Come check in when you can!

 

[Nutsy]

Wow! A month ago? Why did it take so long for them to get you into surgery? Was that them, or did you need to schedule farther out for personal and/or work-related reasons?

I'd love to also know what should I expect to see on this ultrasound? If I ask the tech they should show me, right? Did you see the stones in there?

Good luck to you, will be thinking about you tomorrow!

You can see the stones on the ultrasound pics My ultrasound was of all my internal organs.. quite interesting, but also quite painful when they were doing the gallbladder area as they press down so darn hard.

Do you guys get to bring your ultrasound/xray pics home with you? Here we do. We either wait for them to be processed followint the ultrasound/xray or we can drop by and pick them up the next day. We aren't supposed to open them as they are sealed, but I sometimes like to take a peek at what the notes say Then I have a bit of heads up before I take them to the doc.


ETA I was put on a fat free diet for a month prior to having the surgery and I lost 4kig and have lost a further kilo since

 

[NJMomma]

I'd love to also know what should I expect to see on this ultrasound? If I ask the tech they should show me, right? Did you see the stones in there?

I did. The ultrasound tech was a bit hesitant but eventually showed me the stones. I couldn't tell how many there were, but I could see them. The tech said they aren't supposed to "diagnose", so she wasn't supposed to tell what she saw. I didn't get any pictures.

I still a little sore from that "in grown" stitch removal, but all in all doing well. CB, hope you get some results from your ultrasound, one way or another.

 

[Calliaz]

I had gallbladder problems starting before I was 16. The pain was amazingly awful. When I was 23, I had 3 attacks over the course of a month and the surgeon removed it. Since then, I have had problems with IBS-like symptoms.

I often have urgent bathroom needs, especially after eating. Also, if I don't eat a meal, the problem is 10x worse at the next meal. This is because the bile is constantly flowing and not regulated by the gall bladder. Not eating=bile not getting used up in digestion.

I have also had recurrences of the same pain. It took weeks and a few attacks to determine I have sphincter of Oddi dysfunction. The GI doc does not know if that was actually part of the original problem or if it is new. The attacks are rare, but when I get them I need an anti-spasmotic medication.

I think you're on the right track. They need to ensure that the gallbladder is the problem before they take it out. The actual surgery was easy for me, so you shouldn't be worried there.

Good luck!