Gallstones

[pink_lemonade]

IVE HAD MY GALLBLADDER OUT

I was so worried they were gonna send me home yesterday as I woke up in no pain, didn’t have any pain relief since the night before, I thought I’d be sent home and then just wait to hear about surgery.
In walks the surgeon and doctor and I couldn’t believe my ears! They said they had slots that afternoon, and as I have no further complications, they think it’s best to get it out now. Surgery was perfectly fine, when I woke up, I felt horrendous but after a little bit of toast I felt so much better.
I’m so happy I’ve had it done, I pretty much skipped into theatre

 

[Bobbleowl90]

I hadg gallbladder out around 8 years ago in my early 20’s and didn’t fit any of the usual categories. I wasnt overweight, young, healthy and af the gym every day..so it annoys me when people assume it’s people with fatty diets who get gallstones!

Mins were agony. I went to A&E about 3 or 4 times and was admitted for a week once as it was so severe. Had my op about two month later (was extremely careful in between and I remember not having a christmas dinner as I didn’t want to set the pain off again). Recovery was a couple of weeks, scars have completely disappeared now and no side effects.

 

[shazinwhoknowswhere]

Had my gall bladder out about 10 years ago. Best decision ever. Keyhole surgery. Home the same day. Can eat whatever I like . Good luck!

 

[freshhead]

I’ve been referred just waiting to see the specialist. But obs with covid it’s gonna take ages. I’m assuming having it out is the only option as I’m only going to keep getting them. I’ve been doing a lot of research on diet etc and it seems my yo yo dieting is probably the cause! And now it’s about balance and tolerance. How are you?


That’s great you’re managing it with lifestyle! I
Must admit losing a bit of weight would help me but I’m very scribe just overweight!


Now I think about it I can pinpoint several times in my life where I’ve had such severe pain I can only assume that’s what it was and it was always after swimming so must have been something to do with the movement etc. I’d have been 19 with my first one I remember exactly where I was so it must have been bad. I’m 39 now but these ones are so big they can’t go anywhere anyway.

You never forget the first attack with mine I woke up in the middle of night in so much pain I thought I was having a heart attack as the pain was radiating all around my back and in to my shoulders. It’s a pain so severe it’s hard to describe isn’t it. Only those who have had the real severe gallstone attacks understand, I’d definitely put it up there with probably worse than labour pains
I hope you get relief soon! Xx

 

[CC1801]

I just wanted to share my experience.
I got gallstones whilst pregnant and had my gallbladder removed when LO was 7 months old. I also really restricted my diet but still have attacks when I had eaten safe foods. I was worried every time I had a meal that it would cause an attack.
I had no issues with the surgery. I had it on the Friday and was back caring for my daughter alone on the Monday. I would say within a week I was having no issues at all.
It is the best thing I could have done. I feel I can enjoy food and drink again now. I've had one issue since surgery where I became sick but my daughter had a big and I think it was related to that.

 

[floggersunited]

800 calories a day that’s insane I would be passing out with the hunger not gallstone attacks

 

[pink_lemonade]

Wow what a 24 hours! I’m currently in hospital with pancreatitis causes from gallstones!

 

[Scottstots]

Hi all.. so glad I found this thread. Had my first flare up last night, oh my gosh the pain was worse than childbirth!! Spoke to my gp today who said she thinks it’s gallstones and is referring me for a scan and bloods. I’m only 35, I thought only old people got gallstones. I am overweight though, so all future appointments are going to be fun ted talks on being a fatty

 

[rlouisep9]

I had my gallbladder removed a couple of years ago as I had two fairly large stones that were causing me absolute agony on and off. Mine didn't seem to be related to food (I've eaten the exact same foods before and after, my diet isn't particularly fatty) and there wasn't really any particular triggers so it was really horrible not knowing when the pain would hit. I only found out about the stones as I'd been in so much pain my GP investigated and then referred me to get it removed.

Would take the recovery from the surgery ANY DAY over gallbladder attacks. I've never had any side effects or further pain since the op.

 

[Pundertaker]

I had gallstones about eight years ago. They weren't big but my gallbladder still ruptured. Ended up in a&e with extreme pain; turned out sepsis had started. Had gallbladder out through keyhole surgery, recovered in a month, and haven't had any problems since.

If the pain gets too bad, go in and get checked.

 

[opintionatedperson]

Surgery went well , little bit tender but the shoulder pain is in agony

 

[flutternutter]

Some people are fine having their gallbladder removed and some people are not. Unfortunately I am/was one who was not.

The removal left me with bile acid diarrhea which is very common for people who have their gallbladder removed. It's been horrific, I became a recluse and had no life. Luckily when I got diagnosed I've been on medication which has improved my life about 80-90% of the time. Still get occasional flare ups. I have to watch what I eat but ultimately eating ANYTHING would cause flare-ups!

There's a lot of misinformation about gallbladder surgery, its not a vital organ like your brain or heart but your body still requires it to store bile acid in. Without it, the bile drips like a leaky tap. Some people can tolerate it, others cannot, and you never know which way you would fall.
Another factor of this constant bile drip is that you are put at higher risk of colon cancer.

If you can cure yourself without removal do it! Mine had to be removed in emergency surgery so I had no choice but it's really impacted my life.

Good luck to fellow sufferers, the pain is unforgettable

 

[JLXRD]

Thanks for the well wishes all I am home, had my surgery at 8.30 am and woke up about 10ish.

I won’t lie, I currently feel really awful - not in pain as I’ve had quite a bit of morphine but the tiredness from the GA is something else. I’d had general once 9 years ago but apparently my body handled that much better because I felt fine whereas today I am taking a long time coming out of it.

For some reason my reaction upon waking was to burst into tears every 5-10 minutes for the first 2 hours. No reason as to why just couldn’t not… very odd.

Incisions don’t hurt right now but whole stomach very swollen and already large bruises have appeared. I have been prescribed morphine and have managed to eat a biscuit and a very small amount of mashed potato.

Fingers crossed tomorrow is better

 

[unknown22]

I had my gallbladder removed in July, I can totally relate to pain of gallstones - worst pain of my life! My pain from them was always in my upper back so I didn’t even connect it to gallstones for like 6 months and just thought I’d damaged my back. But I found it strange how the pain would come on in the middle of the night and then next day it was like I had no pain. Would always be sick when I had an attack as well it was horrific. Ended in up in hospital for the first time in May when I was diagnosed and put on the urgent list for surgery. They thought I had one stuck in the bile duct but luckily not. Ended up back in hospital beginning of July when I had an attack pain that lasted days and days and that’s where they did my surgery, it was the end of that week they told me they were doing it. My planned date was in two weeks anyway but they were really concerned because of how inflamed it was and I developed a really bad infection. I went so jaundice, it was honestly the worst week of my life I wasn’t eating and was just on morphine all the time!! Surgeon said they struggled to get my gallbladder out of the belly button incision because of how many stones there were!! Can definitely say that signing those consent forms for surgery was the best thing I ever did and within a week of surgery I felt pretty much back to normal and was eating whatever I wanted. I definitely don’t fit your typical candidate for gallstones, I’m 19, so was a bit of a shock when they told me that’s what it was but I knew before I even went into hospital. I remember constantly getting comments from the doctors saying how I was young for gallstones to this day I can’t figure out what caused them, I’ve always eaten fairly healthy, am not overweight and have no family history of it either. Clearly just my bad luck! My top tips for managing the pain during an attack would be hot water bottle and there’s a certain position you can lie in that really helps, if you search it up online you should be able to find a picture of what I mean, it used to relieve my pain for a bit. I found the low fat diet did help to cut down my number of attacks but sometimes it could be triggered by the weirdest things like lifting suitcases!! I hope you feel much better soon xx

 

[opintionatedperson]

Thank you so much, a bit nervous but looking forward to getting it done!

I was the exact same. I'm two and a half weeks post op. For me recovery has been great was sore for 2/3 days but honestly so grand . The pain of the gallstones/pancreatitis was 10 times worse so if you've had those you'll walk surgery.

 

[Gattle09]

I had my gallbladder removed last month, the relief from not having attacks is amazing, gallstone attacks for me were worse than childbirth. im Slowly reintroducing my trigger foods and haven’t had any problems so far although I’m trying to stick to low fat as still have a lot of weight to lose. @Shoequeen91 the pain is usually on the right side.

 

[JLXRD]

Well I am now deeply unhappy that I appear to have been singled out with this bloody diet!

I was a bit shocked when he gave me the paperwork and it said 800 calories. I’ve started it now and if I stop I’ll only worry about jeopardising my surgery, but I have pre op assessments on Thursday so I will be asking why I need to do it specifically. I understand I am a little overweight but I was already losing weight due to not being able to eat much from the gallstone pain!

 

[pink_lemonade]

I was hospitalised two weeks ago with pancreatitis from gallstones. I've been advised to go on a low fat diet. I had a small piece of cake today and all evening I've had pain and discomfort, ive also gotten sick but still in pain . Does this go away once I've had my gallbladder removed or will I ever enjoy food again ? I'm nearly afraid to eat

the best thing I ever did was have my gallbladder taken out, I can actually eat what I want and not be in fear of that fucking awful pain!

 

[nurseren]

I’ve just been diagnosed with gallstones. I’m a typical candidate female, forty (almost) fat, fertile and fair (the 5 fs)
They’re big so not going to get trapped, but the sonographer said I’d get put on a low fat diet etc. The gallbladder isn’t swollen just two huge gallstones that cause discomfort. Need to see my GP now. Just seeing if anybody else has them or has had them and what the outcome was.

I had gallstones when I was 23. I was fertile and fair, but my BMI was like 31 and I wasn’t 40! I went to the doctors when I was 21 who told me I had a swimming injury. Two years later after dealing with this pain, I collapsed at work and I had pancreatitis! Woke up in ICU without my bloody glasses! I was a healthcare in a hospital at the time, and I was known for lying on the floor during my shift to “fix my swimming injury” which was shoulder blade pain aka gallstone pain. I look back at photos of me then I was so yellow and jaundiced.

I ended up having my gallbladder removed a few weeks later and it was the best thing. No more pain. No more jaundice! I still take omeprazole 13 years later, and sometimes some food makes me feel really sick. Pizza and spicy food are the two worst offenders.

 

[CatCafe234]

I had my gallbladder removed years ago - I turned bright yellow and ended up in hospital with pancreatitis and cholecystitis(sp?). It was a miserable year or so with it as I was admitted to hospital with severe pain and infections etc. half a dozen times, so the only option really was to have it taken out - I couldn’t have it removed initially because I had to wait for another procedure first (ERCP) as the stones were getting stuck. I’ve always had digestive issues so it’s hard to say if it made it worse, but honestly I think the main time I suffer now is if I eat something really, really greasy or really, really stodgy - pizza is no longer my friend Other than that I don’t really notice a lot of difference.