O/T - Gall bladder problems

[Princess Sausage]

In the last few moths I have had some pain in my right upper side at the bottom of my ribcage if I have eaten any fat. We did a 10mile bike ride on Sunday and I had a publunch and it was a salad but they had mixed all the chicken and bacon up in mayo. A few hours later I got the pain again and also in my back and felt burpy and yesterday couldnt eat felt nauseated and had a very sore upper tummy.

Been to see the Doc today and she is pretty sure I have gallstones and has referred me for an ultrasound scan but said it was likely I'd need surgery to remove them.I have to have a fat free diet at the mo.

Has anyone had a gall bladder removal and what was the op like and how big were you when you had the surgery. I am sure the next issue will be my weight and the op.

Bit worried here!

 

[Chuffy_29]

I have had this. It's keyhole usually, i was about 16ish stone (give or take 7lb either way). You deffo need to stick to the fat free. My attacks were so bad they caused me to have scar tissue and that blocked my bile duct and i got jaundice! Once the gall bladder went i was 100 times better, recovered pretty quickly and don't have anymore pain .

 

[charlottegrace1]

I have heard that they can shatter them now with ultrasound or something, but don't know how thats done or if you have to be sedated at all. Don't worry about the weight, if you are suffering they will do it but they will try to get you to be no bigger than a 2lb chicken when they do it lol. My consultant wanted me to loose 3 stone before he opperated but then looked at me and just said "you aren't going to do it are you?" answer "No" "Didn't think so, so we will do your knee in about 6 weeks then" and that was the end of that.

Good luck anyway and hope sticking to fat free gives you some pain relief.

 

[Scarlet Daisy]

I had mine removed a couple of months back, by keyhole surgery. I was about thirteen and a half stone then. Went home the same day, tiny scars, felt a bit of "dragging" inside for a couple of weeks but nothing bad at all.

Totally cured, after years of attacks. Just make sure you rest after and take it easy for a month or so (no lifting etc). An easy operation and totally worth having it.

 

[Princess Sausage]

Thanks so much guys.You have all put my mind at ease so much. Been to Tesco and spent ages looking at the fat content on everything!

The saddest thing is we are going to cornwall in 3 weeks and my favourite food is cornish pastie! Guess it will be a good week for the diet!

 

[GymClassHero]

I had mine removed in 2005 after following the Atkins diet

I was so bad when i had an 'episode' i used to think i was having a heart attack, i would get this horiffic pain in between my shoulder blades and in the right hand side of my body under my ribcage.

I had it removed by keyhole and i was about 11 stone when they removed it. I havent had any problems since, its been a godsend having it out!

Mayonaise used to set me off and anything really fatty like sausages.

 

[jacqui35]

Omg i went for my scan tonight, and she said she not suppose to say anything but she couldnt find anything on my scan, thank god.

Good luck and hope you get it sorted soon

 

[Pawm]

I've been refered to a consultant, had my scan over a month ago now (which showed several stones)not got an appointment until 8th September, and I'm hoping he'll put my name on the waiting list that day, been over 2 months since I fist went to the docs, attacks seem to be getting more frequent even though I've cut out all fatty food. When I went to the GP (again last week) as the buscopan didn't help at all, he said that although avoiding fatty food will help, sometimes the stones will move themselves and casue pain for no apparent reason. Just so fed up of it now, how long have people who have to the surgery had to wait after seeing the consultant, I hoping it'll be sorted by christmas!x

 

[GymClassHero]

I've been refered to a consultant, had my scan over a month ago now (which showed several stones)not got an appointment until 8th September, and I'm hoping he'll put my name on the waiting list that day, been over 2 months since I fist went to the docs, attacks seem to be getting more frequent even though I've cut out all fatty food. When I went to the GP (again last week) as the buscopan didn't help at all, he said that although avoiding fatty food will help, sometimes the stones will move themselves and casue pain for no apparent reason. Just so fed up of it now, how long have people who have to the surgery had to wait after seeing the consultant, I hoping it'll be sorted by christmas!x

Hi hun,

Buscopan is more suitable for cramps and spasms in the intenstines as opposed to assisting with gall stones.

The pain comes from the acid and inflamation of the gall bladder or stones getting stuck in the bile duct

The only thing that helped a little for me was to take losec (also known as omeprazole) and my dr prescribed me 30mg to take daily as a preventative measure. When the attacks were horrific though i had to go to A&E about 4 times and each time they gave me morphine to take the pain away. The final time it happened they actually admitted me and operated within days.

Hope you get sorted hun and if i can only give you one piece of advice, please, please, please just stick to really plain foods and avoid anything fatty, oily or spicy until you get sorted it you want to avoid an 'attack'

 

[Pawm]

I'm finally having mine out this saturday, the hospital have been useless and not told me anything inregards to recovery, found some really useful information on another NHS Trust's website, but would welcome any tips from people who have been through it themselves. Not so nervouse about the op (at the moment) it's more the recovery I'm worried about, I'm quite independant but am going to go back to my parents house after the op so my mum can look after me, just wondered how long it'd be before I can come back to my own house and look after myself, ie go shopping and do my own cooking (the stairs are very steep though). How long did people have to have off work, I've told my team 2weeks, they all thik thats very short, but I've told them if I don't feel up to it I'll let them know, there's no way I'll be rushing back!!

Another question is more long term, have people still had to stay away from anything, I havn't had a takeaway for about 4 months, and am now very wary of food with any fat in, which can prove tricky when eating out, have people been able to eat properly again? (Don't worry I won't be pigging out, hoping to keep the weight off i've managed to lose from not eating rubbish due to the gallstones!)

Thanks xx

 

[JoRoger]

Hi everyone, can I please just ask a quick question, this pain in your side, is it kind of like a cystitus/kidney infection pain but right down your right handside between kidney and hipbone? Does it really hurt when you lie down? Only I had this last weekend, and thought it was cystitus, only it was in kind of the wrong place, and I didnt have any problems or pain with weeing. I have had it periodically in the past and then it goes away again, but this time it is still here now although not as bad. Wondering if it is gallstones or a problem with my gall bladder, or my kidneys somehow. Or maybe i'm just thinking way too much!

 

[DisneyMumma]

Hi,
I had mine out about 8 years ago now, when I was about 16 stone. I was on the list for 2 YEARS!! before I got my surgery, and was on such high strength pain killers that I really shouldn't have been driving to work on.

Oh my God, after I'd had it and could eat a curry again, it was bliss - well not for my weight it wasn't but hey.

I was awfully groggy after the surgery, and threw up over one of the nurses (orange, lovely); but was back home to following day. They originally told me I would be off work for 6 weeks, but I went back after 3 because I was so bored. I just had to take it a little easy.

I think someone else has recently had the surgery and they kicked them out the same day! rather than the following day, so needed to have someone with them at home for the first few hours.

Recovery was fine, and I still have the stones in a jar (gross!) that they gave me. It hasn't really affected eating at all, only now I am not in pain after eating a tiny bit of butter or something.

I used to be creased up across the toilet in agony for anything up to an hour before the pain went away most times, so they ended up sticking me on pills with Morphine in them. SOO much better without.

Hope that helps a little, and look forward to your pain free days
Jacqui

 

[pamella]

In the last few moths I have had some pain in my right upper side at the bottom of my ribcage if I have eaten any fat. We did a 10mile bike ride on Sunday and I had a publunch and it was a salad but they had mixed all the chicken and bacon up in mayo. A few hours later I got the pain again and also in my back and felt burpy and yesterday couldnt eat felt nauseated and had a very sore upper tummy.

Been to see the Doc today and she is pretty sure I have gallstones and has referred me for an ultrasound scan but said it was likely I'd need surgery to remove them.I have to have a fat free diet at the mo.

Has anyone had a gall bladder removal and what was the op like and how big were you when you had the surgery. I am sure the next issue will be my weight and the op.

Bit worried here!

i too have the same pained area as you-it all started when i was carrying my 2nd baby 4 years ago.
i still have it now and again but not as painful.
doc couldn't feel anything that shouldn't have been there so never had any investigations.
since joining sw this is still there but rarely bothers me.i notice it more if i have overeaten now and suspect if anything that it is a hernia.

 

[paperclip]

I think someone else has recently had the surgery and they kicked them out the same day! rather than the following day, so needed to have someone with them at home for the first few hours.

This is becoming standard practice - surgery of this type has improved greatly over the past few years and now specialised Day Surgery Units mean that people don't need to stay in hospital unnecessarily.

Recovery should be relatively rapid as long as it's keyhole - you should be up and moving around (albeit a bit more slowly than usual) the day following the surgery and more comfortably 2-3 days after. Expect to go back to work after at least 2 weeks, but possibly as long as 4 weeks after the op depending how you feel and your particular job.

Heavy lifting is often out for a while, and general manual work, so be careful!

 

[Irisheyes648]

I had mine removed about 2 years ago... I was lucky because we have private medical so I was in and out within a month. The pain that I suffered was like I was having a heart attack and not being able to breath, rushed into a&e a few times and the last time I thought my time was up as a gallstone got stuck in my pancreas so ended up with acute pancreatitis... I cannot explain the pain worse than childbirth! Sticking to a virtually fat free diet kept things under control until the op, which was keyhole, you will be up and about after a few days nothing to worry too much about......2 years on I have never looked back, the only thing to watch though for the first few weeks is what you eat whilst your body adjusts as you don't have the filter system any more, I would get terrible tummy cramps for a few weeks but that soon settles down and everyone is different..... Good luck x

 

[Pawm]

Thanks for all the advice, I've not had any problem with spciy food though, my curries have been thr only thing getting me though this. I'm not sure if it's the fat contents in curries rather then the spice as I've been eating SW curries without any problems, or maybe its just that everyone is different and has different triggers. It's cheese that I miss most, I've been ok with LC light triangles, but thats it, I miss pizza so much, and can't wait to have my heA of mozzeralla on my pasta again!x