Gallbladders... help?

LindseyMariePJ

I've known for a while that I've had gallbladder issues but I'd usually take a few Ibuprofen and it would go away. But late Tuesday night after dinner (a light one, might I add), I thought my gallbladder had burst or something because I was in the worst pain of my life.

My brother rushed me to the ER and I was a mess. They did some tests and did an ultrasound and found two small gallstones. However, the hospital I was at was not the normal hospital I go to, so they told me to go to my regular doctor and go from there. They gave me some pain meds and told me to take it easy.

Last night was the first time I had eaten since the gallstone attack the night before and I ate a small salad. Lettuce, cabbage, and a couple saltine crackers. Boom. My gallbladder started acting up badly again.

So for now the only things I can have without a reaction is apple juice, water, and popsicles.

Is there anything you can recommend? I'm super hungry but I don't want to upset the gallbladder. No dairy of any kind because those are trigger foods for me. I really don't want to live off juice until my next doctors appointment. Help? :frown:

blondageh

Mine wasn't food that triggered my attacks, it was lack of. Salads upset me for years after though. I am so sorry you are feeling this much pain. They need to do surgery on you right now. I would demand to see a surgeon ASAP.

alliemarie77

I think I would go to my regular hospital. Try the brat diet... Stay away from high fat foods. Other than that I would suggest a second opinion from your regular hospital.

kuuhristin

Did you have pancreatitis? This happened to me a few years ago. I kept getting pancreatitis and they wouldn't find anything until they finally found gall stones and removed my gallbladder. It sucked, I would definitely recommend any other route first. Yes you can live without it but for me and a lot of people I know who've had it out, it sucked afterward. My sister lost lik 80lbs in like 4 months, I lost like 80lbs in like 6 months. It teaches you to kind of eat healthy because ANYTHING fatty or sugar you eat just goes RIGHT THROUGH YOU. It's pretty insane and it sucks. It's been like 3 years since I had mine out I think and I'm finally mostly back to normal but damn it was a long hard process. I had to get two colonoscopies.

kuuhristin

They also would put me on liquid only diets for like a week or two just to let it all rest and then I had to start out slow. What I did that kind of helped me kick off eating right after was following a diet my step dad had to do. His doctor put him on a crazy diet because he was pe diabetic. You start out with like basic veggies and little protein and every week you can add a couple different things. It kinda cleans you out and it's super healthy and you'll lose weight too. It sucked but it helped with how much pain I was always in. Also, DRINK A LOT OF WATER!!!

coco3382458

when this happened to me they told me to stay away from hit fat foods and chocolate. after 2 attacks and eating pretty well I had elective surgery to get that sucker out!! So glad I did because that pain was worse then labor!

Meikmeika

I had my gall bladder removed last year and it's still a blur to me.

Mid August last year I was eating dinner, late one night (as you were) and started having these horrible stomach pains. It felt as if I'd swallowed knives. After my visit to the ER I was told I had gall bladder disease and gastritis (which is the inflammation of the stomach lining) and to do the BRAT diet. They also prescribed Pepcid (or something like that). I was miserable for weeks....

By Sept 3rd I was back in the ER, with sharp pains in my stomach and back. At that point they said I had a gall stone enlodged in my gallbladder and it needed to be removed.

Please please please let surgery be your last resort. Negotiate with your doctor on the pricing for the procedure as well, if it's needed, because I'll be paying for that surgery until I die.

I've heard there are gall stone flushes or try an elimination diet, see what foods trigger the pain and stop eating them.

Living without a gall bladder is possible but it really really sucks!!! My life currently revolves around the restroom.

Good Luck.

TigressPat

I've known for a while that I've had gallbladder issues but I'd usually take a few Ibuprofen and it would go away. But late Tuesday night after dinner (a light one, might I add), I thought my gallbladder had burst or something because I was in the worst pain of my life.

My brother rushed me to the ER and I was a mess. They did some tests and did an ultrasound and found two small gallstones. However, the hospital I was at was not the normal hospital I go to, so they told me to go to my regular doctor and go from there. They gave me some pain meds and told me to take it easy.

Last night was the first time I had eaten since the gallstone attack the night before and I ate a small salad. Lettuce, cabbage, and a couple saltine crackers. Boom. My gallbladder started acting up badly again.

So for now the only things I can have without a reaction is apple juice, water, and popsicles.

Is there anything you can recommend? I'm super hungry but I don't want to upset the gallbladder. No dairy of any kind because those are trigger foods for me. I really don't want to live off juice until my next doctors appointment. Help? :frown:

been living with it for years and years.
everyone has different trigger foods.
usually they are high fat foods, but if you keep a too low fat diet all the time, your gallbladders will probably react badly as well!

after an attack, eat super lightly or don;t eat at all for a couple of days.
then reintroduce things slowly.
I can eat rice, toast, fruit usually with no issues, but take a few bites and see if it twinges.
Mine will sometimes let me know it's going to rebel, and if you stop at that point it often averts a real crisis.

in the meantime, the attacks might also mean that the gallstones are passing OUT of your body, which is a good thing as you will be pain free until new ones form.

TigressPat

OH!

big thing i forgot to mention

Gallbladders HATE when you lose or gain weight

the react very badly.

The way to get around this is to lose weight VERY SLOWLY.

if you've lost a fair amount of weight, quickly, this is likely what triggered it.
But on the bright side, if you don't have much to lose, it might be managable at goal weight.

LindseyMariePJ

I've figured out which foods trigger it but it seriously has a mind of its own. Sometimes everything triggers it. Sometimes nothing does.

I know that not eating all day and then eating a huge dinner can set it off immediately. I have done a lot of research about the surgery and reading some of those post-surgery stories are horrifying. I'm not against surgery but I really would like to avoid it. At this point, though, I don't know if I can because of how random and terrible the attacks are. They gave me vicodin but I really dislike how it makes me feel but it does help with the pain.

I have an appointment soon with my regular doctor and I guess I'm gonna see what he has to say.

TigressPat

I had my gall bladder removed last year and it's still a blur to me.

Mid August last year I was eating dinner, late one night (as you were) and started having these horrible stomach pains. It felt as if I'd swallowed knives. After my visit to the ER I was told I had gall bladder disease and gastritis (which is the inflammation of the stomach lining) and to do the BRAT diet. They also prescribed Pepcid (or something like that). I was miserable for weeks....

By Sept 3rd I was back in the ER, with sharp pains in my stomach and back. At that point they said I had a gall stone enlodged in my gallbladder and it needed to be removed.

Please please please let surgery be your last resort. Negotiate with your doctor on the pricing for the procedure as well, if it's needed, because I'll be paying for that surgery until I die.

I've heard there are gall stone flushes or try an elimination diet, see what foods trigger the pain and stop eating them.

Living without a gall bladder is possible but it really really sucks!!! My life currently revolves around the restroom.

Good Luck.

gallstone flushes are BS. they do nothing.
gallstones will naturally leave your body, this is what often causes the pain.

the only problems being that if they are Large (hers aren't) they sometimes get stuck and cause far worse problems.

TigressPat

I've figured out which foods trigger it but it seriously has a mind of its own. Sometimes everything triggers it. Sometimes nothing does.

I know that not eating all day and then eating a huge dinner can set it off immediately. I have done a lot of research about the surgery and reading some of those post-surgery stories are horrifying. I'm not against surgery but I really would like to avoid it. At this point, though, I don't know if I can because of how random and terrible the attacks are. They gave me vicodin but I really dislike how it makes me feel but it does help with the pain.

I have an appointment soon with my regular doctor and I guess I'm gonna see what he has to say.

two questions for you:

1- have you lost a lot of weight so far, and in what time frame?
2- have you radically changed your eating habits/diet?

Both I and my mother have lived with gallbladder issues for decades.
It's more than do-able, but it takes some work.

LindseyMariePJ

I've figured out which foods trigger it but it seriously has a mind of its own. Sometimes everything triggers it. Sometimes nothing does.

I know that not eating all day and then eating a huge dinner can set it off immediately. I have done a lot of research about the surgery and reading some of those post-surgery stories are horrifying. I'm not against surgery but I really would like to avoid it. At this point, though, I don't know if I can because of how random and terrible the attacks are. They gave me vicodin but I really dislike how it makes me feel but it does help with the pain.

I have an appointment soon with my regular doctor and I guess I'm gonna see what he has to say.

two questions for you:

1- have you lost a lot of weight so far, and in what time frame?
2- have you radically changed your eating habits/diet?

Both I and my mother have lived with gallbladder issues for decades.
It's more than do-able, but it takes some work.

1. I've lost like 5 pounds so far in about 6 weeks.
2. I haven't really changed my eating drastically.. eating less and eating a bit better, mostly.
I've known about the gallbladder issues for a little over two years. I just didn't think it was so bad until the other night.

TigressPat

I've figured out which foods trigger it but it seriously has a mind of its own. Sometimes everything triggers it. Sometimes nothing does.

I know that not eating all day and then eating a huge dinner can set it off immediately. I have done a lot of research about the surgery and reading some of those post-surgery stories are horrifying. I'm not against surgery but I really would like to avoid it. At this point, though, I don't know if I can because of how random and terrible the attacks are. They gave me vicodin but I really dislike how it makes me feel but it does help with the pain.

I have an appointment soon with my regular doctor and I guess I'm gonna see what he has to say.

two questions for you:

1- have you lost a lot of weight so far, and in what time frame?
2- have you radically changed your eating habits/diet?

Both I and my mother have lived with gallbladder issues for decades.
It's more than do-able, but it takes some work.

1. I've lost like 5 pounds so far in about 6 weeks.
2. I haven't really changed my eating drastically.. eating less and eating a bit better, mostly.
I've known about the gallbladder issues for a little over two years. I just didn't think it was so bad until the other night.

well, if you are logging your food here that might help, as it's always good to have a food diary so you might be able to find out what triggers it.
My mom cannot eat late at night. She also has trouble with fried foods.

I can't eat Cream, butter, and mayo.
but I can eat chocolate, cheese, and eggs.

again, not everyone is the same, but if you went from a fattier diet to a low fat diet, that also can trigger it.

blondageh

I know with mine, my gallbladder was so diseased it shriveled up before they even got it out. It had to get out. But, seeing as I was 15, I had no choice, I just wanted the pain to stop. I had the attacks for a year before my mother finally took me to the ER. She thought I was just being a drama queen teen when I said I had the worst pain ever.

To me, it feels like someone is taking a needle threaded with barbed wire, sticking it at the top of my rib and pulling it tight through my back. I will indeed agree, worse than labor.

I did have sensitive stomach issues for a few years after having it out, but now I am good. I just wish I could tell you eat this or that and you won't have an attack, but I can't. I think if your attacks are that frequent, you may have no other option. Don't hesitate to go to the ER again during your next one if you have to.

GeekAmour

Good luck with your appointment, I had the pain for YEARS, debilitating pain in my side that made my lie on the cold bathroom floor in the fetal position & nobody diagnosed it properly until I was sent to a specialist & had to get it out ASAP. Ooohparently there were tiny gallstones stuck in the bile duct & everything, nasty, gross stuff.

I'm no help with what you should eat in the meantime since you are off dairy, when I first got the attacks I would down a carton of vanilla custard - no idea why it worked but it did, in the beginning. I also took pain pills to help, but now I can't take certain ones because their constant use to get through attacks gave me ulcers that hurt when I took them! So the sooner you stop that, the better.

Apart from some post surgery dramas (I was a guinea pig for an experimental procedure) I don't agree with surgery being the last resort - I was so, so relieved to be rid of if, the uncertainty of the attacks is stressful as well as painful & really no way to live.

As for diet post surgery - I had no ill effects from it's removal & went back to my regular diet, which apart from being vegan at the time was not particularly healthy (not a recommendation obviously, just an observation).

Thinking of you. Wouldn't wish that pain on my worst enemy.




Okay. Maybe my WORST enemy....

laurenkfj

I have had mine surgically removed and i cannot exaggerate how much it has improved my life for the better! Please research it fully before you rule out surgery. I have had some occasional reactions to high fat food but NOTHING could be as bad as the pain i used to get from my gallstones. Please weigh up your options! i would get it taken out again tomorrow

Jokenmit

I had my gallbladder out around 4 years ago now with the laparoscopy surgery not the old fashion standard one. Food was never a trigger for me, it was lifting heavy things. I had to be so careful at work. 26 months after I was diagnosed I had my surgery, Just a day surgery. I was home in my bed that night. Pain killers for the next 4 or 5 days. If I had an office job I could have been back to work in 7 to 10 days, but where my involves a lot of heavy lifting, the suggested I take 3 weeks off. It took about 6 months for my digestive system to readjust and play nice (it really hated anything greasy, spicy and lettuce). After the pain I went through...I would absolutely do it again...even thou the digestive issues were sometimes embarrassing. Good luck.

redhotbeads

I too had occasional problems for years. I went for a physical in April, doctor pushed on my gallbladder and I about came unglued. I had it removed laparoscopically May 10. I haven't had issues with very many foods - but - I gained five lbs and am having one hell of a time losing it. I now have a Jawbone UP and track my food/calories on here, which helps immensely. I had not heard previously that having your gallbladder removed would negatively impact weight loss. That bums me out! I would have the surgery again, though, because I had one very large gallstone (like a robin's egg) and there was no chance it was going to do anything but make me miserable.

Today was a big dietary don't, though .... I had a cheese omelet for breakfast. MISTAKE!!! Yeesh.