Gallbladder

CaptainGordo

Thanks to everyone for all of your replies, I really appreciate it. You are making me feel much better!

I can't believe that so many of you have had this surgery

And we're up and around! Pretty minor surgery nowadays. Good luck!

lizziebeth1028

Hi there, just to tell you about my experience....

I was having horrible pain with my gall bladder a couple years ago. I was given a lot of pressure to do surgery by my doc, so got a second opinion. After the advice of another doc, I did a simple gall bladder cleanse and immediately altered my diet and managed to avoid surgery, thankfully! Haven't had any problem since! Of course, yours may be too far along to avoid surgery...so you obviousy want to do what is best. = )

I would search "gall bladder" in the forum and it will pull up a thread with a lot of responses with people sharing their experiences after surgery. Good luck!

Sorry but for the most part I've heard that gallbladder cleansing is a bunch of BS. Altering you diet can prevent painful attacks for some people...but eventually if the gallbladder is diseased with stones/sludge/ or just low performing the attacks will eventually come back. All my life I've had gallbladder problems, sometimes going for years between painful attacks with out a symptom. It's a game of russian roulette if you don't remove it.. Not to mention it can lead to other more serious health problems. Always go with your doctors advice, and certainly get a second opinion if it makes you feel comfortable. But don't rely on gallbladder cleanses advertised on the internet. Rely on your Doctor!

karenjoy

Had mine out in September, not made any difference to me at all. No issues with what I eat and no issues with weight other than I was not able to do much after the op for a while. If you need it taken out, do it and don't worry. Also I would recommend using bio oil, my scars are great already, the two on my trunk look like moles and the larger ones on my chest and tummy button look good too

GreenLifeGirl

I would search "gall bladder" in the forum and it will pull up a thread with a lot of responses with people sharing their experiences after surgery. Good luck!

Sorry but for the most part I've heard that gallbladder cleansing is a bunch of BS. Altering you diet can prevent painful attacks for some people...but eventually if the gallbladder is diseased with stones/sludge/ or just low performing the attacks will eventually come back. All my life I've had gallbladder problems, sometimes going for years between painful attacks with out a symptom. It's a game of russian roulette if you don't remove it.. Not to mention it can lead to other more serious health problems. Always go with your doctors advice, and certainly get a second opinion if it makes you feel comfortable. But don't rely on gallbladder cleanses advertised on the internet. Rely on your Doctor!

Thanks for your concern, lizziebeth, but like I stated, it WAS under the recommendation of my doctor that I took the diet approach and have had great success. I was in horrible pain for over a year and have had no problems for nearly three years since the change. The cleanse was a specific and strict dietary cleanse outlined by my doc, not a purchase "cleanse" from some website. Perhaps, you didn't read my response entirely.

Hope your surgery goes well, jdelisle! Sounds like a lot of people have had great success with it! To be pain free is worth it!

Missjulesdid

By the time I got it out it was 100% non functional and was gangrene and falling apart. I had to have emergency surgery to have it out and the surgeon said he had to scrape my liver to clean it of all the gangrene from my gallbladder. My recovery was long and painful due to the fact that the doctor also had to move stuff around in there to clean out all the gangrene.

I gained weight after my surgery because I wasn't taking good care of my health at the time and I suddenly was able to eat without getting sick so I quickly packed on 20 pounds. I don't think it was due to not having a gall bladder, it was just due to not having the repercussions of a faulty gallbladder as a deterrent anymore.

Melissa0174

I had my gallbladder the eve of Thanksgiving in 2007. I had to have emergency surgery. They say the sooner you are mobile the quicker you will heal. Which was true in my case. You will be sore for awhile which is normal. I was told to limit my fat intake to no more than 10 grams of fat per meal for awhile. By following the fat intake I lost 50 pounds within a month.
Good luck to you and you will feel so much better once you have healed.

La_Amazona

I have!!! About 2 years ago. At the time, I wasn't really watching my diet but they will tell you that you can't eat certain foods after surgery anymore.. or you shouldn't eat such as spicy, greasy and fatty foods.

I don't know if it was my gall bladder surgery or an age thing but I can no longer drink milk. :sad: I LOVED milk and cant' seem to digest it right anymore.

Surgery wasn't too bad. I love to be put under (fun times) so that doesn't scare me. The recovery was tough. I felt like a bus ran me over for about 2 days. I couldn't sit up easily or w/o help. Take it easy.. Once a week passed, I was up and able to move almost like normal.

La_Amazona

This may sound silly.....but it's good to hear from all you 'gallbladder free' people! It's very hard to explain to people who have never had a gallbladder attack exactly how painful they actually are!!!! I used to pass out from the pain!! It's good to know there are people out there on MFP who can relate!!!!

YES! I passed out at my grandma's funeral.. it was horrible. I had an attack and it was hot outside and bam, I went out.

lizziebeth1028

This may sound silly.....but it's good to hear from all you 'gallbladder free' people! It's very hard to explain to people who have never had a gallbladder attack exactly how painful they actually are!!!! I used to pass out from the pain!! It's good to know there are people out there on MFP who can relate!!!!

YES! I passed out at my grandma's funeral.. it was horrible. I had an attack and it was hot outside and bam, I went out.

Oh know that's terrible!......They say that stress can trigger a gallbladder attack too! I passed out at the grocery store last time....omg so embarrassing! the ambulance came and took me away! I am so glad to be rid of that thing!

ashley_jorah

I'm 3 years post-op.
I lost a lot of weight at the beginning b/c I was an emergency surgery, and after my second attack in two weeks (and after adjusting my diet) I was admitted to the hospital and not allowed to leave until they operated. I was there for five days, and you can't eat or drink while waiting for surgery. When I was finally allowed to eat again, I just wasn't really hungry for a few weeks.
But it wasn't a healthy way to lose, and it took a year or so, but the weight came back.
I'm not pain-free yet. Waiting to find out why I still have th exact same symptoms as before. They think I have a gallstone somewhere else. Anyone know where a gallstone will be if you don't have a gallbladder anymore?

La_Amazona

This may sound silly.....but it's good to hear from all you 'gallbladder free' people! It's very hard to explain to people who have never had a gallbladder attack exactly how painful they actually are!!!! I used to pass out from the pain!! It's good to know there are people out there on MFP who can relate!!!!

YES! I passed out at my grandma's funeral.. it was horrible. I had an attack and it was hot outside and bam, I went out.

Oh know that's terrible!......They say that stress can trigger a gallbladder attack too! I passed out at the grocery store last time....omg so embarrassing! the ambulance came and took me away! I am so glad to be rid of that thing!

Haha, I was embarrassed too. I had all my relatives around me making a scene. I kept waking up and going out like 4 times. I was wearing a dress and my dress came up and my cousin said you could see my panties! :blushing: Everyone laughs now.
Funny thing is, my grandma liked attention. She had a way about her. She probably got pissed in heaven that I took the spotlight off of her. My cousins agreed.

Melissa0174

I'm 3 years post-op.
I lost a lot of weight at the beginning b/c I was an emergency surgery, and after my second attack in two weeks (and after adjusting my diet) I was admitted to the hospital and not allowed to leave until they operated. I was there for five days, and you can't eat or drink while waiting for surgery. When I was finally allowed to eat again, I just wasn't really hungry for a few weeks.
But it wasn't a healthy way to lose, and it took a year or so, but the weight came back.
I'm not pain-free yet. Waiting to find out why I still have th exact same symptoms as before. They think I have a gallstone somewhere else. Anyone know where a gallstone will be if you don't have a gallbladder anymore?

My doctor told me that if I still had lingering pain for awhile that some of the stones might have escaped during the removal of the surgery and they are still in you bouncing around causing pain.
Gallstone pain is worse than child birth (in my opinion)

lizziebeth1028

I'm 3 years post-op.
I lost a lot of weight at the beginning b/c I was an emergency surgery, and after my second attack in two weeks (and after adjusting my diet) I was admitted to the hospital and not allowed to leave until they operated. I was there for five days, and you can't eat or drink while waiting for surgery. When I was finally allowed to eat again, I just wasn't really hungry for a few weeks.
But it wasn't a healthy way to lose, and it took a year or so, but the weight came back.
I'm not pain-free yet. Waiting to find out why I still have th exact same symptoms as before. They think I have a gallstone somewhere else. Anyone know where a gallstone will be if you don't have a gallbladder anymore?

My doctor told me that if I still had lingering pain for awhile that some of the stones might have escaped during the removal of the surgery and they are still in you bouncing around causing pain.
Gallstone pain is worse than child birth (in my opinion)

This is true. If your gallbladder disease was advanced...stones can get into the common bile duct and cause pain after surgery. I hope your Doctors gets it all straightened out soon! And yes....worse than child birth!

tinytubbs

it will keep you from working out for awhile but then you can get back on the wagon. try to keep up your food...falling off is what i did and eventually i lost all progress i had made

Karmynzahringer

I had mine removed 8 years ago and I seem to have digestive problems ever since. I either have loose stools or am constipated, never am regular and I think it has effected my weight loss, though am not sure. I battled gall stones for a year before going to the doctor, . Started getting sick when I would eat and throwing up, lost 50 lbs in about 3 months and had a friend ask if I was bulemic. Of course I thought about going to the doctor, but then worried "what if I am bulemic and in denial" I know that sounds crazy but I got worried it might be true, (sometimes I would make myself throw up because my stomach hurt so bad and that was the only thing that helped) but I got scared to go because I did not want to be forced into treatment or something. Long story short, I started having attacks daily (if I ate ANYTHING) I eventually doubled over at work and could not hardly move, rushed to emergency room and found out my gallbladder was so full of stones it was pushing them back out and one was blocking my entrance to my liver. Had an emergency removal and for the longest time felt great after that, but the weight slowly crept on and am now much heavier and can not seem to lose weight no matter what I do.