Gallbladder Sludge

amymt10

I have been having pains in my right side and it radiates around to my back. I was diagnosied w/sludge in my gallbladder 2yrs ago. I had a sono and HIDA scan then, the HIDA scan came back normal so my gallbladder wasnt taken out. It has bothered me on and off for the past 2 yrs. Most recently its been hurting for 2 weeks straight. I saw my dr and he had me repeat the sono, sludge still there. So he sent me to see a surgeon, I saw him yesterday. He wants me to repeat the HIDA scan, I have that scheduled for this coming Fri. Then a follow up the surgeon on Tues. I just dont seem hopeful that he will do anything should the scan come back normal. He said sludge doesnt usually cause pain and we dont like to just jump right into surgery, taking the gallbladder out doesnt always get rid of the pain. Yesterday I had a turkey sandwich (pretty plain- turkey, tomato & very lil light mayo) and that sent me into some serious pain, then I tried walking on the treadmill- I managed 2 miles before the pain got too bad and I had to stop. I couldnt eat dinner last night becuase of the pain. One day last week I had a salad w/a lil bit of fat free italian dressing and that had me doubled over in pain!!! Anyone else have sludge? Was your gallbladder removed? or did you have to "deal" with it??? There have been occasions in the past 2 yrs that I would go months w/o pain and could eat what I wanted but then one day everything I eat good or bad sends me into pain. Just need some advice while I wait for my appts in the next week.

debbysatit

I recommend getting a second opinion from another surgeon! Several years ago I had something similar happen to me with the same exact meal and wound up in the ER. My pain did not radiate to my side it acted like a heart attack. My labs were way off and my ultrasound results were not conclusive to be my gallbladder. While at work I talked with another nurse who said get me a copy of the labs. She showed them to the surgeon she workd with who said get an appt with me ASAP. He said I had pancreatits from gallbladder sludge backing up into my pancreas causing pancreatitis. I was put on antibiotics and 3 days later had surgery. I was told that if it kept backing up I could wind up with diabetes. Since surgery I feel much better. Looking back on it I had symptoms for 6 mo. - I could not tolerate any alcohol and certain foods bothered me frequently. And often I did not feel good after eating.
So again I say go for another opinion!

10KEyes

I have had my gallbladder removed. I wish I could have found an alternative though. However, you must be careful. The contents can come out and block the bile ducts and cause your liver and primarily your pancreas to go into distress. If your pancreas ruptures it could be fatal.

I had to go to the Emergency room after dealing with the pain all night and they did a blood test along with other tests. The discovered my pancreas was distressed and that is how I found out it could be fatal if left untreated.

I wish I would have known of a way to fix it naturally.

samf36

I have heard of people taking bile salts for gallbladder issues.

chuckles217

Sludge typically causes chronic inflammation of the gall bladder. This usually leads to right upper quadrant pain on the abdomen exasterbated by fatty meals. Flank pain is usually associated with kidney or ureter pain such as a stone or infection.

Your pain for gallbladder sounds much like many women have experienced on Yasmin or yaz ocp. There is a lawsuit right now over that. My wife was personally effected by this and had pain very similar to yours and had a gall bladder removal. Her HIDA showed scan showed sludge and 5% activity.

amymt10

hmm... def something to research and think about til I see the surgeon next week, thank you

As for Yaz- I havent taken birth control in 6 years and was never on Yaz. I've had my tubes cut when I had my last c-section. We are done having babies!

I did have a bad attack while I was preggo 3 1/2 yrs ago but they never found anything at that time. The sludge showed up a year later on sono. The surgeon yesterday tried telling me that sludge doesnt usually cause pain but I am in pain and everything I've read says it can cause pain. If its not my GB something else is def wrong!!!!

DebbieMc3

no way! Get a second oppinion fast. I had mine out 3 years ago. It was so full of sludge that they almost had to open me up on the table rather then do it laproscopically. (sp)

Good luck. No pain worse then gall bladder for me. (not even my 15 hours of labor with my son)

visiri

I have sludge and was pretty much told it won't go away, but sludge doesn't make the surgery medically necessary, so I havent' had it done (not covered if elective). I have bouts of massive pain and it's usually do to having too much oil. Usually, it's not one meal that causes it, but a build up of fatty foods and then the preverbal straw that breaks the camels back.

I am hoping that as I lose weight it will get better, though with some of the comments, I'm wondering if the GB issue is what is causing me pain/numbness to the right of my spine pretty much at the same level that the GB is located. hmmmmm.

amymt10

Yeah I was told it will never go away on it's own too.

barbaramitchell101

Yeah I was told it will never go away on it's own too.


well, I have a different story about sludge...for about 8 years my doctor did a yearly ultrasound, and reported gallbladder sludge.....I have been on a weight loss program for 2 years, lost 30 lbs, and then started haveing issues, maybe GB maybe not, but I had an untrasound in Sept and the sludge was.... GONE......but I was having issues so the tech suggested a HIDA SCAN...which came back at 80%., OVERACTIVE GALLBLADDER...my surgeon said that she removes the GB automatically when the reading is over 82%...so we are looking at other things, before we decide to take it out.....however, this week, I have observed something that may be at the root of issues I've had for the last 8 months, and another issue going back 10 years.....I think I am having an allergic reaction to the inactive ingredients in my generic meds....I am sentitive to dyes, perfumes, soaps, and chemicals...3 months ago I stopped using generic flownase, something to treat allergies, because it as making me sneeze!!!!.......I was extremely fatigued, muscle pain and weakness, nausia when putting ANYTHING in my stomach, loose stool, difficulty thinking, and focussing, tripping over my feet..itching, one spot of hives and itching, treated with antihistimine which made it feel better, but would not go away (7 months of this)...I also take Allegra 24 hours, non-drowsey every night..

I stopped my generics 2 days ago and am feeling much better, and actually now feel hungry, I did not feel that for several months...and I haven't had anymore nausea

.I'll let you all know what happens....when I have some news