Gallstones anyone?

MandaJean83

I haven't read everyone's response, but I'll give my two cents!

I found out I had some gallstones in 2008 after 3 or 4 boughts of SEVERE night time pain. It would hit me about 1am after having eaten a 9pm pizza binge, and I'd be up for 6 hours in pain. I never went to the ER, because each time the pain would go away (and as a nurse, I avoid the ER unless I'm half dead already). When I finally went to the GI doctor, they did an ultrasound and found some gallstones. They wanted me to have the gallbladder out immediately, but I was like "HECK no!". I really don't want surgery. So I did some reading and found out what my trigger foods are (for me, it is anything fatty or heavy that I eat after 9pm), and I just avoid them. It's been about 4.5 years now and I'm still hoping to avoid the surgery. I've only had a couple attacks in the past few years, so I think I'm doing well!

That pain really IS the worst pain I've ever been in, though.

MamaDee2

I've experienced gall stones and, yes, it is the worst pain I ever experienced. Far worse than childbirth. The best advice I can give you is schedule the surgery as soon as possible.

^^^^^this^^^^^

bethany1031

I learned I had gallstones about 4 years ago & I agree it's BRUTAL! I too went to the ER thinking I was having a heart attack. I ended up getting my gallbladder removed, but my doctor told me the stones could re-appear even though the gallbladder was gone. Since then I've have taken a multi-enzyme supplement from GNC. Personally, I think it helps. I don't take it as often as they recommend, but if I have a particularly big meal, or over-indulge on the fats (like after Thanksgiving), I will take two after dinner & two the next day to help move things along.

amayaveronica

I had mine removed i never wanted to feel something as painful as that again or even risk it its also dangerous as it could get inflamed then another attack could cause it to rupture then youd bleed to death internally

lizziebeth1028

I've experienced gall stones and, yes, it is the worst pain I ever experienced. Far worse than childbirth. The best advice I can give you is schedule the surgery as soon as possible.

^^^^^this^^^^^

^^^^I second this!

sukifr

I've had pain with my gallstones on and off for 7 years now!!
They where first diagnosed after I developed pancreatitus-long story but ended up in hospital on a drip for a week and almost died :-(
Thankfully the pancreatitus never came back, but from time to time I have attacks with my gallstones, the one trigger I've really found is butter that causes it. I stopped eating butter and began eating low fat spreads-but then got told they are bad for you, so went back to butter and you can guess what happened!!

I will admit that I am 100% whimp, I hate hospitals and the doctors where i live wanted me to have my gallbladder out, thankfully I've kept hold tight of it and have learnt what to have and what to avoid.
Eating healthy certainly is the only way to go, along with regular exercise - it's the future! :-)

Everyone will tell you their own story and that is it, 'their story' what you have to decide is, can you manage with or without your gallbladder? I know people who have had theirs removed and tell me it's the best thing since sliced bread, but it hasn't changed the way they eat-infact I would say it has given them 'free-range' to eat whatever fatty, greasy food they want to.

I can empathise with your pain, it's awful and so, so draining.
I wish you well :-)

ShirleyBoys

My daughter lost weight then had a gall bladder flare up & had it removed. Good luck with the exercise & diet but I think if you have stones that the only thing to do is have it removed. Just my opinion God Bless

TrailRunner61

If you're having pain, ust have it removed. If you don't you may end up having a traditional 'knife' surgery and the pain and recovery takes MUCH LONGER. You also can have it rupture and that's another whole topic. I had mine removed on a Thurs and was back to work on Monday. The pain was minimal and I recovered quickly.

One thing you should be aware of though, and I know it's tmi, but sometimes if you have it removed you end up with diarrhea every single time you eat. I had that for almost ten years and thank God it's gone now. I could rarely eat dinner out without having a 'problem'. It happens because your gallbladder used to control how much bile goes into your intestines and after it's removal, it dumps directly in there. There are powdered meds you can take to help but it's still a pita.

Good luck and I pray all goes well for you!

jhackenmueller

get that thing out! I suffered a couple gallstone attacks before it was removed, awful pain. I have never had any problems with out my gallbladder and I can't imagine living with that pain. I thought having to wait 2.5 months to get it out was forever. Good Luck.

solito

Hi,

Wow! It's amazing the similarities on our stories, for those who gallstones followed a dramatic weight loss! I started having attack last summer after loosing 25lbs. in just a couple of months. I gone on a strick diet called HMR, where I was getting close to 0% fat intake. I had my first attack one day when I decided to cheat since we were celebrating my birthday. I just assumed I had severe indigestion since I had a lot of cheese that day, which is fatty. A month later, I cheated again, just a bit, had a nice crab sales and a margarita. This time the attack was out of the park and landed me in ER! Thankfully the ER doctor diagnosed it correctly, but still had to wait to get tests and see specialists for a few weeks.
Given my situation, e.g. stones are very small, no infections, no blood work abnormalities, I decided to avoid the surgery. I been able to do well AS LONG AS I watch what I eat. Each time I had an attack is because I overdid it by eating too much, too late at night or eating the wrongs things. I continue to monitor with specialists once a year, and if stones get bigger, one get blocked, or some other issue comes up, I will have the surgery. I do worry about possible side effects on my esophagus from the occasional attacks.
Here are some of the things that have worked for me, in case you find it helpful:
- I don't eat anything deep fried, or too fatty or rich like Alfredo and Hollandaise sauces. If I am doing well, I can tolerate small amounts of fried things, like trying something my husband is eating, just to get a taste.
- I happen to love salmon, so I eat a lot of salmon, grilled, lightly sauteed, broiled. Other cold water seafood works well too. I also can eat skinned chicken with no problem.
- Coconut oil works well, use sparingly for cooking. I can also use a little olive oil.
- I eat nonfat greek yogurt . I avoid cheese as much as possible. no more ice cream for me.
- I enjoy steamed brussel sprouts, asparragus put 21 spice salute from TJ's to add flavor, if needed.
- I drink a lot of chamomile tea. I make a beets/apple/cucumber juice which is good for gall bladder. I like making drinks with ginget too, such as Thai Ginger Lemonade.
- TJ's has plantain chips, which I love, so no more corn chips for me. You have to be careful not to over due it because although they are roasted, they have a tiny bit of oil.
- Only have chocolate of good quality, and sparringly when there are no signs of stagnation.
- I have not been drinking sodas for ages now, so that is not my issue. However, if in a party and must drink sodas because it is the only thing available, I have it sugar free. Too much sugar seems to flare things up.
- I'm very careful with rich foods like crab and prawns, which I love, but remember that a crab salad is what landed me in the hospital.
- I use a sort of 90/10, or 80/20 rule: if I am doing the right things 80 or 90 % of the time, I find I can deviate and enjoy desserts, steaks, etc ocassionaly - as long as they are not deepfried.
- I find that a glass of wine helps me digest food, if I have a nice steak or something that feels heavy after eating it.
- I have to be careful with nuts, it I eat too much, I can get an attack.
- I do occasional acupunture treatments to help strengthen my digestive system. Specially, after have a couple of attack.
- When I got to Asian restaurants, curry dishes work well since it is one of the very few things that are not stir-fried. dossas work well for me in India restaurant. Just have to be careful to have mild to medium amount of spices. Need to learn which spices don't work for you.

Hope some of it helps.

janerfitnesspal145

Bump for reference

SnuggleSmacks

Rich foods like crab and prawn? Those are some of the highest protein, lowest fat/carb foods you could possibly eat! What makes them "rich"? Stuff you add to them?

hippechickie

Good post. Good info. Thanks