No Gallbladder - Now what??

I had the surgery when I was 24. And I was not overweight at the time... in fact about 10lbs lighter than I am now (AKA my goal weight) I was out of work for a week after having my gallbladder removed. It was not a planned surgery. I ended up at the urgent care thinking I was having a heart attack (shooting pain in my chest straight through to my back). Turns out it was a combination of an air bubble in my stomach and gall stones. Had surgery 2 days later (and 6 weeks before my wedding).

It took me a week to get back to work, because I had complications during my surgery and was in the OR for about 8 hours as they tried to remove it.

The worst parts of recovery:
Having my stomach pumped up with air. I looked about 7 months pregnant, and my insides would move around. I had to hold a pillow to my stomach every time I wanted to sit up from in the bed.
Having trouble going to the bathroom. It hurt so much to push at all, so I had to take stool softeners. And probably TMI, but suppositories also.
Everything I ate made me sick for the first couple weeks. Now I am pretty much back to normal. I had trouble with dairy before, and now it's even harder for me to eat, but I love it so I continue to eat it anyway.

I had mine taken out a month ago as well. I had stones for about three years prior to eating it taken out. It only took me about 5 days to heal, two weeks to be completely fine. The surgery was a wake up call for me, to get my gallbladder out at 21, really showed me how poor my eating habits are. Gallstones are usually caused by a high fat, high cholesterol, low fiber diet. They can also be caused by yoyo dieting, rapid weight loss, and weight gain. I am now so determined to eat high fiber, balanced diet.
Not sure if your doctor told you, but your gallbladder holds the bile that your liver creates while breaking down whatever you put in your body. Now that the gallbladder is gone, eating fatty foods or highly processed foods that put more pressure on your liver, may cause nausea, diarrhea, etc. Excessive bile simply has no where to go, so it goes right through you! Since the surgery, I have stayed away from many fried foods. However, I did have a small amount of french fries, and did not have any problems. It varies for each person. Take this as a wake-up call to reevaluate your eating habits. For some gallstones is genetic, but for many it is because of poor eating habits and extra weight.

I know a ridiculous amount about gallstones and the gallbladder if anyone has any questions!

OK, what do you know about overactive gallbladder? I recently had a HIDA scan at 80% what causes the gallbladder to produce so much bile?

I am not entirely familiar with overactive gallbladders, but I do know a few things. hope it helps!:

Foods that cause more bile production by the liver and gallbladder are fatty foods, especially deep fried. A bland diet of unprocessed, plain foods are recommended. If you have an overactive gallbladder with symptoms of pain and nausea, some doctors insist it be taken out. Many patients have noted that the symptoms disappeared after the removal of the gallbladder. If you are having pain where the gallbladder is located, talk to your doctor because you may be putting your liver and pancreas at risk if such symptoms are ignored. However, if you are not suffering from any symptoms, some doctors would just say to leave your gallbladder be. You should keep an eye on it though, since other parts of the digestive system can be negatively affected by the overactivity.

I don't eat much fatty food, and only seldom do I eat deep fried, I haven't done spices in a long time, not even pepper..I don't even pass the salt...I have only had one pain with it in the area of the gallbladder, but have had pain between the shoulder blades, and nausea with putting anything even water in my stomach...Fatigue, tripping over my feet, inability to focus, fecal incontinance or diarrhea, etc.....also symptoms of severe low blood sugar, sugar tested not lower than 92, and usually higher.and brought out of it by eating a breakfast burro (flour tortilla, potatoes, eggs, and spam)...

.I recently, have solved a part of the puzzle,...I THINK....I seem to be having an allergic reaction to my GENERIC meds...I am sensitive to perfumes, dyes, soaps, and chemicals.....and guess what is in the generics? since I cut out most of my generics, waiting for my Dr to rewrite RX for Brands, I have lost most of the symptoms I have been going thru for the last 9 months...the bowel problem has been somewhere between 10-14 years!!!! and now I actually have my brain back, WOW...and my stool is actually formed now, and back to it's normal color (it was all different colors)....when I try to take any of those meds, even one, I get all foggy brained and stumbling over my feet....could allergies cause the gallbladder to increase it's bile?

I had mine out 4yrs ago. Everyone is different, but my tummy does not like high fat or greasy foods. No problem with alcohol. :-)

Bile is still produced by the liver(as before), but it doesn't "dump" into your stomach like it did prior to surgery. The gallbladder is like a holding tank for the stuff. It was the middle man so to speak. The liver dispenses it in a slow trickle now. Since bile aids in breaking down fats, it would make sense that anyone eating greasy fast food could have an issue.

My daughter had hers out at 13! It was months after my surgery and I told her pediatrician I thought it was her gall bladder. He shook his head at me, until the test proved otherwise. She is 19 now and thin as a rail. Eats fast food and junk all the time. She recently had to cut out eating fried chicken. Her stomach can't break it down for some reason, and she ends up vomiting later. Other than that, she is a walking garbage pale, LOL
( I warned her I was thin at that age too!)

Had mine out about 12 years ago. Only real issue for me is that I gained about 40 lbs over two years afterwards. I didn't make any dietary changes, but things don't process the same. It's a bit of trial and error. One thing I would highly recommend is supplementing with digestive enzymes. They make a world of difference!

I had mine taken out 9 years ago...I will never forget those pains..OMG...but after it was probably a couple weeks until I felt like myself again...over the years though I did have phantom pains which were similar but not as intense as the original attacks....but I was told they are normal to have...fast food is a no no...at first I couldn't eat it at all but that subsided after a while

I had mine out two years ago and I'm very happy I did. My general well being is greatly improved since. The biggest thing for me has been than I no longer have to carefully control my diet to avoid rich fatty foods. Now I CAN eat them again and so I have tended to put on weight. It's true that my body sometimes doesn't quite know what to do with some fatty foods. In the first few months especially, after the operation I might sometimes get a sudden urge to dash to the loo. Bt overall, there have been no problems at all, apart from weight gain. Its a very straight forward operation and the recovery period is brief.

Thank you for your post. The discussion has been very helpful. I was in the ER all day yesterday brought on by indigestion & the feeling that I was having a heart attack. Many tests later and all fingers pointed to my gallbladder. Hurricane Sandy postponed my surgery for today and consequently for the week since my surgeon is going to be out of town. At least the storm closed schools so I am home today anyway. This also gives me an opportunity to get an abdominal CT scan done this week, to really be sure before removing my GB. I have been using MFP since the end of July and slowly lost 15 lbs. Since my diet is already high fiber and I thought lower in greasy fats, I was really caught off guard by this experience. I was even feeling pretty amazing the whole day beforehand. Hopefully the constipation/bloated feeling will go away before surgery. That really makes my judgement off as far as improvement is concerned.

I have a question for all you missing gallbladderers too. I found out yesterday that I wil have mine removed next week as they found multiple gallstones and it looked like one had already passed as the duct was open. I have an appointment with the surgeon Tuesday. I was told until then eat low-fat foods and clear liquids. If I feel an attack coming on I'm supposed to go to ER. I'm not sure how an attack will feel any different than I have been this entire last week. If I sit or lay down I have sharp pains throughout my upper abdomen around my side and up my back. The pain is a lot less if I'm up and moving around. I haven't slept in 5 days because the pain is so bad at night. What is different about an attack that I'm already feeling, that I should head to the ER? Thanks!

For those asking what an "attack" feels like... accute attacks feel like the worst stomach ache you've ever felt... had my first two attacks when I was pregnant and the dr's just attributed it to pregnancy indigestion... they were awful... the pain was so instense I had to stand up and pace and threw up a few times... and tried to make myself throw up a few times to try to relieve the pain and pressure I felt... my third attack happened after my son was born when he was about 3 months old... went immediately to the dr and after some tests they said it was my gallbladder...

had it removed a few months later and had no issues with any further "attacks"... the surgery itself I had issues with but it still ended up being an outpatient procedure but for a week I couldn't sleep in my bed... had to sleep either in a recliner or the couch where I couldn't roll one way or the other... I have issues only if I have too much greasy food but other than that I've had no dietary restrictions and this was 7 years ago that I had it done

For me it took a while to recover and my diet has had to change drastically, but there were several complications during and after my surgery.
My mom on the other hand had hers out and was fine in a few days and has been fine eating whatever though she does now have issues with constipation.
So just see how it goes for your body. Some people it doesn't effect and others it does. I mean you are missing an organ after all.

Had mine out about 8 years ago. Took a few weeks off work. Healed up fine (keyhole scars v. small)

No difference in what I can eat.

Just a healthy balanced diet and you should be fine.

All you guys who actually had information from your doctors should consider yourselves lucky.. Mine was done in emergency and they didn't tell me ANYTHING. It took me 3 years to figure it out on my own that my 'issues' were the result of the surgery. I was honestly beginning to give up hope that I would ever get back to normal! I thank MFP for encouraging me to change my diet and due to those changes I was able to make the correlation for myself.

1. How long did it take you to recover fully from the surgery? -- I'm up and moving around but still not 100%.

About four weeks. That's for the incisions to completely heal and the muscles they had cut through to heal up. I was back on my feet and off pain meds in a few days.

2. Did you have to make any permanent diet changes?

I did not, but a lot of people do. My gall bladder issues weren't issues with my cholesterol or the amount of fat I ate - it was a mineral thing, and soda and highly acidic foods would set my gall bladder off. A fair number of people who have the surgery will suffer from severe diarrhea when they go back to eating fat. YMMV. I haven't had any trouble eating any greasy foods on occasion, but when I overdo it, I do get sick. Gall bladder surgery affects everyone differently, but grease is generally the big culprit for people afterward. Some people have issues with spicy food, some people get sick from vegetables they once were able to eat with no issues. You just have to trial and error it a bit.

3. Are there temporary diet changes I should be doing?? - My doc only said no dairy and low fat foods, but nothing beyond that -- not even for how long.

Good idea to stay away from spicy food for a few days. Stick to a bland diet/poached foods. I eat a lot of very spicy food, and my surgeon told me to go in very gradually.

Wishing you a swift recovery.

My husband had his removed a few years ago. He recovered fully in just a few weeks. The doctor did not give him any diet changes.

I have however had days when I know I have eaten the wrong foods and you better be near a bathroom.

yup!