Gallstones - weight loss

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dumb_blondes_rock
dumb_blondes_rock Posts: 1,568 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
So I have been struggling with an ENTENSE pain every now and then since like september and i thought in my brain "maybe its just extreme heartburn" because i was trying to convince myself i didn't have to go to the e.r.....well a few weeks ago my father woke up to my hunched over in the bathroom crying (i NEVER cry over pain....like EVER) and so he told me i had to go to the e.r. because that just wasnt right and sure enough i have gallstones, and a lot of them. They think one has popped out and is blocking the duct to my pankrius causing me pankriatitis.....so lucky me i get to get some tubes shoved down my throat and get my gallbladder removed...

Has anyone had their gallbladder removed? And does it effect your weightloss making it harder? I hope they can just ultrasound the stones away because I mean the gallbladder is there for a reason...I just don't want it to alter how my body processes food and make it harder for me to lose weight
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Replies

  • DisneyMum
    DisneyMum Posts: 20
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    I know your pain. I had my galdbladder removed about 11 years ago after I had my first son. I know the pain you are having and I don't wish that on anyone. I did not gain weight because of it. Actually I found it helped me eat better, Once the gallblader was taken out I really had to watch with greasy foods.
    I know I could not take Tylenol with codein for the pain...it made it a lot worse.
    Good luck with your surgery. Trust me you will feel much better afterwards.
    Take care.
  • kat05317
    kat05317 Posts: 96 Member
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    I did not have gallstones, but my gallbladder was not functioning properly making me very sick. I have to say I had no problems afterward eating or drinking anything after the first week or so. Your body will adjust and you really won't notice it gone one way or another. I had mine removed as an out-patient procedure and after three or four days of at home recovery started feeling much better than I had in a while. I hope this helps answer your question, and I hope you feel better soon!

    Katherine
  • sabrinafaith
    sabrinafaith Posts: 607 Member
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    my father had his removed. he's obese, but then again, he had weight issues even as a young child. The gallbladder has something to do with an enzyme that helps digestion, if i'm remembering my 10th grade biology class correctly. It may have an impact. But my grandmother had hers removed and she has a pretty good figure for someone in her mid 70s. I think it really depends on the person and if they are willing to work hard enough to make a change.
  • david081
    david081 Posts: 489 Member
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    Hi, a friend has had hers removed during a bowel cancer op, and she found it very difficult to cope with many foods afterwards, she is losing too much weight as a result. Removal of gall bladder should only be a last resort if nothing else is working - do loads of research on this!

    Best regards, good luck!!!

    David
  • lisastevens27
    lisastevens27 Posts: 47
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    Omg I feel your pain. I had gallstones and pancreatitus. I had mine for years without knowing but thought i was going round the twist in pain. The Drs told me I had an ulcer. Then I was rushed to hospital and actually was in so much pain it was unbearable. They found gallstones and sent me home after pain releif. I got admitted again when they finally removed my gallbladder.
    We can live without it and don't really know its purpose except gather stones and cause people pain lol. I've been yoyo dieting for years so it comes of and goes back on but don't think it makes much difference whether I have a gall bladder or not. Just what I chose to eat.

    I hope you get it sorted soon and are pain free.

    Lisa
  • maineislandgirl
    maineislandgirl Posts: 14 Member
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    I had mine out three years ago. They went in laparoscopically through my abdomen and removed it, which is much better (a few little tiny holes as compared to a 5 inch incision like it used to be. I felt SOOO much better after having it out! I had not had any idea how often it was making me feel crappy until it was gone and I didn't feel that way anymore. And don't be ashamed of admitting the pain. . . I'm also an EMT and having had patients with it and been through it myself, it is comparable to the pain of a heart attack and offers you NO relief until that stone moves.
    The stones are actually often the by product of quick weight loss. . . for me I had lost 60 lbs in 6 weeks due to going through a divorce. When you lose the weight fast, you no longer need to have as much bile dumped out of your gall bladder when you eat and since it has not adjusted it's production rate yet, it sits longer in your gall bladder waiting to be used. The particulates floating in the fluid settle out and stick together and begin to form stones.

    Everyone is different in how they feel after they have their gall bladder out. Some people find there are now certain foods they can't eat without feeling sick. Others have long term loose bowel issues and others have no side effects at all. For me I have felt so very much better since the thing was out EXCEPT if I eat red meat or pork. Eating either of them causes major cramping and bowel issues as I try to digest it. So, I simply stopped eating red meat and pork. At first I missed it, (the taste but not the way it made me feel, LOL). I felt so much better not eating it and felt so much healthier that I don't miss it at all anymore. I can use turkey burger if I want a beef substitute., but now I am not even really interested in that. And for you, it might not bother you at all. . .

    Good luck with your surgery and recovery. I hope that you find as much relief from it as I have!!
  • lenwie
    lenwie Posts: 240
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    I lived with gallstones for over 4 yrs, was a good incentive for losing weight as anything remotely fatty started of my pain, was in hospital for 4 days with first bout of pain, managed to lose 4 stone of weight in about 6 months and maintained this until my gallbladder was removed by keyhole surgery, unfortunately all my weight went back on so although I had eaten very well for over 4 yrs I was like oh well I can have that piece of cake or that sausage roll or pack of crisps, So back to square one!

    The purpose of the gallbladder is that it stores your bile produced by your liver and when you then eat a meal, your gallbladder contracts to release the bile into your duodenum to aid digestion of your food, the process changes slightly when your gallbladder is removed in as such that there is no gallbladder to store the bile so it is almost like a constant dripping tape of bile directly to the duodenum which is why you need to be careful with certain foods after the op, but this can be different for everybody, certain foods may effect one person but not another, so your will find this out for yourself.

    It makes no difference to your weight loss progression, well certainly not to me anyway, I do however suffer side effects, your doc will prob tell you of some, I take Omeprazole for excess stomach acid and if your not careful you can end up taking quick trips to the bathroom after a fatty/heavy meal, I suffer from this regardless of amount eaten :ohwell: I suppose a bit along the lines of IBS symptoms.

    I am so glad I had the gallbladder removed though as worse pain ever, worse than having my 2 girls without pain relief, would never want to be there again!

    Best of luck to you.
  • noneya2010
    noneya2010 Posts: 446 Member
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    I had mine removed several years back and I was in and out of the hospital by 2 PM. I went under general anesthesia and had absoulutely no problems whatsoever in foods I ate afterward (some say you cannot tolerate higher fat foods as well -- I did not find this to be true for me!).

    however, I did NOT notice any difference in helping with my weight loss. Matter of fact, my weight GAIN started about that time (but I do also have a low thyroid......)
  • maineislandgirl
    maineislandgirl Posts: 14 Member
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    Chances are the bowel surgery from the cancer is more likely interfering with the digestion so that it causes weight loss (this is similar to what they do for gastric by-pass). The gall bladder removal should not cause such issues.
  • chelsea32291
    chelsea32291 Posts: 216
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    I had my gallbladder out when I was 16 (I'm 19 now), and I actually ended up gaining quite a bit of weight after I got mine removed. (I think it was because I couldn't eat at all before, then all of a sudden I could. Plus I was diagnosed with hypothyroidism recently. :P) But, you definitely have to watch what you eat after. If you eat greasy foods..you'll regret it later.

    Good luck with your surgery! :)
  • maineislandgirl
    maineislandgirl Posts: 14 Member
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    Woops, did not specify my last post was in response to david081. . . sorry.
  • dumb_blondes_rock
    dumb_blondes_rock Posts: 1,568 Member
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    I had mine out three years ago. They went in laparoscopically through my abdomen and removed it, which is much better (a few little tiny holes as compared to a 5 inch incision like it used to be. I felt SOOO much better after having it out! I had not had any idea how often it was making me feel crappy until it was gone and I didn't feel that way anymore. And don't be ashamed of admitting the pain. . . I'm also an EMT and having had patients with it and been through it myself, it is comparable to the pain of a heart attack and offers you NO relief until that stone moves.
    The stones are actually often the by product of quick weight loss. . . for me I had lost 60 lbs in 6 weeks due to going through a divorce. When you lose the weight fast, you no longer need to have as much bile dumped out of your gall bladder when you eat and since it has not adjusted it's production rate yet, it sits longer in your gall bladder waiting to be used. The particulates floating in the fluid settle out and stick together and begin to form stones.

    Everyone is different in how they feel after they have their gall bladder out. Some people find there are now certain foods they can't eat without feeling sick. Others have long term loose bowel issues and others have no side effects at all. For me I have felt so very much better since the thing was out EXCEPT if I eat red meat or pork. Eating either of them causes major cramping and bowel issues as I try to digest it. So, I simply stopped eating red meat and pork. At first I missed it, (the taste but not the way it made me feel, LOL). I felt so much better not eating it and felt so much healthier that I don't miss it at all anymore. I can use turkey burger if I want a beef substitute., but now I am not even really interested in that. And for you, it might not bother you at all. . .

    Good luck with your surgery and recovery. I hope that you find as much relief from it as I have!!

    The funny thing is that i gave up red meat and pork for like 8 months and just started eating it again in december....but it started out with my drinking.....i party almost every weekend and hardly ever trhow up and i started throwing up almost everytime i drank so i cut down a lot and i would still get nauseaus like everytime i drank, this past weekend i had ONE cocktail and still got nauseas....and then it went into the middle of the night waking up with intnese back and stonach pain....I just thought that i was becoming allergic to alcohol but the dr said that the pankriatitis is aggrivated by alcohol and the body will "reject" it.
  • chazspk
    chazspk Posts: 159 Member
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    So i had mine removed about a year ago ... i suffered real bad attacks with mine same as you i had a lot of them(i have them in a jar) i have three kids and gallbladder attacks are more painful then having them.. i could hardly eat anything so lost about 2 stone and when i had it out i put back on 1 cause i was like yum yum i missed you yummy food i was aware wha i was doing so i stopped and it has had no difference to loosing of anything.. the only thing i find is you can not eat like a big amount of food ..:drinker:
  • stephr2014
    stephr2014 Posts: 311 Member
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    Right after I had my baby back in march of 2010 I found out that I had gallstones, I had my gallbladder removed in june 2010 and it was the right decision for me, but what I do notice is that its not as easy for me to lose the weight anymore. its actually more difficult and I also get nauseated after eating certain foods also I tend to get phantom pains also, from time to time.
  • dumb_blondes_rock
    dumb_blondes_rock Posts: 1,568 Member
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    Ok see i knew i wasn't being a drama queen, because i heard that child birth was the worst pain you can experience....or according to brian regan the comedian its breaking your femer bone lol....then childbirth....but i literally could not imagine being in anymore pain than i go through when i have my attacks, like throwing up and shaking and sweating and can't move from the fetal positions or else i feel like someone is drilling my insides with a drillbit...since i'm trying to eat healthy anyways I highly doubt ill be tempted to eat the greasy foods when i get it removed since i ate them anyways when i had the attacks(i didn't know grease could cause an attack)
  • chazspk
    chazspk Posts: 159 Member
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    i found going on all fours tilt over and back and get someone to slap between your shoulder blades and middle back used to make it a bit better.. Crazy i know but my hubby was any expert at the end... :laugh: Best of luck
  • nurse_jenie
    nurse_jenie Posts: 173
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    I had mine removed in November and I think it helped me... if I eat anything to heavy or to greasy (pretty much hight fat, high carb, high grease) I get the runs. Sounds gross but true. I pick and choose my battles when it comes to eating but I have made much better eating choices in fear of getting an upset stomach since having mine taken out.
  • lynz4589
    lynz4589 Posts: 389 Member
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    My sister had hers out last year and without even wanting to lose weight she shed loads because she was restricted to the type of fatty foods she could eat, On saying that though, her stomach soon got used to fatty foods and very quickly put the weight back on just like anyone else would.

    I think if you can keep on track of what your eating after the operation then you will see a huge improvement on things!
  • Jain
    Jain Posts: 861 Member
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    My BFF had hers removed early Jan this year. She's back eating normally now & says it's the best thing she's ever done. She was very scared before hand & suffered very little discomfort (tho she did rub it in with her Hubby to get him running after her!:laugh: )
  • sweebum
    sweebum Posts: 1,060 Member
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    Hmm I had mine removed 10 years ago.

    I've had IBS since then. Actually it's called "dumping syndrome" :laugh:

    If I eat a high fat or sugar meal? Better have a bathroom close by. It actually kick started my weight loss because I was in the bathroom so much.

    It is really common to have issues digesting fat afterwards. So it will probably help your weight loss because you'll have to eat better :wink:

    Good luck, I remember that pain like it was yesterday:frown:

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