Gall Bladder Removal and Weightloss

I had my gallbladder removed on a Thursday, and I was back to work on Monday. I have a desk job, though. If you do a lot of lifting, you might want to give it a little longer! I didn't have any noticeable weight loss or weight gain. You'll have to ask your doc about exercise, but I think you could do light exercise about a week after.

Unless you have to get the surgery with the big incision, it's a pretty easy deal. I didn't even think it was all that painful afterwards. I know some people who did, though, so I think that just depends on the person.

My fiance was back to his desk job a few days after having his gallbladder out. He had no appreciable sustained weight loss - lost a little initially due to the pain pre-surgery.

Ah yes, another victim of the USDA recommended low fat diet.....

I had mine out in 2010- no problems. No weight gain or loss from it the recovery was easy.

I had my gallbladder removed in 2000. It really isn't a big deal anymore like it use to be. They use to cut your stomach open. Now it's just 3 puncture wounds and your out the next day. Having gallbladder problems is very common in those of us who struggle with weight. What happens is when we starve our body of fat, and then all the sudden binge on it, our gallbladder have a very hard time keeping up.

I had mine out in 2009 after several bouts of gallbladder attacks, which is some of the worst pain I've ever experienced. I took a long time to recover, despite it being performed laparoscopically - about three weeks, and I was in lots of pain. It didn't affect my weight, up or down.

Just FYI, something doctors never tell you is that 10 - 15% of people who have their gallbladders removed develop Post-Cholecystectomy Syndrome, which is basically chronic diarrhea with minimal warning, along with chronic gastritis. I have this, and it's made my life miserable. I have to take drugs every day for the gastritis, and I'm housebound a great deal of my life due to the diarrhea (basically Dumping Syndrome). Eating less fat since I found MFP helps, but it is still a regular occurrence.

I had some rare complications and a very difficult recovery, but I have lost 40 more pounds since my cholecystectomy.

I also had rare complications. I had a year where I had lost 90 pounds through diet and exercise and then maintained for a year. Then, one day I was so sick I thought I was going to die and I got taken by ambulance to the ER. I had developed Mirizzi syndrome from a bad gallbladder and spent 8 days in hospital taking in *NOTHING* by mouth while they tried to stabilize my pancreas and liver. Then I was on aggressive antibiotics while my gallbladder basically died off and the antibiotics took hold in my system but just a few days shy of when I was scheduled for surgery I got brought into the ER again because of my gallbladder. I had one of the best laproscopic surgeons in the US perform the surgery but because there was so much damage to my surrounding organs they reverted to an open surgery. I ended up with an incision from my right side to just under my breast bone, with 62 staples keeping me shut.

My experience has been a little different from the other posters.

I had a lap chole (gall bladder removal) in 2007 after several attacks. I decided to have it out electively only because I had a couple of giant gallstones that would temporarily get stuck near the duct and I didn't want to have emergency surgery. Mine was a same day surgery and I went home that afternoon.

I was in between jobs so I had the surgery right after I quit my old job and started my new job a month later. I had always been moderately active, going to the gym 3x/week, but I didn't get the go ahead to start exercising again until about a month after the surgery.

I had been doing Weight Watchers prior to surgery (MFP obviously wasn't around then) and had lost 13 lbs. But, after surgery it took my body several months to adjust to not having a gall bladder. Things that I normally ate made me feel very bloated and nauseated. I didn't start WW up again until about a year later, and you would have thought I would have lost weight after surgery from the fact I was eating differently, but instead I gained weight.

I did WW the second time diligently and lost nothing - absolutely nothing. I upped my exercise and still nothing. I didn't log my calories after that because I figured if WW didn't worth, why bother.

I tried MFP without much success the last couple of years and I lost a couple of lbs here and there but gained it back. I started taking digestive enzymes last year because I had read a lot of anecdotal evidence that they could help (I work in healthcare so I did a lot of research on this and got the OK from my doctor) Then in February this year, I decided to give MFP another shot.

I am much more consistent with my logging this time around and it's been slow, but so far I have been losing weight, and more importantly, I do feel better and my clothes are fitting better. I have noticed I need more protein than I thought so I've adjusted my macros to give me a little more protein and less fat and carbs. I do not eat a "low fat" diet per say, as I'd rather have the something without a fat substitute in it. For example, I'd rather have half a teaspoon of regular sour cream than a tablespoon of low fat sour cream.

My nausea and bloating have all disappeared before I started MFP - it just took a lot longer for me than most people to figure out what I can and cannot tolerate. To this day, there are some really high fat foods (Oberweis ice cream, I am talking to you) than just doesn't get along with me. I do feel the digestive enzymes are helping.

Sorry for the long ramble. I guess my take home point is it took me (or my body) longer to figure out its digestive issues than the average person.

I hope you have a complication-free surgery and an easy recovery.

I had my gallbladder out in November. I ended up being out of work for 2 weeks because of some uncommon post-surgical side effects. I gained weight after the removal, but more because I just didn't care about my diet. I continued to have some GI issues post-surgically, but once I added a probiotic in February those issues seem to have remedied themselves.

I had mine out in 2008. I had temporary weight loss due to diarrhea and then a post-op infection which essentially blocked anything from moving through my intestines and forced it back up. I was only out for a few days with the surgery, the infection and drain tube had me down for a couple weeks.

LaceyBirds wrote: »

Just FYI, something doctors never tell you is that 10 - 15% of people who have their gallbladders removed develop Post-Cholecystectomy Syndrome, which is basically chronic diarrhea with minimal warning, along with chronic gastritis. I have this, and it's made my life miserable. I have to take drugs every day for the gastritis, and I'm housebound a great deal of my life due to the diarrhea (basically Dumping Syndrome). Eating less fat since I found MFP helps, but it is still a regular occurrence.

This is really interesting. I was never told about this, but I would definitely say I have this. When I complained to my GP about these symptoms several years ago (a couple years after surgery), she said it was abnormal and tested me for celiac disease (don't have it). The first year was the worst, in which pretty any meal and especially anything greasy would send me to the bathroom within 5 minutes of finishing. My stomach is still really sensitive to mood. This issue is really bad anytime I am stressed, anxious, sick.... Last week I lost a couple pounds thanks to diarrhea because I was really stressed.

In general, having my gallbladder removed has had no appreciable long-term impact on my weight.

One note to OP, as well as other respondents:

I understand & sympathize with those who've had negative side effects or recovery issues with this surgery. It's a good thing for someone who's going into it to be aware of these possibilities, and you-all have the best understanding of them.

But, specifically for OP, I want to add a reminder that on a thread like this, it's likely that you may see "selection bias" - that is, the population who reply on the thread aren't statistically equivalent to the general population who've had the surgery. Those who had "no problem" surgery and put it behind them are somewhat less likely to reply, in that it didn't make much ripple in their lifestyle. Those who've sadly had more difficult recoveries are probably more likely to reply.

If you're concerned, you may want to ask your surgeon about the incidence of worrying side effects (i.e., ask what percentage of people experience them).

Again, not trying to minimize anyone's negative experiences at all, and I fully support your sharing them here. But I don't want OP to worry beyond the appropriate amount, either.

I had my gallbladder out last Wednesday and took 6 days off the elliptical and am now back at it 90 min workouts.

Or you can use a product called Stonebreaker by Herbpharm and avoid surgery all together. I have more then a dozen friends who were having gallbladder issues and put a stop to it by going through two rounds (two 30mL bottles) of the Stonebreaker. Several were actually scheduled for surgery and cancelled it after using this. GB problems are exceedingly painful (BTDT. Had a gallstone cause pancreatitis while I was 13 weeks pregnant), but one does not need to have their GB taken out to fix the problem. Digesting fats and having runny stools are a lifelong issue for a lot of people who have their GB out. It's there for a reason......

If you do use the stone breaker - it is NASTY tasting stuff, my friends have found it most tolerable in purple grape juice.

I don't need everyone elses crap for suggesting this. You all gave her your medical information, I'm offering a non slash and cut route. She's old enough to research and choose, so please kindly skip the nasty comments. Whatever you do, OP, I do wish you well and a speedy recovery!