Have to have my gall bladder removed

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  • meglet2202
    meglet2202 Posts: 35 Member
    My daughter had her gallbladder out last fall, 14 years old! She's doing great. One thing we found that sounds woo, but for some reason actually works are "ox bile salts" that I found on Amazon. I read pages and pages of reviews and they were all positive so she tried them after her recovery and they really helped. Nothing really bothers her anymore, but once in a while a food (like French fries) will cause her pain and the ox bile salts help with that.

    Good luck!
  • vingogly
    vingogly Posts: 1,785 Member
    My gall bladder went out on me at the age of 66 when I was on vacation a thousand miles from home. I checked into a hospital and four days later, had it out (I was on blood thinners so most of this time was done doing tests and trying to get my clotting factor up. They did laparoscopic surgery, and a day later I was driving back home. Worst side effect was being so swelled up with water from all the IVs I had that I had to wear huge sweatpants for a week (they found me "big boy pants" in the hospital lost and found that I wore out of the hospital -- fortunately there was a Target Superstore across from the hospital). Very little pain or discomfort after.

    Follow your doctors' recommendations regarding exercise. There's no way you're going to be lifting weights right away, and the negative results of pushing things too hard could be a real nightmare. I can eat anything now including fats with no ill effects -- but people do differ in their post-surgery responses.
  • looney9708
    looney9708 Posts: 174 Member
    Has anyone with gallbladder issues had problems losing weight or maintaining weight loss?
  • duffydog1
    duffydog1 Posts: 76 Member
    I had mine removed three years ago this October.Your recovery depends on the op - If they can remove it by keyhole ( lap) you will be sore for a few days and more or less great after 2 weeks. If you need open surgery, which is usually if your gall bladder is really diseased and too fragile for keyhole, it takes 6 weeks.

    What I can't stress strongly enough is how careful you need to be with what you eat until you adjust. If you search the forums ( don't though - I did and it's just scare mongering) you will read about people with lifelong diarrhea and digestion problems after surgery. But when you ask what they're eating you get the answer as to why. Start off low / no fat and then add it back in gradually. If you react - stop and go back to very low fat. Also, if you eat a high fibre breakfast this helps a lot, Bran flakes with skim milk for example, or low fat low sugar granola if you just can't stand the bran flakes!

    For a while I was so relieved to be able to eat without pain I was happy to put up with the nasty side effects just to have some chocolate / cheese etc - stuff I hadn't been able to eat for 3 years! But I soon got fed up. Now 2.5 years on, I wouldn't be able to have a 4 cheese pizza for example - it would make me ill, but then I don't really eat that stuff anyway. Most other things I can eat in moderation without any problem. I have never been able to drink coffee since the op and at first I missed it, but now I have swopped to green tea all is fine. Good luck to you and don't worry!
  • solieco1
    solieco1 Posts: 1,559 Member
    edited June 2016
    Had mine removed with only 3 little holes in my abdomen. First couple of weeks needed to be near a bathroom in a reasonable amount of time (i.e. don't be somewhere you can't get to one in just a few minutes LOL) Rode a 150 mile bike event 4 weeks later :) I had very little issue with it.
  • nxd10
    nxd10 Posts: 4,570 Member
    My husband did - and he's a tai chi instructor. It was a challenge. It did hurt when he got back into exercising. But he healed beautifully with no lasting negative effects. Get back into it slowly as the scar tissue stretches and watch your fat intake.
  • mysticwryter
    mysticwryter Posts: 111 Member
    Depending on how they remove it. if the do an endoscopic (3 small areas with instruments) the recover period should be shorter if they were to open you up. Good luck to you!
  • markrgeary1
    markrgeary1 Posts: 853 Member
    I had no problems with the surgery. Make sure you are aware of the diet issues, you'll be much better if you do. I was foolish and tried to eat my way through the problem. That was stupid.
  • dwatson925
    dwatson925 Posts: 143 Member
    Still have abdominal pain a few weeks after surgery but otherwise doing okay
  • twinkles2121
    twinkles2121 Posts: 137 Member
    dwatson925 wrote: »
    Still have abdominal pain a few weeks after surgery but otherwise doing okay

    I can't speak for the others, but I had 'phantom pains' where my gallbladder was for several months after. Hopefully yours goes a bit smoother ;)
  • AnnPT77
    AnnPT77 Posts: 34,589 Member
    dwatson925 wrote: »
    Still have abdominal pain a few weeks after surgery but otherwise doing okay

    I had twinge-y pains for quite some time, especially around workouts (even after doc allowed them), but nothing major. If you've avoided any digestive-system consequences, it sounds like you're on a good road to recovery. Wishing you continued improvement - thanks for reporting back, good to hear it's going decently.
  • weatheredcheese
    weatheredcheese Posts: 112 Member
    Had to have mine removed 3 years ago after loosing 4 stone over about 6 months.
    Surgery took place just before Christmas, wasn't allowed to lift my kids up on Christmas day and got myself down about it, needless to say with all the treats of Christmas I put some weight back on and have continued to do so.
    Now trying to get myself out of a rut again :(
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