Gallstones
msanc095
Posts: 20 Member
So today I found out that I have gallstones and most likely will have to remove my gallbladder. What worries me the most is having to stick to such a strict diet. I won't be able to eat high fat food, ice cream (which I loveeee), cheese, spicy food, whole milk, red meat, etc. Can anyone who has had this done advise me on how this have affected them? And what advise can you give me? Thanks
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Replies
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So today I found out that I have gallstones and most likely will have to remove my gallbladder. What worries me the most is having to stick to such a strict diet. I won't be able to eat high fat food, ice cream (which I loveeee), cheese, spicy food, whole milk, red meat, etc. Can anyone who has had this done advise me on how this have affected them? And what advise can you give me? Thanks
I'm not really sure this is a topic for the debate board. Everyone I've ever spoken to about gallbladder surgery tells a different tale and it really just depends on you and how your body handles it.
My own story is that I had my gallbladder out laporascopically after a bad weekend where my gallbladder tried to kill me. I'd been having infrequent attacks before that, but always assumed flu or food poisoning and never got it checked out. But the time we caught it, there was really no choice but to have it out. So I didn't go on any special diet before I had mine out.
For about a year after having my gallbladder out, if I ate at my parents house I would have trouble in the bathroom (loose stools) because of the amount of butter and oil they use in their foods. But my own home cooking didn't give me any problems and it doesn't seem to be a problem much anymore. I still eat ice cream, cheese, spicy food, and red meat regularly (many times a week) and don't have any problems without my gallbladder. But some people will. Until you've had the surgery there's no way to tell what will and won't affect you.2 -
Had mine out oh 10+ years ago now. Honestly until you get that bugger out, yeah, high fat food is going to cause attacks. I once threw a jar of peanut butter off my 4th floor patio into the apple orchard across the road after I decided to eat some and had a bad attack. I basically lived on chicken breast and white rice with a bit of soy sauce until my surgery.
But...once it was gone I haven't had any problems in that regard. The only thing I have had to really watch is alcohol intake. If I over do it and don't pop a gravol before hitting the hay the extra bile causes epic issues...1 -
I had my gallbladder out last year (July 4th), due to the bad infection they had to cut me open to get mine out. Only the first 2-3 months I had to watch what I ate, but now I can eat everything including Ice Cream. In the meantime, I have changed from what I was eating before to more healthy choices. That's only because I decided to go the Healthy way and hopefully repair any other damage I might have had in my body due to my bad eating choices.1
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got mine out in Sept of last year. haven't change anything about my diet and feel great.1
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I had my gallbladder taken out about 3 years ago, and i now have IBS, and almost everyone i know that doesnt have a gallbladder has ibs symptoms. I also get hung over super easy now. I still eat icecream or red meat....some things are just worth a little discomfort haha2
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Thank you guys...I feel better knowing that it might not be the end of the world lol0
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I had mine removed in 2013. I also had the laproscopy surgery, but my doc said that if I had waiting any longer, they would have had to cut me open, it was that bad!
The first year after (and after eating bland food for about 3 months) I was in heaven! No more stomach pains, no more attacks, no more back aches, I felt like I could eat anything! And I did. And then I noticed that I was gaining. A lot. of weight. I gained 50 lbs. since I had it taken out. Since your gallbladder was helping your liver break down fats, its a lot harder to lose weight and a lot easier to gain.
What your doctor doesn't tell you is that yes, your body doesn't necessarily NEED your gallbladder, but it was doing a lot of work. Now there is more pressure on your other organs to pick up what the gall bladder did.
I have been taking a supplement called Essential Enzymes, and it is basically the vegan version of the Ox bile pill that a lot of folks says helps break down what your gall bladder used to do. I have been taking it, and it has been helping a little bit, but it is a lot harder to lose weight.
My suggestion is to study up on the gall bladder, see what it actually does, how it works with your other organs, etc.
This is where I found out about supplements.... (I went to a health food store looking for the Ox bile pills, and they were the ones that turned me on to the enzymes.)
http://www.drdavidwilliams.com/bad-gallbladder-defined/
Good luck, and I was happy to see your post. I was going to start a thread for gall bladder post op, just to see how others are coping and how it affected their weight loss.
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I had my gallbladder out about 15 years ago and I eat all the food you listed as foods you think you won't be able to eat. If anything, it will get better because those foods won't trigger an attack.0
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How long is your diet restricted? Mrs. had her gall bladder removed 28 years ago and she eats a lot of ice cream.0
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So today I found out that I have gallstones and most likely will have to remove my gallbladder. What worries me the most is having to stick to such a strict diet. I won't be able to eat high fat food, ice cream (which I loveeee), cheese, spicy food, whole milk, red meat, etc. Can anyone who has had this done advise me on how this have affected them? And what advise can you give me? Thanks
I haven't had gallstones but my husband did.
I highly recommend listening to the Dr doing exactly what you are told and having it taken out ASAP if Dr says it needs to come out. My husband died of pancreatitis in 1999, It was caused by ignoring and putting of gallstone problems. It was a long three months in the hospital and not a nice way to go.0 -
I had mine out 4 years ago due to stones and it was inflamed to the size of a baseball. I have not had to change my diet at all. I do not have to take any type of special supplements or restrict any foods. I do not have any symptoms of IBS or any type of gastro/intestinal problems. The only thing missing is the constant intense pain that I had while my gallbladder was still there.1
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I had mine out about 6 years ago, I never had any issues (at least that I knew of) prior to the trip to the emergency room when it felt like someone was stabbing me. Had it taken out laproscopically the next day. Was out of work for about a week and haven't had any problems since. I eat ice cream, red meat and spicy food all the time. I remember reading that they may cause problems, but I haven't had any issues.1
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The dietetic restrictions you're under should only be until you have the surgery. You can certainly eat those things before then you are probably just going to pay for it if you do. After the surgery I'd suggest (and I'm sure the doctor will, too) being careful with fat consumption until you can determine your new tolerance level.
I had a giant gallstone that was never going to come out on its own. My grandmother had had hers burst so my gastroenterologist wanted mine out. I'd never actually had any pain or problems before the stone turned up on an ultrasound for another issue.
I had it removed via laparoscopic surgery and have had no problems. I do have days where I'll eat quite a bit of fried food and haven't noticed any issues at all. Many people find they simply need to keep their fat consumption to reasonable levels after it's removed to avoid problems.0 -
Some people are OK with fat after and some people are not. I feel queasy if I eat too much fat, like something fried, but I can eat about 10-12 grams per meal, and I understand that will improve over time. I eat lowfat cheese and lowfat ice cream, but I did that even before the surgery. I'm about ten weeks post-surgery. The Dreyer's/Edy's slow-churn ice cream is pretty decent and I have no problems tolerating it.
I had IBS symptoms post-surgery, and I see some other posters here did too, but that can be managed. It is often caused by bile salt malabsorption (normally bile is stored in the gallbladder and used when you need it -- after surgery, it's a constant drip and can cause irritation to your intestines). A bile acid sequestrant will help with that. The generic name for the medication I am on is cholestyramine (there are others). It passes through the intestine and binds cholesterol (and bile, which is cholesterol-based) so that it is excreted. Since using it, I've had no IBS issues at all. The only lingering issue I have is some transient surgical pain where the gallbladder used to be that should go away once I am fully healed. Other than that, I feel better than I have in years.
So for those of you with IBS after gallbladder surgery, ask about a bile sequestrant, if you haven't. It was life-changing for me. I had IBS even before surgery and now I am symptom-free.1 -
I had mine out about two years ago this fall. I'm mostly fine with anything now but every now and then, cheese or high fat, greasy items give me some digestive unhappiness.
But it's so so much better than the attacks every so often for five years before that0 -
I had mine out in 2007 - I have no special diet, I can eat whatever without problem.
Everyone is different though, so take your doctors advise right after and add the foods you are worried about slowly.
I'm betting you don't have problems though, I know at least a dozen people (family, friends and coworkers) who have no gall bladder and have no food issues0 -
I have had issues myself for a long time and two years ago I ended up at the ER when I woke to excruciating pain in my abdomen. They took x rays and told me I had IBS and said go home (I looked up IBS and I didn't have any of the symptoms and feel it was a blanketed response by the crappy hospital we used to have here that has since closed).
Fast forward to 3 weeks ago when I got deathly ill, and ended up in the ER dehydrated., with pain in my lower abdomen. I was asked if i'd ever been diagnosed with diverticulitis and I said no. They did a CT scan of my abdomen and found that I don't have that, but my colon was on fire from whatever virus I had that hit me fast and hard.
They also found gallstones when they did the CT scan which are up to 16MM in size. Three days after I was out of the ER and at home, I had what I believe was a gall stone attack which was very reminiscent of the attack I had two years ago. If the other hospital had done their job 2 years ago, I believe I wouldn't be in this situation myself. So I am facing that as well and waiting for my PC to send me to a specialist. The bad thing is because of the size of the stones I am unable to try and naturally remove them. Good luck and I also have to say my mom had hers removed years ago and eats what ever she wants, so I think it always depends on the person 100% because she eats things I haven't been able to eat for years.0 -
Nope.its a lot harder to lose weight and a lot easier to gain.
Nope - no such thing as natural removal. Very small stones are also the kind that get into ducts and cause serious problems.itsalifestylenotadiet wrote: »The bad thing is because of the size of the stones I am unable to try and naturally remove them.
I had my gallbladder out about 90 pounds ago. I had no issues with any foods before removal. I had one major attack that came on after eating a very low fat salad several hours beforehand, and a couple of minor ones that also had no rhyme or reason to them. I ate high fat meals with no attacks. I actually purposefully tried to trigger one. Didn't work. After removal, I was starving. I had soup the day of surgery and McDonald's the day after surgery. No issues whatsoever.
I do wonder if I have IBS-C or something similar, but that issue started with my weight loss and was going on before I had any gallbladder symptoms. The timing is interesting, but I don't know if the two are related. I just use Miralax regularly. Safest and easiest way to take care of it. My doctor mentioned enzymes, but they are very expensive, and I am not convinced it's a gallbladder thing. She said maybe my body just got used to processing a larger volume of food for the majority of my life and is still adjusting.
I do know people who now have to run to the bathroom after meals, though, so it's not that I think that doesn't happen. It just hasn't happened to me. The people I know who have that issue still happily eat whatever - they just make sure they're within range of a restroom afterwards.
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I was googling and reading up on the issue for over fours hours prior to having my recent attack and it did say that sometimes small stones can also cause problems, but many people have been able to rid themselves of their stones that were no more than 10mm. With the health problems I have, I am willing to try anything natural instead of another surgery that my body will have a very hard time handling. There is also a medicine that you can take that can help you pass them but again mine are too large for that.
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afatpersonwholikesfood wrote: »
I lost ten pounds the first month after surgery, and there are some other anecdotal reports here and there about that not being unusual. It is true that some people report weight gain, but I had a very rapid loss at first and I'm continuing to lose. Part of that is eating a lowfat diet, I'm sure. I'm also guessing that the intermittent infection and inflammation may have something to with it. I had a lot of pretty wild weight fluctuations. I imagine just losing that inflammation resulted in some weight loss. It may be my imagination, but I feel like my abdomen is just less bloated and swollen.afatpersonwholikesfood wrote: »I do know people who now have to run to the bathroom after meals, though, so it's not that I think that doesn't happen. It just hasn't happened to me. The people I know who have that issue still happily eat whatever - they just make sure they're within range of a restroom afterwards.
That's likely the bile acid malabsorption problem I was talking about above. This is what was happening to me and the surgeon immediately knew what it was and prescribed the bile acid sequestrant. I no longer have this issue at all. I have a friend who has the problem and her doctor just dismissed it as IBS. It seems like a fair number of doctors don't know that it's a problem that is easily treated. They also blame it on fat intake, when it's not an issue with fat at all. It's a too much bile issue.0 -
I had mine taken out at 290 pounds. I'm 125 now and I still eat ice cream(halo top), bacon, cheese(once in a while but goat cheese), spicy food all the fine(I keep mini Tabasco's with me), I don't drink milk or have red meat very often.0
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I had mine out in June of 2015 (laparoscopically), and it was pretty much a non-event, other than the activity restrictions for a month afterward (it happened during rowing season, GolDarnIt!
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I was told to avoid high fat foods for some time after surgery, but was still in deficit then & only eating moderate fat anyway, so kept that up & did fine.
I do wish I'd gone to maintenance calories, or a much smaller deficit, for 2-4 weeks after surgery: I think my energy level would've benefitted.
Nowadays, in maintenance, I don't really observe any special gallbladder-related food restrictions, and haven't had any problems at all. I don't see a difference pre- and post-surgery, other than that normal recovery period.
I know some people do have digestive/excretory issues, sometimes food-triggered, after the surgery, and don't want to minimize that. But I did want you to know that it's possible that you, like me, may see no real difference at all.0 -
itsalifestylenotadiet wrote: »I was googling and reading up on the issue for over fours hours prior to having my recent attack and it did say that sometimes small stones can also cause problems, but many people have been able to rid themselves of their stones that were no more than 10mm. With the health problems I have, I am willing to try anything natural instead of another surgery that my body will have a very hard time handling. There is also a medicine that you can take that can help you pass them but again mine are too large for that.
If your doctor recommends surgery, don't delay it in the hope of a 'natural' resolution. I have worked in ICU for 20 years and have seen people go through horrendous pain and suffering due to stones that obstruct bile ducts and cause peritonitis and/or pancreatitis and sepsis leading to multiple organ failure. As mentioned above it can result in a long, painful death or to protracted periods in hospital (6-12 months) with full recovery taking much longer than that, if it happens at all.
Especially if you have the cholecystectomy by laproscope rather than an open one, it should be relatively straight forward although as you have co-morbidities you might need extra support. I guess it is weighing up all the risks involved but I find that a lot of people treat problems with their gall bladder very casually not realising the potential implications if things go bad.2 -
charlieandcarol wrote: »itsalifestylenotadiet wrote: »I was googling and reading up on the issue for over fours hours prior to having my recent attack and it did say that sometimes small stones can also cause problems, but many people have been able to rid themselves of their stones that were no more than 10mm. With the health problems I have, I am willing to try anything natural instead of another surgery that my body will have a very hard time handling. There is also a medicine that you can take that can help you pass them but again mine are too large for that.
If your doctor recommends surgery, don't delay it in the hope of a 'natural' resolution. I have worked in ICU for 20 years and have seen people go through horrendous pain and suffering due to stones that obstruct bile ducts and cause peritonitis and/or pancreatitis and sepsis leading to multiple organ failure. As mentioned above it can result in a long, painful death or to protracted periods in hospital (6-12 months) with full recovery taking much longer than that, if it happens at all.
Especially if you have the cholecystectomy by laproscope rather than an open one, it should be relatively straight forward although as you have co-morbidities you might need extra support. I guess it is weighing up all the risks involved but I find that a lot of people treat problems with their gall bladder very casually not realising the potential implications if things go bad.
No doubt, I am just waiting for the referral to see a specialist about it. I have enough problems and certainly don't want to die from this. What gets me is this last trip to the ER, the doctor told me not to worry about them if they don't bother me. Had I known that I had them two years ago it wouldn't have gotten to this point. Sigh, doctors who don't want to help us and just throw everything under the rug are a bain to my existence. I had to look up co-morbidities because I didn't know what that was and am happy to report that I smoked for 10 years, quit for one, smoked again for five years and have now been smoke free for 17 years.
and I don't use illegal substances either and very rarely ever drink alcohol. 0 -
itsalifestylenotadiet wrote: »charlieandcarol wrote: »itsalifestylenotadiet wrote: »I was googling and reading up on the issue for over fours hours prior to having my recent attack and it did say that sometimes small stones can also cause problems, but many people have been able to rid themselves of their stones that were no more than 10mm. With the health problems I have, I am willing to try anything natural instead of another surgery that my body will have a very hard time handling. There is also a medicine that you can take that can help you pass them but again mine are too large for that.
If your doctor recommends surgery, don't delay it in the hope of a 'natural' resolution. I have worked in ICU for 20 years and have seen people go through horrendous pain and suffering due to stones that obstruct bile ducts and cause peritonitis and/or pancreatitis and sepsis leading to multiple organ failure. As mentioned above it can result in a long, painful death or to protracted periods in hospital (6-12 months) with full recovery taking much longer than that, if it happens at all.
Especially if you have the cholecystectomy by laproscope rather than an open one, it should be relatively straight forward although as you have co-morbidities you might need extra support. I guess it is weighing up all the risks involved but I find that a lot of people treat problems with their gall bladder very casually not realising the potential implications if things go bad.
No doubt, I am just waiting for the referral to see a specialist about it. I have enough problems and certainly don't want to die from this. What gets me is this last trip to the ER, the doctor told me not to worry about them if they don't bother me. Had I known that I had them two years ago it wouldn't have gotten to this point. Sigh, doctors who don't want to help us and just throw everything under the rug are a bain to my existence. I had to look up co-morbidities because I didn't know what that was and am happy to report that I smoked for 10 years, quit for one, smoked again for five years and have now been smoke free for 17 years. and I don't use illegal substances either and very rarely ever drink alcohol.
Your ER doctor was right. Gallstones that don't bother you (ie asymptomatic stones) do not require treatment.0 -
Your ER doctor was right. Gallstones that don't bother you (ie asymptomatic stones) do not require treatment.[/quote]
I get that, the problem is I have had these attacks before but didn't know it was from gallstones because the first ER doctor I went to two years ago didn't do his job and diagnose me correctly. So until I started reading up because of my recent ER visit and then researching them and the attacks I was completely unaware.0 -
After I had the stones removed I was fine and could eat what ever i want. It's when I had the stones I had to have a strict diet or I would be sick! In the end eggs would make my sick so I made the decision to have them removed. Good luck with the op!0
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I got my gall bladder out about 7 years ago and it was a very easy surgery. I went in at 7 am and was at home relaxing and watching TV by 11 am. It isn't a difficult surgery. There are some tummy issues as your buddy adjusts to not having a gall bladder, but that goes away.
Getting that darn thing out was the best thing I ever did. Gallstones are ridiculously painful. I think that was more painful than childbirth.0
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