I think I broke my stomach

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MKknits
MKknits Posts: 184 Member
So I was doing great chugging along on keto. This week serious stomach issues have hit me, every time after I eat I get severe sharp pain on my right side. Eating slightly higher carbs seems to help, eating higher fat definitely makes it worse. The pain is pretty sharp (I'd say a 6 or 7 or so on the 1-10 scale) and enough to take my breath away, it goes on for about a half hour, 45 minutes and will make me feel nauseous then slowly goes away. I was running a low grade fever (99-100) Sunday night so it could be something viral. For now I'm just eating much smaller meals with more carbs in them and lower in fat then I was before - my daily calorie intake is pretty small right now because my stomach is causing so much physical pain when I eat.

What have I broken in my digestive track and how can I fix it?

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  • kpk54
    kpk54 Posts: 4,474 Member
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    Sounds like your gall bladder to me. I still have my gall bladder but VERY occasionally (like avery few years) during the last 45 years, I have had that sharp pain/flutter in my right side under my rib cage accompanied "takes my breath away" (hard to take a deep breath without it hurting more). The last time it occurred was about 6 months ago after eating too much bacon that was not cooked to "crisp" in combination with my usual higher fat choices.

    For me it has always slowly minimized then eventually ended after several (4-8) hours. I believe I have some gallstones in there that occasionally block a bile duct. TMI but check the color of your poo. Without bile, your poo will (might) lighten in color and even become almost white. That piece of info may help you in pinpointing it to your gallbladder.

    I've experienced "a gall bladder attack" only once since being keto and lightened up on the fat for a couple of days. All other times were pre-keto and I would simply be guessing if I said it was from too much fat. That said, I recall the 1st time it happened 45 years ago when I was 20. It was so bad, I went to the doctor. I was doubled over in pain. He said it was "gallbladder" and gave me some pill that knocked me out the rest of the day. It was in the 70s and though I did not need to lose weight, I was "supporting" my Mom on her Atkin's diet and eating "Atkin's Style" of the 70s.
  • Sunny_Bunny_
    Sunny_Bunny_ Posts: 7,140 Member
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    Having a gall bladder issue suddenly after being keto for some time then eating high carb foods for some reason and returning to keto isn't exactly uncommon.
    All the more reason to not cheat. But, it's not the fat that has caused it. It was the carbs. Going back to LCHF should cause the stone to pass.
    There's a very detailed podcast on Ketotalk about it somewhere.
  • retirehappy
    retirehappy Posts: 4,752 Member
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    The right side and take your breath away pain sounds like gall bladder/stones issue. You might want to check in with your dr. My husband's dr. told us that 80% of the population has gall stones, most so tiny they don't effect you. But 20% get them so bad they cause major health issues and surgery is required.

    Turned out my husband had pericarditis, this conversation occurred in the surgery prep room, an EKG showed he had the heart issue not a gall bladder/stone issue. Because the pain was NOT on the right side, the dr. decided to run the EKG, which showed the real issue and surgery got cancelled.

    Hope you get it sorted out.
  • MKknits
    MKknits Posts: 184 Member
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    So how do I get this to calm down? Up my protein for a bit and lower fats a touch? I'm eating around 50 grams of carbs a day now instead of the under 20 I was doing the last 3 weeks so still low carb for sure but not as low as I was doing.

    If this goes on for a few more days I'll call my doctor - my dad had to have his gallbladder out.
  • Sunny_Bunny_
    Sunny_Bunny_ Posts: 7,140 Member
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    MKknits wrote: »
    So how do I get this to calm down? Up my protein for a bit and lower fats a touch? I'm eating around 50 grams of carbs a day now instead of the under 20 I was doing the last 3 weeks so still low carb for sure but not as low as I was doing.

    If this goes on for a few more days I'll call my doctor - my dad had to have his gallbladder out.

    You might not need to have it out. The stone can pass. Honestly, I would eat your normal 20g diet. It's the change you made that probably prompted it
  • ChoiceNotChance
    ChoiceNotChance Posts: 644 Member
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    Yup, sure sounds like gallbladder to me. Talk to your doctor, sooner, rather than later.
  • kpk54
    kpk54 Posts: 4,474 Member
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    I don't know about "stones passing". My Mom had a "stone" the size of a penny, round, but the size of a penny. How do I know? She had her gall bladder removed and the doc saved the stone to show it to her because it was so big. That was back in the 60s. She kept it afterwards in the jar of liquid in the medicine cabinet. I saw it every morning when I opened the medicine cabinet to get the toothpaste.

    I don't know all there is to know about human anatomy but bet passing that one would be near impossible and doggone painful. Since yours is chronic, yep. I'd be paying a medical professional a visit.
  • anglyn1
    anglyn1 Posts: 1,803 Member
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    It's possible to pass gallstones but if you get persistent agonizing pain go the hospital because gallstones can very easily get stuck in your bile duct. This leads to horrible pain and pancreatitis.

    It never hurts to get checked by a doctor. A guy I work with actually had his gallbladder rupture because he put off surgery. What would've been an easy outpatient laparoscopic procedure ended up being a huge surgery, infection, and a big hospital stay! Not trying to scare you but his story makes me feel overly cautious!
  • swezeytba
    swezeytba Posts: 624 Member
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    In the short term I did have some luck with very pulpy apple juice (or apple cider). Probably not great on the carb count but it did provide some relief to my pain.
  • KnitOrMiss
    KnitOrMiss Posts: 10,104 Member
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    Absolutely, this sounds exactly like your gallbladder, but honestly, unless it is incredibly diseased, I personally would not have it out under any costs. Another friend in my friends list has posted about this lately too. I have just about every terrible consequence you can have with having had it out, and this mess I would not wish on my worst enemy.

    Personally, I would have it checked out to rule out disease/genetic issue/dangerous condition. You may find out that you have many stones that need to be broken up with laser treatment. But if it is not diseased, I would jump through every single hoop ever to not have it out. I don't want to scare you, but if you had my side effects, the bathroom timing requirements alone would probably mean you could no longer teach. (I generally have 30 seconds up to maybe 3 minutes before my bowels auto dump sometimes. Not all the time, but sometimes, and holding it isn't an option, because the bowel will expel what it views as a problem situation quite...violently. And most teachers I know do not even have the option to leave a classroom to pee, so this would create an untenable situation.)

    Now this does not happen to everyone. @Sunny_Bunny_ in particular doesn't have that issue if I remember correctly, but I do not believe that she ever achieved such a high weight as to be considered morbidly obese or severely morbidly obese as I am/was. I believe personally that for me, getting that heavy (I was 319 highest medically recorded weight, and I'm just under 5'4") and continuing to eat more and worse foods than I should have been doing depleted a good portion of my digestive system's long term resources having to deal with all of the excess I was providing it.

    I have "hit a wall" with my ketogenic diet 3 times since starting almost 2 years ago, but adding in those digestive enzymes with every meal has helped me traverse through, and I haven't had any major issues since doing so. Sending you good thoughts that whatever you've got is treatable, or that if you have to have the surgery, that you might be able to not have the horrid side effects or can supplement immediately to prevent the worst of them... @MKknits.
  • LemonMarmalade
    LemonMarmalade Posts: 227 Member
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    Definitely see your doctor. I started having the same pains you described. They would leave for awhile and come back. When they did a hidascan they found my gallbladder was only working at 25/30 percent. It's been removed now and I haven't had any trouble in that area other than the slight discomfort they think is IBS. Good luck to you and keep us informed!
  • MyriiStorm
    MyriiStorm Posts: 609 Member
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    anglyn1 wrote: »
    It's possible to pass gallstones but if you get persistent agonizing pain go the hospital because gallstones can very easily get stuck in your bile duct. This leads to horrible pain and pancreatitis.

    This is the biggest concern with gallstones. Everyone has them, but if you "pass" a larger one and it gets stuck in your bile duct, you're talking emergency surgery. Have your doctor check your gall bladder just to be safe.

    I had mine out a little over a year ago, and have had no issues with digestion or elimination, just occasional heartburn if I eat too much spicy food.
  • KnitOrMiss
    KnitOrMiss Posts: 10,104 Member
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    @MKknits - Any updates, hon? I've been worried about you.
  • idocdlw
    idocdlw Posts: 208 Member
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    Get checked if it lasts. I had severe (as bad as childbirth pain) in my upper right quadrant periodically. I had gone to the ER several times over 20 yrs and was most often given a GI cocktail and sedatives. If my pain eventually subsided, "I was cured". One year, it was so bad that I was worked up for everything...every provider was convinced it was gall bladder, but MRI/testing said no.

    It finally got so bad that I told my doc I was ready for exploratory surgery. Being a medical provider myself and having a wonderful repoire with the surgeon, he agreed. Turned out, I had acute appendencitis and had been having attacks over the years. The appendix was necrotic from previous attacks and apparently, even tho my appendix was in a normal position in the lower right quadrant, all my pain was for whatever reason referred to the upper right quadrant. I was so frustrated that it took 20 yrs to figure this out.

    If your pain/discomfort is persistent, be persistent about getting an answer as to why.
  • 805_blondie
    805_blondie Posts: 96 Member
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    I just had my gallbladder out about six weeks ago. I had the same pain and then it started waking me up in the middle of the night. I have a very high pain tolerance and the pain started lasting longer and longer. By time I went to the ER, I was hour 13 into the last attack and my gallbladder was very inflamed and had aheared to my liver and stomach and my cystic duct and lower duct were completely blocked from marble-sized stones. The surgeon had to cut out part of my liver, but was able the separate it from my stomach. I ended up with a few infection and had to go through 4 rounds of antibiotics and had a wonderful drain for a week and a half that was painful and super annoying and gross and I had to empty it several time a day. The reason I'm telling you this is because I didn't get it checked out and I made it worse. I would see your doctor ASAP and the can give you stuff to break up your stones if it's not that bad. Keto has been fine for me, I just eat smaller amounts throughout the day and I don't get sick.
  • MKknits
    MKknits Posts: 184 Member
    edited December 2016
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    Thanks all have an apt to see my dr next week, it seems to be better now though as long as I don't eat lots of fat in one meal. I've been staying under 50 net carbs and that seems to work for now. Hopefully we'll get it figured out, it definitely isn't childbirth level (I had natural no med deliveries with all three girls) but I do have a pretty high pain tolerance. It isn't stabbing pain anymore when I eat, but does occasionally become a dull ache that then goes away after a bit.


  • suzqtme
    suzqtme Posts: 322 Member
    edited December 2016
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    MKknits wrote: »
    So I was doing great chugging along on keto. This week serious stomach issues have hit me, every time after I eat I get severe sharp pain on my right side. Eating slightly higher carbs seems to help, eating higher fat definitely makes it worse. The pain is pretty sharp (I'd say a 6 or 7 or so on the 1-10 scale) and enough to take my breath away, it goes on for about a half hour, 45 minutes and will make me feel nauseous then slowly goes away. I was running a low grade fever (99-100) Sunday night so it could be something viral. For now I'm just eating much smaller meals with more carbs in them and lower in fat then I was before - my daily calorie intake is pretty small right now because my stomach is causing so much physical pain when I eat.

    What have I broken in my digestive track and how can I fix it?

    You may want to check this out with your doctor. You just described exactly my symptoms when I had a gall stone shuttling around in the bile duct. Pain, nausea, low-grade fever. It would last until I threw up which was anywhere up to an hour. Then the pain would resolve until the next time. I had to eat absolutely low fat until this was taken care of.

    Hopefully it is just something viral, but IMHO, it is best to get things that cause significant pain checked out.

    Ah, now that I actually read the rest of the posts, I'm glad to see your set up to see your doc. Good luck to you.

  • retirehappy
    retirehappy Posts: 4,752 Member
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    MKMnits, Glad you are going to have the dr. take a look. Healing thought headed your way.

    My husband has a high pain tolerance and I have to nag him sometimes to get stuff looked at, after all I am his caregiver when ill and he is a terrible patient, doesn't complain about pain usually, just everything else and has to be waited on hand and foot. :)
  • PamWOhio
    PamWOhio Posts: 120 Member
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    I had mine out a couple years ago after the attacks became more frequent...they always hit in the evening and lasted several hours...pressure, pain radiating around to my back...couldn't sit still...couldn't get comfortable and the only thing that seemed to help a little during an attack was extreme heat so I would soak in very hot baths...take hot showers and let the hot water beat on my front and then my back and I would use heating pads on the front and back. I finally had 3 attack in one day when I would eat even a fork full of something fatty and went to the ER. Doc did surgery to remove it that night and now I can eat anything, including fatty foods and have had no issues at all. There were 14 small stones in it and my bile duct was blocked so they put stents in after removal. Thankfully pathology came back fine on the gall bladder so I have been good since.