KETO AFTER GALLBLADDER SURGERY
trish55011
Posts: 139 Member
I am back in the keto game! I left the keto way of life in November 2016 because of emergency gallbladder surgery. Was told my body could no longer process fat the same way, and fat would cause me to spend many unpleasant hours in the bathroom engaging in an activity not particularly suited to public conversations. So down the rabbit hole I went. I not only fell off the keto wagon, I bounced when I hit the ground and rolled downhill at an alarming rate. Blood sugars out of control, massive digestive issues, depression, headaches, and generally feeling major yuck. After my blood test last week, I knew I had to make a change. So now 4 days later my blood sugars are back within normal range (not over 160 at any check) I am sleeping like a baby, depression/fog is gone, have more energy than I know what to do with, and NO DIGESTIVE ISSUES!! I am eating butter, bacon, fatty meats, cheese, all the good stuff and not once has my digestive system protested. Has anyone else had the same experience with keto after gallbladder surgery? Is this a fluke? I don't ever want to give up keto again. Any and all helpfull advice is welcome.
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I have had my gallbladder out also...before I ate mostly lclf, anything like sausage would kill me. I never ate butter or eggs, cholesterol was crazy, I had a fatty liver. After surgery my weight and problems got worse and nothing was helping. And my sugar addiction was out of control.
Then one day I was looking around for another diet to help that I could live with and found lchf!! I've been sugar free, carb free since February, high fat healthy fat all day every day and have no complications everyone told me I would have...I'm down 15lbs and I'm happy! Now I'm only suffering from my sugar free jello addiction! #KCKO2 -
This is so good to know @andreaann1971 I was really afraid to give keto a go again, but I figured my digestive issues couldn't get any worse. I mean sheesh, standard diet/high carb, high fat (pretty much off the rails) had me tied up in knots. I think someone got it wrong somewhere. Maybe it's the types of fats eaten after gallbladder surgery. Good fats v/s deep fried everything.1
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I had my gallbladder out in 2015, discovered LCHF in June 2016, and have had no digestive issues with fat. I can't do spicy like I used to, which is a bummer, but fat doesn't cause issues. Maybe it's one of those YMMV things.1
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Doesn't seem to be a fluke. Like so much other bad advice, doctored saying you can't eat fat without a gall bladder are simply wrong and I'm sorry you got bad advice that causes you to fall off track of your goals.
I haven't had a gall bladder for 25 years. I had "phantom attacks" at least once a month for all those years until I went keto. Not one single episode since then. 2 years later. IBS is gone too.2 -
Welcome back!
You only need your gall bladder to STORE the bile needed to break down fats. It doesn't create the bile. I hate to do this, but I tend to use logic. If you include fat regularly in your diet, it would seem to me you wouldn't need to store excess bile because you would use it.
I have no gall bladder issues, fortunately. All I know about the subject is bits and pieces as I have gone on my path of studying nutrition since being diagnosed a T2D in late 2015. Since it didn't directly affect me, I have not gone down the rabbit holes for gall bladder.
I have to say though, based on everything else I have learned, I have to think it is similar to the bad advice given for T2 in that, they start with the assumption fat is bad. They don't actually look at how your body will react to the fat in your diet without a gall bladder. I would probably have a heart attack if I found any real studies (double blind) that evaluated this approach.2 -
I had issues adjusting a couple of weeks after the surgery but not since then. (3 years ago) I actually get 'the runs' after eating salads... go figure.2
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Sunny_Bunny_ wrote: »Doesn't seem to be a fluke. Like so much other bad advice, doctored saying you can't eat fat without a gall bladder are simply wrong and I'm sorry you got bad advice that causes you to fall off track of your goals.
I haven't had a gall bladder for 25 years. I had "phantom attacks" at least once a month for all those years until I went keto. Not one single episode since then. 2 years later. IBS is gone too.
I had my gall bladder removed 12 years ago. I have never had problems with HF while following LCHF. @Sunny_Bunny_ , I would get " phantom attacks" too! I actually thought I made up the term, because others thought I was nuts when I'd mention it and had never heard of such a thing. Hahaha!! Way to burst that bubble! LOL! While I am following this WOE I never have them as with many many other aches and pains, they just vanish. As did ALL my allergies, seasonal, food, jewelry(metals). Gone!!1 -
Sunny_Bunny_ wrote: »Doesn't seem to be a fluke. Like so much other bad advice, doctored saying you can't eat fat without a gall bladder are simply wrong and I'm sorry you got bad advice that causes you to fall off track of your goals.
I haven't had a gall bladder for 25 years. I had "phantom attacks" at least once a month for all those years until I went keto. Not one single episode since then. 2 years later. IBS is gone too.
Same here! I had the phantom attacks for years, since starting Keto I've had no problems at all! Also IBS symptoms are gone! I had mine removed in 2008.1 -
I have just been diagnosed with gallstones which I had been suffering pain for a long time - I had fallen off the LCHF wagon last year and the pain increased - now I have the diagnosis everyone is telling me I should give up fat - over the last few weeks I have been testing foods out to see if they cause me issues and wanted to see if I could find something that would mean I wouldn't need the gallbladder removed and so far the only thing that doesn't cause me issues has been meat, I have previously dabbled with zero carb but have decided to jump in and do it properly and see if I can get away with not having the operation2
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I had my gallbladder out 9 years ago. I have never had an issue with digestive issues while eating lchf. The only time I'm "too loose" is when I take too much magnesium.0
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I've been without a gallbladder for 11 years. I don't find high fat to bother me at all. Sometimes if I go a very, very long time without eating anything at all I'll have an issue when I eat again but that's no matter what I eat. That's more of a liver distributing the wrong amount of bile issue though.1
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my4andme333 wrote: »Sunny_Bunny_ wrote: »Doesn't seem to be a fluke. Like so much other bad advice, doctored saying you can't eat fat without a gall bladder are simply wrong and I'm sorry you got bad advice that causes you to fall off track of your goals.
I haven't had a gall bladder for 25 years. I had "phantom attacks" at least once a month for all those years until I went keto. Not one single episode since then. 2 years later. IBS is gone too.
Same here! I had the phantom attacks for years, since starting Keto I've had no problems at all! Also IBS symptoms are gone! I had mine removed in 2008.
I was having those pains also and seriously doubted if they actually did take out mu GB. Cause really why did I still have the pain. But my pains are also gone.0 -
The phantom attacks might not actually be phantom attacks, per se. Stones are actually created in the liver, as well, and the pains of passing them to the bile duct, especially if it results in blockage, can create the same type of pain scenario as when one passes gallstones. Had I know this back in 2000, as well as that my condition was likely able to be remediated by diet (which was confirmed when my gallbladder was removed it was completely healthy, just had stones due to massive dietary changes when pregnant), I would NOT have opted to remove my gallbladder. It took years for all the "fallout" to surface to the point where I understood what the true issues were, and longer even to start finding treatments and protocols to remedy some of the issues...0
