Suffering with gallstones need advice :(
RamboKitty87
Posts: 272 Member
Hey all, So the past month or two I have been suffering on and off with gallstone attacks, its not all the time just after I've had a high fat meal, Yes I know I need to cut down my fat intake before you all yell at me, Between January and now I have lost nearly 5 stone, I have been told me rapid weight loss does play a part in this, I am just so frustrated as the past 2 months I have been having the same dinner in the week of soup, weight watchers danish bread toasted, a beef quarter pounder and some cottage cheese, the beef burger is not that high in fat if I'm honest (my diary is open to the public) I enjoy the beef burger because it adds protein to my diet and I enjoy meat, I'm finding it harder and harder to eat this past week, not being able to exercise as much as I was either, I just feel this is stopping me from progressing, I just feel achy, sluggish, tired, frustrated, anxious and so many more emotions, its enhancing my anxiety so much, does anyone have any advice for me on what to eat/do as I cannot keep having episodes like this, I am still suffering from Sundays episode and I had another last night, I've called NHS direct a few times now, had paramedics out to me once, been to a community hospital once and been to my doctors twice about it, my doctor was not convinced I had gallstones and told me to add chia seeds to my diet, I have an ultrasound booked so just waiting for that now, all my symptoms point towards gallstones so I am positive it is that, so anyone that has had gallstones or leads a low fat diet please advise me what to do, feel free to comment here, message me or add me as a friend as I am at my wit's end at the moment, thank you 
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My mom was suffering from gall bladder symptoms for a while (don't remember if it was gall stones, or something else with the gall bladder). Took a long time to actually diagnose because her symptoms were sort of general and all over the place. Once it was diagnosed, she had her gall bladder removed. She healed from the surgery well and after the initial period of having to eat, like, 0 fats, she pretty much eats the way she always had before (granted she's always been very health conscious about her food, so it's not like she was loading up on fats before).0
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Oh ok, see before January this year I was eating junk food alot well basically I was just eating what I liked when I liked and doing no exercise at all.... not sure if that counts for anything
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I had gallstones a few years ago and my doctor didn't offer me much of a choice. It almost went without saying that of course we are taking the gallbladder out. That's what ended up happening (I did my research, it's all right everyone). The surgery left me with 3 tiny scars, I recovered quickly, and feel completely normal now. No issues. I felt as you do now before - towards the end I could barely even eat a very thin, very lean slice of deli turkey anymore without an episode.0
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It's lack of dietary fat that causes the gallbladder to not contract and fully empty regularly, resulting in bile sludge/stone formation in the first place.
Lowfat diet recommendations have resulted in a lot of gall bladders being removed in the last 40 years or so in my opinion.![:\](https://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/resources/emoji/confused.png ":\")
If you already have sludge/stones, on the other hand, I have no idea if the recommendation to follow low fat is a good idea or not. Having never had a problem with my biliary system secondary to diet, I don't know what the treatment is in people. I would guess it depends on if stones present are small enough to pose the risk of getting stuck in a bile duct/somewhere in the biliary tree and obstruct completely, causing a medical emergency (risk of gall bladder rupture)? Or maybe not. Maybe the MDs/DOs want them passed, too, if present if possible.1 -
I did not have stones but my gallbladder was only functioning at 3% they had do a HIDA scan to find that out. I survived on soup my lovely BF made me till I could have it out. I still can't eat a lot of high fat foods but that is ok.0
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If it is kidney stones - water water water. My cousin had them alot, said just drank water until she passed them. It was a waste of time to go the hospital because she did the same thing there.0
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Yes! I started losing weight fast and biking a lot at the end of May. I was sedentary and eating a lot before. 1.5 months later i lost 23 lbs and had a gallbladder attack after a fatty meal. I ended up getting an ultrasound 2 weeks later and i have many gallstones but none blocking anything (i think it passed...i could litteraly feel the pain moving). Seems like a while for you to have an ubltrasound. I'm assuming it's different in the UK. Also im only 27 and women and grandma had it removed at 30ish. Now i still have some pain but no attacks even if i have pizza or whatever. They told me only solution is a quick surgery and to book it when I'm ready.
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clayelliott847 wrote: »If it is kidney stones - water water water. My cousin had them a lot, said just drank water until she passed them. It was a waste of time to go the hospital because she did the same thing there.
I would highly suggest she still see a Dr. I passed about 10 stones before I decided to get an answer and wound up being wheeled into emergency kidney surgery straight from the ultrasound because my kidney was 90% blocked with stones. My 9inch scar is a reminder to not try to do things on my own.
My gal bladder started acting up after I had lost about 25 lbs. It was a constant ache that only subsided when I pinched my side. It did not matter what I ate, it hurt all the time! When I saw the surgeon he told me that once you have gal bladder attack, you will always have attacks - the only way to get rid of them is to get rid of your gal bladder!3 -
Is your doctor a gastroenterologist? I believe they can diagnose you. Your u/s should show what you have plus there are a number of other tests. Every 8 months or so I would be in terrible pain, back and right side pain, vomiting, up all night. But by the a.m. I was all better. I went to my doc about something unrelated and mentioned that my side was hurting. She sent me to the ER (she should have told to go to the specialist where I would have had out patient testing and then have a scheduled gallbladder removal - in hospital one or two days). So I ended up being in hospital for 8 days. Then a week later I couldn't "pee". Had to go back to hospital where they discovered some renegade stones/sludge the surgeon missed. In hospital another 4 days and another surgery. Then a month later back in for them to remove some metal or whatever they placed in me. Afterwards my recovery was fine and could eat anything immediately. The surgeon said now that I have my gallbladder out I can eat all the fat I want. Wasn't that a ridiculous thing to say? I asked my endocrinologist about that and he said you could but it wouldn't be good for your heart.
So see what your results are with the u/s and see a specialist. If you are calling paramedics etc., seems to me that you need some form of treatment to stop the pain.0 -
I had gallstones for a while during the latter part of college/early young adult. Too much fast food, yoyo dieting, ect made it pretty messed up. Tried all sorts of painkillers just to get through the night when I had a particularly bad attack. The only thing that gave me relief was drinking 1/4 cup of vinegar, and I had relief almost instantly after I drank it. Some may say its not scientifically proven, but you are willing to try anything when you are up at 2 am in so much pain you can't sleep, and have a test the next morning. I took vinegar any time I had an attack, and once or twice a week regardless of pain level for a while, and the attacks slowly but surely went away. I pretty much eat what I want now, and I haven't had an attack in four years at least.0
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Had gall bladder removed about six years ago. Come on suddenly - various scans showed large stone blocking duct. I literally couldn't eat anything. Had to fly home from Canada to UK for surgery - otherwise would be trapped in Canada for 6 weeks post surgery. So had to live on gaterade and morphine (under consultants advice) for about a week (yuk !).
Keyhole day surgery as soon as got home, quick recovery and no problems since. Can now eat anything. (That's why I need to lose weight !!).
Listen to doctors. There are severe rare complications if stone escapes gall bladder.
Best Wishes.0 -
Wait and see what your ultrasound says. I had a few minor attacks (didnt know at the time) but then i got a stone lodged in the bile duct which as you know can be awful. I couldnt stand straight and couldnt keep food or water down for a few days. While i was zonked on painkillers i actually felt the stone dislodge while lying on my side. It was a weird spasm and the next morning i felt 100 times better.
I had keyhole surgery a few months later to remove the gallbladder and there were a few big stones. The risk of stones impacting in the duct is also a risk of serious infection.
I recovered in a few weeks and have no issues other than very distinctive nasty farting after i eat hot chips, ha!
Im in australia so thankfully our public health system sorted me out, and i took 2 weeks off work as a supermarket checkout supervisor. This was about 16 years ago in my early 20's.1 -
I had gallstones, I ended up having surgery, i could not bare the attacks. Sorry to hear about your pain, I know how it feels..0
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I had gallstones, lots of pain, and had my gallbladder removed about 17 years ago, no issues with eating fat now.
The sad and ironic thing about gallstones is that it's the low fat diet that causes them, because bile is excreted from your gallbladder every time you eat a decent amount of fat, and when you don't eat enough fat, bile builds up and create stones, that blocks the passage and this causes the pain.
And then you have to continue eating low fat to avoid attacks.
But fat is an essential nutrient and you will suffer if you don't eat enough fat.
Gallstone attacks are painful and you'll instinctively restrict your food choices to avoid them.
But you need a balanced and varied diet to be healthy. You're feeling the effect of a poor diet as well as the fear of not knowing when you'll get the next attack.
Now you just have to wait for the results of the ultrasound, and get those buggers out. Then you can eat normally, and you should recover quite soon.0 -
Thank you all for your lovely feedback it means a lot, I had chicken last night not sure if I would of been ok or not as my partner brought these jerk chicken parcels, he cooked 2 up, they were small and he didn't realise they had vegetables in them he's such a fussy eater and he offered them to me not thinking and I didn't want to waste food so it brought my daily fat up to 36g and I suffered again at 5am this morning, I woke up having a mild panic attack, I got up to go toilet and the pain hit me then, this time I was unable to vomit to reduce the pain so I had to sit it out, I know this will be TMI but when the pain hits me my urine is brown, I have read that is a clear sign of a blocked gallstone, my current doctor I used to like at first but I now realise she's not really a good doctor as she asks "what do you think is wrong with you?" and "what would you like me to do about this?" I liked this when I went to ask her for help about losing weight but when I came to her about my pain being 60% sure it was gallstones at the time she was pretty much the same, examined me by feeling around the area, said It was more likely I was constipated then suffering with my gallbladder and suggested I add chia seeds to my diet... but on Sunday when I went to the community hospital the doctor there asked me more questions, about my weight, what i eat, what exercise I do after I told him I have been leading a more healthy lifestyle since January he asked me how much weight I had lost which then he told me I am prone to having them due to my past eating habits and my rapid weight loss, he then examined me when I was in pain, i wasn't able to lay down without it being so painful and he quickly felt around the area, I couldn't understand all what he was saying as his accent was very thick which was a shame as I am sure he was advising me what to do, I could make out snippets of it though like don't exercise too much, don't eat too much fatty foods, eat grains and fiber foods etc So after my ultrasound I am going to ask for a different doctor and if I am given the same one I may change surgeries if I'm able to. for now I am going to try and keep my fat intake down to 25g or less and hopefully I can avoid another attack, it just really frustrates me as all week I am good and on saturday and sunday I usually eat things I wouldn't usually eat in the week without going too overboard and wiping out all my hard work in the week, I still love food, I enjoy eating so this is getting to me that I'm not able to enjoy eating and pretty much starting to fear and loathe it a little. Sorry for the long ramble here 0
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Hi currently awaiting gallbladder removal here, since Jan this year...NHS also. I have found I can't eat more than 6g fat in one sitting, I normally average 17g a day across meals and snacks. It is difficult to get my calories in but I have been advised by a registered dietician to make them up in carbs including refined sugar
. I eat a diet of fat free yogurts, cottage cheese, chicken breast, ham, tinned tuna and white fish. Have recently added eggs, just one though. Obviously eat friut and veg, wholewheat pasta, cous cous, boiled potatoes and brown rice. Eating out is the most difficult situation I've had to face, at the moment I avoid it where possible. I have been prescribed opiate medications and declofenac suppositories by my GP for flare ups but to be honest they don't touch the pain. I've also had the paramedics out on a number of occassions! Good luck!
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Hey @pennygm72 I was prescribed co codamol but I chose to buy some that was cheaper as you can get them for about £3 ish rather than the high prescription charges also I got put on Lansoprazole which is a gastro-resistant, its supposed to help the build up of acid, I take 1 in the morning an hour before eating, I am going to be trying a cheap alternative to slim fast as morrisons have their own brand a medium sized tub for £4 I usually only have it for lunch, I often blend in some fruit, ginger, half a lemon, frozen broccoli and a frozen ball of spinach with skimmed milk, its very tasty, I'm going to be adding one without the added stuff for breakfast with maybe a banana and some yogurt with my usual cup of tea and then having tinned soup and weight watchers danish bread toasted for dinner maybe with some cottage cheese, I don't have to worry about cutting butter/spread as I cut that out a while back, I have already added this meal to Monday to see what the stats are like and the fat is very low which is good and its not a drastic change to what I already eat I may have alternative days where I have porridge with added chia seeds perhaps, I love the tesco variety sachets they do as its easier than buying a big bag of plain porridge and having to worry about measurements hehe.... sorry rambling a bit, would I be able to add you as a friend? as it would be nice having someone in the UK going through the similar experiences as me and is familiar with UK brands etc if that makes sense, would be nice to be able to look at your diary also to get a grasp of what to eat as my doctor is useless lol and there is only so much googling you can do until you feel like pulling your hair out lol0
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@carlyp79 Yeah I keep getting them stuck I think or perhaps bile.... I'm not sure.... they often dislodge pretty quickly within a few hours, I feel nauseous but I often have to make myself sick and most of the time the pain subsides so maybe with my retching and vomiting I actually dislodge it... I'm not sure I guess I will find out at the ultrasound.... I am kind scared though I have read there are a few different methods on which to do this.... the most common one being where they put a camera down your throat and work their way down to your gallbladder which sounds scary I've never had surgery before, the closest I have come to anything close was where I had bronchial pneumonia and had to have blood work, x-rays, urine samples and listening to my chest whilst they tap on my back, I was in the hospital for 10 days but still I am guessing thats a walk in the park compared to what I am going to go through, I just wished I had a doctor that was able to explain the procedure to me instead of me having to google everything as I know she only booked this for my own peace of mind thinking there was nothing wrong with me besides constipation, so frustrating, sorry rambling again lol the first few times I had these attacks the next morning I felt a little drained but would feel so much better as the day went on but now I just feel drained and sluggish all day like the most simplest of tasks leave me feeling so tired, I'm in the UK I have heard our health care is quite similar but yeah I can't stand straight, laying down on my left side hurts, on my back it feels soooo bad and I wouldn't even dare lay on my right side, co-codamol aka paracetamol and codeine helped a little last night but I just had to wait it out, I can tell the pain is subsiding when my eyes start to droop so I lay on my left side despite the pain and wait for sleep to kick in and when I wake up the pain is often gone but just feel like my digestive system is sluggish if that makes any sense....0
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I get the painful wake me up in the middle of the night attacks about once a month. They last until I can get back to sleep which is sometimes 4-6 hours later and then all seems ok.
During the pain I swear I'm going to the Dr. and get this taken care of....but then once it's gone I just let it go again.
I don't think the problem is that serious, there are no stones that I feel and I hate the thought of surgery.
If there was a was a way to stop the pain I could definitely go with that. I read here about drinking vinegar, would that be regular or apple cider ?
Not much of a vinegar drinking guy, but I could force it if it would stop the pain. Hell, if it would stop the pain I would do self surgery while the
attack was going on.
Has anyone else avoided the surgery ?, i can add more fat to my diet since I'm rolling into maintenance mode currently.0 -
@rdmitch Hey, there are natural remedies where you drink apple juice everyday for about a week then on the last day you drink epsom salt, let me find the link or there is drinking apple cider vinegar but I am not going to attempt either until I am 100% positive it is gallstones. 1st link: http://myculturedpalate.com/recipes/gallbladder-cleanse-an-alternative-to-surgery/ 2nd link: http://www.rapidhomeremedies.com/remedies-for-gallstones.html I wish you all the best with these methods, myself personally I would rather talk to a doctor about these "Remedies" as it could makes things worse.0
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I get the painful wake me up in the middle of the night attacks about once a month. They last until I can get back to sleep which is sometimes 4-6 hours later and then all seems ok.
During the pain I swear I'm going to the Dr. and get this taken care of....but then once it's gone I just let it go again.
I don't think the problem is that serious, there are no stones that I feel and I hate the thought of surgery.
If there was a was a way to stop the pain I could definitely go with that. I read here about drinking vinegar, would that be regular or apple cider ?
Not much of a vinegar drinking guy, but I could force it if it would stop the pain. Hell, if it would stop the pain I would do self surgery while the
attack was going on.
Has anyone else avoided the surgery ?, i can add more fat to my diet since I'm rolling into maintenance mode currently.
I did the same thing. So one night I tried vinegar. Generally I have it with apple juice so it won't be so acidic. I used white vinegar because ACV tastes even worse. As long as you don't go overboard, side effects are negligible, considering it is just vinegar, something we already consume. If it works for you, you should feel relief within 15-30 minutes at most.0 -
I get the painful wake me up in the middle of the night attacks about once a month. They last until I can get back to sleep which is sometimes 4-6 hours later and then all seems ok.
During the pain I swear I'm going to the Dr. and get this taken care of....but then once it's gone I just let it go again.
I don't think the problem is that serious, there are no stones that I feel and I hate the thought of surgery.
If there was a was a way to stop the pain I could definitely go with that. I read here about drinking vinegar, would that be regular or apple cider ?
Not much of a vinegar drinking guy, but I could force it if it would stop the pain. Hell, if it would stop the pain I would do self surgery while the
attack was going on.
Has anyone else avoided the surgery ?, i can add more fat to my diet since I'm rolling into maintenance mode currently.
You can't feel the stones, you just feel the pain.
Vinegar won't do anything about the pain. Vinegar is a home remedy to dissolve the stones, but the effect is uncertain, to put it mildly.
If you have gall stones and want them out, you have to let the doctors deal with it. This will most likely mean surgically removal of gallbladder.
You can't eat more fat until the stones are out.0 -
I had to have my gall bladder removed about 11 years ago. All my symptoms appeared in a 6-7 month period after I lost some weight in a short period of time. I am fine now - feel a little queasy if I eat too much of high fat foods but tolerate smaller amounts just fine.0
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And yes - the pain during an attack was the worst ever.0
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@RamboKitty87 please send a friend request, my diary is closed but happy to answer any questions Whilst I would never suggest needless surgery you do need to be careful with gallstones, watch out for signs of infection such as pain to touch under your ribs on the right or raised temperature, also watch out for jaundice, yellowing of the skin and/or whites of your eyes as this could indicate a more serious issue with your gallbladder. 0
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@pennygm72 when my attacks happen I get the pain which intensifies on touching that area, can't lay on my back, can barely sit down or lay on my left side, can't stand without pain, raised temperature and I shiver also, I basically get most of the symptoms except the jaundice, my urine is also brown when the attacks happen, I was still suffering from a big attack on Saturday where I went and had a meal the fat being 125g, feeling weak and achy then another 2 attacks happened Wednesday and Thursday, its really frustrating, I need to learn some restraint as Wednesday my fat intake was 45g and yesterday it was 36g its so frustrating its just leaving me feeling drained0
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Had mine out, had both stones and it was diseased. Best decision ever. The pain was unbearable. Yes, large meals (no matter what they consisted of, could have been salad only) or small amounts of fat triggered attacks. Only took a few of those for me to not eat the fat and have smaller meals....then planned for the surgery. The radiating pain, mostly at night, was unbearable. I still have pains every once in a blue moon, because stones still exist in the body, but are just passing through the location formally occupied by my gallbladder. Last 2 minutes at most. And very rare. Good luck.0
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@RamboKitty87 like the poster above I was also triggered by large portions as well as fat, I had two chicken legs/thighs total fat 16g, I was in agony. I really think you will have to go lower fat, as I said I eat less than 17g a day, haven't had any pain for 5 months now.0
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Ok after having 3 attacks today I rang the NHS helpline which was really no help, after answering soooo many invasive and infuriating questions which I know they have to ask I got a call back from an on-call nurse who demanded I get myself to the hospital that is 10 -15 miles away, I have no transport nor do I know anyone that has transport, she said there was no chance of an ambulance so after arguing with her a little she told me she will have a on-call doctor call me back, the on-call doctor rang me back nearly 2 hours later by this time the pain had subsided from an 8 to a 3 and she told me I had to cut out fat all together no cutting it down but cut it out, as you can tell I am now very very frustrated and upset, I am eating very very little as it is, I have filled out tomorrows food log and I have managed to cut it all the way down to a total of 9g of fat... its the best I can do and I personally feel the lack of food in that will really get to me, it's already starting to get to me, these past few days I have hardly ate anything compared to what I am used to eating, I am finding myself snapping at my partner and in a way wanting to kill him just for eating its not me at all, I am just frustrated, angry and just so emotional, How am I supposed to cut out fat altogether when you need fat in your life, everything has fat in it even trace amounts, it's not healthy to cut it out entirely, going to the doctors tomorrow for help yet again... I am so ready for my ultrasound on Wednesday now, I'm just so fed up of feeling poorly, in pain and weak all the time, I am like a walking zombie... sorry for the rambling again I am just at my wit's end now. thanks for reading and sharing your support it really does mean alot to me as some of you may know doctors can have that way of making you feel it's all in your head you know when clearly it is not. many thanks, take care 0
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I know how you feel. Have been having attacks since January. Have had gallstones diagnosed and have to wait until September to see consultant (NHS). I've had 7 attacks in 14 days.
It doesn't seem to matter what I eat or drink. The only thing that makes a definite difference is if I skip a meal I am likely to have an attack.
I've lost over 50 lbs since January but am still morbidly obese so I know my consultant will make me lose more weight before the operation. I feel very low in general about it all.0
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