Gallbladder issues

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BunnyBearLove
BunnyBearLove Posts: 51
in Health and Weight Loss
Apparently I am having gallbladder attacks..severe pain in the right stomach region! I passed out from the pain, that is how bad it is! Anyway I was wondering if anyone else has had success with just changing their diets alone? Any help is really appreciated! :D thanks
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Replies

  • Schwarzeaugen
    Schwarzeaugen Posts: 129 Member
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    I was having those kind of pains and as a result, I had my gallbladder removed. Afterwards, I still had to be on two different medications. However, since I've started MFP, I've been able to drop one of the medications. But I don't think diet is going to change Gallbladder disease or gallstones.
  • theba2il
    theba2il Posts: 548 Member
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    I heard the Amazing Liver and Gallbladder Flush by Andreas Moritz works. Best wishes:flowerforyou:
  • tattooedtwiin
    tattooedtwiin Posts: 246
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    I cut out anything really greasy, and that helped some.... but ultimately it had to be removed....Good luck to you!
  • riley711
    riley711 Posts: 298 Member
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    If you have gallbladder attacks like you described, it probably needs to come out. Otherwise, it would be just a matter of time before it ruptures. Have you consulted a physician and had a formal diagnosis? That is really nothing to play with as the toxins in the gallbladder could do serious damage to your body if it were to rupture.
  • hlavers
    hlavers Posts: 32
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    I had to have my Gall bladder removed last year. Changing my diet didn't help, the pain would go away but as soon as I had something that was the lease bit greasy or fattening I would have a severe attack. Felt like someone was sticking a sword through the the top of my back through and out the front of my chest w/vomiting, sweating and general misery.

    Ice cream and chinese food were the worst culprits for me. I canged my diet, pain went away for months and then away visiting family they ordered chinese and I had some without thinking and bam! it came back with a vengence and wouldn't go away, affected my pancreas and liver. Not fun, glad it's gone now :)

    Hope you get yours figured out b/c I wouldn't wish that pain on anyone!!
  • MichelleFirestone
    MichelleFirestone Posts: 212 Member
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    I had this problem, just 2 weeks after my daughter was born. The doctor said pregnancies can cause this. The doctor did a scan, and said I had tons of tons of little stones, and this would keep happening randomly, and I should just have my gallbladder removed. Then one passed the gallbladder, but got stuck in a some tube and needless to say my waste wasn't leaving my body and causing kindey failure. So only a few weeks after giving birth, I had surgery to have my gallbladder removed.

    It really wasn't that bad. nothing compaired to giving birth. My recovery was about 2 weeks. slighly longer than the doctor hoped for. but that could be due to just having a baby.

    I haven't had any side effects or issues, other than I take a vitiamin. Just a one a day.
  • cabaray
    cabaray Posts: 971 Member
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    If your gallbladder is diseased, I doubt diet changes will do anything besides lessening symptoms. Fat will make it much worse, but mine still acted up. Having it removed was one of the best decisions. It was done laproscopicaly and was an outpatient procedure. I have had no problems since the surgery and it has been at least 2 years.
  • taco_tap
    taco_tap Posts: 152 Member
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    Get it taken out. Otherwise, get rid of as much fat in your diet as possible if that is truly your only option.

    That pain is the worst I have ever had. I'm sorry you are going through it :(
  • Dolphingirlie81
    Dolphingirlie81 Posts: 322
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    Stay away from greasy and spicy food, those will trigger a bad attack.I noticed when I stayed away from those foods I never got a bad attack and Sometimes when I drank coffee or ate chocolate it caused an attack, but everyone is different.Another food that can cause an attack is lettuce for some reason. I couldn't believe it when the doctor told me that. Changing your diet will help a little, but it won't make the situation go away totally. If you can, try to get it removed. And yes, the pain is awful, I have never experienced that much or that kind of pain in my life before. I feel for you. I hope you start to feel better.
  • striderb
    striderb Posts: 5,843 Member
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    Bump - Need to show my wife later.
  • lenwie
    lenwie Posts: 240
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    I lived with mine for 4 years, this was due to relocation and being pregnant for the second time so obviously things got put on hold. I managed to lose over 5 stone (70lb) by changing my diet, cutting out anything fatty like crisps, cream cakes stuff like that, salmon and oily fish, even bacon stayed but limited in comsumption, this helped to reduce the amount of attacks, but nothing is better that getting the gallbladder removed, the agony was excruciating, at one point I spent 4 days in hospital after an attack! you have to watch as sometimes the smaller stones can get caught in the bile ducts, worse case senario it can cause pancreatistis. Even though I do live with some minor side effects and unfortunatley weight gain as naughty things crept back into my diet tut tut me!) I do not regret having my gallbladder removed.
  • georgiaj
    georgiaj Posts: 59
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    The pain is much worse than the surgery....I lived with gall problems for years and the couple months before I finnally had it removed I ended up losing massive amounts of weight because I couldn't eat anything, I gained the wieght back and my body suffered from being starved. One thing that does help some is apple juice lots of apple juice, But it's not a cure.
  • librarynerd81
    librarynerd81 Posts: 61 Member
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    I had to have mine removed about 3 1/2 years ago. At first I thought it was my back. I would eat a few bites of food and my back would start to hurt and the pain would wrap around to my stomach. It didn't matter what kind of food I ate. In fact, one of the worst attacks I had was after I ate salad. I was crying and throwing up it hurt so bad. (It didn't help that I was driving to work on a busy interstate with my 5 year-old in the back seat.) After the surgery I was told that I had so many stones that were so large they had to use a special instrument to crush the stones so they could avoid the regular surgery (I had the scope surgery). And even that almost didn't work. The doc said I was lucky I didn't have a rupture with as bad as it was. You should definitely get checked out if you haven't already. It's not something to play around with. The recovery from the surgery was only about two weeks and I haven't had a single problem since. Best of luck and sorry you have to go through this!
  • merceah
    merceah Posts: 51
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    I just had mine removed five months ago, after I had my baby I lost the pregnancy weight too quickly, two weeks. and it caused my gallbaldder to fail... Extreme loss or gain, pregnancy hormones, and high fat foods can cause gallstones and or failure of the gallbladder. ( I have a medical background).... No fat.. you can eat what ever you want as long as you do not eat and FAT, I was able to keep my fat at 3 grams a day, spagetti sauce took that 3 grams up quick... Dairy is a common trigger, animal products are an even quicker trigger, I lived on: fat free refried beans, rice a roni made with just water, no butter, pretzels for snacks, lots of fruits and veggies because they clean the liver which is where the bile is coming from that bloacks the gallbladder bile ducts with stones... lots of water to keep flushing the system... I also eat spagetti without meat, It was the most horrific pain I had ever experianced, mind you I had just had a baby two months prio to this and I would have rathr been in labor that go thru the pain of a gallbladder attack. FAT FREE is the way to be, it is fat that triggers these attacks. Good luck, if you have more than two extreme attacks, ones that put you to your knees, make you beg for mercy, or require a visit to the ER typically requires a removal of the gallbladder, the one thing you do not want to happen is a gallstone get stuck, block off the common bile duct and cause pancreatitis, or anything else, in very severe cases it can be fatal! You do not want it to get that bad, it happens quick if the common bile duct gets closed off.
  • merceah
    merceah Posts: 51
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    The pain is much worse than the surgery....I lived with gall problems for years and the couple months before I finnally had it removed I ended up losing massive amounts of weight because I couldn't eat anything, I gained the wieght back and my body suffered from being starved. One thing that does help some is apple juice lots of apple juice, But it's not a cure.


    I will second the APPLE JUICE, I forgot to mention this, I 100% apple juice allday long, it softens the stones to some degree because of the acid, it basically makes it hurt less often and less in general, hoever, it is not a cure! But certainly drink it if you like it.
  • lizziebeth1028
    lizziebeth1028 Posts: 3,602 Member
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    The pain is much worse than the surgery....I lived with gall problems for years and the couple months before I finnally had it removed I ended up losing massive amounts of weight because I couldn't eat anything, I gained the wieght back and my body suffered from being starved. One thing that does help some is apple juice lots of apple juice, But it's not a cure.

    ^
    Agreed!!!!! Gallbladder attacks are excruciating! I used to pass out from the pain too!

    I had mine removed last November the day before Thanksgiving. Despite having missed out on the Thanksgiving feast lol.......I am so happy I had it removed!!!! The surgery is a piece of cake if they do a laparoscopy. I went home the same day. A week later I was back at the gym walking on the treadill!

    Diary was the trigger of the attacks for me....ouch, don't even want to think about it!
  • Zeromilediet
    Zeromilediet Posts: 787 Member
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    Having the gallbladder rempved is serious business. This is an organ essential for digestion and will place your liver under pressure if there's no gallbladder. Do you know what it's function is? It is the organ connected to the liver on the one hand and small intestine on the other, through narrow ducts which carry an enzyme called bile from the liver to the gallbladder and thence to the small intestine for digestion of fats. In the gallbladder, the bile is concentrated and stored until required for digestion in the intestine, when in is released in the required quantity. Excess bile remaining in the gallbladder solidifies into gallstones, which tend to also move along with the next consignment of bile, into the ducts towards the small intestine.  In doing so, if the gallstones are large enough, they will block the ducts, and the result is swelling, inflammation and pain in the gallbladder.  Without your gallbladder, bile will drip continuously into your digestive system. This constant dripping also causes diarrhea in some people. Removing the gallbladder may possibly lead to higher blood cholesterol levels.

    Note above where it said it helps with the digestion of fats. If you're eating a low fat diet now, the bile does not get released and it builds up in the GB and concentrates into stones. You do need fat in your diet for your body to function properly. So, in future, make sure you're eating at least 30% of your calories as fat in the future--minimum. Healthy fats BTW!

    There's medication to dissolve the stones and remedies posted on the internet; doctors prefer to remove the GB but you're the one who has to live with the decision--how old are you? Want to live the rest of your life on medication and without an important digestive organ?
  • odessablondie
    odessablondie Posts: 76 Member
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    Having the gallbladder rempved is serious business. This is an organ essential for digestion and will place your liver under pressure if there's no gallbladder. Do you know what it's function is? It is the organ connected to the liver on the one hand and small intestine on the other, through narrow ducts which carry an enzyme called bile from the liver to the gallbladder and thence to the small intestine for digestion of fats. In the gallbladder, the bile is concentrated and stored until required for digestion in the intestine, when in is released in the required quantity. Excess bile remaining in the gallbladder solidifies into gallstones, which tend to also move along with the next consignment of bile, into the ducts towards the small intestine.  In doing so, if the gallstones are large enough, they will block the ducts, and the result is swelling, inflammation and pain in the gallbladder.  Without your gallbladder, bile will drip continuously into your digestive system. This constant dripping also causes diarrhea in some people. Removing the gallbladder may possibly lead to higher blood cholesterol levels.

    Note above where it said it helps with the digestion of fats. If you're eating a low fat diet now, the bile does not get released and it builds up in the GB and concentrates into stones. You do need fat in your diet for your body to function properly. So, in future, make sure you're eating at least 30% of your calories as fat in the future--minimum. Healthy fats BTW!

    There's medication to dissolve the stones and remedies posted on the internet; doctors prefer to remove the GB but you're the one who has to live with the decision--how old are you? Want to live the rest of your life on medication and without an important digestive organ?

    I had my gallbladder out over 10 years ago and never had to take medication once... My digestion seems to be the same as it was prior to having it removed.
  • smcassaro
    smcassaro Posts: 123 Member
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    I just want to add that gallbladder problems are not always the result of stones. I had suspected my gallbladder causing my problems for years, but CT scans & ultrasounds showed no stones. One of my friends is in medical imaging & told me to INSIST that the doctor order a HIDA scan. The HIDA scan revealed that my gallbladder was only functioning at 3%! Needless to say, I had it removed asap. :)
  • lizziebeth1028
    lizziebeth1028 Posts: 3,602 Member
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    Having the gallbladder rempved is serious business. This is an organ essential for digestion and will place your liver under pressure if there's no gallbladder. Do you know what it's function is? It is the organ connected to the liver on the one hand and small intestine on the other, through narrow ducts which carry an enzyme called bile from the liver to the gallbladder and thence to the small intestine for digestion of fats. In the gallbladder, the bile is concentrated and stored until required for digestion in the intestine, when in is released in the required quantity. Excess bile remaining in the gallbladder solidifies into gallstones, which tend to also move along with the next consignment of bile, into the ducts towards the small intestine.  In doing so, if the gallstones are large enough, they will block the ducts, and the result is swelling, inflammation and pain in the gallbladder.  Without your gallbladder, bile will drip continuously into your digestive system. This constant dripping also causes diarrhea in some people. Removing the gallbladder may possibly lead to higher blood cholesterol levels.

    Note above where it said it helps with the digestion of fats. If you're eating a low fat diet now, the bile does not get released and it builds up in the GB and concentrates into stones. You do need fat in your diet for your body to function properly. So, in future, make sure you're eating at least 30% of your calories as fat in the future--minimum. Healthy fats BTW!

    There's medication to dissolve the stones and remedies posted on the internet; doctors prefer to remove the GB but you're the one who has to live with the decision--how old are you? Want to live the rest of your life on medication and without an important digestive organ?

    ^
    Have you suffered from gallbladder problems as well? Just curious.

    Also...the medication used to dissolve stones is not always effective. In addition there are risks to leaving an organ in your body that is diseased and not functioning properly. It best that the OP discusses all possible options with her doctor.

    If he decides that surgery is necessary - I had mine out with no complication, problems, no long recovery time and I DO NOT need to take any medications. And....now I can eat ice cream with out worrying about having a painful gallbladder attack!

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