I'm gaining weight after gallbladder removal.

what a load of rubbish this poster has written, I think the poster needs to stop her years of research until she can understand what she is reading, the poster has gathered random info relating to gall bladder removal and mixed it all up along with her own theories. eg. "we are all lactose intolerant now so need to take centrum vitamins(one of the worse brands on the market, please research that) and calcium. What the hell is this poster on about. I can't be bothered to put the poster straight as I know they wouldn't comprehend what I was telling them. Its very sad to see a post ;like this.

And so you should be, I had to have mine removed as it was so bad, shrivelled up like a pea pod and diseased, i had stones blocking the common bile duct too and was ill severely every day for months as i tried to fight having it removed.
I do feel better without it but its actual removal has still left me ill, just not as ill as i was with it.
If i was just experiencing random gall bladder attacks then i would look at alternatives to treat these and don't have the GB removed unless you are suffering badly and regularly

I had my gallbladder removed over Xmas 2011. I hadn't known there was a problem, most likely as I have so much back pain with spondylitis, and other related pain, which I thought had just become more severe as I was getting older.

I was actually having a different operation when I threw up all over the operating surgeon, poor thing, and was put in for urgent gallbladder removal.  At this hospital, they scanned me thoroughly and said that the stones had escaped the gb and were 'all over the place' so I definitely wouldn't be able to have keyhole surgery.

However, when I went in for the gb removal, the staff, with one or two exceptions, were unkind and uncaring, and seemed quite resentful of the patients taking up their time over Christmas! After the operation I found that they had given me keyhole surgery after all. I was a bit concerned, and asked what happens to the stones which escape the gallbladder.  I got no answer, just a shrug of the shoulders. Does anybody know the answer to that.  I'm kind of assuming that they must be excreted, because, although I wasn't in desperate pain after the operation, I did start to bloat, and just kept on bloating.  So much so that my scars opened. Then I developed virtually explosive diarhea which I had for the best part of 6 months.  I assume the gallstones went that way, unless somebody can enlighten me, and I would be grateful if they could, because both the prep. and follow up on this operation were non-existent.  I'm still bloated, and have piled on weight. despite being on a low calorie count for months now.

If I had known it would cause me this many problems, I may well have asked if there was an alternative to gb removal.  Strange that the people I know who had keyhole surgery have had a far longer recovery, often with horrible side effects, than those who opt for the full surgical procedure.  Has anyone else noticed this?

I am having the weight gain problem as well, and am at the end of my rope. I was never told of the weight gain part of it or I would have tried to change my diet and keep my gallbladder, but my dr.did not mention a word of that side effect and in fact denies that it is a problem for people. Have tried digestive enzymes and to no avail, the scale jumped up 6 lbs and wont budge so I know I am in for it. I guess there is no answer as I have read tons of msg boards and all looks so hopeless for us.

How is your success since starting your post cholecystectomy weight loss kit? I'm having your similar problems and hoping your doing well.

Hi, I never used the kit.

I have startd getting Vitamin B6 and B 12 shots, will let you know if it makes a difference....wonder why noone tells us about the weight gain.

You know, I was thinking the same thing after reading all these posts on weight gain after gallbladder removal. Why would that be the case if in most cases of gallbladder disease, the organ is already disfunctional and not working properly (or at all)?

A lot of the symtoms people that are having problems after GB removal describe strike me as food intolerance and /or celiac disease.

I would even risk saying that it was the food intolerance in the first place that caused the GB to malfunction but doctors are really bad at identifying intolerances as it is not as straight forward to diagnose as allergies.

You're also right about the fact that reading blogs and forums about health problems is really complicated, because it's only people that have complications that post and this group may a tiny percentage of people that the specific health issue.

Everyone I talk to (in the real world) that have had their GB removed or know people that have had their GB removed all tell me they did not have any side effect after the surgery and life is good. So readers beware of biased opinins of posters that landed on these pages exactly because they were searching for solutions for their own problems.

Thanks so much that is good info...the more I read about celiac disease the more convinced I am it is something to watch with gallbladder and acid reflux which I still have.....I just hate to think that bile is running into intestines 24/7 instead of just when you eat, that is why I feel the weight gain is inevitable.

I am a 43 year old female who had GB removal at the age of 25.  A normal weight for me (I am 5'8.5") before GB removal was about 145-155 (after 3 kiddos).  I currently weigh about 230.  90% of my weight gain is in my mid section.  I literally  look like I could be 9 months pregnant. Over the past 18 years I have slowly but surely gained 85 pounds!!!  I am miserable and I feel horrible.  My mom has been researching and found some information that is almost identical to what I have found in this forum.  When you don't have a gallbladder, you don't process any fats, which are so crucial to your overall health.  In turn your body stores fat and you suffer from overall inflammation and liver congestion.  Digestive enzymes (containing ox bile), Choline (which I'm not sure what that is for) and pro-biotics are of the utmost importance.  Diet and exercise are equally important.  Eliminating processed foods, white sugar, diet sodas, fatty foods and eating organic seem to be the best route for those of us who have no gallbladder.  I am starting on this new way of life TODAY!!!  I hope to report back in  few months with good news!

I agree 100% about the food intolerances.  I had mild chronic inflammation in my gallbladder and was diagnosed formaly with dyskinesia (which is essentially a diagnosis of elimination).  I have Hashimoto's Thryoiditis too.  My symptoms probably started intially in 2008-2009 and in mid 2012 they had flared up so bad that I could hardly eat anything without severe pain in my URQ.  The doctors suggested limiting fat and to try to drink/eat protein drinks and broth.  I had my gallbladder out at the end of October last year and feel much better but I gained 13 lbs in 2 months and I still got the pain in my side occasionally but I couldn't figure out what triggered it.  I ended up starting an elimination diet about two months ago after begging my GP, Gastro, and Allergist/Immunologist to test me for a food allergy/intolerance to no avail.  I have eliminated soy from my diet completely (I didn't realize how much of our food is processed with it) since it interacts with synthroid, the treatement for Hashimoto's.  I have found out that I do react to Milk and not eggs or red meat as I though previously.  I will be trying cheese and butter next week to try to determine if it is a milk protein such as whey or casein.  I'm also starting to test for Gluten this week.  The doctors were stumped as to why I was still having URQ pain when I was eating a diet of mostly chicken broth and this weekend when I was cleaning out my cabinets of everything that contained soy and milk I discovered a potential explanation.  The chicken broth contains milk, soy and wheat.  Those are three of the most common allergies/intolerances.  I guess my battle continues with the doctors and my own experimentation on myself.  If you are still having pains I would hightly suggest trying an elimination diet!  I've been down 10 lbs consistently and I have so much more energy and less pain now!  Hopefully you have more open minded doctors!  I'm going to try to convince my GP that this is real by having her take an antibody count with my TSH level this time and see if it is depressed which could be evidence that I've elminated something from my diet that my body was reacting to!

UPDATE ON YOUR GALLBLADDER POST???

Hi I also had my gallbladder removed this year, I have been on a low fat diet, exercising but still weigh more than before the operation, stomach very bloated and discomfort still around right side of waist and right ribs and back, have just had ultra scan and waiting for results but the person who did it said she could not see much wrong but liver and bile duct a little swollen which is understandable with operation 4 months ago. I do not have constipation or any other trouble with bowels, can anyone reply to me with any advice or same personal problems.

I do not know if it will work for you specifically but consider trying the Water Cures protocol. You will get a pinch of unprocessed sea salt and dissolve it in the mouth. Then drink a glass of water. Do this 30 to 45 min before each meal.

As to the salt thing, the CDC recently said we should have more, the past guide lines were wrong. Actually there is no research on unprocessed sea salt. I use it to lower BP in my patients. Im a holistic nurse. Especially in an emergency....(70 year old with BP of 210/110 at 10 PM, worked within three glasses of water to get it down to 150 / 80)

The reason for this is it will help your stomach to be in the best shape to digest the food as possible. This should help you loose weight too.

Has it worked? I have gained 40lbs since having mine out in 06. No matter how much I exercise and eat right I can't get rid of it. All around my stomach also