What life is after gall bladder removal?

I had my gall bladder taken out on 5/22/07. I would have intense attacks after certain meals (especially if I ate beef), it got so bad that the pain would not go away unless I made myself throw up. The HIDA /CCK scan showed that my gall bladder was working at 12%. I wanted to wait before I had surgery to see if it would get better with diet and exercise but after I had another attack, I called an scheduled the surgery. The surgery went well, not much pain except from the air still inside me, this shoulder pain was pretty severe but came only once in a while during the first 2 weeks post-op. And using Bengay strips really helped it subside.

It's been about 3 weeks now since the surgery, I am glad I had it because I feel much healthier. However, I still have to watch what I eat because I do get discomfort sometimes...but not half as bad as it was before and it goes away if I drink some carbonated beverage like Sprite. I can't eat anything that has too much preservatives ..like Hot pockets, that made me throw up..can't have MSG which a lot of Asian restaurants use..so I am very selective. I also can't have anythin too fatty, like fastfood etc. Fruit seems to cause some pain too. In term of dairy products, I can't eat cheese but ice-cream and chocolates go down fine. I am eating more organic food now and cooking at home more which is great cause I am starting to drop some weight. I can eat beef again!

I truly believe that everyone reacts differently to the surgery, Maybe with time I will be able to eat everything that I used to eat, but I am not complaining because it has forced me to eat healthier...I was a junk food addict!

Hi im 16 and im having my gall bladder out tomorrow and i was wondering how is the life afterwards...with diets and such am i going to end up gaing weight over time losing weight? Can someone please hep thank you

Prilosec works great for the acid reflux!

I found this information really helpful i had my gall bladder removed 3 years ago and my tolerance to food has almost became unbearable. This wasnt immediate its got progressively worse and at the minute im so lethargic and keep losing weight. Naturally i know its food i cannot by any means go to a restaurant for a meal which was something we used to do as a family. I cannot eat outside my own home because i dont feel safe without the privacy of my own bathroom. Its ridiculous. I noticed recently certain meals i have are fine, cereals, pasta and wholegrain bread which i love anyway have been okay, i was actually suprised at pasta but it seems to energise me slightly so i guess i need to keep looking. I have decided to keep a diary on what i eat and the effects. Fast food is definately no more or anything fried for that matter. I must admit im angry that the after effects of this 'dont seem to exist' because we are not told of anything to be aware of, or even dietary advice i had absolutely no idea. My own experience was sudden i doubled over at home the pain scared the life out of me. After i was admitted i think 2 days later the whites of my eyes were yellow i felt extremely ill. I didnt use the bathroom for 4 days and when i did it was bright yellow. Of course i freaked out but the doctor just said i had passed a stone, and the blockage had basically caused jaundice and poisoned me. That was all i was told. My liver enzymes were around 1300 at this time and i was scared because they said it should have been only a few hundred. I also had the pain in my right shoulder after the operation he told me it was caused by smoking?? I found out myself it was due to a 'gas' if you like that was used during the operation and can leave small amounts that go away by themselves.

All this and what happens after? The doctors really need to tell us more about this iv only found out through feeling awful that i have to change my diet for the rest of my life, and find a way to be able to go out with my family again to a restaurant or even eat a sandwich without worrying if there is a bathroom.

I am 18, average weight and had my gall bladder removed exactly a week ago. It was a painless procedure which kept me in bed for 2 days. I had no problems with the gas after in my shoulder or my stomach. Also, since the surgery I have been eating fajitas and french fries with no pains, nausea or vomiting. The worst experience from the whole thing was getting the IV haha. Good luck to anyone who is having it done, and don't worry about it.

Hi,

My name is Jamie, and it's been a lil over a year since i have my larascopic surgery. Like most of you, I have the bloating, gas and loose bowels. It's very frustrating my allergies are all out of whack, and so is the rest of my body. I haven't lost weight but I feel so bloated I couldn't even tell you if I had or not. If I am having an allergic reaction to foods, then that could be why im staying bloated and not loosing any weight. I do feel worse than before my surgery. I hope that things will get better soon.

Jamie

I am a 23 yo female with paraplegia from the waist down i had my gall bladder removed on June 18 2007 , finding 10 gall stones, since I have experienced nausea and vomiting every other day. How Strange Yea!! Every other day I feel fine and can get up and function like I "normally" do. My Doctor has said that I may have to deal with the vomiting for the rest of my life but I'm 23 now sureley at this rate I will have dentures in the next 5-10 years and who knows how bad my internal damage will be. ANY HELP!!!!

hi. i am a 33 year old female and i had my gall bladder removed 3 years ago, 2 years after i found out i had gall stones. life has been pure hell since then. after 6 months of having to have a bathroom close by after i eat anything, it was suddenly replaced by unbearable pain in my stomach every time i ingested anything. i have a 5 year old child. i found out i was pregnant after 3 days after i found out i had gall stone, thus the delay in the surgery. my life since then have been filled with pain, doctors, medications i need and didn't need, lots of crying and prayers. my heart goes out to everyone that has to deal with this. for a long time, i thought i was the only one and i thought it was just my doctors who actually tried to put me on anti-depression meds. because they told me it was depression and nothing to do with physical pain. i think they called it a functional problem. well, good news to all the years of pain is that i think i've finally found a g.i. who really believes me and is ready to get to the bottom of this. first thing he wants to do is to find out it i have more stones blocking my bile ducts by performing MRI. i don't know what will happen after that but at least he's doing more than just blood tests and endoscopy after endoscopy. good luck to all of you out there and i'll post updates if there are any good or bad news after my MRI. thanks.

I agree as well, I had my gallbladder out in May, not back to work yet and still very uncomfortable, cannot lift over 10lbs,very hard to cope when you have 2 kids under 8! and can hardley tollerate food, and my stomach is bloated or extended alot of the time. My muscles were damaged during surgery so pain is an everyday occurance.....before this surgery..... life seemed better...... now what? I experience depression now as well because i just don't feel like i'm getting better anytime

soon:o(

I had my lap surgery to remove my gallbladder on Aug 16th it was very painful being rolled out of the surgery room and thru the night I was in alot of pain and kept the nurses busy I was in the hospital 48hour. I was able to take a 10hour flight from Houston-Amsterdam 6 days after surgery. I feel horribly bloated and can only eat very small portions of food in one seating. I feel lightheaded alot and feel like Im going to throw up. I would still have the surgery over again because the pain of a swollen gallbladder and stone blockling the bile was horrible !! I spent time in the ER in such pain it was the worst pain I ever had.. I hope this bloating will go away soon and I can ressume a regular diet

I am 38 years old and i had my gallbladder removed 8 years ago. I now have what my GI doctor calls bile induced diarrhea. When ever I eat , about 15-30 minutes later I am running to the bathroom. I lived with this for years because I thought I had to. But, last year i started some medication to control the diarrhea and it seems to be working great. However, after years of chronic diarrhea I now how diverticulosis and I have had several attacks. I know that this does not happen to everyone, but the risk is there.

So its about 1:00 am over here in Jersey...my husband and kids are sleeping an Im in pain!!!! 8-|

I had my gall bladder taken out after going through the worse pain ever about 6 months ago. Everything was fine until a few weeks ago when I started getting this pain on my right side underneath my rib cage. It was pretty bad an hour ago but now its gotten better. I feel like maybe this is what it is. Maybe the pain is from the removal of the G.B.? Im not sure. I hate hospitals so Im killing time right now till it goes away and I can sleep %-)

I have to see my doc in about 2 weeks so hopefully he'll give me something for the pain. I really that anyone out there that has pain right now feels better soon! night night!

I've been reading through the last few pages of posts and I can say that for some people, there truly are problems post gall bladder removal. Up to 40% of people who have their gall bladders out will experience side effects (for some, they last months, for others, a lifetime).

So for those of you who are lucky to not experience any problems, go ahead and post comments about your own experiences but I would urge you not to make blanket statements telling people that nothing will happen and that everything will be fine. For 2/10 people, that will not be the case. And those people need to be forewarned so they can make an educated decision about whether to have the surgery.

Like those who have previously posted issues, I too have had issues post surgery. I had always been very slim but since the surgery I have steadily gained weight in my stomach area (10 lbs/year), despite no changes to my diet.

It has been 10 years since I had my gall bladder surgery and I am still experiencing digestion problems (alternating between constipation and chronic, painful diahrreah). I seldom have a regular BM. When diarreah occurs, I have hot flashes lasting 15 minutes until the BM is over, and severe abdominal pain. There is also a visible grease line in the toilet bowl and I can see where the fat is NOT breaking down. When I have constipation, I experience bloating, exhaustion, and blurred vision.

I have been told these reason this occurs is because the bile is no longer being regulated when released into my intestines. The gallbladder facilitates and regulates the flow of bile in your body. So when that facilitator is taken away, quite often that the flow will be not as efficient, ie. too much at one time, or not enough.

Without the gallbladder, the bile is not as readily secreted in the body, and the liver can become overwhelmed when faced with large amounts of any fats, especially saturated fats and hydrogenated fats. For some people even small amounts of fats can cause discomfort.

One of the side effects of gallbladder removal can be the dumping of bile which can send someone running to the bathroom immediately after eating. On the flip side, your body can also sometimes experience a decrease in the secretion of bile which results in weight gain as fat is not broken down.

If you think of your problem as a biliary (bile) problem as opposed to a "gallbladder" problem you are more on the right track to understanding how to take care of it.

IS GALLBLADDER SURGERY EFFECTIVE?

The answer to all of the above is "sometimes".

Abdominal pain, nausea, gas, bloating, and diarrhea are common following surgery. Postcholecystectomy syndrome (after gallbladder removal syndrome) may include all of the above symptoms plus indigestion, nausea, vomiting and constant pain in the upper right abdomen.

Sound familiar? You're right -- gallbladder attack symptoms. Up to 40% of people who undergo gallbladder surgery will experience these symptoms for months or years after surgery. How is this possible? You no longer have a gallbladder and that was the problem, right?

Look to the whole biliary tract. Now that the gallbladder is no longer present to act as a reservoir for bile, the common bile duct may expand as the bile backs up in the bile duct between the sphincter or muscular opening at the small intestine and the liver from which it flows. If it drips constantly into the small intestine this can cause problems of a different kind. However, this syndrome with accompanying pain appears to have the flow of bile obstructed by either a narrowing of the sphincter or a malfunction of the sphincter.

"Functional biliary pain in the absence of gallstone disease is a definite entity and a challenge for clinicians." which is to say that at this point in time, they don't really know what to do with gallbladder problems that aren't related to gallstones (2) and "Often, following cholecystectomy, biliary pain does not resolve..." (2) which means after gallbladder surgery you may just be stuck with the pain.

So in conclusion, your best bet may be to try and fix what is wrong if that is possible, before taking it out. Sometimes, that is just not possible.

Well i had my gall bladder removed about a month ago. I had a horrible attack that sent me to the er. However the surgery itself, i was home the next day. Went back to work on monday, still a little soreness from the incisions, nothing major. But i am constantly bloated, gassy, diareah, the whole nine yards. Even first thing in the morning i feel totally stuffed. I have had a little heartburn that brought on bile reflex. Beleive it or not what casued the 3 am heartburn and bile reflux was i had a glass of milk before i went to bed (2%). It doesnt really matter what i eat, i feel horrible. the doc claims it will pass.

I am so happy to find this site, I am a female at the age of 47. I removed my GB about 6 years ago and believe me things have not gotten any better throughout the years after the removal. I was told that life would be just as before but boy was I in for a surprise. I was fine for the first year then things started happening. I have found out that I have gotten lactose intollerant, ... any kinds of diary product. Additionally my stomack will react to minced meat, steaks, vegetables, some fruits, chocolate, nuts, flour and what not.
I did see a doctor a few years back where they did an kolonoskophy ...(spelling....) as I complained about gas, not being able to "hold it" and I cannot tell you how many times I have to run to the restroom, let alone how many times I will ball my eyes out because it is JUST SO embarassing - I have absolutely no control.....not over gas or the diarrhea
I cannot remember the last time it was firm
I dont have any stomack pain at all, My largest problem is that I am not in control - latest today I had a major accident , diarrhea everywhere..... I just stand in the shower balling....
I work as well and I usually do not eat the days I work due to the fact of never knowing when it can happen........
If anyone have any suggestions of what can be done or if anyone else experience the same I would love to know. I have heard there is some natural herbs that can help????