What life is after gall bladder removal?

I had my gallbladder removed when I was 16 weeks old pregnant. Everything went fine and it´s been 2 months since my surgery and I haven´t had any side effects AT ALL! I can even pizza and no diahrrea, nothing happens.
My doctor explained to me that it was important to keep a low fat diet for the fist month so your body could slowly get used to digesting fat again.
So I guess the cases of complications and side effects are a minority.
Good luck and the best for you and your baby!
Carol

5/2/08 I had my gallbladder removed Sept. 07. Ever since then, I have frequent diarrhea, a very gurgly intestinal tract, nausia, and discomfort. When these symptoms occur, I feel borderline sick, but not enough to stay in bed. I get very tired and many times a lower back ache and groin ache accompanies this. I cannot pinpoint it to certain foods, it just seems to hit when it wants. It keeps me from doing things and going places.

I only had 1 bad gallbladder attack, but previous to that I had many symptoms that the doctors could not diagnose, such as: pain under right rib cage, pain in groin area, back pain, joint pain, hip pain. They performed ultrasound on all organs, and all seemed fine. They x-rayed my whole lower quadrant-nothing. After months of suffering and finally a gallbladder attack, they tested my gallbladder to see how it was functioning-according to them, it was not functioning correctly, but said I could wait and see if things got worse before I had surgery. I did not have gall stones! I opted for the surgery as my surgeon said there were no ill side effects. (He was wrong.)

Now that I know more, I think I should have done more homework before having the surgery. Gotta go -- the bathroom is waiting!!

i had gallstones for as long as i can remmeber feeling ill..
i eventually went to the doctor after massive pains in my chest
telling the doctor i had gallstones he laughed and said they dont test people under 30 for gallstones..but to make me happy he went ahead with it.

i never went back to that doctor.

after alot of putting it off and after a long couple years of severe attacks
i went thrugh with all the tests and pre op stuff..

and eventually i was in theatre
the day of my surgery could have been my last.

i was in so much pain..[my dad had previously had gallstones with no symptoms and nearly died he was in ICU for 3 months [they brought him back 3 times] :(] i thought that would be me...

after being told my surgery would take1.5 hrs and i would be out the next morning i was feeling a little better telling my family to go home and ill see them tommorow..

i had the surgery wich took a little over 4 hours they told me it woud be key hole surgery and there was a one percent chance they would have to slice me open...i begged them, not to slice me open and felt confident they wouldnt have too..i mean 1 percent comon!!

i woke up from surgery surrounded my worried family..

and the first words i heard "they had to cut you open dear" and i cried so hard :( in my dopey morphine state..
my gallbladder was compleetly hardened with infection and had to copme out or i would have died.
the doctor later came in and told me the surgery took alot longer then he thought and that he had messed up the surgery...he was apologisoing and telling me he scared himself!! i was like WTF!! he told me that he had knocked my bowel [and that it may be perferrated] and that he accidentally grabbed my stomach instead of my gallbladder and think one of them or both might not function properly and i would have to have further surgery to correct them..i was in disbelief..and omg i had no idea of the hell i was in...

i was not aloud to eat or drink for 5 days!! i was throwing up from haveing an empty stomach and being on that drip think they pump into you all the time..SO GROSS i was throwing up the medicine and urinating i tout and everything was green and disgusting..they wouldnt let me drink or eat...i was so sick..and no one seemed to care..

i could not sleep because my drip was not put in properly and everytime i moved it would cut off and start to beep really loud..

i was soo sick...

the nurses ignored my calls after a while..

and one of the nurses [a noisy larakin man] would wake me up in the middle of the night saying "if i have to be awake then you do too" i was vomiting and chucking my vomit bags ont he floor and when i ask for a new one they would say fill this one up first they are expensive. :O

everything smelled so gross..

i begged to go home everyday

it was 6 days of pure hell.

i have a massive scar across my right side under my right breast its about writing pen and a half long..and crooked and wide :"(

and i have a scar above my belly button for the trial key hole surgery they didint even have to do that!!

i have severe bloating now, and am rapidly outting on weight i have out on 10 kilos in 8 months.

i feel horrid.

and the pain still persists. i feel light head and nauseated all the time..dizzy spells and have frequent urination.

i thought it was all meant to be over..

they promised me the world and all i got was hell.

im glad to get rid of the gallstone attacks..but it was a harsh journey i hope everything lays off me soon.

did anyone else go through this kind of horror?

having your gallbladder out is the wordt thing that you can have down i had mine out when i was 17 i am now 38 years old and i am still having a hard time with my stomach ever sence i had it removed i ended up getting irratable bowl syndrome i have had it all these years i have to wacth what jobs i work at how do you tell your boss that when i have to go i have to go there isn't give me 5 min it is now and i have really bad pains i can eat and in 2-5 mins later i have to run sometimes i can have a bowl movement up to 7 times a day other peole that i talked to that has had the surgury has had the same problem so think long and hard before having some thing removed it was put in oyr bodies for a reason i am living prof of that!!!!!!!!!!!

I'm a 32 year old female and had mine GB removed 2 weeks ago.

The good thing is yes I don't have the pain any more, i'd been suffering 7 months with 3 major attacks that had me crying my eyes out wanting to die. The first time it happened I had no idea what it was.
I woke up during the night and thought I was having a heart attack.

So far i'm doing okay. I'm trying different food types. Like others have said some food types leave me running for the bathroom 10 minutes after eating.
Processed meats seem to have the worst affect so far.
My stomach is very bloated, so much so i'm unable to wear most clothing. And the pain around the navel incision is painful to touch but also the wound caves in on itself so I have this rather lange dent in my tummy.
Did anyone else get that? If so will it right itself over time?

I'm going to try going back to work full time in 2 days but very worried about eating while i'm there. But also to sit upright in a chair is still very painful.

This site is great btw. I'm so glad I found it. So sorry to hear how bad it's been for some of you.
I hope this is of some use to others prior to surgery, it certainly gives invalaluable advice - which the surgeon certainly never told me !
In fact I was told go home and eat what you want, they sent me home the morning after surgery even though i'd been sick throughout the night and couldn't keep down any liquids.
In fact I was still on the oxygen and drip 2 hours before I left the hospital.

I have suffered with extreme bloating and gas with gurgling sounds ALL THE TIME for the past 8 years or so. It is embarrassing and annoying. I have pain in my abdomen off and on. And my stomach is always swollen. A recent blood test indicated elevated levels of something or other that my Dr. said indicates pancreatitis. I also have a hiatal hernia - does this contribute to the bloating?? Who knows. I am scheduled for an UltraSound to verify the presence of gallstones and my Dr. said we would then remove my GB. After reading all of these posts it appears that the symptoms everyone gets AFTER the surgery is exactly what I have now. Before reading these I had hope for a pleasant future without gas/bloating & pain but it seems to me that the majority of you continue to struggle. I know that I am tired a lot more and that I cannot lose weight no matter how hard I exercise (1.5 hrs perday and 4-6 days per week) and I eat very healthy - I track EVERYTHING I put in my mouth - but if the symptoms continue after the surgery then there is no point. I have tried probiotics in the past that seem to calm the symptoms. I would much rather take a natural remedy internally everyday than to have permanent damage caused by the removal of the GB. Thank you to everyone for helping me "see the light".

When i was sixteen, i started to get these terrible attacks of pain across my upper back, and then vomiting. I went to the doctor after the first attack and was told i had a stomach ulcer and was prescribed medicine. After a few weeks, i had another one of these attacks, often lasting about 24-48 hours but the peak of pain would be after about 3 hours. I lost lots of weight from the vomiting and couldnt eat as it seemed to be food that was setting off the vomiting. After another few attacks i went to AnE as the pain was so bad, he sent me away with gaviscon and said it was indegestion!! yes the hospital!!. After about 7 attacks i went back to my doctor who told me it was gastroenturitus (however it is spelt). I was given more medicine and sent away. On about my 9th attack i went back to another doctor and he was shocked to why the other doctos had'nt tested my pancreas, or given me a scan... He sent me for a blood test, the night before the results i was reading online about pancreatitus, and was certain it was what i had, to te point of saying it relieves the pain when sitting in the foetal position.
The next day when getting the results, the doctor confirmed i had pancreatitus, and said the next time i get an attack, i must go straight to hospital as its a very serious condition, and we also needed to find the cause of the pancreatitus. I was told the most common causes were alcohol, gallstones and an infection or virus. Alcohol was ruled out as i was sixteen and he also ruled out gallstones as he thought i was too young to have them, but he tested me any way as my grandma and great aunts have all had gallstones.
The next week i had another attack and was taken straight to hospital, i was tested and they told me it was not pancreatitus! They wanted to do a stomach scan and when they did they found loads of gallstones!
I was going to be sent home that night but they kept me in as i had a high temperature...that night i had the worst attack i had ever had and the only thing that would ease the pain was a morphine injection in my leg. The next morning they said that i had had pancreatitus and they were going to be removing my gallbladder but only after 2 months to let my tummy settle (yep two months so if i had had another attack in that time i would have had to wait another two months!)
After ten days of being nil by mouth and three dress sizes smaller i was discharged. Then the two months flew by with a no fat diet, and finally i had my gallbladder removed.
Now i am 18 and it has been a year and a half since i had my gallbladder removed. i would not recommend it to anyone who does not seriously need it, as i now seriously bloat after certain foods, have odd bowel movements, vomit if something doesnt agree with my stoumach and just generally get days where i dont feel well. Being only a year n a haf after the opp im giving it time, but i hope as i get older the symptoms lesson and i dont have this forever because its horrible!!

I had my gallbladder removed on 5/16/08. It's been almost two weeks since the surgery. The surgery went well. The doctor said he thought it wouldnt go as easy as it did. I guess because I am overweight. I stayed one night in the hospital. I had pretty severe pain for the first few days. Now only the belly button keyhole is giving me problems. It didn't close all the way like the other ones did. I went for a check up today and he said it was ok. The skin was raw.

I am terrified to eat anything. I had a regular diet right after surgery. I could only eat bites the first few days. Anything that touches my mouth hurts my stomach in one way or another. I had some oatmeal the other morning and had my first "dumping" attack and was in the bathroom for an hour in the worst pain I have ever had in my life. I was sweating, cold, clammy, and cramped up terribly. It was the worst experience of my life. I do not plan on eating anything outside of my house for fear that I will end up in the bathroom for hours. The cramping I get after I eat is horrible. I have had gallstones for like three years now and didn't know. Come to find out, my pulmunary doctor found the stones on a chest ct that I had a few years ago and didnt inform me.. I have had horrible attacks, and even chest pain and come to find out it was the gallstones.

The doctor never told me about a low fat diet or anything before or after the surgery, I found that out myself. I guess the diarrhea is better than pain I had all day everyday. I hope it does get better. I was a junk food junkie so eating healthy will actually be good for me. I have lost a few pounds in the last two weeks which is good. But for now I am really picking and choosing what goes in my mouth. No fast food, fried food, I am already lactose intolerant, no nothing lol. I have gotten to where I only eat chicken with nothing else for now. That is the only thing I have found that doesn't hurt my stomach as much. I am glad I found this site, I'm glad I am not alone.

hi well im 17 yrs old and i just had my gallbladder removed on May 28 i went home the same day i felt fine the first few days until june the 2nd i had a big pain thrue my bellybutton up to my heart i couldnt breath and i didnt know what to do so i went to my doctor who did this and he told me that i was hurting beacause my insicions where conected their and all I had to do was take vicodon (the medicine he prescribed) and sure enough it went away but yesterday night june 5th i felt very nauseated and i dont know what i regret this decision but my stomach dosent hurt like it used to all it is is this nausea!! :(

After reading these messages, it sounds like there are alot of mixed reviwes post surgery. I had surgery 4 days ago and the morning after surgery the nurses brought me a low fat breakfast consisting of waffles, scrambled egg beaters, oatmea, oj, coffee, splenda, fat free syrup, salt and pepper. As you can assume, I sis not have the appetite and ate fruit popsicles, jello, pudding and lots of liquids for the next 2 days. As I seemed to be getting better I was awakened by the MOST HORRIBLE pain imaginable in my right side. It felt like a foot cramp reaching from the hip to the breast bone. It was paralyzing my whole body movement. I rushe dto ER where the gave me high doses of pain killers and lots of xrays. (I had also been having the runs all weekend and gurgling and annoyances of the such). After much review, the doctors explained that it was bad gas that seems to happen. The rest of the day I was not in as much pain but had a cramp that seemingly moved to my shoulders. THis is supoosedly normal. Now I am looking for ffod to eat and will be trying out chicken strips??? Good luck

hi, i am an 18 year old girl and i had my gall bladder removed roughly 2 months ago. prior to my surgery i experienced almost 6 months of pain and discomfort. Doctors had no idea what was wrong with me. I had cat scans, blood tests, ultrasounds, and even a colonoscopy, but finally a nuclear medicine test showed my gall bladder had completely stopped working.
however since having my gallbladder removed my life has improved enormously. This is probably because i had a wonderful surgen. i suggest checking out multiple doctors and finding out who has the least amount of patients with post op infections or complications. This is hopefully calm some of his nerves.
do not be surpised if his diet changes after the surgery. For the most part i am able to eat anything i want, however i try to stay away from eating large meals and greasy foods. my doctor suggests frequent smaller meals, which is actually what our bodies are meant to digest anyway.
good luck with everything and know that with a good surgen complications should be very unlikely.

I am 51 and had my gall bladder removed a year ago this past May. The surgery was a breeze, I felt great for three days and then, bam, I woke up to the most incredible of what I thought was heartburn. I went back to the surgeon who advised giving it more time and samples of Prevacid. No relief, more samples of Proton Pump Inhibitors. Long story short, after an endoscopy, I was found to have bile reflux. A nasty little side effect that apparently 25% of post gall bladder surgery patients experience and something no one warns you about nor has any idea of how to fix. Acid reducers have no effect and the only drug that gives any relief is Carafate which binds to bile. It is related to the unlucky patients who experience chronic D after the surgery. The bile coming directly from your liver now that has no storage, can go up into your stomach or down into your intestines. My gastroenterologist said that 3-6 months is the typical time for this to clear up but it could take up to a year. It was almost to the day, after a year I was almost back to normal. I lost a ton of weight because I could eat practically nothing. All I can say is that this surgery as with any surgery, was not the piece of cake it is purported to be.

I had my gallbladder taken out, several years ago. I felt alot better immediately afterwards, and have had no problems related to it since. Since I have and have had other GI tract problems, I have had to be treated for gastritis, GERD, and bowel problems, but as long I stick with the treatment and watch my diet I feel good. (Reduce fat and acid foods, don't eat too much, and get enough fiber)

i had my gallbladder taken out several years ago. i felt much better afterwards and have had no ill effects. i was eating regular meals the very next day and never had any problem whatsoever. i feel the same as before just minus the abdominal pains. he need not worry!

I am a 42 year old female. I had my op a year ago and absolutely no problem since. I eat and drink what I like and have had neither weight loss nor gain....nor pain. One insensitive sould asked me the day before the operation if I was going to go through with it...the divorce of my gall bladder. I didn't know I had a choice to stay in that marriage so actually that comment frightened me more than the op itself. Maybe some people like to scare monger...as I found before giving birth. There's a tight and a wrong time for stories but with my hand on my heart I can honestly say I have no ill effects in life without Gall