What life is after gall bladder removal?

dear friends--i'm new to this group & think i might have posted to the wrong thread, so am re-posting here--pls forgive duplication.

after 4 days of horrific pain in the upper left (yup) quadrant of my abdomen, my gallbladder was removed--they couldn't do it via laparoscope because it was so inflamed so i have 5 incisions, 2 bandaid-size, 2 1 inch, & 1 that's 4+ inches. the surgeon said both that it was 1 of the worst he'd seen, packed w/stones AND was extremely proud of how small the major incision was--said that his assisting surgeon was "very strong" which conjured up an unpleasant visual...i developed pneumonia & tachycardia, was in the hosp. 5 nights, am now almost a month past the surgery.

so in addition to having pain on the 'wrong" side, i've been a vegetarian for decades & am relatively slender. no explanation has been forthcoming about what caused the disease, altho' my LDL & total cholesterol are rather higher than expected.

the pace of recovery has been maddeningly slow. i have zero energy/stamina & not much ability to concentrate. a one item shopping trip to target exhausts me--leaves me drenched in cold sweat & queasy. my appetite is terrible, with a constant bitter taste in my mouth--guess that's where the "bitter as gall" image came from. mornings are esp. rough--some a.m.s i wake up w/diarrhea, which perversely doesn't seem to be linked to fatty foods--i can tolerate ice cream fine, for example (& i go for the high fat good stuff...) i have a friend who thinks that adding supplements, in particular, digestive enzymes, would be a good plan. has anyone had experience w/doing so?

the other "symptom"--or not--is an awful pain inside my right shoulder blade--which i had also experienced before the surgery, but it seems to have intensified significantly--which doesn't make sense! i've seen references to gallbladder disease manifesting thru pain in that area--but mine's gone.

i'm thinking of becoming a poster child for the platform that the gallbladder is NOT a vestigial organ--my body certainly seems to be functioning differently w/o it. any coping tips?
thanks--holly lu

I just had my gallbladder taken out last week after extensively pestering my doctor and emergency room attendents about chest pain and heart attack like symptoms. I have overweight, I used to smoke, but overall I eat fairly healthy and might only drink a beer every now and then. My symptoms were getting so bad that I could just look at food and I was in some sort of pain. After 3 years of hunting around for the cause of my chest pain the docs think they figured it out as a bad gallbladder. My injection fraction was only 11%! The surgery went much better than I had expected considering it was the first surgery I have ever had and such. I have had two episodes of the diarhea that I have been reading about, both times I ate things that I knew where big no-no's. Otherwise I am doing well with the exception that I am still have symptoms of chest pain. Sometimes it occurs after eating and sometimes it doesn't. I have had multiple EKG's done, stress tests, echocardiograms, and multiple docs have listened to my stories and tell me flat out that it is not my heart. I hope it is not my heart and that these symptoms get better over time (you know the surgeon's favorite line) but I really wonder if getting my gallbladder removed was the right thing to do. Has anyone else experienced chest pain with a bad gallbladder?

I'm 20 years old & I had my gallbladder & stones removed a little over 2 years ago & I feel worse now than I ever felt before...I mean I dont get gallbladder attacks anymore (& if you've ever had one of those, you know the pain!) but I really cant eat anything without it going right through me...I have severe cramps & sharp pains all the time...I get this sick (like I'm going to vomit) feeling almost every time after I eat....Maybe there is more to this than just my gallbladder, but sometimes I wish they would have just left it alone

I had a lot of problems with diarrhea and then constipation. i am sure it
started after my gallbladder was taken out. I was diagnosed with irritable bowel syndrome and put on fiber pills, which helped, but I had to carry extra clothes, wipes to clean up,etc with me all the time. Earlier this year I switched to a multi-grain bread, that's crunchy, and seldom have bowel problems anymore. But I have to watch what I eat very closely.
I also have problems with very severe chestpain that is not heart related.
I continue to have reflux problems, hungry all the time, and burning stomach. I have no idea how to fix this problem. Any ideas?

I had my gallbladder removed in January 2008 since then I have gained 30 pounds,have irritable bowel syndrome,and have terrible pains in my mid upper stomach if my stomach is empty. Despite all of that I am happy I had the surgery not having those terrible gallbladder attacks waking me in the middle of night is wonderful,so what if I have IBS gained some weight and have real bad tummy pains till I eat or drink something,its better than feeling like your insides are going to explode and feeling like I am going to die.

You guys have literally scared the c**p out of me.

I was suppose to have my gal bladder removed on Sept 30th 5 days from now but just canceled.

I've already been suffering from most of the symptoms described here. Being diagnosed with Irritable Bowel Syndrome many years ago. I've had diarhea or constipation with rarely an in between. Cramps and chronic pain in the area of my liver.

Gal bladder disease runs in my family but they have been unable to find anything over 2 CT scans and HIDA scan, multiple sonograms.

The doctor was going ahead and going to yank it out. But after reading all this I feel as if I must explore my options further and try to save the thing.

It all started 12 long years ago. The pain by my liver. Even had a hernia operation because they thought that was the culprit. It wasn't and the repurcussions of just the hernia operation have been horrible.

Here I am still in pain and with a canceled surgery. Just going in to a gal bladder surgery electively like I was just about to do without hard evidence was more than I could do.

I wish you all luck. Wish me luck.

hi there,
i am now 22 and i had my gallbladder removed when i was only17 ys old.i had white stones [cholestrol stones]. so far i have had no problems n i am living a normal life..n i eat greasy n spicy food just like everyone..but my elders advice me to exercise daily n avoid oily food,alcohol which i think is very important.i have a long way to go so i am going to follow the advices slowly..
goodluck to all of u..
:-)

I have my gallbladder removed a year ago. I am a female, 26 years old. After the surgery i was sore from the air in my stomach and the had to hold my bladder area still when i moved for about a week and a half. I can tell you after an attack, any symptoms you may get after it is removed are far less painful than an attack. Since the surgery i have had diahrea problems. It is not like normal diahrea. It burns everything "down there". You really don't have control over when it choces to "come out" either. If you don't make it to a bathroom, you will need to invest in extra undergarments...After surgery this happened probably 8 or 9 times a week. After you have a "lack of gallbladder" issue as i call it, you really can't eat anything for a while because you will continue to have problems, once it starts, every time you try to eat something. You have to let everything run it's course and try food again either the next day or a couple hours later. You will also "leak" after a "logb" issue, you will constantly feel the need to go wipe yourself. (sorry for the vulgarity) I have been told that it gets easier after the first year. Now that it's been almost a year, i really only have "logb" problems about once every week to once every 2 weeks. It's hard to deal with when you have an event or function and you have to run to the bathroom, but besides that, i would rather deal with it then have another attack. You start realizing after a few months what foods will trigger these attacks. It's helpful to keep a list of things you can't eat. I would wait at least 8 months to start making one though because at first it seems like everything you eat causes problems. You can slowly start figuring out what is really doing it. I know that i cannot eat chocolate, anything green(lettace, brocolli, spinach, etc., and i cannot eat anything with old bay on it. for a while i thought it was seafood, but it is the old bay. That is pretty much my only complaint about having it removed. There were days where i wished i never got it taken out, but that was once i fogot what the pain felt like. I suffered from gallstone attacks for 5 months before they operated. Before it was removed i was having attacks 4 times a week. My sister also had her's removed and as a mother of 3, she says she would rather give birth 5 more times than have 1 gallstone attack. That explaination usually helps people who have never had an attack understand how painful it is. There are times that you have to have it taken out, and there are times that there are other options. It depends on the situation. Hopefully your husband is gallstone free, and doing okay.

I just had my gallbladder out last week. The doctor had no eating restrictions for me, although he did keep me in the hospital for 23 hours for observation. The only "problems" I've experienced was the achiness from the air they had to pump inside. They (obviously) can't get it all out, and it tends to settle in your shoulder area. Lasts for 3-4 days. The incision areas (laporoscopic) were tender (duh), but I could walk as soon as the anesthesia wore off. It took a couple of days to be able to have a BM, but mine have been just as normal as ever, no diarrhea to speak of. I haven't noticed any problems with nausea or the types of foods I eat, although like some others have said I tend to eat smaller portions. I love spicy foods and haven't had an issue. As a side note, I've known several people who've had their gallbladders out and they've lost significant weight, feel amazingly better, and have no negative side effects. I think there may be some other underlying issues for people who continue to have issues after this surgery (or beginning with it). P.S. Drink lots of water!

Hi,
I'm 18 and had my gallbladder removed 3 months ago through a laproscopic cholecystectomy (spelling is most probably incorrect). The week afterwards I had no problems, I was on a low-fat diet but still ate dairy and red-meat etc. just small meals and nothing high in fat. However, the week after that I strangely felt as though i was having a gallbladder attack - the pain resembled that anyway. Symptoms included: painful nausea, back pain, queasiness, loose bowel movements but not diarroea and the upper abdominal pain/nausea hit climax at night - ALL through the night which meant tossing and turning. The morning isn't fun either.
I thought it would pass but after two nights of unbearable pain I ended up in ER getting tested for various things. They gave me some pain relief and said to come in for an ultrasound the following day to determine if I had any stones caught in ducts or a bile leak. The ultrasound found everything as normal but I still felt substantial pain! A few days later I met with my surgeon who said i could just be 'adjusting' as he claimed during surgery they checked my ducts for any stones. Luckily, this pain and other symptoms passed, that time. So I agreed with him, it must have just being my body adjusting. However, it's now 3 months later and I'm experiencing the same 'relapse'! It's unbearable and I've seen my GP who sent me for another ultrasound to check for any problems but that was this morning and the ultrasound was fine. Since my first relapse ended I've been on a normal diet as I found I could tolerate all foods - high fat and high fibre. However, now I'm wondering if I can't handle them all of a sudden ? Is it possible to suddenly have an intolerance eventhough it was fine for the past 3 months ? My doctor suggested a CT scan if I'm still worried - I don't know what to do because I don't really want any uneccessary harmful damage fro mthe scan.
Any similar experiences ? Any advice ? Both would be greatly appreciated.
Katrina

Hello to all:

I ve got the gall bladder removed like 3 years ago, it was something normal, I could eat normal after a week or two, nothing diferent. I eat everything everything , no big thing. All of this problems people here are talking about must be because the gall bladder collapsed or something, and it infected nearby organs...

So people...... just dont wait too much when something become serious. Go for the surgery right away.

Claudia

HI ALL I JUST HAD MY GALL BLADDER REMOVED ONE MTH AGO,I FELT GOOD UNTILL THE LAST WEEK AND THE PAINS AND BURNING IN MY STOMACHE HAVE CAME BACK AND THE PAINS IN MY SHOULDERS,BLOATED STOMACHE ECT...ECT....HAVE ALL STARTED AGAIN.I DONT UNDERSTAND I THOUGHT IT WAS OVER I WAS SICK FOR A YEAR EVERY TWO MTHS I WAS HAVING ATTACKS WHERE I WOULD BE THROWING UP FOR 8 TO 10 DAYS AT A TIME AND WOULD END UP IN THE HOSPITAL FOR DEHYDRATION AND PAIN FOR DAYS AT A TIME.I ALSO LOST 50 LBS DURING THIS TIME.I AM JUST SO UPSET THAT MY SYMPTONS HAVE CAME BACK!!!! THANKS AND GOOD LUCK TO EVERYONE

I had my gallbladder removed almost 2 years ago (January 2007) when I was 35 years old. I had several gallbladder attacks, the first two almost a year apart, and then two more only a couple weeks apart. I'm SOOOO glad I did it!!! My first trip to the emergency room, the doctor said it was probably an ulcer and to start eating better and stop caffeine. I did that, and a year later I had another attack.

Since my gallbladder was removed, the only real change I can tell is that I have to use the bathroom within an hour or so after eating. I wouldn't say food "goes right through me", but it's much quicker than when I had my gallbladder. I thought it was IBS, but after talking with coworkers that also had theirs out, seems it's par for the course.

Immediately after my surgery (laproscopic), the air they pump into you was the only discomfort I really had. My doctor told me to take some Citrucel and it would help get it out - it sure did!

I had to have a drain put in after my surgery because my gallbladder was so badly infected. THAT was a downer...and I had to have it for a week. ICK. I was glad when that thing was taken out.

Overall, I'm very glad I did it. The pain of a gallbladder attack is way worse than the aftermath of having your gallbladder removed.

..im 19 years old, and im up for surgery on getting my gallbladder removed..
ive been doing a lot of research and im scared im not going to be able to eat, well-anything! and gain weight..
my stomach pains used to be VERY bad.. but they aren't so much anymore..
i find that since i've developed my gallstone.. ive been bloated..sometimes so bloated i wont go out.. and ive HEARD that you gain weight while you have the gallstones.. and lose weight after your gallbladder is removed?

i need more information :'( , let me know.. please and thankyou!

I had my gall bladder out two years and regret it every day. Knowing what I now know I would find a local herbalist. There are cures for this and the medical community will not tell you this.

Glen Kadelbach
Hutchinson, MN
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