Post by Leeham Rimes on Aug 26, 2021 19:47:24 GMT -5
I had emergency gallbladder surgery in 2010. The pain was horrific and I thought I was having a heart attack. I had just given birth to Xavier and said at the time it was worse than child birth so, it definitely sucked.
After my surgery, I had no symptoms. There’s nothing I can’t eat, I’ve had no side effects at all from it. Best surgery ever.
I need ham like water Like breath, like rain I need ham like mercy From Heaven's gate Sometimes ham salad or casserole or ham that’s free range, all natural I need ham
I had mine out in 2018 after 3 months in some of the worst pain ever. I don’t have a lot of issues eating now, but I get really full feeling after eating fatty foods and it seems to take a long time to digest.
After reading this thread I’m wondering if H has gallbladder issues. Very often these days if he has a larger than usual dinner, especially fatty/greasy food or red meat, etc, then when he lays down in bed at night he ends up feeling horrible and often has to vomit to make it better. It’s never been bad enough to go to the hospital though, and it resolves within a few hours.
He has always had a really sensitive stomach, so we just chalked this up to aging (he’s 40). He is also lactose intolerant. He usually eats pretty well, so this nighttime thing doesn’t happen too much — but any time he does indulge, it’s very likely to happen now. (And I really don’t mean extreme over-indulging. I weigh 115 lbs and I can eat as much as him and feel 100% fine.) Could this be gallbladder related?? statgirl , mofongo , mich1 , Vespasia
For me, 90% of the episodes I had at night up until the end were when I overindulged. I probably had about a year of these that occurred every 4-8 weeks. They were infrequent and short enough that while I had classic symptoms, I didn’t bother doing anything.
However, my dad had episodes where he just ‘felt funky’ (his description). He always had a pretty high pain tolerance, but never thought anything of it. I was in town, visiting friends and got a call that I might want to come home. My dad was in the ER, he was septic and they weren’t sure he was going to survive. Apparently, my dad’s funky feeling was his gall bladder attacks. He did survive, but they had to deal with his infection before yanking his gall bladder.
liteningme, I'm not any of those people you tagged and haven't had gallbladder issues, but I think a HIDA scan is the best way to diagnose gallbladder function or lackthereof.
I had mine out 6 years ago after one major attack that landed me in the hospital with a systemic infection, so that was fun. Physically I was fine after surgery. I actually follow a high fat diet (keto) now with zero issues.
After reading this thread I’m wondering if H has gallbladder issues. Very often these days if he has a larger than usual dinner, especially fatty/greasy food or red meat, etc, then when he lays down in bed at night he ends up feeling horrible and often has to vomit to make it better. It’s never been bad enough to go to the hospital though, and it resolves within a few hours.
He has always had a really sensitive stomach, so we just chalked this up to aging (he’s 40). He is also lactose intolerant. He usually eats pretty well, so this nighttime thing doesn’t happen too much — but any time he does indulge, it’s very likely to happen now. (And I really don’t mean extreme over-indulging. I weigh 115 lbs and I can eat as much as him and feel 100% fine.) Could this be gallbladder related?? statgirl , mofongo , mich1 , Vespasia
I don't have a gallbladder but do suffer from something called Gastroparesis, and when I eat carbs, most especially Gluten, I have horrible issues and will throw up nearly every night. I've been off of Gluten and Carbs for 5 months now and haven't thrown up once. Just in case you wanted an anecdote/alternate diagnosis.
I have another question for those of you who didn't have one typical painful attack that sent you to the ER where gallstones were discovered. If you didn't have gallstones -- just a nonworking gallbladder, or sludge or whatever -- did an ultrasound detect anything, or did everything look fine since there were no stones? Wondering if ultrasound is enough to rule out all possible gallbladder problem, or if additional types of testing should be pursued. statgirl , mofongo , mich1 , Vespasia
no ultra sound only showed inflammation. The CT showed sludge. The hida scan revealed an angry gallbladder that didn't work properly.
It's a no big deal surgery. They actually only gave me 10 pain pills and I didn't even need those. You can eat anything you want after. The lack of a gallbladder did lead to IBS because the bile has nowhere to be stored so if you can be careful about fat, that would be helpful. Otherwise, they have a helpful drug called colestipol.
I tried to get them to wait but they wouldn't. I had it taken out just a couple of days after we figured it out and after only one attack. If you wait too long, it's a really tough road ahead. If the ultrasound showed your gallbladder is unhappy, then get it out as soon as they will let you.
I have another question for those of you who didn't have one typical painful attack that sent you to the ER where gallstones were discovered. If you didn't have gallstones -- just a nonworking gallbladder, or sludge or whatever -- did an ultrasound detect anything, or did everything look fine since there were no stones? Wondering if ultrasound is enough to rule out all possible gallbladder problem, or if additional types of testing should be pursued. statgirl , mofongo , mich1 , Vespasia
I had no gallstones and my ultrasound elicited positive Murphy’s sign (ie, the probe hurt). They did not make me do a HIDA scan and the surgeon agreed with the ER findings so he did the surgery. When he got in, my gallbladder was inflamed but no sludge or stones. My pain resolved so that was good.
I did have classic symptoms otherwise (intense pain after eating —fried chicken, buttermilk waffles, and enchiladas were the three things that did the classic attacks—and nausea/vomiting/diarrhea). I also had extremely low potassium from the gastric symptoms that pushed me into the danger category—it was low enough that the ER didn’t want to do emergency surgery because of the risks and I had to wait until I got my potassium up. Luckily, the no-fat low-calorie diet made it so I didn’t have any gastric symptoms so the horse pills I took could really get my potassium up.
I have another question for those of you who didn't have one typical painful attack that sent you to the ER where gallstones were discovered. If you didn't have gallstones -- just a nonworking gallbladder, or sludge or whatever -- did an ultrasound detect anything, or did everything look fine since there were no stones? Wondering if ultrasound is enough to rule out all possible gallbladder problem, or if additional types of testing should be pursued. statgirl , mofongo , mich1 , Vespasia
I never went to the hospital until I had an attack that had me doubled over for hours in pain. So I can’t tell you image wise what went on with it.
The attack that sent me to the ER, gall stones were clearly observed in the gall bladder and bile duct via ultrasound. They did no more imaging after that.