I got my gallbladder out two weeks ago. A week ago I started experiencing painful heartburn and acid reflux. I'm terrified of putting anything in my mouth for fear of setting it off again. The doctor prescribed me PPIs 40 mg and it's my end day taking with not much relief. I just want to know if others out there have experienced the same post op and will it get better? I had these issues prior to removal and the doctors blamed the gallbladder. Now I'm thinking it may not have been all along. I had gallstones and a 4mm polyp and the doctor said the gallbladder was inflammed when he took it out so I keep telling myself I did the right thing otherwise I'll drive myself crazy. Please can I have your advice.
What did you eat? The first 3 weeks after my GB surgery, I only ate very light rice water (Chinese congee), no oily cheese or fatty. After that, I slowly tried meat and veg. Anything too fatty would cause heartburn and reflux. I ate something really fatty 3 weeks ago and I got those symptons. It took me 2 weeks watching my diet and finally went away. By the way, I had my GB removed 2 years ago.
I am still suffering nearly four years after the op I take Omprazole before that I took Pantoprazole and now I have been told I have to take Zantac which I was taking before the op so back to square one for me. Try not to eat any dairy for a few more weeks or any big meals just little and often might do the trick love xxx
Thanks for your replies. I really appreciate it. I have been following a low fat diet. I tried chicken and veg on the 3rd day after removal and got diarrhoria so I have cut back to toast and porridge and Turkey sandwiches. Maybe I need to cut out diary for a few days to see how I get on. Have been using butter on my toast and milk for porridge and tea. I'm sorry to hear you have been suffering that long Sandynan. I used to get really bad reflux and heartburn now and again before gallbladder removal and I thought once the gallbladder was gone that these days would be over. It's so disheartening. Do ye take any liver supplements or digestive enzymes to help digestion?
Strange. I have reaction to chicken too after 2 years. 3 chicken wings are my limit. More than 3, I will run to bathroom in 30 mins. My doctor said chicken skin is very fatty. It needs more bile from the liver to digest.
If the chicken was fried then this would be a trigger. You should try a digestive enzyme the next time you have a fatty meal. It will help break down the fat. Because we now have no gallbladder we will have trouble digesting good fats also so have to take it handy on good fats such as avocado and salmon..
I had my op in feb and since then iv had acid reflux too. never had it in my life before regardless of my eating habits. my doctor told me that i eat too late at night and that was the cause. it is also worse if i eat spicey or mint food. eating earlier does seem to help.
my toilett dpt is also an issue and am now living on fibrogel. I still have post op pain where my gaul bladder was. and i also have pain on my right side too, apparently to do with my bowel problem caused by the opp. sometimes wished id not bothered!!
Sorry to hear that Loz I know how you feel. I have days where I wish I didn't get it out either but I keep telling myself it will get better otherwise I will become consumed by it! Mine had stones and a small polyp and was inflammed. Have you tried ppi for the heartburn?
i am kind of wondering what is the point of we need to remove out GB out if we still feeling painful as before sugery ? I feel horrible as same as before i removed my GB and when i ate something in it is pain a bit and i am on the same boat as Nopishhut now
Yes the chicken was fried but tasted so good . Well, I learnt my lesson but dont want to take any med to deal with digetsing fat. Just cut the fat out of my diet. I eat fish more often than pork and beef. I have veg every night at dinner. I drink a cup of coffee with cream and a donut in the morning. Morning time is my non fat time otherwise I run to the bathroom fast. I eat a lot of fruit.
Nopishut we are on the same page i really trust my doctor said it wil be new life after GB removal and i can eat anything i want but turn out it is not the things i want . i am taking apple cider vingar as supplement help little bit but not at all . keep updating our news .
It's great that you can still drink coffee and have donuts without any trouble. You need some guilty pleasures to keep you sane 3fung, all I can think is perhaps the issue was with our stomachs or GERD and not actually our gallbladder. Or maybe the gallbladder did contribute to some of our symptoms but wasn't too blame for it all. When did you get yours out?
Do you think the doctor lie to us that we don't need to remove one of our organ to relieve out suffering since we still have to take PPI as before ?
Loz. sorry to hear about your acid reflux. When I had acid reflux 2 weeks ago, it was really bad, burning my throat. It woke me up at night.
What I did was I ate watermelon every day in that 2 weeks. It worked for me. The acid reflux went away.
Try bicarbonate of soda in water. It neutralises the acid in your stomach. It has helped somewhat. Im on ppis but I do not want to be on these for the rest of my life I'm glad I'm not the only one going through this.
I had my laparoscopic gallbladder surgery in 2013. My gallbladder was inflamed and wall thicken. I had 1 big 2 cm stone and 6 small 0.5 cm stones. I am not overweight 178 lbs and 6 ft tall. I do not exercise often. I smoke a pack of cigarette a week. I have no problem with my body after surgery except for running to the bathroom sometimes but need to watch out my less fat diet.
Hi Nopishut I had my op Oct 14 so almost a year ago and just afterwards I start having pain in my chest, back, neck radiating to my back and heartburn lots and lots of heartburn. First I was prescribed many different PPIs because doctors thought it was just acid reflux. Nothing helped. I literally stop eating just like you I feared that would set it off. I was losing more and more weight ( lost 12 kgs) in couple of months. Then surgeon around December told me my valve must it stopped working so send me for some tests. Months later found out that it was all normal. My heartburn took 8 months to settle a bit more but then I start getting burning in my stomach and terrific nausea too. I've been diagnosed with esophageal spasms that causes my chest, back and neck pain. They have settled but today I still get horrific chest pains especially after I eat something more fatty. It has been really hard since the op. Everyday for months I 've felt scared, depressed, tired for not knowing what's really wrong with me. Last week I've finally saw a doctor that sent for a MRI so it's my last chance to see if something is wrong inside me. I was pregnant when start having horrific pain and later on I while waiting for op developed pancreatitis almost killing me. My sweet baby was 2 months old when had the op. I pray for this to get better but Ian still in pain and don't know what's causing it, perhaps bile?
Sounds like you have had a really hard time of it Leni and perhaps maybe we are few of the unlucky ones to have to go through all this. It's very difficult to know what the cause of it is and it's even more frustrating when the doctors can't seem to tell you either.
I ended up in a&e 5 times over the past couple of years and was told it was biliary colic caused by gallstones. I persevered for a few years and had bad bouts of heartburn and indigestion now and again in between. I finally took the plunge and got my gallbladder out and was looking forward to living pain free afterwards. Well that's not the case. The pain has come back that was described as biliary colic all along. I'm now on 40 mg PPI which is helping neutralise the acid but I still have a dull heartburn like pain in my upper back which won't go away.
It's frustrating and Ive been in bouts of tears the past few days. It feels like a never ending nightmare so I understand how u feel a day what u must be going through. I'm going to try eliminate dairy and see if that helps.
Also sleep on a wedge to keep your head above your stomach . When laying flat (GERD) acid reflux can back up to the throat and cause more serious problems. They are available online or a hospital supply store. Also truly pillows or sit in a lounge chair to keep your head up. Take the meds for acid reflux and there are also many OTC MEDS for this as well.
It does sounds like you have a serious case and I went thru the same issues after trying meds and proper diet no fatty foods. Etc. the bed wedge finally worked. After a few months the valve repaired itself with meds and diet.
Now I can sleep without my head up and it was worth the many struggles finding what works for me.
Take care
I am so glad I just read your post. Had my gallbladder removed in April and stayed on a low fat diet for 8 weeks before slowly introducing other foods. Everything was fine until June when I had an episode of pain that started in my back, immediately radiated through my chest, and nausea. I was on a plane about to take off, so the immediately took me off the plane. I began vomiting and the pain in my chest was terrible. I was transported to ER where they admitted me as I had another episode worse than the first and they thought it was cardiac issues. After 2 days in hospital I was released and they had no clue. I have been having these episodes every 5 - 7 weeks. I've had an esophageal manometer and endoscopy - they found gastritis. Prescribed Protonix 40/mg twice a day, 300mg Zantac at bedtime and Zoloft as they discovered when these happen it is triggering a panic attack. Finally had another test last week and have been diagnosed with esophageal motility disorder (acute spasms). We cannot find a trigger of any type of food drink. Have now put me on medication to help prevent this. Fingers crossed that it works.