I had my gallbladder removed January 25th. Been ok... i didn't really eat the first 3 days. Now that I'm eating 'normally' I'm having some stomach issues still after eating, I get diarrhea with in minutes of finishing a meal, I'm always hungry after! I feel like my food goes right through me... it's depressing that I can't even go out to dinner with my family at a restaurant because I have to run to the bathroom after I eat. Forget about car rides! I have to stop a gas stations sometimes to relive myself. It's so embarrassing! Not to mention inconvenient! Someone help! Is anyone else experiencing this!
Watch your diet for a few weeks , no milk, or greasy foods at first. Eat smaller meals , it's hard to do when you aren't used to it. I had mild depression after my gallbladder removed 8 weeks ago. I've had a rough road . But do allow yourself more time to heal verses what timeline people say you should be healing
Hi
It's different for everyone, but my daughter had hers out the day after you & she had sickness & pain & her surgeon said it can take a few months to settle down. He said go dairy free & she has also gone free from but eats good fats like avocado & the Drs can prescribe bile supplements but he said most people settle in a few months then you can re introduce it slowly again.
She is very low and having to be off work so it is a bit of a shock and no one really tells you all about it.
You will get there but as everyone is diffuthere is no real timeline.
Hang in there
There are diets you can try. The main thing is to stick to low fat or healthy fats. Restaurants use the cheapest fats, and they're bound to upset your stomach. Try to use FODMAP foods. The list is available on line. Frequent small meals.
If you continue to have diarrhea after meals, you may have bile salt malobsorption. If you do, you will have yellow liquid surrounding incompletely formed stools. The yellow liquid is bile, and is being released directly into your small intestine during digestion. Your gallbladder acted as a valve between your liver and your small intestine to store and release the bile. The bile is extremely caustic and irritating.
Don't try to add bile salts or digestive enzymes to your body. It will only make matters worse. You're already producing too much bile!
There are medications that your doctor can prescribe to help with this, but try to wait a bit and see if things will settle. If you want more info, send me a private message. Take care! xx
Agree with other comments, watch what you eat. Drs may say you can eat everything you like, however, the human body has its own ideas, some can , many cannot. My hospital advised eating low fat for 2 weeks post op, while the liver adjusts to the amount of bile now needed. Or you will not digest the fat and it passes through, causing pain.
I have also read that it can take several months for the body to adapt and it is best not to over stress your liver by eating rich, fatty or overly spicy foods. I'm 6 week post op and have to eat carefully still as I have various other conditions that affect my digestion and I have found that eating little and often, light foods at present is the best, in this way things have been OK. I have had a couple of meals out and stuck to the same principles.
As others have said, if things do not improve, go back to your doctor for further help, but it is early days so hopefully things will turn around for you.
Hi,
Stick to your low fat diet. Stay away from rich foods. Everyone gets this to a degree. Every once in awhile it happens to me, but I've learned that anything with high fat will activate the diarrhea. When this happens, stay close to a bathroom, and lay low for an hour or so after it happens. You should feel better as time goes on. You're still healing and your body is adjusting to working without the gallbladder which used to store the bile and distribute it as you ate. Now the bile runs directly from your liver into your stomach and through your intestines. Get plenty of rest, and eat a balance diet every day. What has helped me is to eat several small meals a day. Eat your lightest meal in the evening. Just a reminder, it takes about five weeks until you are feeling back to yourself, but really an entire year until your body is fully recovered. So, take it easy. 
I've been out of work on and off since December it sucks ! Having good and bad days , I stay sick worrying if I am going to have diarrhea or not . It is depressing. But hang in there. We will all get better 🙏🙏
Have you looked into ox bile supplements and perhaps also digestive enzymes and a good probiotic? It has helped me stop my diarrhea within two days.
Hello. I had my gallbladder out 6 years ago and still have problems with urgent and violent diarrhea. It does make planning outings a problem but my GP has recently prescribed Questran. A powder you mix with water.. i dont take everyday..but perhaps should,,but do when I am going out for a meal or am likely to be away from home for some hours. I read on this site that most get over this problem but I understand from my GP ( who incidently apologised for not prescribing before) that a few of us have this condition for life. I have had disastrous episodes whilst out , which DOES knock your confidence and self esteem but this 'medicine' does help. Its the unpredictabilty of it that is difficult but I dont usually feel unwell..though have had to lie down after a bad bout..this tho is rare for me at any rate. Try to ask you doc for this medicine. I think it will change your life but I so understand the depressing feeling. I hope you feel better soon and with you it might be a short term problem..so chin up!
Ali
Hi Alice,
I've been taking this powder daily since 2009, and have had no ill effects from it. You can also mix it with juice. I mix mine with 4 oz of water and 4 oz of juice, shake it up and drink it at bed time. I am wondering why you're not taking it daily? xx
My gallbladder was removed a week ago today. I dad my first BM yesterday after taking stool softener since going pretty normal but know showing signs of what you explained. I know it's still very recent just wondering what else I might expect.
Hi,
What you are experiencing is fairly normal after gallbladder surgery. Try including rice into your diet until your system returns to normal. Add a little more bread too. If that doesn't help, contact your doctor for advice.
Looking at your post had my gallbladder out about15 year's ago the diarrhoea getting worse,smells disgusting and have to be very careful when I go out any suggestions jeniex
Hi Jenie,
Sorry that this is happening to you. There is a medication that can be prescribed for you. It's called cholestyramine in the US. In the UK I think it's called questran.
You may need to go to a gastroenterologist for tests. I know that's a pain, but greasy, foul smelling stools could be pancreatic insufficiency, too.
Best of luck to you. Please let me know how you get on!
Hi I had my surgery last march and this march made a year. I just started having problems in May and June. I finally went back to my surgeon and he provided me with the powder. I thought it said take twice a day. Can you advise if taking it at night gives better results please ?
Hi I'm taking it that way because that's how it was prescribed for me. If you take it twice a day you would take it in the morning and then again maybe 12 hours later. Maybe 6 in the morning and 6 in the evening.
I'm sure my doctor would have upped the dosage for me if taking it once a day wasn't enough.
It's important to remember that if you take any kind of medication the powder will absorb it. So you need to take your meds 1 hour before you take the powder, or 4 hours afterwards.
I also had my gallbladder out in December, been having diarrhea ever since unless I take something otherwise it's back to diarrhea ive tried bentyl, it worked for cramping but did nothing for diarrhea, next tried questran, the next day I seen my first solid turd I was so thrilled, but at day 4 I got real bad burping I mean a lot felt like a pig ,then got bad reflux could feel the bile burning my throat I stopped taking it, I'm so tired of this I see doc in 3 weeks we will see what to do next, I'm not hungry hardly at all, nauseated, always after morning diarrhea session which lasts at least 4 hours, then when I'm cleaned out I feel ok, but then it's time to try to eat something I've tried yoghurt, probiotics I must have went through 3 boxes ,fiber drinks,they just make my stomach queasy if anyone has any other suggestions let me hear them please, I've missed so much work with this, and cant keep going to doc, you have to keep paying them if they help you or not SORRY I'm rambling. Suggestions please
Hi. So nice to get a reply as I posted a long time ago..I am alright if I take 'Questran Light' powder ( on prescription). I gather from my GP that 10% of us who have had gall bladder removed suffer from this explosive, urgent, vile smelling and embarrassingly noisy diarrhea..which as someone else has posted is bright yellow bile. This burns like hell. Diet is suggested I know but it happens to me on the most bland of foods. I have learnt to live with it over the last 5 years. My GP says, particularly over night, bile is forming and has no where to store any more so waits in the intestines until even the first drink in the morning sets off this ghastly condition. Fatty food which I love of course makes this worse. I dont take this medication everyday only when I go out . I am considering taking it everyday as read somewhere on this forum that after a long while of taking this stuff one of the 'posters' no longer need it anymore. I worry that when I am ancient ( or before) and cant move fast ( as speed is essential after a meal..miniutes even!) that I will be always in a ghastly mess! These forums are amazing. I was on one prior to havig a hip replacement and terrified and was reassured before, during and after for many weeks.
Cheesr DebbieLyn
HI Lynda,
I am only just back on this site..I didnt take it daily as thought ..well heaven knows what I thought...but am now going to do so. THank you for your post..belatedly.
Ali
You're welcome! The idea is for the medication to keep soaking up the bile, so that the intestines get into a sort of rhythm--that's why you need to take it every day, at about the same time.
And, give it time to work. Normal bowel transit (the time it takes for one to eat, digest and then excrete what one has eaten) is usually about 2 1/2 to 3 days. That's why you need to take it regularly for it to work. So, start taking it every day and then in 3-4 days you should really see a difference. Don't give up too soon! xx