In October, I went to the hospital with this pressure like pain in my upper abdomen right near my lower chest. By the time I was seen, the pain had subsided and after an ekg and some blood work, they told me everything was fine, and that I had GERD. They gave me a prescription antacids and that was that. A week later I was starting to feel very nauseous, I dry heaved for a few minutes and found myself back in the hospital. They did an CT scan around where I had had my pain before, and the doctor tells me I have gallstones, and that I should follow up with my primary care doctor and a GS. I make an appointment to see my PCD, and she tells me that she can schedule me to see a GS in January. Now from the point when I went back to the hospital the second time, I had no appetite, nausea, and a gurgling feeling in my upper abdomen nearly 24/7. This went on for nearly a week and a half. I visit the hospital again because my mom was getting worried that I hadn’t eaten in nearly four days. They give me an ultrasound that wasn’t very conclusive, but I did show gallstones. The doctor prescribed me carafate, which has been a life saver, within three days of taking this medicine I was feeling better, and finally able to eat. I weighed 386 at the time I first went to the hospital, and now I weigh 362, moistly thanks to not eating, and diet modification. On Thanksgiving, I ate, but very cautiously, I had one plate with turkey, a little portion of stuffing, a small portion of mashed potatoes, and very little gravy, I also drank half a can of coke. When I finished the plate, I felt a little too full, like I had just pigged out, but it finally settled later that night. Around 4AM I woke up with the same pressure like pain in my upper abdomen, it hurt to the point I went to the hospital. The doctor did an ultrasound and said he saw the gallstones, but that my gallbladder looked fine, and because I didn’t feel any discomfort when he poked where my gallbladder is, he diagnosed me with gastritis. I’m sure it was just the heavy food that triggered the pain, but I went online and found some articles and some people saying that there gastritis has worsened since having their gallbladder removed. Is there anyone that can help me, has anyone gone through this before and came out better? Obviously I’m going to still diet and exercise, I’m just a little scared of getting the surgery if it’ll make something else worse.
armando: I am sorry to hear that you are suffering like this.
I am almost 10 months on from having my gallbladder removed and pleased to tell you that I am fully recovered with absolutely no adverse affects - my life is 100% back to normal.
What you are describing sounds very much like recurrent gallbladder attacks. These attacks often happen several hours after eating fried foods or food with a higher fat content. During these attacks it feels like the upper abdomen is being tightly squeezed or gripped and the pain can extend into the back and shoulder blades, lasting from a few minutes to several hours. It can get so painful that you feel like it is a heart attack. It can be accompanied by several other things such as cold sweats, nausea, light headedness etc.
The doctor who examined you was likely looking for what they refer to as Murphy’s sign. The doctor asks you to breath in whist they palpate the area. If you experience pain, it can be an indicator that the gallbladder could be inflamed. I had this same thing done to me by a doctor and a sonographer, and like you I did not react with any pain whatsoever, but I did have multiple gallstones and I had been getting attacks. There are many doctors out there who have a tendency to fob off people suffering with gallbladder issues by attributing their symptoms to indigestion or gastritis, and to me it sounds like this could be happening to you. I am not medically qualified - it just sounds very much like that to me!
What you experienced after your Thanksgiving dinner sounds like a classic gallbladder attack. The attack started several hours after eating. Stuffing and gravy have rather high fat contents and mashed potatoes often have butter and cream added, which is also high in fat. I got to the point where even a slice of avocado would trigger an attack. My attacks often woke me in the middle of the night.
It is clear that you are experiencing gallbladder attacks and you have been diagnosed with gallstones. Unfortunately the attacks will only continue until the gallbladder is removed. It is far better for the surgery to take place whilst your condition is uncomplicated. Surgery in this instance is minimally invasive (keyhole) and easier to recover from. The last thing you want is for the gallbladder to become inflamed or infected, or for a stone to escape and become lodged in the bile duct. I scared myself reading about the negatives outcomes, but there are also many, many positive outcomes! Just be sure that surgery is carried out by a surgeon who has a high frequency rate in performing these operations … I was give that piece of advice by several medics.
In the meantime, cut out fat and avoid frying foods. Ditch the sodas and drink water instead. Try taking Buscopan on the onset of an attack, as this can help.
Please post back to let us know how it goes or if you have any further questions. Best of luck with it all.
Thanks livvy20.
Although I’ve been heavy nearly all my life, I’ve never had any real health problems like this, I’m just scared of this getting worse. I went to bed last night feeling a little nauseous, and woke up today feeling the same. I’m relieved to hear someone has had the same experience, I am currently in the process of scheduling my surgery, I cannot wait for this feeling to be over.
Again, thank you for the words of encouragement.
armando: You are most welcome. I post to share my experience, as I vividly recall just how scared I got pre-op reading about lots of negative stuff.
The thing with gallstones is that sometimes there is no rhymne nor reason to them … you can be thin, overweight, female, male, young or more mature! I have a normal BMI and I still got them.
Good to hear that your surgery is being organised. Just keep to no or extremely low fat foods until then, and drink water. It is a boring way to eat and live for a while but it can really help ward off attacks. As I said, Buscopan really helped me, and others swear by apple cider vinegar. Keep a food diary as this will help you identify triggers.
I had my surgery as a day case and recovered well. My tiny incisions are now barely visible and I can eat everything apart from mayo which has a tendency to make my tummy gurgle, nothing mire than that, so I just avoid it. If anything my digestive system appears to be working more efficiently. Just give yourself time to rest up and heal post op. Don’t hesitate to message me if your have any questions or need a little bit of reassurance.