Scheduled for surgery in a week and I'm probably in denial but looking for your comments on this. I have been constantly sick for 9 months. Started out nausea that had me in bed several weeks. Had an US and bloodwork. US showed gallstones and sludge. Saw the Dr a few weeks later and he did a endoscopy and colonoscopy. Mild gastritis and esophagitis. Then pain is below sternum in the middle like I had been punched in the stomach which lasted several weeks. Now pain is in middle of stomach. Again like I've been punched and the fist is still inside. No pain on right side under rib cage or pain that radiates up to my right shoulderblade. Had hida scan which showed ef 4%. My symptoms don't seem to me to be classic symptoms. Anyone else have these symptoms? Oh yeah and I burp a lot.
I had none of the classic symptoms when I looked it up online. But a year of severe pain finally came to an end when I ended up in A&E unable to eat or drink and without any relief from the pain. I had been told it was probably IBS. I had no right side pain until the very last couple of days, and that punched in the stomache feeling also didn't occur until the morning I was admitted. But boy did I suffer throught the year!
Get yourself into hospital and on the path to surgery if that's being offered. I only had a couple of tiny stones that didn't show up, but they sure caused a lot of trouble. A friend's partner had no stones, but scarring on the gallbladder and had the same trouble. I've been amazed how much better my digestion is since removal.. but note that everyone is different and the 3-4 bulletpointed symptoms you'll find on Google don't cover it. Regarding the surgery.. you won't even notice it. Easiest thing you've done in your life. Just look forward to it all being over.
Hey, I saw your post and just wanted to comment. Had my gallbladder out on march 2nd, and haven't felt this good since October 2016!! I just now started to eat those foods that triggered attacks, in moderation of course and the best thing I can tell you is to keep to the bland foods after surgery until such time that you feel up to eating a bit of a broader range keeping that of course in moderation. I lost a total of 40lbs in 5 months due to the limitations in my diet, but with willpower and determination you should be able to get back to your normal diet before you know it. Don't rush things take it slow and easy and you should be right as rain in no time. I didn't think I would actually go thru with the surgery but am so glad I did, and I am sure you will be too, just remember to not rush things and all the best to you!!!
Thank you Robax. Im scheduled for march 20th. The surgeon is out this next week for spring break so hopefully i make it until the 20th. Lying in bed with the heating pad as i write this.
Thanks for the encouragement elly! Coffee has been the worst trigger for me and because i was feeling better today i chanced the coffee. Big mistake and why i am now in pain in bed with the heating pad.😣
Hi temi, just wanted to say hello and comment on your pain. I too am scheduled for surgery on 24th, and it won't come soon enough! The pain you're having really sounds like bad constipation to me, simple as it might sound, I'm getting similar types of pain. I've never had constipation so bad since this gallbladder trouble and it's very very uncomfortable. It also doesn't relieve when you finally go to bathroom... I hope you're pain free very soon and you make a speedy recovery from your op.
I had to wait in hospital 3 days for my surgeon to come back from holiday. I couldn't eat do they just kept me on a drip. They did indicate they would have operated immediately if I was going to die, but as I was otherwise healthy they wanted to wait for the expert... I was fine with that.
After the op I was ravenous as I hadn't eaten properly for more than a week. I ate a big breakfast in town the next morning and it was the best meal I've ever had. I've had zero issues eating anything and everything... all the things I'd avoided for so long, and that I thought I'd never be able to eat again. You'll be very happy when it's over.
Hi smigger! It's not constipation with me. Actually I've been more regular since all this started. Thanks for the well wishes. My wish is the same for you!
Sorry you had to wait on your surgeon. That's what I'm worried about. I really felt good about him at my consultation. I'm glad everything went so well for you that's encouraging. Have you had any trouble with weight gain? That's a concern for me as I have read that others have had this problem.
Hi Temi, I'm 11 days post op and still very sore and have pain but I expect this is all due to the healing process.
I note that you have gallstones and sludge but also that your ef is only 4% so you gallbladder isn't working and will get worse if you don't have it removed. My ef was 14% but now gallstones causing my pain. Its likely that its the gallbladder causing alot of pain and not all be the gallstones.
There are a variety of symptoms and we don't all have classic symptoms, mine changed from being sick, weight loss and not being able to eat at all to increased pain and having a limited diet so don't worry about what you're experiencing.
Your gallbladder isn't working so must come out regardless of the stones.
I hope everything goes well for your surgery, my nurses were excellent as I'd never had an operation before so I was extremely nervous. I'm not going to say its a walk in the park as I'm still on the road to recovery and even with that some people recover much quicker than others just don't rush it, let your body tell you when your ready..
Let us know how you get on, good luck x
Hi Katherine! Did you need someone to be there at home to help you after? My mom was going to be here but my brother just found out he's going to have his leg amputated so CLEARLY that's the bigger issue but I don't know what to expect as far as doing things myself.
Hi Temi, you only need to have someone with you for the first 24 hours because of the anaesthetic. I had my surgery later morning and went home early evening so I only needed to have someone with me until lunchtime the following day. To be honest the next day you will sleep most of it and it'll be the 2nd day that you'll be able to make yourself a cuppa but you will get very tired and possible dizzy and light headed from the surgery. As they use gas in your stomach you'll find that you do have pain in your shoulders but this is normal so they advised me to keep taking some anti inflammatories and pain relief.
If you keep talking to us on here then different people will be able to advise you.
I've been lucky in that Carmella on here and I only had our surgery a day apart so you'll find that appart from the first couple of days after surgery we've been in contact regularly since to help each other through it. So just keep messaging and we'll reply.
Good luck xx
One day after posting this still in constant pain and now the pain has radiated up my right shoulder and neck. Also having light chest pain. A heating pad helps. Maybe just because I feel like I'm doing something to try to relieve the pain. Have to switch from my stomach to back to shoulder and neck. Just praying that I can go for a week. I really want the surgeon I met with to do the surgery. I'm tired of being sick for 9 months. Ready to have this over with.
One thing that's different from what I'm reading on others posts is I haven't lost any weight. For the first few months I thought I had an ulcer. My stomach would burn like I was hungry then I would eat and feel bad. I ate very little because it always felt like i was full even after eating a cracker. But no weight loss. Would be nice because i have 20 lbs to lose 😁
Hi temi, it does seem as though everyone's symptoms vary as alot of people loose weight not all do. That pain in the shoulders and neck are awful and I think it was that that I found the hardest to deal with. Unfortunately my gallbladder wasn't working properly and now they think I have sphincter of oddi dysfunction which causes the same pain as before which they mentioned me before surgery anyway.
I had a gastroscopy in the early days to rule ulcers out and they tested me for crohns also.
It does seem that it takes months for surgery or to get to find out whats causing it so we can have the surgery and unfortunately it does seem to get worse but you haven't got long to wait now and surgery day will be here before you know it and then you'll be able to recover and get back to a painfree lifestyle.
Take care and keep me updated xx
Hi Katherine. I'm sorry for you that you still have the same pain after surgery. What do they do for sphincter of oddi dysfunction? And how do they know that's what it is?
Hi temi, I didn't have gallstones or sludge and my hida scan was only 14% but I also had constant pain all the time which when I first saw the surgeon said that removing the gallbladder wouldn't take all the pain away. I had what seemed like all the tests that all came back as normal except of this one. When I went in for surgery and he visited me beforehand he said he wanted to do a cholangiogram of the liver as my liver blood tests were very erratic, I didn't know this as everyone said they were within the satisfactory range but I expect as he is a specialist they fine tune things that don't look right to them. From everything I've read they can try medication first as its a muscle that spasms when it shouldn't but if you're in more severe pain they do an ercp which is a type of gastroscopy but more risky and they might do an spincterectomy if really bad which is cutting the muscles to loosen it but I don't know yet. I've got my appointment at the end of the month so I have no idea what they are going to do next as I would not have thought I would have another appointment with a surgeon unless it was important and that they would refer me back to my gp.
Is all a bit up in the air at the moment as I don't know and only know with the research that I've done on the web.
I'll speak to you again soon, how are you today?
x
Katherine, I came across that while I was researching gallbladder disease but I think I read that it was rare and so I only skimmed through it. I hope all goes well for you. Keep us posted. I'm going to the hospital on Friday for pre op, surgery on Monday.
Thank you, no its not rare but only a gastro with a specialty in that area would necessarily know about it.
I did like you and did lots of research before surgery and all the different avenues so I could understand whats going on. Yes I will do as I know there are others on this site that are also going through the same.
I remember pre-op, they took so much blood I had to lie down because I was feeling a bit light headed! The nurses in there were really good also and very supportive.
Good luck for monday, do you have to be there first thing? The nurses were excellent where I was, even though I was the only one on my ward having this particular type of surgery, the others had different GI surgery and only about 6 on my ward. After surgery they check on you alot as they have to do blood pressure and they were always asking me about the pain as when I started to recover a bit more it did start to hurt so they got me more pain relief straight away. Obviously I was in post op for a while but as soon as you wake up they take you back to the ward.
I hope you experience the same support I did, I couldn't fault it.
Keep me updated with how you get on, you may not feel much like it for a couple of days afterwards but that'll pass as you rest.
I'll speak to you again, take care xx
The only way one can gain unwanted weight after gallbladder removal is to eat too much. Being able to eat again afterwards is enjoyable and some people would definitely overeat, but that's a behavioural problem rather than anything physiological. Removing a glabbladder doesn't make one fat.
One thing I did wrong was not go to A&E, mainly because I thought I had IBS and that the attacks were when I had got my diet wrong, but also because I couldn't face sitting there for hours in pain when I thought they couldn't really do anything. Of course, now I do know that they could have done something because it wasn't IBS at all. I wish I'd known months earlier that it could have been gallstones and avoided the suffering. If you can get into A&E and if it doesn't cost you thousands like some people have to pay, then I would do it and make sure they know how much it hurts. I could have been relaxing on a morphine drip overnight instead of writhing in agonizing pain at home.
Don't worry about the surgery, prepare to diet if you have eating problems, and yes, get into A&E if you are able. The fact that you can tell them what you have and that you need serious pain relief makes it all a lot easier for them to deal with... i.e. they don't have to diagnose it first. Make sure you come back and tell everyone how you're getting along afterwards.
I am pretty much always on a low fat low calorie diet and it's still hard for me to lose weight. I use to walk for an hour a day before all this started and that of course helped. I just worried that having my gallbladder out might make my metabolism slower or in some way make it harder to lose weight. I don't have that much weight to lose but I'm hoping that won't be a problem.
I'm not at the point that I need to go to the emergency room. As long as it doesn't get worse I can tough it out until next Monday. I will let everyone know how things go. Thanks for your comment😁