I was diagnosed with gallstones last April via ultrasound, but I just had a CT scan done of the abdomen a few days ago, and it said
"CT does not show the gallstones of prior ultrasound."
Where did they go?? Why didn't they show up on the CT scan, but did last year on the ultrasound? I just posted a recent forum on here asking about gallbladder/gallstone removal, and chronic nausea.
Anyone else had this happen with a CT Scan?
I also have an enlarged liver of 19cm, which was only 18.8 cm last April when I had the ultrasound. Could the liver be causing my chronic nausea rather than the gallstones??
I still get pain after I eat or move around after I eat, or if I eat a fatty meal, so I'm assuming my gallstones are still present. I just wonder why
they would not show up on my CT scan.
I'm only a 21 year old female, obese but exercise quite frequently, non-smoker, non-drinker.
wow, never heard of this or know what you need to do. I would have a lab test for stones and changes in the liver.
Pray
It depends how big gallstones are adn exactly where they are.
I had ultrasound and was told I had one gallstone.
However when I had gallbladder removed they said there were several stones.
I think an MRI scan will pick up a stone that ultrasound may not.
I would not have thought it would be anything to do with your liver as it has not enlarged that much. However I am not a medical doctor.
Take care and keep in touch
Sarah
Maybe you have passed them? Normally the CT scan shows everything. Out of all the scans, the ultrasound is the least reliable.
Maybe your gallbladder is the issue, but you don't have any stones at present, or they are too small currently to show.
Good luck with everything
My sister said the same thing, along with my mom saying maybe I had passed them. It sure doesn't feel like it! I woke up this morning with upper back and stomach pain exactly like a gallstone attack and started sweating and getting shaky because it was so painful. I really doubt that I could pass this and still be severely nauseous every day. It's possible, but with the pain I still have and the nausea, it makes me doubt it. I also had the scan with the IV contrast or the liquid contrast. Would that have mattered?
All my blood tests come back perfect most of the time! So weird! Thank you.
Yeah, my sister and mom thought I had passed them. But why would I still be severely nauseous every day and have attacks most mornings if they were gone? So frustrating!
A CT scan is very unreliable for gallstones... especially if they are trapped near or around your billary ducts. Whixh if your still having symptoms , sounds like what is going on. You need to ask for a HIDA scan to determine what is the level of activity of your gallbladder. ... i had 0% movement in my HIDA Scan.. no bile or dye was moving through my gallbladder due to a very large stone blocking my billary duct.. which wasnt picked up in a ultrasound, ct scan or a mri..
Good luck to you. .
The iv contrast is used in ct scans. I've also had the contrast when I've had some mri scans.
Because your gallbladder is infected maybe? You can have gallstones without having an infected gallbladder.
Ooh that just sounds so nasty truvixxen. I hope you're all ok now.
Blondblonde, it sounds like you are going to definitely need to have more tests. Good luck
I meant WITHOUT the IV contrast or liquid. My mistake. I wonder if because I didn't have any of the contrast to show anything, maybe that's why they did not show up?
Maybe? Sounds like they need to do some proper tests on you. You are far too young to be having all this palavar.
Is there any way if I could know if it was my gallbladder that is infected? I was also told I had "Numerous mesenteric lymph nodes bigger ones in the order of 1 cm." from the CT scan. I just wonder if maybe I have a stomach infection which could be causing the intermittent pain?
I am going to try and ask for a HIDA scan next, but my doctor isn't very proactive in trying to solve any issue quickly, so it might take some begging to get him to request a HIDA scan. Thanks for the info, I will try the HIDA scan next.
I'm not sure. It should come up in the tests that they do.
That would be causing you issues I'd have thought.
It's terrible when you're poorly and you go for help and end up more confused etc than when you started.
I had gastritis last year and they took a swab when they put the camera thing done and it wasn't infected.
You don't realise until you get poorly how one things impacts on the other. Especially for women!
I read your post and replies with great interest. I have been so hoping that gallstones could just be expelled on their own account. My main symptom is the nausea too. I went about 11 days without it and kept hoping. Then without a good reason it all started up again. Also, my doctor is not proactive. He is a Family Practice doc, so have been thinking of going to GI specialist.
That is exactly what my primary doc suggested! I've already been to the recommended gastro, and she was horrible and didn't even seem concerned my liver was quite large! I doubt they could expel on their own very easily. That's just my personal opinion, and why I think I still have them despite the CT not seeing them. The nausea is terrible! Keeps me at home a lot. How would you describe your nausea? The nausea is typically my main symptom with my gallstones, but I had a stomach bug a few weeks ago, and now every other morning I get this upper stomach/back pain that is so severe I start sweating and feel like I'm going to vomit. It'll subside within 30 minutes typically, but it is such unbearable pain. I really couldn't think of it being anything other than gallstone pain. However, this pain is new and unlike my typical gallstone pain I've had on and off for the past 2 years, so it's kind of concering. I'm wondering if the stomach bug I had a few weeks ago left me with an infection of some sort that would cause my stomach to flare up in the morning.
I like my primary care doctor more, he seems more interested than specialists, but my insurance also doesn't cover specialists, so I don't go to them too often, especially since they're not doing anything to help me.
I can tell you I was pretty deathly Ill for up to 2 months prior to finally being diagnosed with gallbladder issues.... i actually thought it was a new medication that i had started that was causing me stomach issues .. i was having stomach pains ( felt like my stomach was almost eating itself constantly, would stop for a Lil bit after eating but start up 1/2 hour after i ate ) and then started progressing to what felt like chest pains... . During this time, i developed a consistent pain straight through to the middle of my back that never went away really. ... I started getting bouts of nausea throughout the day, and over 2 months i lost about 30+ pounds... in those 2 months i ended up in the hospital, i believe 3 times.. maybe 4... 2 times was for severe throwing up sessions(yellow bile), chills, sweating, excruciating pain on my right upper side, i ended up having to have a drain put in when they finally figured out it was a stone blocking the duct (which is a nightmare and 1 I don't recomend!!), but they said my gallbladder may be swollen and inflamed and needed to get the bile released so that it could be prepped for surgery and not infected.. and i had to deal with that for 2-3 weeks.. and then ended up in ER again for emergency surgery when i was screamimg in bed and couldn't even move due to horrible pain, chills, sweats again... such a nightmare... this was the day before thanksgiving and i still have small bumps in the road even after surgery that I'm dealing with... still not feeling 100% yet at all. But i hear gallbladder surgery is 1 of the most difficult 1s to recover from and does take awhile for your body to reset itself... definitely do not let the drs sit on their ass when it comes to your health!!! Regardless if it's the UK or not. .. i am in US which may be different. . But screw that. ..
That sounds horrible!!! I've had mine for about 2 years with severe upper stomach pain (under my breasts) that would go away if I sat down and I'd be good to go. As of now, my nausea is worse and every day, it does ease up on some days, but still makes it hard to do anything and go out to eat. I still have a massive appetite despite chronic nausea, so I haven't lost much weight unfortunately even though I exercise daily and have cut back a lot of the bad bad food. I still have a weakness for pizza. It's so weird, one morning I just slowly wake up and the pain slowly comes on as a stomach ache in a way, and then flares up completely in the upper back and stomach and i can't sit, stand, or go back to bed. It's horrible pain! Like I said, only this past two weeks has the pain been this severe where it absolutely would not go away. Before that, it was manageable. I'm wondering if my recent stomach bug made it flare up or caused an infection?
I'm so weirded out as to why it doesn't come right after dinner, but comes in the morning hours! The times I get it were once before dinner, and in the early AM (6-8AM). You think if it was gallbladder, it would come an hour or so after I ate, not 10 hours later, right? ha.
I have that same back pain! It's kind of always lingering in the background, waiting to flare up I guess! I haven't been to the hospital yet, but the episode I had this morning was quite severe I thought I might have too! The last time I was in the hospital was when I was born 21 years ago! So that's why I'm so hesitant to remove my gallbladder. I hear so many horror stories of chronic diarrhea and stuff, it makes me appreciate my chronic nausea. I just had my CT scan done and it didn't show anything blocking my ducts, so I'm just wondering where the pain is coming from if that is the case!
It's so horrible, I've never sweat because of being in pain and it's really scary when it won't ease up! Post op what are you able to eat? Did you have to really watch your diet? I hear it's a terrible surgery to recover from! I am also in the US! I've tried about 3-4 doctors, and two gastros who don't seem to care one bit about my massive liver or gallstones! Only option I have is surgery, which I'm pretty much not going to do right now. This might change when I get another attack, however. ha Yeah, to see a stomach specialist it is around $500 for a visit! so I try to get my primary care doc to order the tests, so they'll be cheaper! Any pain relief methods you tried? Food? Positions? anything to relieve the pain for a moment? Thank you for all your advice and info on your journey. So frustrating!!