Hi Jenlyn, I've had something similar going on. I had gallstones seen on a scan 10 years ago when having the scan for other reasons. At the time as I was not surpirsed as I had terrible heartburn and indigestion, but the other matters took precedence and nothing was suggested to be done re the gallstones. Then last year, after a lot of health troubles, and suffering concussion, my digestion went into crisis. Again I had a us scan, gallstones still there, as the symptoms went quieter, Dr said watch & wait. By Nov, I was very unwell and had a CT and gastroscopy when the HH & a diverticula were noticed. Gallstones were blamed for the pain and bloating, nausea etc. I also had palpitations, dizziness, could not eat or sleep and ended up in A & E a couple of times as so severe. Also had terrible migraine at the same time.
The best they could suggest was to remove the GB to see if this would help matters as it was not working well, liver enzymes were a little raised. But the drs did not reckon my smallish HH could be causing the trouble. As I've seen on these groups that HH can cause symptoms similar to GB I was unsure whether to go ahead and have surgery on GB as you hear some very negative after stories.
I also felt I may have a small intestine bacterial overgrowth (SIBO) due to the extreme gas and bloating and this has improved a tad with taking various supplements. It does not seem uncommon to have both conditions with or without other digestive issues.
Have any of your symptoms changed due to the HH operation? I'm STILL waiting for GB surgery, that is too long a story which I have posted previously. This has been one of the worst years I have ever had and my heart goes out to anyone with these conditions, they are so debilitating and seem difficult to diagnose or resolve for some of us. I have since heard of someone who had both ops HH and GB done at the same time, not sure if this is very frequently done.
I don't know that any of this can be of help to you, other than that you will know you are not entirely alone having had both conditions. Most people on groups find the actual GB surgery relatively easy - they say - some do really well after, others not so much, but then the ones with ongoing issues are more likely to report them, the others just are living their lives.
Are you thinking of having GB surgery? In the meantime you will know that some foods, esp fats may cause bother - we all have different triggers to avoid it seems. For me, this means nearly everything! It has been so difficult but I have managed - well, no choice really.
There are things which may help, like buscopan and cider vinegar which some swear by, others use digestive enzymes and bile salts etc. Again it is trial and error mostly.
I hope things will go well for you, take care.