After years of discomfort I had my gallbladder removed in February this year, aparently there were no stones present but they found there was no blood supply to the gallbladder and it needed removing.
I did have to return to hospital as an emergency a week later and was found to have a haematoma which they left to dissapate naturally.
My problem is that I am still getting "Gallstone" attacks, the latest one has been going on for nearly two weeks now and seems to be getting worse, it even causes pain when I walk. I have seen the doctor and have an appointment to see someone at the upper GI cliniic on the 20th of next month (hope I can stand the discomfort that long), pain killers, even Tramadol don't take the edge of the discomfort so things are getting a little frustrating.
My question is, is this normal and can I expect any relief somehow in the near future?
we sound very similar ....Even down to the post op admission . My gallbladder was removed about 8 weeks ago and I'm still having a fair bit of pain in the upper rt quadrant , but from the sounds of it I think your pain is a little more intense .
I'm trying to convince myself that I'm still healing from surgery , but I don't seem to be improving .
I wish you all the best at your appointment , I hope you get some answers and if you do please let us know .
Hi Selenna did they check your bile duct before the operation? I had seven stones taken out to of mine a week before my GB op and I'm going for the camera tomorrow as they think I may still have a stone lurking three years later. Hope you get sorted soon xxxc
Although the pain is intense it isn't as bad as when I had the haematoma (fortunately), I'm going to give it a couple more days then see the doctor again next week if it persists.
Yes.....very uncomforable and frustrating when you expect to be pain free after the proceedure, at the moment it feels like I have half a house brick inside giving more pain towards the right side of my back, this is very similar to the attacks I got before the gallbladder emoval, of course I will post and let you know what developes, I have my holidays coming up next month but I'm not expecting it to be resolved before then unfortunately.
I have had the same attacks for years and a scan two years ago never showed anything up, surprisingly the scan last year showed three large stones but I was told there weren't any found on the galbladder removal.....maybe the little buggers were hiding and waiting to give me grief again, like now
It took me a full 2 month to recover and the surgeon and the GP kept telling me it would just take longer. However, the brother of a friend of ours, had a similar problem, was sent to a specialist at the Keck Center, USc and told immediately that his bile duct just needed flushing out and it would not be a problem. He is now doing fine. I think many of us who suffer may have or have had the same problem, but the surgeon refuses to recognize the condition. Good luck. 2 teaspoons of organic apple cider vinagre is also supposed to flush the duct, I think it helped me. Keep us posted.
Personally if tramadol arent touching the pain then there is something not quite right. Dont let them fob you off you know your own body and you know when something isnt quite right. If you are in alot of pain and cant cope with it keep going back to your doctor or the A/E department till they do something. Dont be suffering
Sorry you are struggling like this. I have no idea if this is normal or not. I had gallstones and had my gallbladder removed at tend of April. Keyhole surgery, no complications.
Oh well, I tried working for two days and had to give it up due to the pain/discomfort , I went to see the doctor again and he reckons it could be remnants left in the bile duct, the one good thing is that my hospital appointment is on the 2nd and not the 20th so at least I will see the specialist a bit sooner............then go on a waiting list for any proceeedures........Oh well, fingers crossed
At least you have got an idea of what is causing it now and fingers crossed what ever procedures they do will really help you and relieve you of pain. I have my appointment monday 22nd and as sad as it sounds i cant wait. Im not leaving till i get some answers or the professor says hes going to do further investigations keep us posted on how you get on
Well, I had my appointment with the specialist yesterday (The same person who performed the Cholecystectomy) and I have to say I'm a bit disappointed, I explained that I was still having severe discomfort/pains and expected some helpful advice, instead I was informed that this was a natural part of the healing process even after nearly six months, I did explain that sometimes the pain was so debilitating I could hardly walk, this didn't seem to faze him and again he said it was to be expected but would send me for a CT scan just to make sure there isn't an underlying problem but he expects this to be clear.
So now waiting for the scan and feeling a little bit down having the thought of this pain/discomfort for a while longer
I will post again when I have had the scan and any results are known.
I'm so sorry to hear that the consultant didn't have more answers . I know exactly what you mean when you say that he seemed unconcerned about the level of pain .....when I was admitted post op , my consultant also seemed unconcerned at my level of pain and seemed to think that is was fine , even though it took IV morphine, codine and IV paracetomol to get the pain under control .
Maybe it is semi positive news in so far as they have the experience of patients post op and maybe it just is very common to have these attacks in the first year post op? Although still can't get my head around how and why we are getting gallbladder type attacks , when we have no gallbladder !
Hope you get your scan soon , but if your pain gets intolerable then do go to A & E , as it will sort the pain most importantly but it would probably bump you up the queue for the scan . Best of luck .