Seeing specialist tomorrow & worried about GB removal

Digestive health
1

I've read many posts on here and share a lot of the same angst and thoughts.

After 3 strange attacks at the start of the year I went to the doctors. In brief, high liver function results led to a scan which showed gallstones.

I previously have suffered with Reflux but had been ok/managed it for 8 years without being on antacids all the time.

After reading around and seeing the doc it was clear the attacks were biliary colic. But, along with the attacks, I have long periods, generally weeks where I feel uncomfortably bloated, always burping and a general nausea feeling.

After seeing the specialist the first time, we agreed to try omeprezole for two months to see if it was acid that was giving me the bloated symptons and he arranged for an endoscopy to check if there was anything else going on down there!.

All was great for the first month, a lot less bloating, but a few weeks ago I had another attack and the bloating has come back and stayed since.

I finished the omeprezole prescription 2 days ago and the bloating is particularly bad today. Not sure if they're related or not!

My main concern is that If I have my GB out (which I'm quite opposed to but accept it may have to go) it may stop the attacks but I fear I'll still have the bloating and may even gain some other symptoms such as diarrhoea, discomfort and restricted eating patterns. The bloating and nausea are far more troublesome than the attacks as they just cloud so many days. The attacks, though very painful, last only an hour. If it wasn't for the risk of one getting stuck i'd be tempted to live with it and focus on the bloating.

Writing this has been good as I've probably just answered my own question. I guess it's better to remove the attacks by having my GB out and if the bloating persists, I can see about treating that separately.

I just wish they could take out the offending gallstones and leave my gallbladder!

I'd love to hear if anyone else has managed to control the continuous bloating/burping/nausea and if this stopped when their GB was removed.

2

For me unfortunately not but do not regret having gallbladder out. If you don't, believe me that things could get a lot worse. I never want to go through that again. You get used to keeping low fat and eventually eating gets more normal. The wind is a problem but baby gripe water gives some relief and getting someone to rub the area which feels most full of wind. Usually results in a loud burp!

3

Thanks Gemini,

The specialist pretty much said that the bloating may not go. My extreme bloating does seem to follow an attack, I guess I don't understand why after many doc visits, a scan, an endoscopy and two visits to a specialist why no real help is being given on the bloating side either as a physical treatment or suggestions to what is causing it.

The GB removal is booked in for July so I'll just have to wait and see :?

4

Well, I have posted my reecnt experience, and I really had no choice but to have the gallbladder removed.

It really can cause you more problems that its worth in the long run. If it is currently making you suffer and impacting on your life, then removal might be the only thing that will help.

Despite a few other complications, since the surgery a month ago I've not had any digestive problems at all - no indegestion, acid reflux, bloating, diarhorrea, nothing at all.

I haven't felt this well in ages and am pretty much eating whatever I want. I even had Pizza and Ice Cream the other night! I haven't eaten either in nearly two years.

Now I can go on holiday and not worry about eating or getting ill. I feel like I finally have my life back.

5

I am also in same situation - debating to get my gallbladder removed as attacks can be so painful and effect the days you suffer with them - they wipe me out and i feel i miss a whole day after an attack - what with having to take strong painkiller codeine ffor the awful pain they cause..

Mine started while pregnant with my son and although on being diagnosed with GS after his birth i changed my diet, was very strict i realised lately i am slipping on watching diet and again the attacks have started sad

I have also heard the removal can cause problems with your digestive system but to be honest the pain has got that bad lately that i need to get my courage up and get the op done i think!

good luck and its nice to think alot of others have their own worrys with the gallstone problems and am not being as silly as i think!!

6

It's been helpful to read others responses and own experiences on this site.

Op day is looming and I'm so anxious that I've been trying to figure out what I'm anxious about. It's the not knowing how I'll be after the op. Where does the bile go if not into the gallbladder? Will it damage other parts eg my liver? Should I have tried a natural 'flush' first or is it really just a load of tripe that the stones removed have come from the gallbladder or liver.

Has anyone tried the flush and had a scan after to show they've really gone?

Am I clutching at straws?

Still, better to air my thoughts than leave them fermenting

7

i would avoid a flush at this stage - you have had a number of attacks and now have a diagnosis. if you flush you will irritate the gallbladder further causing it to contract and expell stones. one or two of the stones could get stuck and cause you even more problems!

i had an attack (not flush induced) that caused a stone to become stuck, and as a result i became very ill - oddly enough the obstruction squashed a nerve and stopped me feeling any pain in the area. i very quickly became jaundiced and had serious complications when i eventually had my surgery.

having said that - it is over 4 years since my surgery, i can eat and drink what i like and 99.9% i have no problems - the only time i do is if i overdo on a night out - as a result of my gallstone obstruction i have a very slighty reduced liver function - i forget after 2 large glasses of wine that a curry aint a good idea!! i suffer the next day more than i used to. but generally ok otherwise.

do you have an idea when your op may be yet?

all the best

vix

8

I appreciate the comments vixen. I should be having the op next week but I have just postponed it. My reaction to the thought of the op has been such that I need a bit more time - hopefully only a few months.

It will be better all-round if I can be more positive about it.

I'm generally quite rational but it goes out the window with anything medically orientated so I've decided to get some help to try and overcome that.

I saw a Gastroenterologist yesterday to try and understand the bloating better and it's been suggested that because I have reflux and gallstones that it's likely I'll have Diverticular, or it could be IBS.

So, plan now is that I'll take Omeprezole for the acid and an IBS drug to see if that will ease the bloating which is my personal main concern.

fingers crossed smile

thanks again for your replies

9

I am sure that Vixen and others will have the same view as me that it is not a good idea to miss the opportunity to have out your gallbladder. Once the attacks start things can get worse very quickly. For some of us it meant dramatic weight loss and change of appearance to the extent that friends were really concerned. Waiting and being on Omeprazole will not help the attacks. I had mine out in April 2009 and I feel so much better but because of underlying existing conditions I still have a lot of wind and another gastroscopy showed bile trapped in the hiatus hernia, which may explain the nausea and milky reflux I have had. I see the specialist on the 20th.

Please don't delay the removal. Take time to recover. I had more pain with my hernia op in December 2009 than I did with the gallbladder removal! The Gallstones attacks are horrid and can get much worse.

10

For a better chance of a full recovery get the useless thing out asap :ok:

11

So very sorry for this looonngggg post - but I hope it helps a little. Feel free to private message me if you want to talk to someone who understands, Medicalcoward.

I really feel for you Medicalcoward, and I think for you to have postponed the op, was probably the best thing if you have an anxious mind - yes, you do pose a big risk to your health by doing so, but at the end of the day, it is YOUR health and this is a big step, so your mind needs to be ready too, for your own good.

I want to tell you about my experience. I don't know but it might help. I had my GallBladder out on 22nd June. I was terrified. I have OCD so that threw a massive spanner into the picture but I was always in pain, and regular attacks, and bloating. But I was absolutely petrified, to the point of not being able to do anything else, with myself, and all I could think of was the lack of happy healthy future. I was stuck. It was a case of the fear of returning to the days when IBS ruined my life, and explosive Diarrhea was a daily threat and often occurance. I did not relish the thought of repeating that for the rest of my life.

I had the first op scheduled in June 2009, but the previous surgeon cancelled for various reasons. Then with the new surgeon, on 22nd December 2009 was when the hospital cancelled. But I am so glad it did. By that time I was so terrified I hadn't been able to drink much water, and hadn't eaten for a week, and basically mentally fell apart. I don't think I would have made a good recovery back then. The next was 27th April 2010, this was hospital cancelled also. No reason given, just was. So then roll on to the 22nd June 2010. I can honestly say, I think it was perfect timing now. All the delays, meant I could get my head round it, and accept that the only way to be free of the pain and daily discomfort free, was to take the gamble. I had time to self examine myself, my past health, and decide that, as the past didn't exactly work out too well for me health wise, what had I got to lose. Also the fact that I spent the last 3 years living on virtually solely plain fresh, lean grilled Chicken Fillets, and once a week some tinned pasta, with water and Copella English Apple Juice to wash it down....let's face it, if I could even add a slice of bread to that it would be a treat! Lol.

The thing is - the future IS scary. We have no control and there is no turning back if we get the problems, and the horror stories that we've all read about. It's that lack of control that we are chancing our lives and happiness, that makes it worse for us. But the nature of humans is to seek and find in the face of adversity (think how you found this forum!) - and I've no doubt that if the problems would persisit, then we will keep seeking solutions to solve them or make them managable. And as for the horror stories there ARE ways to make it easier. In fact - a few people who told me \"don't do it - your world will be doomed!\", upon questioning, it wasn't like that - the problem was that, they were so afraid of the symptoms that their nerves took over and made them homebound in some cases, and gave them other complications. So it made me realise just how important my mind power really is, in all this. And I am so grateful for the time I had to realise that.

The thing I noticed by the second day after surgery the most, is how well I actually felt. I did have a major IBS flare-up which mentally threw me sideways, and I did get that \"OH NO! I shouldn't have done it!\" feeling, but I read up on my IBS medication. I was on Buscopan, and learnt that Buscopan is processed by the Liver, and at the moment, my poor Liver is learning how to divert the Bile into my guts, instead of it's previous route of up through a riverbed of impacted stones, into the impacted Gallbladder, and on through another impacted tube, into my stomach. No-one told me that little gem, about the Liver processing my IBS m

12

i dont mean to worry anyone - but it took me 7 months to get an op date - due to having ERCP and the first 2 attempts being unsuccesfulland having to wait 3 months for being listerd for a 3rd attempt ... they would not list me due to swelling for 3 months for a lap choly - i was listed for day surgery in a cottage hospital 30 miles from home (only did day surgery and elderly care) i was a classic for day surgery appaently (local hospital did pm lists only and required overnight stay) . i got a date 2 weeks after the date i had my surgery but did not discuss it with my boss as she was on holiday - by the end of the week i had been offered a date due to a cancelation 2 weeks earlier so this was the date i gave my boss when she arrived back at work.

by the time i had my surgery they could not see with the laproscope due to adhesions caused by chronic infection, once they opened me up proper i had signs of gangreen of my gallbladder - my op took 7 hours instead of the hour i was listed for!! my surgeon told me it was a good thing a cancellation had come up as left 2 weeks i would have been fighting for my life in ITU!!

at the time i had surgery i was feeling well - no one, not even the medics - knew how ill i really was.

as a result i was an inpatient for 6 days on a eldely care ward where all the other ladies were suffering altzimers!!

13

[quote:755ed6b08e=\"medicalcoward \"]

I saw a Gastroenterologist yesterday to try and understand the bloating better and it's been suggested that because I have reflux and gallstones that it's likely I'll have Diverticular, or it could be IBS.

That's exactly what I was DX with.

My GB removal is next week, and I am nervous about it.

I have had 1 ultrasound which showed multiple gallstones, and 1 CT scan looking at the pancreas etc, plus 1 thoracic spine x-ray and now the op to have the keyhole surgery to remove the GB. Do you think I have had enough tests prior to them making a decision to go for the op?