Wondering if I may have gallbladder problems, thoughts?

Digestive health
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Let me start of by saying this may be a sort of long post, so for those of you who read it all THANKS! I'm a 24 yr old female, newlywed in June. I work in an office and haven't always eaten very healthy most of my life. (I like soda, junk food, coffee, pizza fast food, etc.) I was big into working out before I got married, but stopped going as much because of wedding planning. Wedding planning also caused lots of stress eating too, lol. Over the past year or more I've gained 20-25 pounds. The "happy" weight. 

Back in the middle of October, I could barely sleep one night and woke up about every hour feeling nauseous and would have diarrhea each time. I also had a lower right abdominal pain after that which would come and go and constipation that seemed to make the pain worse. Along with the pain I had a shooting pain/numbness off and on in my right leg, which my mom and aunt seemed to think was sciatica. 

To make a long story shorter, I had multiple tests done over the course of these last few months since October. 4-5 urine tests, blood tests for thyroid, gluten allergy, diabetes (runs in family), STD's, ultrasound, pelvic ultrasound, pelvic exam. All tests came back normal.

Was diagnosed with IBS and took something for that from my GI doc. Helped regulate my bathroom trips, but caused me chest pain/tightness that got me very nervous. I stopped taking that, but I started going to the bathroom more normally after that. My GP saw me and said she thought I had piriformis syndrome which was causing sciatica and gave me muscle relaxers and steroids which did help. She also told me to do stretches for it a few times a day, especially before and after working out. She also said my hips seemed a little uneven. I saw a chiropractor for that and it helped slightly. My guess is that the extra weight (which mostly went to my belly and legs) is what could be causing me pain near my right hip. 

So I decided after all that, maybe me being overweight and eating unhealthy was just causing me to have weird pains and things that I was not used to, since I have never really been overweight before. I started going to the gym more regularly and eating better. Still had coffee on most weekdays and pizza maybe once a week. (my husband and I's friday night date ritual) I was feeling better for a little bit. Then about 2 months ago one day I started feeling this dull ache under my right shoulder blade. I passed it off as maybe being a sore muscle from getting back into exercising. But after a couple weeks it didn't seem to improve even with limiting shoulder/back exercises.

Then I started to notice a pain on the right upper abdomen pretty much under the ribs and sometimes nausea and some heaviness/pressure in the upper abdomen/chest. (mostly right side) I heard those were symptoms of gallbladder issues from my cousin who had just had hers removed not long before that. I researched diets that are supposed to help with gallbladder pains and issues, and have been trying that, but was still experiencing the pain minus the nausea. One night I decided to test how my body reacted to Chick-Fil-A. About an hour after eating it, the pain got a lot worse, I was nauseous, had chills. I was up until about 2 am just feeling terrible. 

For those of you still following this... do these things seem like something wrong with my gallbladder? I even had an ultrasound of the upper right to check for gallstones and they didn't pick up anything. I know gallbladder problems can cause digestive issues sometimes and definitely the pain. I'm seeing my GI doc again tomorrow morning. I'm guessing he will want to have me get more tests done. I've been trying to do things naturally to help to maybe avoid any surgery, but it doesn't seem like it's helping. I've also lost about 3-5 pounds over the past couple of weeks from not wanting to eat. I still have an appetite, but I'm eating less because I don't want to cause too much pain. 

I'm emotionally overwhelmed. This is not exactly how you want to spend the first year of marriage because I am very happy with my husband. It's just been making everyday life activities hard. It's also been costing us a fortune for all these tests because my insurance has a large deductible. Which is making it frustrating not to get any results back after so much testing.

If anyone has any advice or just any kind words about all of this I would really appreciate it! 

Brittany 

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The dull ache in the right back shoulder blade a nausea were my primary symptoms.  No stones on ultrasound, ct scan, or hida scan.  Every time I ate I got nauseated, no vomiting just green feeling.  3 years later...25 thousand dollars out of pocket and a second hida scan showed my gall bladder was jacked, badly.  Got it taken out and have had no nausea since.  I would all but demand a hida scan,  Good luck and it sounds like you are young, get the weight off and keep it off....it gets so much harder to lose as you age.

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1) Rule out you dont have gastritis.

2)Rule out you dont have ibs

3)Do Hida scan for gallbladder function.

i head lot of bloating /burping  and acid reflux with neck and shoulder pain, intially these  problems occur when i eat outside and hida scan showed  the gallbladder is not working. after few years , the ultrasound showed gallstones. since i also have gastritis, doctors feel all my stomach issues will not be resolved. so haven't removed my gb yet. but removing the gb seems to be a only options, its like 50:50 chances of success rate. I see few positive stories things are fine for them and negative stories where things gone so bad after removal.

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Yes, I've definitely been planning on asking for the hida scan. I'm very tired of searching for whats wrong, but I know I need to keep trying because health is super important. I just hope the scan shows something. I'm still exercising about 4-5 days a week. Very low impact since I'm not eating enough to do anything hardcore. Thank you for the advice!! I'll post back sometime after my appointment tomorrow! 

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Ultrasounds don't always pick up on small stones and sludge, which can be just as damaging as gallstones.  I am wondering if your GI doc did a colonoscopy.  Also, IBS, whether IBS-C or IBS-D is a catch all diagnosis for many conditions that cause the primary symptom, constipation or diarrhea.  There is a gallbladder diet on this site, or you can try the FODMAP diet which you can find on line.  

I know that this is expensive, but you owe it to yourself to find out what's going on, sooner rather than later.  Best of luck to you.

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Yes I will definitely talk to my doctor about those. I don't really have much acid reflux. It tends to be mostly pain and some nausea. The pain gets a lot worse if I eat something fried or really fattening. I am definitely bloated a lot too. I don't believe I have IBS. My GI doc thought so 2 or 3 years ago, because I had lower right pain. I even had a colonoscopy back then, which showed nothing. After that test, I saw my gynecologist to rule out any female problems and I had a cyst. When all of this first started that was the first thing I thought of, because it happened before. And when I had that cyst, it caused me digestive issues along with the pain. But I had 2 ultrasounds and pelvic exams and they said they were normal. 

I've definitely heard that some people have problems after surgery (mostly online) but I know quite a few friends and family who have had their gb's removed and have felt way better afterwards. But of course if I could do something natural to help, I would love that. I'm just slightly hesitant to removing an organ just like that. The gallbladder does play a role in the body unlike for example the appendix. I guess it will all depend on how the next couple of tests turn out. Thank you, i'll post back sometime soon! 

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I had a colonoscopy about 3 years ago, but I wasn't experiencing the same symptoms, so back then, my GI dr said it was probably IBS. But then I had an ultrasound not long after my colonoscopy, and there was an ovarian cyst. And my gynecologist said that cysts can sometimes cause digestive issues. So I don't really believe I've ever had IBS. I'm thinking my doctor thought that's what it might have been since it was giving me those issues. But after I got on birth control to regulate my period (which is supposed to prevent the cysts) I really didn't have too many issues with digestion after that. I'm still going to really talk to my GI doctor in depth about different options and what tests beside the hida scan can be done now that I've already had so many. Thank you!

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As Lynda said, ultrasound doesn’t always picks up gallstones if there’s gas in your digestive system or if stones are small or there’s sludge. You may not have gallstones at all of course, but you could still have a problem with your gallbladder. A HIDA scan will show if your gallbladder isn’t functioning. 

Some of your early symptoms I don’t recognise as being gallbladder related, but pain in right upper quarter, right shoulder blade, nausea and the feeling of pressure are all indicative of gallbladder issues. Also diarrhoea, especially if the onset is sudden and after eating, greasy and yellowish in colour and containing undigested food is a classic symptom. Sorry to be so graphic.

My advice is to ask for a HIDA scan and switch to a low fat diet to try and control your symptoms. Hope you finds answers soon.

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I think most people that have GB removal are successful,   They go about their lives and  don't return to the medical boards to report their stories of success.  You only read the bad stories....it sort of slants the view.

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Saw my GI today. He said it definitely seems like something is up with my gallbladder. Possibly biliary dyskinesia. He gave me a referral to have  hida scan/GB ejection fraction that I'm going to schedule soon. Will post back with how the test results turn out. 

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Thank you. I didn't even have to ask to have hida scan today when I saw my GI. He listened to what I was going through, and since he already knew about my ultrasound being negative for stones, said I should have hida scan. So hopefully that will happen within the next couple weeks. Going to try to schedule that soon on my lunch break at work. But I will definitely stick to a low fat diet until then. I've already been doing that and I'm still having a dull pain basically all day. I'm sure it would be a lot worse if I wasn't sticking to that. haha

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Initially i was diagnosed with  with bilary dyskensia as my Gallbladder was working 0%. I did not remove, i had low fat/protein diets which indeed helped me to keep under control of the issues.(but my B12 was so low though) But i took advantage of it and had lot of restaurant foods which now ended up with gallstones.I also know many of my friends who removed the gb due to extreme stone pain and they are really doing great.I met those persons and their recovery looks great. So if you have only pain and bloating on the gallbladder area, it seems we have good sucess rate, but if you have other issues associated like gastritis,ibs,etc ..then still you might have digestion issues after surgery.

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Yes, I definitely think the pain is the worst part. Back in october I did have digestive issues, but I feel like they've been better when I got back into exercising and are still not too bad. The pain is the biggest thing that's just become hard to live with and interrupting my daily activities. I just want to see how the scan goes and just go from there.

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true .. personally i met many who removed GB, they are doing great. But majority i met are straight forward cases like they had severe gb pain and removed it. I would love to hear from folks who had digestion issues for some time  and finally found low functioning gb and after removing it they are doing great or not. Any one with this scenario and doing great ?

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Did you read my post about Ursodioxycholic acid tabs?   A gastroetrologist should be seen I would have thought in your case but I am not suggesting it is your gall bladder that is at fault but beware of registrars who say Urso = I've not heard of that one because in the USA it is used widely and even here in the UK it seems to be Chemists that know that Urso will dissolve stones providing the are cholesterol type stones.

That method suited me but I understand some doctors are unaware of them or say that they might not work but for me they did work and I still have my symptomless gall bladder with two small stones in it.

The first job I would have thought is to get a good doctor to diagnose accurately your problem but don't give up without being determined to resolve your heath problem = you are only here once. Eat healthy food as well  = an apple a day etc..........

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I live in the USA and from what I understand, these tablets aren't suggested by gastroenterologists or widely prescribed.

One fellow wrote into this site from Hawaii.  He suggested that to his doctor and his doctor told him he'd have to use the tablets for approximately 2 years--and cautioned him that the side effects from the medication could become quite severe--there was no way to tell if it would dissolve the stones, even after taking them to two years.  

Also, though stones were dissolved, your body will continue to make them. I'm glad that you're doing well and taking great care of yourself, but do be careful in the future. 

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I was prescribed ursodiol prior to my gall bladder removal.  After reading the side effects I did not take them.  I figured I lived with it for a couple of years...a few weeks more would be bearable.

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Some of the statements told by doctors may not be true because  I took ursodioxycholic for a year and it worked. Did you know that Chemists on occasion know more about tablets thatn doctors hence three chemists said = "of course ursodioxycholic acid tabs dissolve cholesterol stones".

I took urso for a year and did not and thereafter do not have any symptoms that was killing me!

Did you notice that I sated that liver function tests must be done? There are many types of doctor

and there are some of that fraternity who are best avoided. You would not think that wouold be true but it is.   I am a living example of the fact that I still have my gall bladder with no inflamation and instead of 5 stones there are two which cause no symptoms. I found it a diabolical task  finding a doctor to tell me what my problem was and the problem was obvious when it eventually was diagnosed then came the uneducated registrar who knew zero about Ursodioxycholic acid........   I am now wary of all advisors but choose to thoroughly research into every aspect possible before and especially a removal operation.

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I am glad that they worked for you.  I think one reason they're not widely prescribed is the side effects.  Some people don't want to take the risk.  

And you're correct.  Trying to find a doctor that's willing to help is like crossing a minefield.  I had to beg a surgeon to remove my gallbladder in the US.  When he did it was filled with very small stones and sludge--they hadn't shown up on ultrasounds.  xx

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i do some research articles stating that it dissolves within 15 months and majority of digestion issues caussed by gb is resolved. what are the side effects of using these tablets ?