Gallbladder issues
Mouseygail
member
Have any of you had them? I had these "attacks" for a few years
where I would have this pain in my abdomen and through to my back..and
they would spasm and slowly get worse over a few hours until I was
throwing up with each spasm. I went to the ER the first time it
happened because I couldn't stop and they told me that it was likely
"sludge" in my gall bladder and that they couldn't see any stones. So
i left it at that and it stopped happening after a while. It happened
again Tuesday night, after a lovely 4 year break without them. and my
stomach has been hurting on and off again todaysince lunch. If it gets any worse, I am going to the ER to hopefully see what is going on for sure (and to try and avoid another hellish night like Tuesday).
ok...here are my questions:
If you have had gallbladder issues, what did it feel like?
What did your doc do about it?
and, just because i worry about everything down the road...how long might i be forced to TTA if i did have to have it removed?
Re: Gallbladder issues
I had gallstones about 2 years ago the weekend after Thanksgiving. It was HORRIBLE!
For me it was a pain in the chest that went through me and out my right shoulder blade. Pain woke me up at 2am two mornings in a row.
I called my doctor office described what was happening they had me come in immediately. He did a general examination and said he suspected gallstones. He sent me for an ultrasound the next day and sure enough there they were.
The gallbladder surgery was 2 weeks later, meanwhile still waking up in 2am in ABSOLUTE PAIN. It took me two weeks to recover but I also had an allergic reaction to the pain medication I received so I think that added to the healing time. It is a pretty simple surgery, I think typical recovery time is 4 days.
Are you noticing the pain after you eat fatty food? How about at 2am (or so)? I guess those are very telltale signs...
Hope this helps!
Number two
What did your doc do about it? REMOVE IT
and, just because i worry about everything down the road...how long might i be forced to TTA if i did have to have it removed? it's removed laproscopically and you're typically out and about within 3 days.
my case was different. . . i was having pains for months. the first time i thought i was having a heart attack. it was so scary. i found that laying on a heating pad would help at times with the pain. so i did this . . . until one day it just wouldn't go away. went to the ER - turned out my gallbladder was SO FULL that it was leaking into my common bile duct giving me Pancreatitis. on top of that i had a bad case of bronchitis. SO i was in the hospital over a week before they'd even operate. and then longer recoup time b/c of the pacreas. and at the time i worked in an autistic preschool so they made me stay a little longer than usual. my total time out of work was a month.
GOOD LUCK to you! If it is your gall bladder and you catch it now, you'll be able to take care of it w/o trouble.
I hope you feel better soon!
Tara & Dave - TTC since September 2006
PCOS - dx 1999 (amenorrhea) | freakishly long fallopian tubes
Hypoglycemic | thyroid issues | severely anemic
Multiple Clomid cycles of 50, 100, 150 - absolutely no response
Follistim 50/100 | Follistim 75/125 | Follistim 100/150 IUI - all BFNs
Converted IVF - BFP - m/c | FET - BFN | IVF #2 = BFN
IVF #3
this is EXACTLY when i had my attack that landed me in the hospital! and i definitely think it has to do with all the fatty food eaten that week!
Tara & Dave - TTC since September 2006
PCOS - dx 1999 (amenorrhea) | freakishly long fallopian tubes
Hypoglycemic | thyroid issues | severely anemic
Multiple Clomid cycles of 50, 100, 150 - absolutely no response
Follistim 50/100 | Follistim 75/125 | Follistim 100/150 IUI - all BFNs
Converted IVF - BFP - m/c | FET - BFN | IVF #2 = BFN
IVF #3
hmm..that's the part that doesn't fit with me right now...it struck again when i changed my diet to whole grains and such..i haven't been eating anything greasy or fatty. Thanks for sharing your experiences ladies! (mine does always strike in the middle of the night though...)
Mine was removed November 2007 but I didn't have gallstones, mine was diseased and only functioning 20-30%. I was vomiting up almost everything I ate and was in constant pain. It took my doctors 4 months to dx me and this is why I hate AR doctors. lol
I wasn't able to do much for about 3 days afterward and I think it took a week or so before I felt 100% painfree but that was only from my incision sites. I was able to eat again without vomiting and was so happy!
Me: PCOS/Amenorrhea DH: Azoospermia due to Y Chromosome Micro Deletion IVF w/ ICSI on hold until further notice
Hope
I don't know how much help I'll actually be because I had gallbladder issues 11 years ago. After months and months of pain to the point of vomiting after eating anything really high in fat (which is my whole diet!) I went to the doctor. What did my doctor do? He yelled at me.... I was chock-full of gallstones. So many they could not be passed or zapped so the gallbladder had to be removed. The surgery was out patient and at this point, the scars are not even visible.
Sorry, I told you I probably wouldn't be much help.
I had mine out 8 years ago, laproscopically.
My symptoms, for about two years: thrubbing, sharp pain on the right side, just under the ribs. It would often band around to my back and up between my shoulder blades. It was terrible. If I ate fatty foods it would really get me.
I ended up going to the ER one night (an ex BF came and drove me, since I didn't tell him no, he forced me to go) because I'd been having an attack for 14 hours. Ultrasound showed stones, and my white cell count was up indicating injection. So they admitted me and took it out the next day!
I've been much better since then, I occasionally get a twinge where the bile dumps straight into the intestine, and if I eat super greasy food then it goes straight through me, but I've lost my taste for really greasy food, to be honest. So it's all good.
HOnestly, if you're going to need it out, I'd want to get it out. The recovery isn't bad -- I was back at work within a week. And pregnancy can exacerbate gallbladder disease.