Gallstones

ellaxo1 · September 2015

Hey girls! I had been getting extremely sick since Sunday. I talked to my nurse yesterday and was told I was ok if I could keep something down, however I was no longer able to so she told me to go to OB ER for possible IV fluids. I went and was extremely dehydrated and also found out that I have small gallstones. Just wondering if anyone has had experience with this and what foods/remedies you use? I know about changing my diet to not eat fatty or greasy foods, just wondering if anyone had any advice. Thanks!

slstickn84 · September 2015

There have been no peer reviewed studies showing that diet/nutrition can treat symptomatic gallstones. Changing your diet will not make them go away or even necessarily reduce the symptoms you are experiencing. A reduced fat diet can help to prevent new gallstones from forming, but if you are prone to developing gallstones, it's likely that you will have more.

There are two main methods of treatment for symptomatic gallstones: non-surgical therapy (desolving with bile salt or ursodiol) or through the removal of the gallbladder. This is something to discuss further with your OBGYN. I had my gallbladder removed because of the presence of symptomatic gallstones, but that was before I was pregnant.

Talk to your doc.

SisterSunshine · September 2015

Well, I had terrible attacks 4 nights a week, got an ultrasound, and was told to make a appointment with the surgeon. The next day I changed my diet to whole food plant based no oil, and have not had an attack in two years since that day. Last week I had an MRI for an unrelated issue and they told me I still have the stones. But i am completely asymtomatic. Obviously each person is different. But tons of people live with stones, never even knowing it, because.if they're not a problem, they're not a problem.

Sully314 · September 2015

I had an attack years ago and was told if it happened again, they'd take my gallbladder out. I woke up every morning feeling super sick for a couple months but never had another attack and have been fine ever since.

A friend of mine had to have her gallbladder taken out at 7 months pregnant and had a baby at home too. It was horrible but they were able to do it. But that was only because the gallbladder was very inflamed and blocked.

All that I know that you can do at this point is to watch your diet. They put me on medication but I wasn't pregnant so I'm not sure that's available to you.

Good luck! I feel for you! It's a horrible thing to deal with.

lemasted · September 2015

I had my first gallbladder attack after my daughter was born, and the doctor at the ER told me that it's really common in pregnant women or women who just had babies. I changed my diet, but still had 2 more attacks within 2 months, so they decided to do the surgery. I had the surgery when my daughter was 3 months and I was breastfeeding and every thing turned out ok. I would recommend changing your diet now, but possibly plan to get it removed after having your baby.

ellaxo1 · September 2015

slstickn84 said:
There have been no peer reviewed studies showing that diet/nutrition can treat symptomatic gallstones. Changing your diet will not make them go away or even necessarily reduce the symptoms you are experiencing. A reduced fat diet can help to prevent new gallstones from forming, but if you are prone to developing gallstones, it's likely that you will have more.

There are two main methods of treatment for symptomatic gallstones: non-surgical therapy (desolving with bile salt or ursodiol) or through the removal of the gallbladder. This is something to discuss further with your OBGYN. I had my gallbladder removed because of the presence of symptomatic gallstones, but that was before I was pregnant.

Talk to your doc.

Thank you for replying! I kind of saw that when I was researching about foods to eat. I guess the only thing I can do is at least change what I can to see if it helps. That's what the doctor recommended and said it was possible to do the surgery when pregnant but only if it was absolutely necessary. Hopefully that does not happen. If you don't mind me asking how was the surgery and recovery?

ellaxo1 · September 2015

Thanks girls! @SisterSunshine I am going to just try changing my diet to see if that works. @Sully314 hopefully I get lucky and it doesn't keep happening! Did you change anything about your diet? @lemasted what was your recovery time? I was worried about not being able to bf if I had it done after but it's good to hear that shouldn't be a problem.

ariasbabyblog · September 2015

I was just dealing with this actually, only I didn't have stones yet, just sludge. My first attack was at 15 weeks, and my OB said I could get the gall bladder out then, wait and see what happened, or wait until after the pregnancy to get the gall bladder out. We opted to get the gall bladder out at 17 weeks. I posted about it on TB here and here.

Not having to worry about my gall bladder anymore (which was apparently a non-presenting chronic problem) is a nice lack of stress. My recovery has been very good and my only lifestyle change is I need to pay attention a little more to what I eat or I am prone to bile re-flux which until this happened I didn't know was a thing.

mrscammack · September 2015

I had my gallbladder removed at 19 after about 6 months of unbearable attacks. I was told once you start experiencing symptoms the only real option is surgery however dietary changes can keep the attacks under control in some cases if you are opting to wait for the surgery (like until after baby is born). My doctor said she has never heard of a proven successful treatment for gallstones that completely corrects the issue other than the surgery, but luckily it's a super easy and low risk procedure. Hopefully your dietary changes can keep the pain and symptoms at bay until you have baby and are able to have the gallbladder removed. Good luck!

lemasted · September 2015

It was an outpatient surgery, so we just had a set of the grandparents watch my DD that night & I had to pump and dump I believe 24 hours after the surgery because of the meds, but then I was good to go. I had my surgery on 12/21 and was ready to go for Christmas. You do not have any dietary restrictions post surgery, so I was able to enjoy all the yummy Christmas food

slstickn84 · September 2015

Surgery and recovery were super easy. It's all done laparoscopically now, so you end up with a few small incisions and they heal pretty quickly. There is an activity restriction and weight lifting restriction (no lifting 25 lbs or more for a couple of weeks), as with any abdominal surgery. But, it's really not that bad. I don't think I even used the pain meds the doc prescribed.

Hipshaker · September 2015

I had a gallbladder attack during my eight month that sent me straight to the er. I had contractions from the pain and stress. My pain scale was a ten! I thought something had ruptured. I continued to have sever attacks after my daughter was born. Eating any type of fat caused spasms. I had no go on a non fat diet prior to having surgery at 3m post c-section! Did I mention I was breastfeeding! Chicken salad would cause spasms! I could only eat beans and tuna to keep
Up with calorie demands. I was 27 and healthy. 50% of my first cousins have gallbladder issues including, removal in high school. 3 of my 4 siblings are having issues, failure stones attacks. Bad genes I guess. My doctor told me once it starts giving you issues there's really only one fix. Removal.

sumer78 · September 2015

I had pains in my 4th pregnancy and I never got them checked out. The pain always subsided and eventually went away. I am now pregnant with my 5th and the pain started again very sever early in the pregnancy. After the first few attacks I went to the ER. They did an ultrasound and told me I have gallstones and sludge so I needed to eat a low fat diet and I should be able to control it for the remainder of the pregnancy and they sent me home with medicine. Two months later the pain was so bad I was nearly passing out and lasted for hours and the medicine was not helping. To add to it at that point it did not matter what I ate, it all caused me to have an attack. I went to the ER because I could keep nothing down. They did another ultrasound and found that not only was my gallbladder infected I had also passed stones. I was in the hospital for 5 days and on iv antibiotics and ended up doing surgery to remove it at 18 weeks. I would advise you to keep an eye on it. I was told I would be fine and after two months had to have surgery. Make sure they monitor you and do blood tests often if you are in pain too much or if the pain does not subside after an hour.

ellaxo1 · September 2015

I truly appreciate everyone's help! I will just have to monitor and see what happens! Thank you all so much.

LEF1026 · September 2015

Curious...what did these pains feel like?!

ellaxo1 · September 2015

LEF1026 said:
Curious...what did these pains feel like?!

I have heard that usually the pain is really really intense. However for me I had slight abdominal pain and a lot of burning. I only found out because I could not keep food or water down and had to go to the ER for fluids. Once I described my symptoms there I was given an ultrasound of my gallbladder because the nurse said it sounded exactly how she described her pain when she had stones. Luckily I didn't have the intense pain, but it seems like a lot of the time there is a lot of pain to where you will know if you are having an attack. A friend from school just had his out in an emergency and he said the pain beforehand was really bad.

Want a personalized experience?

Gallstones

Re: Gallstones

Choose Another Board

Search Boards