September 2015 Moms
LoveLee85
member
Options
Gallbladder issues, seeking advice from someone who has experienced it
LoveLee85
member
I have a dr appt tomorrow AM. I am sick constantly. Kept thinking I was getting food poisoning after eating, yet DH and I eat the exact same thing and he's fine. It's been happening nonstop for about 12 weeks. Horrible(worse than giving birth) pain with no relief. Vomit and diarrhea nonstop, especially diarrhea after I eat anything. Sorry TMI. Horrible bloat and belching. I'm terrified to eat anything. I'm scared to leave the house incase I have a episode and there's no toilet around?! No I'm not pregnant tools test today. Negative as can be and haven't missed a cycle. I'm just terrified to have my gallbladder removed. No diet seems to help. Anyone had similar issues after LO born??
Re: Gallbladder issues, seeking advice from someone who has experienced it
I had episodes of horrible abdominal pain starting around 4 or 5 weeks post partum along with diarrhea pretty much anytime I ate. Oddly enough I did figure out the episodes of pain happened everytime I drank TEA of all things! But anyway, a change in diet helped some with some of the issues but not enough to stop the diarrhea or pain completely.
I ended up in the E.R. Doubled over in pain so bad I vomited in the parking lot on the way in. That was about 5 months after the very first episode. I ended up with an ultrasound and some bloodwork 2 days later that confirmed inflammation of my gallbladder and gallstones. I had my gallbladder removed about 3 weeks later and that was significantly less stressful and scary than the csection I had when my son was born.
You're not supposed to lift anything above a certain weight for a couple of weeks (I believe it's 5 or 10lbs) but being a sahm means that was COMPLETELY unrealistic for me- which I informed my doctor of upfront. He put a couple of extra stitches in my belly button incision to help kind of reinforce it.
Day 1 after surgery wasn't really an issue, day 2 I felt like absolute garbage and was very sore and tired, day 3 less so but still sore and tired, day 4 I was pretty much back to normal. I still had bouts of diarrhea for about a month after the surgery (doctor will warn you that this is totally normal as your body is now digesting without the use of stored bile in the gallbladder to help breakdown certain foods) but no worse than before it and now my digestion is back to normal and I don't have to worry about being close to a bathroom after every snack or meal. I feel SO much better- like I honestly didn't even realize how bad I felt until I had it done.
best of luck to you, momma! I know surgery and anything like that can be scary and you'll be nervous but if that's what you need to have done it will be over before you know it and you will feel tremendously better.
I have some allergic reactions to certain foods...started when I was a teenager out of the blue. I have problems with stone fruits (nectarines, peaches, cherries, etc), HUGE issue with broccoli, avocado, cabbage. I kept thinking maybe I was just getting super sensitive to certain foods again. But it seems like it can happen with anything now! I had a little frozen broccoli a few weeks back (was usually ok if it was frozen and steamed like crazy) about an hour later I was SO sick. Major pain, sweating, ended up vomiting a few times.
My mom had her gallbladder removed when I was in high school. Anything fatty triggered major issues with her, and things like popcorn and cucumbers.
That sounds exactly like me...I'm so sorry. The pain is so beyond. I was actually hitting the wall and screaming last time. No joke. Then the vomit started.@Imbrandt
The surgery really isn't that bad. I had minor complications and had to have a drainage tube in for a couple of days. Once they took that out though, it was an easy recovery. The drainage tube isn't very common though, so you probably won't have to worry about that at all!
My normal family practice doctor was on vacation so I saw her LPN and her NP. One said yep I had the same exact symptoms after baby and had my gallbladder removed. Then proceeded to tell me she wasn't the doctor but says it sounds just like gallbladder.
The other offered zero test other than looking in my ears, blood pressure and stethoscope while I breath in; then proceeded to tell me 'vomit, abdominal pain and diarrhea doesn't sound like gallbladder'. WTH Then started mentioning Crones disease and cancer. But then said she wasn't a doctor and couldn't diagnose me. WHAT THE F?!??!?!?!?
So, then She said she was calling the local hospital to set up a CAT scan of my entire abdomen and blood work...then I sat there forever while waiting to schedule. So turns out my insurance company is trying to say It won't cover the CAT scan and she said she would have to call and argue with them about why I need it. BLAH. So, I was sent home with that.....absolutely nothing!? They said they would call me soon.
How did they check you all for gallbladder function or gallstones?? My friend is in the medical field and was shocked they didn't just give me an ultrasound for quick answers about what is going on.
With mine, I had horrible pain right at the top of my stomach and the pain gravitated to the left and all the way to my back. Mine ended up being pancreatitis and they saw that from bloodwork (normal levels are like 49 and below, mine were at 480). As for the gallstones, they first did an ultrasound and found nothing. They later went in and did what's called an ERCP, you're knocked out completely for that. With me, he actually couldn't even find any gallstones so he was so confused as to why I had pancreatits. (Clearly not from alcohol since I had just a had a baby 6weeks prior). Anyway he did say he found fragments of what could have been a stone or stones that I passed. We ended up deciding on taking my gallbladder out and two days later I was fine. BUT I went back the following week because my pancreas levels went up again. After seeing a neuropath dr and being on two different digestive supplements the pain was gone and I haven't had anything since. I pretty much didn't eat the entire month of November. The first time I finally was able to eat was Thanksgiving!
You don't need a CT scan so it doesnt matter that insurance won't cover it IMO.
Good luck! I know how you feel and it's awful. I ate lots of grilled chicken, to the point where I didn't eat grilled chicken for a month after my gallbladder was out LOL, bland veggies, some fruit, toast, rice, etc.
The weirdest part was the LPN had my exact experience and was so sympathetic. The NP had zero caring and acted like I was lying...and I left with zero medical advice or further plans to investigate?! They still haven't called me today about setting something up. I want to call and refuse CAT scan and ask for something easier like untrasound first. How do I do this without coming off as a rude know it all patient???