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A few days after cholecystectomy - how normal is this pain?

Posted , 7 users are following.

Tumtum1963
Tumtum1963

Had my gallbladder out two days ago. The pain seemed to subside quite fast and wasn't excruciating for long so I was walking about gingerly today keeping reasonably active.

I had a light dinner with my family tonight and almost immediately I started eating the pain seized my upper abdomen and hasn't stopped despite taking Omparazole. How normal is this doubling up type of pain after food and continuing despite slow release Tramadol and Omaprazole and even a sleeping pill? I also take steroids for rheumatoid arthritis and am trying to taper slowly off now. These could make me more vulnerable to infection, however the wound sites look clean, little bleeding has stopped and no reddened tissue. The pain is all at the top just under my ribs - it is too severe for me to cope with for too much longer. I'm worried because it's Friday. Should I try for an urgent GP appointment rather than bother a very busy s hospital?

0 likes, 14 replies

14 Replies

  • tommyboy77
    tommyboy77 Tumtum1963

    Posted

    After mine, the only pain i really dealt with was the pain from the gas used to inflate me. it went away after a few days, but still dealt with pain under my rib cage in my back, which is still going on, but not nearly as bad as it was after the surgery, and it felt like i pulled every muscle in the right side of my torso. i wathed what i ate very closely and didnt try anything other than bland, and dealt with cramping, butnot much other than that.

    Even though its a simple surgery, its stil a traumatic event for your body, getting used to operating without an organ. its learning how to function without it, and might take a while to regulate itself.

    Hopefully you get everything figured out and get back on the road to recovery.

  • Finadindin
    Finadindin Tumtum1963

    Posted

    hi Tumtum,   I had my operation on Tuesday and the pain from my incisions has been quite mild. But the pain from the gas build up has been quite intense at times. I had this in the hospital and they reassured me it was normal.  Mine presses up on my chest. I does seem to get a bit worse when I eat but not as intense as you are describing.  I was told burping was good they gave me peppermint  tea which helped and I am drinking sparkling water.  I definitely get relief when I burp lots.  I am sure if  you are really worried the hospital would be happy to reassure you or check you over. 
  • sarah87162
    sarah87162 Tumtum1963

    Posted

    I had my gallbladder removed at end of April and am still having to be careful what I eat.

    It is still very early days so this could settle down.

    However if you feel you cannot cope with it over the weekend you could go to an emergency GP appointment. This would be quicker than going back to the hospital I would think.

    Hope this settles down.

    Take care and keep in touch

    Sarah

  • Tumtum1963
    Tumtum1963

    Posted

    Thanks Tommyboy and Finandindin. Sorry I have managed to post twice about this because using little iPhone not a good idea with this site!

    I managed to see my gp this morning - mainly because of a horrible mouth ulcer on inside of my top lip size of a molar that the anaesthetist must have caused inadvertently. He examined my tummy and took my temperature and decided that it wasn't infection yet as temperature would be soaring rather than slightly raised. He decided that the upper tummy pain is caused by constipation and gave me sachets to drink with water to get things moving. He was a big horrified by the mouth ulcer and gave me hydrocortisone pills to disolve against the ulcer until it bursts. It's pretty distressing having this to deal with as well as the GB post op issues I must say. I have no appetite at all but am trying to burp a lot as you suggest and hope things settle down soon. He did remind me and my husband that although this isn't major surgery - it is still a big internal trauma to the body and it wouldn't necessarily be as neat inside as it appears to be on the outside. I'm watching my temperature as I have an systemic autoimmune disease too and often sweat profusely and am on oral steroids for this so its quite complicated knowing what is causing what! 

    • Tumtum1963
      Tumtum1963

      Posted

      PS and thanks Sarah too! 
    • tommyboy77
      tommyboy77 Tumtum1963

      Posted

      Good to hear it's nothing major.

      I found that Gas-x, or something of the like helped relieve some of the pressure feeling I had after my surgery. Usually took one after I ate just to be safe.

    • Tom_Peters
      Tom_Peters Tumtum1963

      Posted

      My appetite's gone and can eat little.  For me losing a bit of weight is good but not in an uncontrolled way!  I have made a few rich fruit cakes with egg, sultanas, sugar, flour and butter - yes not low fat but not as much as you'd think - and I can manage a slice  of that with a glass of milk.  We do need food....can't just let body weight slip away.
  • selenna
    selenna Tumtum1963

    Posted

    Hi

    I suffered extreme pains up to a week after surgery and it got to a point where I couldn't stand it anymore, my wife called an ambulance and I was taken to hospital where I spent the next three days, it was found I had a haematoma and because it had been so long after surgery they decided to leave it to dissipate naturally, it's been five months now, I still have a lot of pain and discomfort and after a visit to the specialist he told me this was to be expected.........My wife was with me and said, “Is it to be expected to sometimes crawl around in agony?” after which he said he would send me for a CT scan, this I have had and am waiting for the results, to be honest the thought of this constant pain doesn’t fill me with confidence in the procedure I have had and hope you don’t have any similar problems.

    • Tom_Peters
      Tom_Peters selenna

      Posted

      My goodness. I am so sorry to hear of your position. Please keep us informed; I hope you get the results and a resolution soon.
    • Tumtum1963
      Tumtum1963 Tom_Peters

      Posted

      A few shocking stories I think. To update on mine - the pain in navel worsened over the day and by yesterday evening I found a load of disgusting goo gushing everywhere.

      Went to A&E and luckily locum surgeon who performed the op was on call so he came and gave me the most excruciating clean up with no anaesthetic as he had to work quickly to stop it spreading further so no time for entinox. Said unfortunately it had spread into surrounding tissue so I'm on Flucoxicillin and see him again tomorrow morning to put new dressing and clean up more.

      The antibiotic does seem to have helped already and my huge mouth ulcer has burst and swollen face gone down but still very sore in tummy. He did say very large gallstone to blame but as they had two recent ultrasound scans of it I'm unsure whey they didn't anticipate this problem? He then blamed steroids  for this "unusually severe tissue" infection. I've informed my GP who is sceptical because I'm now only taking a low dose of steroids and he feels that this kind of infection wouldn't develop so soon after the surgery. Implication - it's some kind of hospital born infection and I think he's probably right.

      It was a pretty traumatic and painful experience as he went right into my belly with scissors and long prong to evict all the goo. I felt it was a bit like something from the WW1 trenches to be honest. I will put my foot down when I'm back there tomorrow if starts to probe the wound again. Horrific! On the plus side I think the antibiotics and cleaning out of infected tissue are making quite a difference already - the pain isn't excruciating anymore - just very sore.

  • debs10
    debs10 Tumtum1963

    Posted

    Hi,  went in Monday to have my Gallbladder removed and was supposed to come out later that day but I came round to find I was on a drip and had a drain in my side !!! Then I was told they were keeping me in cos I lost a lot of blood. I was moved to a ward and my husband came up to find the surgeon telling me that during the op he had nipped my liver and that was all the bleeding. I'm home now and everything's ok, except every time I eat I need to go to toilet within minutes.
    • Tumtum1963
      Tumtum1963 debs10

      Posted

      How horrible that sounds. At least everything is okay for you now - hope no lasting damage done. I ended up being rushed back into A&E with infection and had to get cleaned out with no anaestetic or pain relief at all  - wound now open with no stitches so any remaining puss can come out and dressing to be re-done tomorrow by surgeon. I'm on antibiotics for blood poisoning in surrounding tissue. The surgeon blamed the steroids I take for RA but my GP disagrees as low dose and thinks it's more likely to be a hospital born infection.
    • debs10
      debs10 Tumtum1963

      Posted

      OMG, that sounds horrific, I thought my expirence was bad enough. I was told there would be no lasting damage, at the moment I'm very anti hospital but I'm sure that will change in time. I had to take dressings off this morning and everything looks ok. Hope u get sorted quickly. Take Care Debs x
    • sarah87162
      sarah87162 Tumtum1963

      Posted

      Oh my goodness that sounds horrible.

      I was in hospital a few years ago and developed an infection whilst in there. I thought they were supposed to be places where you got better?!!

      Take care and keep in touch.

      Praying for you

      Sarah xxx

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