A month op after gallbladder removal.

Hi Peter, unfortunately there are side effects of having your gallbladder removed, which is what I've been finding out over the last 2 years since I had mine out.

The first thing which was virtually instant was pain under my right ribs still and this was getting worse as I ate and if I exercised, after paying to see a private gastro consultant he was pretty sure that I had something called anterior cutaneous nerve entrapment, this is due to the instruments used for the operation and the nerves being very sensitive to changes around this area. Luckily I was already lined up with an appointment for the pain clinic and I'm just going for my 4th round of nerve block in this area. It does last longer each time you have the injections put in, it was about 6 months this time and he said that it may just sort it and then I won't need the injections anymore but they don't know. Not many doctors know about this or recognise it as there isn't alot of information on the internet about it unlike some of the other conditions.

Unfortunately now, I started to have pain on my left side under my ribs, so I went to my gp and they did the usual test but only after I had an endoscopy did they find that I had gastritis, duodenitis but caused by bile reflux. This isn't like gastric reflux as it isn't as easy to treat so I've been through lots of PPI's, H2blockers and other drugs and they either did nothing or gave me an allergic reaction. Again I had to see a private gastro as my gp surgery weren't very helpful and they weren't going to refer me. This is really common with those that have had their gallbladder removed, luckily the gastritis wasn't erosive which can cause stomach ulcers which is what the doctors thought originally but extremely debilitating just the same. My gastro gave me sulcrafate which is helping but I've got to take them for 8 weeks then have a break and see if the symptoms come back before I have another course. What the long term future holds I don't know. I know excess bile causes intestinal problems too as the bile is constantly dripping and if you are having fatty, spicy or rich foods more bile is released so causing more problems.

I know lots of people that have had their gallbladder removed and are going through life perfectly, unfortunately I had to have mine out as it wasn't working and would've been prone to disease the way it was.

I'm sorry this is a bit long winded but from everything I now know all of these side effects are fairly common after this surgery. I don't know what the answer is and why just a few of us this happens too but as least on this site we can share our experiences.

Good luck and push for further tests so you can get the answers that you need.

so is chest discomfort a on going problem with gallstones

i started having a spasm like pain on my right side over a month ago. had it 3 years ago and the doc said it might be gallstones but left it at that...only lasted a week....but this time its been over a month and at first it was just the pain. i had an abdominal ultrasound over a week ago and they said they saw nothing wrong with anything. but now since then ive been having a lot of gas. and i can constantly hear a feel my stomach moving stuff around ya know ...and watery tan diarrhea for a week straight. have a gastro appointment in a few days but if they saw nothing on the ultrasound what in the world could this be...im 31 btw