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Can anyone please help?!?!? Gall bladder problems?

Posted , 6 users are following.

alison31092
alison31092

For 5 weeks I have been struggling with pain in my right side which radiates round to my right upper back. I was first taken to a&e with severe pain in my right side which came on suddenly at work. After a manic night in a&e I was discharged with only strong cocodamol and told possibly kidney or gall stones. I went to my gp a week later still in pain to find they had not referred me for an ultrasound which the hospital had put in my notes for them to do. Less then a week later after over 8 hrs of agonising pain I headed back to a&e who gave me an appointment next day for the ultrasound which showed nothing except a slightly dilated bile duct. They refered me for an endoscopy (which I'm still waiting for) told me to cut out fatty/spicy foods and gave me omeprazole yet I never get indigestion or heart burn so this confuses me as to why i need an endoscopy. I have been back to my gp 2 more times in pain but just get told there's nothing they can do. I went to the out of hrs last night and she was shocked that I haven't been referred for a ct scan or mri and that she thinks the endoscopy is a waste of time because my pain is at the right side not the left. I'm now back at my gp this morning but I'm not holding my breath. I have been of work for 3 week so far because I barely get 2 days without an agonising "attack" and I am on my feet all day at work. I am barely eating or sleeping and I'm so fed up that nothing seems to be done. I was prescribed cocodamol 30/500mg and when I have an attack these don't even touch the pain so it seems pointless. I use heat pads tried warm baths etc which slightly ease things. Sometimes the attacks can last anything up to 2 days with severe pain going to dull then back to severe and when it stops I'm left feeling very sore. All of my blood tests come back normal so the only thing the have is my pain and a slightly dilated bile duct. I'm so frustrated how long this has taken so far and that I don't see anything getting sorted soon. Has anyone else had similar problems? Any advice would be greatly appreciated

2 likes, 8 replies

8 Replies

  • philip87147
    philip87147 alison31092

    Posted

    Yes I went through all of that on and off a few times over the course of a year or so.  It did help to me really cut out fatty food and for days on end eating just rice and boiled veg or boiled potatoes but sometimes took weeks for pain to go completely.  It does sound like you need a scan which will hopefully identify if you have gall stones and if so how bad.   For what its worth in the end I had pancreatitis after doing a DIY liver flush but after that had a scan and stones were hardly visible and despite the consultant intitially advising gall bladder removal in the end he said I didn't need it.  10 years on and no further problems!   

     

    • dawn90336
      dawn90336 philip87147

      Posted

      Hi

      I'm so sorry you are going through all this pain. I have recently had my gallbladder removed and previous to that was also taking omeprazole which did infact glee a bit. In the end my gallbladder had become stuck to my bowel which they only found out when doing the operation.

      I met a nurse in hospital who told me her gallbladder had become toxic although she had no stones. She was young as well !!

      They are tricky little things that cause a lot of pain.

      Be persistent with the doctors and maybe ask if you can have it removed electively. I have felt so much better since mine came out a few weeks ago and all my digestive symptoms that have troubled me for years have gone.

      Take care

      Dawn x

  • Mandy0510
    Mandy0510 alison31092

    Posted

    Hi. I had the exact pain n was told dilated bile duct. Had the camera down throat to find gallstone was blocking it. Once they took stone away was fine but had to have gallbladder away a month later. So yes a endoscope is best thing u can have done.
  • redredwine
    redredwine alison31092

    Posted

    If you can  please try 1and 1/2 cups of beet juice taken over the course of each day , sold at safeway in cold section.  If you can also celery root juice sparingly with that for as long as it takes to get rid of stones or tummy issues . I dissolved my stones in less then one month.  Sorry sometimes doctors are frustrating. I agree take the tests though but do eveything you can to get things straight. raw diet , no red meat, try to get protein from other sources(beans, brown rice, natural stuff or supplements) little to no caffiene, no pasta and try to go no white flour at all. No advil or NSAID'S.  They really mess everything up in GI tract with long term use.  With that said I had liver failure when I was pregnant in 1974, they kept saying nothing was wrong and gave me phenobartitol because I was far enough along.(which really helped my liver?)   I was in agony and itching, pain just like you describe and worse at night.   It was after the birth they took the labs again and said sorry your liver was or is failing. They were very apologetic, because they kept saying it was all in my head prior to that. I did not give it another thought,  I knew it was the pregancy and I just got better rapidly after I delivered and further tests showed liver returned to normal.  Labs make mistakes all the time. Go with your gut feelings, no pun intended. You may need to repeat the sonogram for stones, If you don't get anywhere ask for test at other location.   Lots and lots of luck to you.  This could be something temporary, I sure hope so..
  • alison31092
    alison31092

    Posted

    Just a quick update..... went to my doctors this morning and she sent me straight up to the surgical assessment unit at the time my heart rate was 115! After an 8 hr wait I was sent home after being told my bloods do show an infection but they think it's more a stomach/duodenum/ small intestines infection and completely disregarding gall bladder saying the dilated bile duct could just be normal for me and there's nothing more they can do for now. They offered me pain killers at a lower strength then what I've already taken and don't work, told me to up my omeprazole and said she would give me peptac (which makes me sick) so I not so politely declined. I now have to wait for my appointment for the endoscopy to come through (another 3 more weeks) in pain, barely sleeping and barely eating whilst my body is trying to fight an infection. I'm a petite 30 y/o female and really can't afford to lose weight I'm normally only 8st as it is I Daren't even jump on the scales right now. She's signed me off work for a further 2 weeks which will make it 5 off in total ( i struggled through a week after my first attack) and still don't see an end to any of this. So frustrated right now 😣😣😣😣😣
    • redredwine
      redredwine alison31092

      Posted

      I don't know where you live but it might make sense to drive as far as you need to so you end up going to the ER at a teaching hospital or very modern large institution like Stanford in San Jose, UCSF. A lot of the time when a rural  Northern Californian is getting the run around it is because they are rural.  More and more hospitals are closing and running out of money and there is a doctor shortage.   So we just go visit a long lost cousin in the bay area or where ever we go on vacation like to San Diego and suddenly have another attack and we then take our attack to the best ER on the West Coast. They will not send you home until they find an answer and treat it.  Rural people kind of know  and doctors often agree, you need to go down the road for this,  or you need to go down the hill for this is familiar saying from doctors and patients with serious pain or disease.    A lot of doctors who end up in private practice did not cut it in teaching and research so when you go to UC Davis your doctor is about 20 or more doctors because before the doc makes a move in a  large teaching and research hospital they have to go through many doctors and groups of doctors to diagnos and treat and they all have to agree on the treatment.  Just sayin if you get caught in a loop or a situation where the hospital is tightening up on tests and cutting costs, you could just be living in the wrong place. Hope that is  not the case. Just don't wait too long if it is a question of small town syndrome. 
    • alison31092
      alison31092 redredwine

      Posted

      Thanks red red wine for your reply. I live in the uk in sheffield which has 2 teaching hospital and a children's hospital so I am lucky in that, but the hospital with the a&e is so over worked most of the time all you get is they treat the pain (which they don't even do with me) and refer you back to the doctors. A prime example last night was another woman had come in with the same problem and had an ultrasound. While she was having it she asked the technician who said yes you do have gall stones. After her waiting 3 hrs for a jnr doctor to see her she was told she didn't have anything so she sat and explained that she had already been told she had. After going away and a second opinion on the test it indeed turned out she did. The doctors excuse was that she was simply so busy she had only quickly looked at the results and said sorry. The lady was fuming! I really am wondering if I need a second opinion I'm going to be so annoyed and very ill if I Wait a further 3 weeks and the endoscope shows no infection in my stomach area. We have another a&e slightly further away in the next town over. I'm debating going there if my health deteriorates 😕
    • redredwine
      redredwine alison31092

      Posted

      That is terrible about the other patient, but it sounds like UK is very much having exact same issues as US. At least you do have facilities, and you may have to drive to other town..It might get worse before it gets better I mean with overcrowding .  I am afraid with the economy and less young people becoming doctors.    I have been lucky, with issues lately and the doctor I have now.  In the same group large medical group they are turning away people from the dermatologist because too many patients.  Sometimes they are overworked but no excuse to not read the stupid xray report.  The standard care here  is to just keep stones until you get one stuck like my father and have major problem and pain. Hope you get answer soon.
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