Complications after Laparoscopic Cholecystectomy - not warned by doctors

Hello, everyone!

I am 26 years old. I also recently had my gallbladder removed (6 days ago actually), but it seems that most people here had theirs removed due to gallstones. Mine was removed because it was akinetic; what it means is that it did not contract and eject bile into my liver. My rate of ejection was 0%. My diagnosis at the hospital was biliary dyskenisia. My symptoms beforehand were feeling abdominal discomfort, almost like a stinging burning that would sometimes radiate to the back. But this was at the center of my abdomen, not the right under the rib cage like it is for most people. After the pain would subside I'd feel sore. My stools were coming up as pale or yellow; they would either be semi-loose or fully formed. I would have a low-grade fever after meals. The gastro initially thought it could be gastritis and either Celiac's or Crohn's. I was given Nexium and the pain seemed to go away. I had an endoscopy done (for anyone worrying about their gag reflex, they put you under anesthesia and they numb your throat to prevent any issues), bloodwork, ultrasound, and stool specimen. All they found was minor gastritis. They then recommended a HIDA Scan, which I'm sure some of you have done. That's where they found the issue. I was told I could go up to maybe 2 years without surgery if I maintained a strict low fact diet but that eventually, I would require surgery to remove my gallbladder, as I would begin to have pain no matter what I ate. Tuesday I met with the surgeon to set a date and went for surgery last Friday. I figured, the earlier the better. Less time to stress about an impending surgery, and being someone who can get overtly anxious I wanted to give myself the least amount of time possible to get caught up in daydreaming horrible scenarios. Day of my surgery I woke up with a bit of gas pain, and then was allowed to go home once I could pee on my own (as anesthesia can prevent you from urinating and you might have to have a catheter placed in order for you to relieve yourself) and once my blood pressure was normal. Nurse checked my blood pressure three times: laying down, sitting up and standing up because the first time was too low. We checked it again at home with my mom's BP Monitor. I threw up the water and apple juice I had twice, then fell asleep for the rest of the day. Overall recovery hasn't been too bad for me. I am still sore and bloated (additionally because my PMS began right on the day of surgery and I just received my monthly--so double the fun, haha..) and standing for a long amount of time makes me tired. I was constipated at the beginning, but have been passing normal consistency stool, and it's brown now instead of yellow. Sometimes I feel warm when I eat, as if I want to get a fever, but when I check my temperature it's at about 98.5° or 98.6°F.  I feel full fast, so it's better to eat small meals throughout the day instead of three large ones and I suppose it would help if I wasn't eating more fat than I should be initially and stuck to more bland meals. The area where I used to feel my abdominal pain feels sore occasionally, as it does right now, mostly after I eat. I've not yet eaten something really fatty (outside of homemade pizza and I purposely bought low-fat ingredients to make it) so I have no idea if it will cause diarrhea until I do. I had some tea before eating which contained caffeine and that did make me nauseous. I know caffeine is a problem for some missing their gallbladder. I am still recovering, so I am unsure if other issues will rise up. But so far I've been okay, been hobbling like a grandma and only had three days off of work (Friday, Saturday, and Sunday) before I had to come back. Wanted to give some insight on different body reactions. Had my follow-up today and everything seems to be fine. I was told my gallbladder had been inflamed when removed, which makes sense as it was storing bile and not releasing it. 

Now, ON the other side of the spectrum, my own mother also had her gallbladder removed at my age, shortly after having birthed me. Her surgery was initially to be a laparoscopy, but since her gallbladder was too swollen with stones, it had to be switched to open surgery. During the procedure, some of the stones fell out into her intestines so they had to stick a camera (and I assume a grappling attachment) to pull them out instead of doing more incisions. Her procedure took six hours. And her recovery time was 7 months. She had to have two drainage bags on her throughout all those months. She said she ate mostly bland food and liquids, slept early, moved when possible but had to do a lot of bed rest. I was told it was the most miserable time she ever had because she was physically unable to do anything and felt unwell. However, now she eats what she likes. The most she experiences is bloating, usually after dairy products, bread, or grains such as oatmeal. She checks her liver constantly and makes sure to do detoxes to prevent any liver damage. Everyone's recovery is different and I would assume that everyone also has different triggers for pain, bloating, or nausea. I've not yet had anything greasy, or any alcohol, or even heavy in fat content like ice cream. I'll let you all know what happens body-wise when I do consume it. But I wish everyone a recovery, no matter how long it takes, and for those seeking answers for weird symptoms, that you receive them. Push on!

(And as a tidbit, I found a forum once when a woman who had her gallbladder removed kept feeling bloating and abdominal pain and inflammation--turned out a blood vessel that led into her digestive system was partially blocked and the low blood supply was causing the issues. Might try looking into that for people whose doctors have found no answers. She figured this out by visiting an internist rather than a gastro!)

So, how many months did it take you to fully heal and get back to 100%?

Did you ever get fatigue as a symptom?

Thank you for your help

Thank you, thank you, thank you!!!

I had no follow up with the surgeon, no doctor has checked on me and then I read on here that some people are amazed how wonderful they are and I'm thinking, "omg, something must be really wrong with me".

I went and seen a doctor in the walk in the other day and he looked at me like I was silly and told me I was fine and to keep doing what I was doing without giving the explanation you just gave.

He made me feel like he was trying to get rid of me.

I truly needed to hear this today. I just ate a small bit and am having esophagus pain, stomach ache, gas pains and am so frustrated.

This truly was the post I needed to read. 

thank you so much for sharing this. i had my gallbladder removed yesterday evening. apparently it was a tricky operation due to scar tissue. i have an extra couple of incisions. but am suffering horrendous back pain(trapped wind apparently) The light headedness is awful. I'm sitting in bed and can feel all the blood rushing away.

I just had my gallbladder removed 5 days ago (August 6th) and today I noticed i was a little achy and i took my temp. It was 99.5 Did any of you experience this the week of having it removed?

I wish my doctor had told me. I was told 2 weeks and i would be back to normal. Well i don't like his idea of NORMAL

I had my gallbladder removed by lap on Nov 16th 2020. i had sludge and small stones causing me pain in the upper right side and in the back. It is now April 5th almost 5 months post surgery. The first few weeks were not bad. i had no pain from the gas so thought great i will recover fine like my sister did. But it is not to be. My sister was one week from diagnosis to surgery. I was one year from diagnosis to surgery. Before the surgery i was even put on an acid blocker which i have since found out makes the gallbladder worse. Well to cut to the chase i have the following symptoms

Heart palpitations

chest pains (center and sides)

shortness of breath

Wheezing

A weird flushing feeling to my face and neck and pressure in head

Fatigue and lack of energy

Thank fully i never had diarrhea only when i tried digestive enzymes so i threw them away

I did have liver pains but the doctor put me back on 40mg pantoprazole daily which has stopped those

I had blood tests and an ultrasound a month ago and came back clear. i got a second opinion and doctor told me i was imagining the pain????

I went for a chest x-ray today and i have lung function tests booked and heart specialist appointment booked to clear up if it may be something else.

i will keep you all posted how it goes.

After numerous blood tests, ultrasounds and a couple of procedures for endometriosis I continued to have issues so had my gallbladder removed in August 2019 and have regretted it ever since. My health is worse now than it ever was before the procedure and because of this am so scared and reluctant to go back to the doctors for fear of something going wrong again.

I have the following symptoms on a daily basis:

• Struggle to breathe unless i push on my chest in the exact spot the incision was made.
• dizziness
• No appetite at all
• blurred vision
• pains on the right side of my back behind my ribs
• severe bloating/weight gain
• muscle pain
• burning feeling in my stomach
• hot flushes
• pain from where the gallbladder was directly to down groin
• severe lower back pains
• nausea and vomiting
• heart burn
• lathagic
• mood swings

I struggle on a daily basis now just to leave the house as im so uncomfortable with the way I feel and look these days..its so upsetting.

Yeah. I wasn't warned either. The doctors are rarely upfront about it because people wouldn't go through with the surgery. In my opinion, they should have to give up papers that list all possible outcomes just like they do at the pharmacy with a new medication. This shouldn't be allowed.

However, do know that the other doctor was also fibbing. Some people feel a bit better after awhile, but most people that have issues after just end up living with this. I did. I am 10 months post-op and I had reflux, fatigue, nausea, and more. The thing that helped me was a bile binder that soaks up all the excess bile. I'd lay money on the fact that you have gastritis. That's what I have. Bile leaks into the stomach and burns the lining, which is what causes the reflux and nausea. The rashes are a symptom of excess bile in your system. So you might want to ask about a bile binder. It has helped me a lot.

Facebook has a bile reflux support group. Most people there have had it since getting their gallbladders removed and it never went away. There are people there that have had it 15+ years. The doctor is trying to give you hope...but I think you should know the truth.

I had my gallbladder removed about 5 months ago. I have epigastric discomfort pretty much every day after i eat. The only time i feel normal is when i wake up. I eat healthy and it happens with any food, bland or not. Anyone else experience this???

I am having some similar issues and since mine was done as an emergency I had no time to prepare or find out anything about it. I also feel kind of confused as when I took the bandages off as instructed to do and it was not easy to get them off I had more incisions than I expected. I had automatically assumed that laproscopic surgery was through the belly button and I have an incision below my breast bone which my underwear rubs against, 2 smaller ones on the side. I have one through my belly button which is swollen closed like I no longer have one and then a larger one above my belly button. I recall nothing about the recovery room even then when I came down to the room the nurse said wow you had a lot of drugs look how many ports she has I have never seen this before. Lots of nurses looking at them with fascination so fast forward to being home. I am told that I will be better in a week. My son takes that comment to the bank basicly and since I live alone I struggle through looking forward to the recovery at the end of the week. I do everything I need to but don't vacuum or lift anything too heavy but they told me I could drive when the drugs wore off so I did since I had no groceries and made like 20 small trips not to be lifting more than 10 pounds roughly.

Every day I have bowel issues and I had IBS before the surgery so you can imagine. I was told I would be like new well I am new alright it is just not the new I hoped for. I went back to lifting and caring for my granddaughter after the 1 week recovery. I felt like I had done the workout from hell and kept having to go to the bathroom.

My son was getting so angry at me saying I was making a big deal out of nothing and then my daughter got on board and it is straining my relationships. This is not the new life I was promised I really just wanted my old life! I really wonder if they know what they are doing apparently my liver enzymes were elevated so they diagnosed me with hepatitis and were in the process of determining which kind they ruled out A then were trying to find out if it was B or C asking me when I took my last drink did I engage in risky sexual behaviour etc. None of this is true.

All of a sudden they veer off that path and say I need my gallbladder out a scan showed gallstones. I still am confused but find it is no use asking my family doctor he has very little information about the surgery and we are still in lockdown here.

Am I better well compared to what? I have googled symptoms trying to find out on my own and am so confused. I am so glad you got to talk to someone who eventually was of help.

hi georgina , glad i read your story mine exactly the same as you , been 6 weeks now and i can relate to your symptoms ... got discharged from hospital from gallbbladder removal was back in next morning with bile leak never frlt so poorly in my life .. dont think your ever gonna get better do you ? they say its a routine operation  well i dont think it was been good to hear you say this !!!

Thank you so much for posting this! It has been 3 months since my gallbladder removal surgery. I have had the nausea, and diarrhea, but most of all the debilitating fatigue! My family doctor gave me Cholestyramine for the nausea and the diarrhea and it has helped tremendously. The fatigue is still there especially in the afternoon. It has been really bad at times. Hopefully, this will improve over time.