Could It Be Something Else

Hi Linda,

It's a difficult decision, I know.  Diseased gallbladders can negatively affect the liver, pancreas, stomach and intestines.  They don't improve with time, and if one puts off the surgery things can only get worse. Hanging on to a bad gallbladder is like trying to keep a rotten apple in the midst of good ones.  Reasonably, if you've got a bad gallbladder, you won't know if or how it has contributed to your chronic fatigue until you have it out.  You might find that your condition improves.   

Most people recover and do well after gallbladder surgery.  They don't often write into sites like this.

Good luck and please let me know how you get on! xx

Hi Linda, its only through other tests to rule out other conditions do they know if the pain is caused by the gallstones and unfortunately  if the gallbladder is making gallstones then this will continue which is why they remove it. This wasn't always the case once keyhole surgery was developed it gave people with gallstones or gallbladder problems a much better outlook as they didn't have to do open surgery unless needed.

I found the surgery wasn't as bad as I thought it would be, yes I had pain afterwards and I felt stiff and it does take a while to recover but it wasn't as bad as I thought.

I think for alot of people they put up with the surgery and effects because they can't cope with being in this sort of pain anymore.

Unfortunately I can't take the nerves and being scared away as that is all part of it but I do wish you all the best. Others on this site have tried low fat diets but eventually they have to have surgery.

Let me know what you decide, take care.

There is no way of predicting whether you will be one of the unfortunate few that suffer symptoms after cholecystectomy. I know of five people who have had cholecystectomy - four laparoscopically and one open. None had any lasting symptoms and made a full recovery. I also had the open procedure earlier this year and I'm making a good recovery. I have vitamin D deficiency which made me very tired. Since surgery I've gradually got more energy. I think I was suffering ill effects of having a bad gallbladde for some time before the pains started. I agree with the two previous replies. If it's gallbladder it won't get better on its own. Low fat diets help the symptoms but don't address the cause- only surgery will do that. My advice is if it's gallstones don't delay.

I was in the same boat as you...constant pain and all sorts of other issues, despite imaging and bloodwork showing that I had no gallstones and my gallbladder was operating at a good pace. However gallstones can often hide and move around which makes them very hard to detect. I decided to take a chance with the surgery after years of putting it off and it went very well. I didn't have many effects afterwards, the pain went away but so still get discomfort if I eat too much fat. It's generally worth it considering how bad gallbladder pain can be. Putting it off will only cause too many problems.

I tried all sorts of diet and lifestyle changes to avoid surgery. At one point I was basically on a very low fat diet (<15g a day) using only fruits and vegetables as my diet. This helped stop the pain but as soon as I ate anything else like lightly cooked chicken, oil, nuts etc the pain got worse, so it was time take it out.

Hi All, Thanks for all your replies.

I'm getting all the rib pain, back and front so I think it's time to have it out. I'm finding it hard to eat anything with fat , it gives me pain and goes

straight through me . I don't expect this to get better after surgery as read of so many people have fat digestion problems after surgery.

If the pain goes away and I have to stick to a low fat diet it will be worth it

. Wishing all of you the best and thanks for your advice .

Will let you know how I go on and no doubt I will be looking for more advice especially after surgery.

Linda x