Gall Bladder.....Maybe?
Posted , 16 users are following.
have been feeling bad, off and on again for quite some time. I use the term flare up as it seems to hit pretty suddenly. (seemingly the day after eating greasy food not 100% on that) but when it "flares" it can last for a week or 2, with major bloating infrequent and small bm and discolored bm (orange to yellow tmi, I know but I think it is involved somehow) I have had constant low grade pain in my right shoulder blade for a very long time. 30 mins or so after eating I get nausea...I never vomit...just feel green. Energy is very low, tired all the time. I had a nissen fundoplication a year ago which fixed my reflux. I have seen a gastro doc with this been scoped both ends all is good, blood work is good only thing at all was a low anion gap. Kidney function is good, sonogram shows normal gall bladder, hida scan shows 87%ejection fraction. Surgeon says biliary dyskonesia and wants to remove my gall bladder. I am very hesitant to remove it knowing it tests ok. I am great with removing it if it will fix me but would be pretty p*ssed off if I get it out and still have these problems, I want to be back to my old self before this started a couple of years ago. I am hoping someone has had similar problems or can offer some advice as my regular doctors say nothing is wrong.
Halp....please....
1 like, 102 replies
joys13057 burner
Posted
burner joys13057
Posted
What did you post that was deleted by mod? you can im me if necessary. My nasuea, bloating, etc. got a lot better for a few days on the new meds my Gastro doc recomended for ibs. Then nasuea came back.
My coworker seemed to have a stomach bug at the same time so that may be the cause. Tired of being green all the time.
burner
Posted
So the meds the gastro doc put me on help somewhat for nasuea....at least after eating. A couple of hours later it comes back with a vengeance. I called him today to see if there is anything else that can be done, he literally told me no and to go see the doctor that scoped me. Is is really that difficult to get someone that wants to help? (I guess he is mad he didn't get the $$$ for the scope) I had an appoinment with the surgeon this week but work has forced me to miss that. Everything I have read says biliary dyskonesia presents with pain and other than a dull ache I don't really have that, just nasuea. I am very, very tired.
burner
Posted
Still here, still having back pain, fatigue, and nausea. When whatever it is flares my right back pain is worse. My guts are rolling like I will soon have severe diahrea but never have the diahrea just lots of noise. Two more weeks till I can once again meet with the surgeon. Hoping for some relief but I am still not 100% convinced it is my GB. I don't have the crippling pain everyone else seems to have.
lynda20916 burner
Posted
Everyone is different. I didn't have much pain, or nausea. What I did have was severe diarreha. Many people can't get a surgeon to remove their dysfunctional gallbladders because they don't present with what the medical texts say are classic symptoms.
Also, a few people on this site went through every test, and were informed their gallbladders were fine, until there was an emergency and they had to have surgery right away. Some stones couldn't be viewed by an ultrasound or a CT scan.
I'm hoping that you get relief soon!
katherine42413 burner
Posted
Hi, its not easy I know, I felt sick all the time initially but now that I'm basically fat-free I only feel sick if I've eaten too much but I am in constant pain which gets worse on eating but its not crippling like some unless I've been silly with food. I think I just aim to get to each appointment as it gets closer and getting back to normal. From everything I've read and my own experience they wouldn't take out your gallbladder unless they believe its the right thing to do or that's what happens in the UK. They have to justify why their taking out an organ here and I would expect its the same in the US. If they've ruled everything else out, I know sometimes its only when the gallbladder is out can they tell how bad it is. I know this doesn't help you but unfortunately this isn't all clear cut and its down to elimination. Keep us informed with how you're getting on.
burner
Posted
so it's been a while since I posted. I have a new primary care dr, a new gastro doc, and haven't gotten any better. My primary care dr. has run most standard tests and I am amazingly healthy to feel so bad. last week I saw him and he was beginning to think maybe gall bladder (due to light colored yellow bm and back ache in gb area) and ordered another ultrasound. By that evening I was running a 101 fever and considering I haven't had a fever in over 10 years he sent me to the Emergency Room. Another ultrasound, CT scan, and piles of bloodwork I am told Nothing acute is wrong with me, my hct was a little low and my netrophils (whatever that means) was a little high. They gave me a bag of IV antibiotics, zofran for nausea, and tylenol. The following week I felt better than I have in a couple of years. Fatigue was gone, nausea was much better but slowly that has returned. Now gastro doc thinks my gall bladder may have been infected and the antibiotics knocked it down. I am once again scheduled to meet with surgeon next week. I am beyond ready for this to be over...I just hope getting my GB out fixes things.
The dr that did the hida scan originally told me I had a high ejection fraction, now they are saying it is perfectly normal...what the heck?
lynda20916 burner
Posted
I'm glad that you are feeling better. The human body refuses any regimented function. So that's why test results fluctuate, I think.
Sometimes, when there is a chronic infection the body doesn't respond as it would normally. My daughter had ear infections often when she was a child. After a year or so, she wouldn't run a temp. Her ear drums would just burst!
So I think perhaps your body just got used to having an infected gallbladder; and now you need to be really ill before standard infection syptoms present.
Good luck, I hope getting rid of your gallbladder enables you to get well, finally! Please let me know how you get on!
burner lynda20916
Posted
As soon as the anti biotics wore off, a week or so, I started feeling bad again. I was wondering if you could have a chronic infection that doesn't show up on bloodwork. The ER doc said he would expect to see thickened walls of GB if it was infected a lot. I burst an eardrum from infection about 20 years ago, that was no fun at all....I could breath through my ear though.
lynda20916 burner
Posted
Sorry I didn't get right back to you! Yes, I would say that you could have that type of chronic infection! To a certain extent, I think one's body learns to live with things--then suddenly it can't and one really becomes ill, seemingly without prior notice.
The ER doc is probably used to the worst case scenario. I do think our bodies adapt and try to carry on. Then, suddenly, they're unable to do so.
burner lynda20916
Posted
lynda20916 burner
Posted
I think the difficulty is that your digestive system is all interrelated. Perhaps at a certain point, the infection was isolated. But nothing is confined to any one organ now. If you've had IV antibiotics and they haven't worked long term, it might be injurious to your whole body to continue with them.
You could end up with Cdiff because your beneficial bacterial would no longer be able to keep the bad stuff at bay. And, you don't want to get Cdiff.
They could do blood cultures of the bacteria in your system. That would tell them what you've got, but maybe not where it originated. The other would be biopsies of your tissues.
One thing I'd suggest would be to try probiotics to replenish the good bacteria in your urinary and digestive tracts.
rachel05155 burner
Posted
Do you have any pain burner? Have you lost weight? If so, I would push for an MRCP. That was the only test that showed something wrong. I also had delayed visualization from my gb to my intestines on my HIDA scan. Because my MRCP showed a filling defect they thought I possibly had a blockage. They did an endoscopic ultrasound and that showed sludge in my gb and thickened walls. None of my other tests showed that. I also run low grade fevers off and on and my gb literally feels like it's rotting in my body. I meet with a surgeon on Monday.
burner rachel05155
Posted
I have a constant dull ache in my right shoulderblade, I am down to 225lbs (my high school weight) from a peak of 280, I do eat better but the sick feeling makes me not have a lot of appetite (when I got the iv antibiotics my appetite was back in full force, it was great) When I had the hida scan they didn't inject a chemical to make the BG contract they had me drink something very similar to "ensure" I almost immediately got a sharp pain in my side where the GB is. It lasted a few seconds and went away, I occasionally have that same pain but again it stabs a couple of times and goes away, so not sure if it is more of a gas type of pain or something else.
burner
Posted
When it "flares up" I have referred to the feeling as something rotting or poisoning my insides, that's exactly what it feels like.
matt57085 burner
Posted
I've read through your entire thread. If your still about did you find the cause and get a proper diagnosis?
burner matt57085
Posted
ann55375 burner
Posted
My gb is out and i still,have the problems. Facing more tests.
i feel so much worse since removal with nausea, loose stools and now back pain like before.
i dont know if anyone can answer but i now hear that keyhole removal is often the cause of these symptoms as they cant see everything properly and patients are left with this.