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Gall Bladder removal

Posted , 9 users are following.

j75920
j75920

Wow - after reading a whole lot of all your responses, I've gotta ask, do you think you would've still had gall bladder surgery had you known how you'd feel afterwards?

After going to ER and having CT scan and a lot of other tests and being told, the only thing wrong is that I have stones, but everything else is normal, I'm really hesitating about going further.  However since that time, no matter how bad you feel, actually getting in to a gastroenterologist has proved to be a challenge.  5 weeks out and still have not gotten in.  So what's worse?  pain in the gut, bloated, burping, acid reflux, feeling like crap or?

0 likes, 12 replies

12 Replies

  • Acejohnston
    Acejohnston j75920

    Posted

    I definitely would not have had it done to be honest. I had pain f
    • Acejohnston
      Acejohnston

      Posted

      Sorry I definitely would not have had it done and do regret it. I also regret not trying alternatives first instead of listening to my surgeon tell me side effects were rare. Although I'll never know if anything else would have worked. I had 1 stone and pain however I believe my gallbladder was removed unnecessarily as I had a large cyst on my ovary at the same time which they neglected to tell me about! I had hormonal symptoms too. My gallbladder was perfect except for the stone. I believe too many gallbladders are being removed unnecessarily. There are many people who have stones and no symptoms and some don't even know they have them. Some people will tell you that once you have stones the gallbladder must come out. This is not the case at all. There are some doctors who will tell you if you've no symptoms leave it there and I agree. Unless you have symptoms or inflammation or a stone blocking your duct they shouldn't even consider removing your gallbladder. There is medication also that can dissolve stones but they don't usually prescribe them as it can take time to work. They need to look at the cause of gallbladder problems and fixing that. In most cases it's due to high estrogen levels from steroids birth control pill and hrt. There are many people who have their gallbladder removed who have successful outcomes but a lot of people do have issues with certain foods or alcohol. Unfortunately we are not told any of this prior to the operation as I suspect a lot of people wouldn't go ahead with the operation. At the end of the day it's a personal decision you have to make and all you can do is hope for the best. Good luck with your decision. I hope it works out for you. X
  • renee15737
    renee15737 j75920

    Posted

    8 years of pain, doubled over, burping, having to undo trousers and bra. Having the op - priceless!

    I'm 6 weeks post op have never felt so great! Very rarely I'll get a stomach ache when I need to go toilet but other then that I'm eating what I like.

  • sally_14743
    sally_14743 j75920

    Posted

    18 months since operation feel great.. 

    My stomach is sound I can eat anything sensibly of course.. 

    I regret not being diagnosed for so long I suffered years of unnecessary misery with a gallbladder full of stones colic attacks constant gastritis and living on a diet of boiled potatoe and veg to try and prevent the pain...

    only negative I have put on weight as I can eat ....chocolate, Cornish pasties, fish and chips, curries, pickles, cream cakes etc...so am dieting now but even dieting I can eat fruit, tomatoes etc without heart burn 😀

  • Leni75
    Leni75 j75920

    Posted

    I didn't had an option a stone got trapped on my pancreatic duct and the pancreas was starting to dissolve itself  leading later  to death. Also the pain was 10/10 but this surgery  also has caused me a chronic daily pain in my chest so this operation should not be done in my opinion except only  if a person is in a lot of pain and could die.
  • tommyboy77
    tommyboy77 j75920

    Posted

    I dealt with dry heaving after every meal, cramping under my rib cage, pain, weight loss, and not being able to eat a normal diet for 6 months.

    Since I had mine out on Jone 8th, I haven't had a single recurrence of any of those symptoms. My diet has returned to normal, and I feel like a different person since its been out.

    The pathology revealed that I had chronic gallbladder disease and 10 medium sized stones (that weren't picked up on the ultrasound).

  • jane3315
    jane3315 j75920

    Posted

    12 days post op and would do it again. So nice to be out of contstant nagging pain smile
  • heepee
    heepee j75920

    Posted

    I think you need to bear in mind that most people are fine within a few months of the operation . People on this website are the exception rather than the rule . 

    With me  I got so terribly ill , I was hospitalised 3 times once for 11 days , I was too ill to have it removed and the only way to stop the pain was tramadol , IV morphine , I V  paracytmoyl ( sorry can't spell!) codeine . 

    I personally couldn't live with that amount  of pain . It can get a lot worse than the biliary colic pain ( which we all know is terrible ) also this condition can quickly become life threatening . 

    After my op , I did have a rough time at first and had to be re hospitalised , then 'attacks' for a few months . But as others have said I think this was to do with the nerve endings . 

    Im so much better now , I'd say I'm 98% ....no pain , can eat anything and really oddly it's made me more solid rather than loose stools !

    If your doctors think an op is the best way to go , I'd be hesitant to reject that advice  . Best of luck and remember it's the most commen operation that's done , and most are fine after it. And you'll get your life back again . 

  • sandynan
    sandynan j75920

    Posted

    Well speaking for myself I wouldn't be here now if they hadn't removed it, it was very badly infected and before the op I had to have the stones removed from my bile duct 7 in all by an ERCP. and only for the BAM I would be great lol
  • jayne2806
    jayne2806 j75920

    Posted

    5 weeks post op, had a few downers along the way but remember waking up from the op and feeling better already... Yes you are sore for a while, yes you have to learn what foods suit you .. I refused to cut everything out that was supposed to be bad and went by trial and error, u have started following slimming world now but that's was because its low fat and I need to lose weight but is really suiting me right now and I feel really 'good', no more feeling crap, acidy, down, fed up, needing to eat to dampen the acid down and no more having to avoid trigger foods and drink (Blackcurrant, drinking choc, choc, onion bhaji, spicy foods, greasy foods..... I still take lansoprazole morning and night to take the acid levels down but I'm slowly dropping them too now,,, I would have the op again in a heartbeat,,,, good luck x
    • j75920
      j75920 jayne2806

      Posted

      gosh, thank you all - sure gives me something to think about.  Did the ER thing, but was sent home because everything was "normal".  Felt like an idiot.  I finally got an appointment with a gastroenterologist.  Amazing cause they said "the first appointment we have is Nov. 2nd".  I am finding just getting in to a dr. is an achievement.  But they finally gave me a "lesser" dr. so will go this week.  After reading all this, I'm sure he'll just push for the operation.  As an alternative, I am going to try a Chinese dr.  I'll let you know how that goes.  Gotta ask, what the hell did we do wrong all these years to have this happen?
    • Acejohnston
      Acejohnston j75920

      Posted

      You could try milk thistle and apple cider vinegar. 1 tablespoon of apple cider vinegar 3 times a day in warm water. The main cause of gallbladder problems is high estrogen levels mainly caused by birth control pill hrt steroids and other hormone drugs. The liver is responsible for filtering everything we out into our bodies And when we have too much estrogen this causes the bile to become thicker and sluggish causing gallbladder disease and or stones. Also can cuss other hormonal symptoms like fibroids And cysts. Unfortunately I had them all and had been on a hormone drug prescribed by my endocrinologist which increased estrogen levels. The milk thistle detoxes the liver making the bile flow more freely and therefore the gallbladder work more efficiently. The liver is responsible for balancing the hormones. Talk to your Chinese doctor about it. They should be able to give you herbs for this. It's called liver qi stagnation in Tcm. Digestive issues are also common and linked to this too. Good luck. X
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