Gallbladder is gone so where is this pain from?
Posted , 555 users are following.
HI
Had the dreaded gallbladder removed last June after only 7 months of pain (so I'm pretty lucky).
Everything went well, home the same day - took a good 4 weeks to feel totally better after the op but eating was ok and I don't seem to be affected by bowel issues like some people.
Only problem is I have dull ache in exactly the same place I used to get the gallbladder pain. It's not intense pain but it's in the front RUQ under my ribs and moves round the side and to my back.
It doesn't seem to appear after anything in particular and most of the time it's there constantly. Suppose it's more of an annoyance than anything else because I'm always aware of this ache. I'm quite reluctant to go to my GP because after spending about 7 months constantly in the surgery last year updating painkillers and nausea pills I don't want them to think I'm addicted to medical attention.
Just wondered if anyone had anything similar or if it's just a by-product of surgery that I'll have to get on with?
Thanks
34 likes, 1357 replies
Mundy happyalien
Posted
Hi alien i just left the er i found out my pain comes from adhesion i had my gall bladder removed Nov 3nd 2012 i kept having bouts of pain i like you didn't want them to think i was a addict looking for pain meds so i just have to deal with the pain .
janine13085 happyalien
Posted
Hi there, I had my gallbladder removed after having a trapped stone removed. The pain was horrendous. After the bladder removal the following day,! I had spasms similar to when I had the trapped stone. They said it needs to heal. Mmm, years later, I still get e cruciate g spasms which radiate into the shoulder blades and the diaphragm. It's at the site of the gall bladder, and it's like someone grabs your intestine and twists it hard and fast. No cure I'm afraid.
Marketa janine13085
Posted
begonia77967 happyalien
Posted
begonia77967 happyalien
Posted
Chk your liver enzyme levels. I have the same discomfts, just went to doc again, he said my enzymes were high, I'm still waiting to se
Karyah2 happyalien
Posted
I had my gall bladder removed in March. I live in Arizona (US). I was admitted to the hospital on July 2, 2016 (last Saturday) with severe abdominal pains and my liver enzymes were 5 and I was peeing dark red/brown urine. They admitted me, repeated an ultrasound and MRI. The GI doc came in and claimed I needed an ERCP and I consented. He suposedly found a lesion on my liver, right below my duct and biopsied it. It is nothing. I'm convinced this is somthing that will happen intermittently and they have NO clue why. There was NO stone in my duct, just "debris." Eventually it quits hurting but they have no clue. No more hospital for me. I will suffer, puke and get over it now that I know there is no answer for this.
bebe33104 Karyah2
Posted
Karyah, my step-son (age 33) just had his gall bladder out and during the surgery they "nicked" his liver. His pain level was very high after GB surgery and he got an infection. He had to have another surgery to have a stent inserted into a bile duct - for the nicked liver. This all happened in about four days. (from gallbladder diagnosis to going home after two surgeries).
Don't be afraid to find another surgeon and get a second opinion. My stepson lives in Denver. My husband had his gallbladder out about four years ago. We live in Grand Rapids, MI. He's had no problems. I had a different surgeon and have had problems and been ignored by my doctor. I should have listened to my gut (pun intended) and gone to the best hospital in Grand Rapids - Spectrum Health but got stuck at Mercy due to my primary care physician. (who is fantastic) but I sure didn't like the surgeon. : {
janine13085 happyalien
Posted
wall1409 janine13085
Posted
Hi
I have had pain since 2012 had gallbladder removed 2014 and it still continues only worse. Loads of scans and liver enzymes are chronically elevated when I'm admitted to hospital even had Hida scan for sphincter of odd. Seen new GI and now waiting for Ercp manometry for sphincter if oddi as she advised Hida scan doesn't always show it. She explained that because my enzymes are so elevated showing some sort of blockage but no stones then they go down but not to normal levels, this is characteristic of sphincter of oddi. Don't give up, you know your body
bebe33104 janine13085
Posted
I think I can help you with the pain! I had my gallbladder removed (cholecystectomy) two years ago and still have pain after eating foods high in cholesterol and hydrogenated fats and other processed foods. I try to only eat whole foods but sometimes I mess up. When I get my "phantom gallbladder pain" I can get rid of it almost instantly by lying on my stomach on the floor and placing a tennis ball below my right breast (not ON the breast but BELOW it). It will feel like it's on a rib. I gently place some of my body weight on the ball and rib and roll my body around so that the tennis ball massages the crampy area. I came up with this on my own and I know it sounds weird but it works for me instantly! My pain refers to the back and shoulder blade but after I do this massage technique it goes away completely. I also will turn over onto my back and place the tennis ball near my shoulder blade and spine and put a lot of my body weight on it and roll around so the tennis ball loosens up all those muscles. This seems to help too, but not as much as massaging front rib area with the ball. I hope you get this comment and get some instant relief! Please copy and paste this to other people suffering. NO doctor has ever been able to help me. My surgeon was NOT helpful either after he removed my gallbladder and acted like I was imagining it. Go get yourself a tennis ball. Let me know if it works for you too.
Karyah2 happyalien
Posted
Just like someone can sweat too much, I over produce bile. Â This seems to be the cause but doctors themselves only guess and run more tests that show nothing, while we suffer in pain.
bebe33104 Karyah2
Posted
I think I can help you with the pain! I had my gallbladder removed (cholecystectomy) two years ago and still have pain after eating foods high in cholesterol and hydrogenated fats and other processed foods. I try to only eat whole foods but sometimes I mess up. When I get my "phantom gallbladder pain" I can get rid of it almost instantly by lying on my stomach on the floor and placing a tennis ball below my right breast (not ON the breast but BELOW it). It will feel like it's on a rib. I gently place some of my body weight on the ball and rib and roll my body around so that the tennis ball massages the crampy area. I came up with this on my own and I know it sounds weird but it works for me instantly! My pain refers to the back and shoulder blade but after I do this massage technique it goes away completely. I also will turn over onto my back and place the tennis ball near my shoulder blade and spine and put a lot of my body weight on it and roll around so the tennis ball loosens up all those muscles. This seems to help too, but not as much as massaging front rib area with the ball. I hope you get this comment and get some instant relief! Please copy and paste this to other people suffering. NO doctor has ever been able to help me. My surgeon was NOT helpful either after he removed my gallbladder and acted like I was imagining it. Go get yourself a tennis ball. Let me know if it works for you too.
bebe33104
Posted
IMPORTANT NOTE! Thanks to Emma who mentioned that none of us should go rolling around on the tennis ball until well after they are healed. I didn't discover this little trick until about a year and a half after I had mine out. I'm not saying you need to wait a year, but probably at LEAST six months. I am not a doctor. I have just found this to work well for me and the pain is gone nearly instantly after I do this. See the post I posted about it. (you can't miss it, I posted it by accident at least three times)
What can I say, I'm a dork....best wishes.
Please pleaes let me know if this works for you too....I would love to save so many people from this chronic, dibilitating pain!
bebe33104 happyalien
Posted
I think I can help you with the pain! I had my gallbladder removed (cholecystectomy) two years ago and still have pain after eating foods high in cholesterol and hydrogenated fats and other processed foods. I try to only eat whole foods but sometimes I mess up. When I get my "phantom gallbladder pain" I can get rid of it almost instantly by lying on my stomach on the floor and placing a tennis ball below my right breast (not ON the breast but BELOW it). It will feel like it's on a rib. I gently place some of my body weight on the ball and rib and roll my body around so that the tennis ball massages the crampy area. I came up with this on my own and I know it sounds weird but it works for me instantly! My pain refers to the back and shoulder blade but after I do this massage technique it goes away completely. I also will turn over onto my back and place the tennis ball near my shoulder blade and spine and put a lot of my body weight on it and roll around so the tennis ball loosens up all those muscles. This seems to help too, but not as much as massaging front rib area with the ball. I hope you get this comment and get some instant relief! Please copy and paste this to other people suffering. NO doctor has ever been able to help me. My surgeon was NOT helpful either after he removed my gallbladder and acted like I was imagining it. Go get yourself a tennis ball. Let me know if it works for you too.
Karyah2 bebe33104
Posted
Were you liver enzymes up? Mine were 5 and the liver was swollen. No stones were found in the ducts to the liver. He said he found "sludge" in the duct, which was 8 mil. I am beginng to see it is probably an over production of the bile.
bebe33104 Karyah2
Posted
Karyah, I never had my liver enzymes checked so I don't know. I "feel" like that area under my breast and right on the rib is swollen, but I can't tell if it's just my imagination or not.
I hope the tennis ball works for you. Please let me and others know if it does. There are SO many people who could use this advice if it works for everyone. I would love to have people not be in pain. Strangers and loved ones alike. Especially since doctors can't seem to figure it out and Ibuprophen won't help at all.