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Gallbladder is gone so where is this pain from?

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happyalien
happyalien

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

1357 Replies

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  • trasee81735
    trasee81735 happyalien

    Posted

    Hi I have the same problem after having my gallbladder removed I still have the same pain. After countless test I still have the same problem. As with us all who go through this I have learned to live with the pain...but that doesn't erase the fact I feel as if it is something else wrong..I find that wrapping my belly with a wide ace bandage helps relive the pain but it has to be rather tight especially where it hurts..after it stops I remove the ace bandage and wait for the next episode.. another problem Iam having is with family and friends comparing me to others that have had their gallbladder removed I hear things like "that didn't happen to me", or " you shouldn't be having this pain this long " it's annoying

    • Emma1001
      Emma1001 trasee81735

      Posted

      Hi Trasee81735

      Nearly three years since cholecystectomy and I too use a physio support and it helps. I wonder about bile, adhesions, inflammation due to movement around the surgery site.

      If it's nothing worse I can live with it ... I just want to be sure.

    • karen_24319
      karen_24319 trasee81735

      Posted

      Hi all

      I had my gallbladder removed in March 2013, 3 weeks later I had an ercp due to a stone in the bile duct, I too had the burning, sleepless nights lots of ruq pain, after a year of going back and forth to the doctors and hospital visits I had cameras up and down lots of blood tests MRI scans cat scans and regular scans nothing showed up and I was still in pain! One hospital doctor recommended I have an MRCP to look into the liver, and there it was another 11mm stone stuck in the common bile duct, in APril this year all the same symptoms returned and I have just had another MRCP and guess what I have a family of little stones living once again in the common bile duct! So I ask you all if you are still getting all the same symptoms the pain the burning and everything is the same as the attacks before the removal of your gallbladder please ask for an MRCP. Your body can make more stones and not all blood tests show (my blood tests came back normal on each occasion) the rise in billerubin levels.

      I hope this helps.

      Regards

      Karen

    • trasee81735
      trasee81735 Emma1001

      Posted

      Thanks for replying... I know Iam not alone I have to just accepted the fact that I am going to have to live with the pain....and try to go on with my life and enjoy it
    • robin07433
      robin07433 karen_24319

      Posted

      Thanks for the information. I have thought I was losing my mind. I'm currently going through this. My pain keeps me from doing daily activities. I scheduled for them to look at my stomach no one has suggested my liver. What exactly is a MRCP?

    • basten
      basten robin07433

      Posted

      Hello I think MRCP is just an MRI which I had and it showed nothing yet I had no gallbladder and had pancreatitis. Still one year after gallbladder out pain horrendous. Iy is ERCP like an endoscooy I am waiting for as specialist consultant GI said the MRI means nothing to him..it is not until we get down into look at stomach area pancreas etc. I do know bile can continually dri into small bowel and burn. My liver function bloods all OK but this has driven  me crazy for a year plus.  If you are going through this keep on and keep on as something is NOT right. The burning and pressure in my middle left back by pm is awful I have to go to bed.  Good luck
    • Emma1001
      Emma1001

      Posted

      Hi Traseed

      So I'm three years on from lap cholecystectomy performed for almost symptomless gallstones but which I suspected would get worse. Since a fortnight after the op I have had recurrence of the RHS rib ache, waist line ache and some RHS back rib ache. Also I have had a bad  bout of indigestion which died away to nothing after a month.  I have been back and forth to the surgeon and had ultrasounds and a  CT scan. Bloods are normal and nothing on the scans. The ache has gradually become every day and stronger though still no more than a dull ache. The odd tingle at the op site too but thats it.

      From advice on this site I bought a physio abdomen brace and it does help a great deal. I sometimes take paracetamol and  moving about improves matters. The ache  doesn't usually stop me sleeping or wake me up.

      I went to see my surgeon (senior consultant)  again last week and we are all convinced  this is mechanical so that's possibly nerve pain and maybe some bile when I get indigestion. So  I am now referred to a pain clinic and a physio.

      My surgeon  is convinced from the scans there is nothing else, nothing sinister or SOD and I am just one of the unlucky ones and will have to live with it and treat it as best we can.

      I know many people are worried on this list so I wanted to say that I have accepted there is nothing worse underlying my problem and this  is where my journey of discovery hopefully ends. Now I need to just learn to ignore it, do more exercise, wear my brace and take the occasional meds. There is also a chance it may burn itself out. 

      So get your scans or scopes done, reassure yourself because  anxiety is as bad, if not worse than the ache.I hope this helps.

    • Guest
      Guest Emma1001

      Posted

      ty emma and trasee, yes ive been thru all scans,scopes, blood work, change diet,meds-results neg, thank God but why then am i still having discomfort. makes no sense. its driving me so crazy and ive been obsessing so doc prescribed meds to help reduce obsessions. i just cant believe aft removing GB a yr ago i still feel miserable. i try not to bring it up around friends or family anymore-i thnk theyre tired of hearing abt it or thnk im crazy. this is really terrible that the docs cant figure out whats wrong. i have appt next month-im going to insist on further tests like the MRCP or another scope. hope we can get to the bottom of this! grateful 4 this discussion group.
    • Emma1001
      Emma1001 Guest

      Posted

      Hi,

      Sorry to hear you are so worried, it's not good for mind or body to live in a state of stress.

      There seems to be so many different symptoms post cholecystectomy from SOD and all the other things we have read about, to problematic aches and digestion issues. Which do you have, severe pain or low level ache? 

  • liz16669
    liz16669 happyalien

    Posted

    I had my gallblader removed after i had my son in 2013. Its 2016 in dec it will be 3 years. Im glad im not alone i did the CT scan and nothing showed up. When i wake up in the morning and im hungry i get huge pain that wont go away. Like if i still had my gallbladder. Then my stomach gets so bloated like if i was pregnant . If i eat something the pain will go away. Im not sure why this happens . I have no insurance anymore. If someone gets the root pf the problem please tell me. Thanks in advance
    • trasee81735
      trasee81735 liz16669

      Posted

      Hi I had my gallbladder out 2 years ago and still have pain have had every test in book and it shows nothing I have been told by my doctor that they blow your stomach with air to get to the gallbladder, well using my own thinking I believe that's what is causing so much pain my ribs hurt and I get bloated constantly and constipated as well. I wrap a wide ace bandage around my waist when I get the pain and sometimes gas x. The most annoying thing besides pain everyday is people around me telling me I should be fine by now to heck with them everybody's body is different... well may peace be with you and hang in there

  • richard_43064
    richard_43064 happyalien

    Posted

    My daughter had exactly the symptoms your describing. We went to Cleveland Clinic and she was found to have something called MALS. It's an issue where s ligament gets tangled with the aorta and other structures.. when you eat the stomach pulls on the ligament causing extreme pain.

  • debra1711
    debra1711 happyalien

    Posted

    I just had a 2nd surgery ,i had a piece of my gallbladder that was missed in the 1st surgery(my gallbladder exploded..so they could not identify all of it at the time)

    its been 7 or so weeks and i still have the aching slight pain where the gallbladder was.I have found that typical from reading posts.

    Be well

  • april23450
    april23450 happyalien

    Posted

    I feel for you! I have been dealing with these issues and in and out of the hospital for the last month. I went in with a kidney stone that got lodged between my ureter and right kidney which resulted in three surgeries at one hospital awful care a two the first one,like to the point they booted me out very Ridley. I ended up in septic shock that night.. now a week later I have c diff.. I have the extreme pain under my right ribs.. and it's extreme.  However I'm in the same boat I don't want to go the hospital unless one hundred percent nessaaary and with all these symptoms it's been hard to know what to do. I have missed a month of work already because of my hospital stays for the kidney stone and sepsis.. Now this.. can the pain under my ribs have something to,do with c diff? The drs. I feel,like are tired of seeing me... however my b/p has got as low as 80/60 and a 101.2 fever today. Went back to the ER at the advice of my dr. However the ER only ran blood and urine test sent me home again more meds.. I'm beyond words of what I have been through this last month almost died twice. So I'm hyper sensitive to what symptoms I have going on.  You read Howe serious it is and can be fatal.. the hospital didn't seem to care even with my severe abdominal pain.. how do I know if I have problem in my colon? I'm worried sick.. I need to get back to work so I don't lose my SLPA job at an amazing clinic that I love. I have just put them in such a bad place this last month having to cover all my clients. Now c diff and I have to miss until at least Monday hoping the rx they put me on start to help..they said I should notice a difference in three days it's been two I'm patiently waiting the relief..

    • april23450
      april23450

      Posted

      I also just had all the blood test and UA don ever all normal ... last week my WBC was still at 19,000 down from 21,000 today normal,which is great but I feel like I'm further away from getting an accurate diagnosis because I have been in and out of the hospital. The drs. All now just say viral,infection.. or take your flagyl.. and follow up with pcp.. I'm so frustrated one dr after another obvious symptoms and I'm now home barley able to move.. they don't want to image me again because of the radiation but what if it's serious even with good blood work? 

    • april23450
      april23450

      Posted

      my my gallbladder was removed years ago...
    • basten
      basten april23450

      Posted

      We are passed around like yo yos from one to anoher. tests and tst reveal nothing so....it is in our minds,  Mine is cos of depression!!  It is the pain that has caused the depression feeling laughted and and ridiculed as if I am imagining my pin for 18 months whichis horrific. Ive explained, i\ written, Ivebegged. Now CT scan all looks OK. I could cry as sent home still in horrific pain. But he has agrred to do an ERCP to check the Sphincter of Odd which can go wrong after gallbladder op leaving awfi=ul pain, and I cannot take oral morph or pain killers. Another possibility is   and always has been my hernia but all my symptoms got work after gallbladder out. Then I got pancreatitis but MRI CT svan showed no abnormalities and bloods back to normal.  My ERCP is in UK in 6 weeks.  I am down, disheatened and if nothing shows then I do not know how I can live with such pain and worse on eating and worsen end of the day..  It burns all through me. I am housebound a lot because of pain even on walking all in mychestback right to my spine.PIPs did nothing as I also have gastritis and hiatus hernis.
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