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have been told I have gallstones,seen surgeon and he says the pain I am having is not being caused b

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patricia30000
patricia30000

I have been in pain for some time and my gp sent me for a scan for the pain in my side and I went to see someone for the pain in my back,thinking that the two things were unrelated.The person I saw for my back felt that because of where it was it was not due to the damage to my lower spine and he felt it was something else.I had a scan which showed I had gallstones,so the pain in my right side under my ribs and back pain was in fact one and the same I was pleased that at last I had the reason why I was in pain.I started a low fat diet and this seemed to help with the attacks.I found that when I had attack I felt sick and found it difficult to eat much.  But this is what happened when I saw the surgeon. He looked at my last scan which I had on 8th April which showed gs and my MRI that I had taken in 2013 on my back. and the news wasn't what I was hopping for.He feels that my pain is not because of my gs but my back, so now I'm back where I started from last Feburary.he say's because when I have the pain it is made worse by movement eg,bending down, turning over in bed,going to the loo no2,ect.He say gallbladder pain is not made worse by movement.It is only when you have eaten and the gall bladder contracts to deal with the fat ect. He said that out of 100 57yr olds woman 40 of these would have gallstones but not all would be in pain from them.I have been in pain all over the weekend and had the day off to see this surgeon,I am not in pain all the time but when it comes its really bad and I need to lay down.Now I feel I'm no way nearer to the end of my pain as I thought I was,.He is going to write to my gp and feels I should have a MRI on my upper back,shoulder blade,I do have trouble with my lower spine but this pain is undercontrol. He feels taking out my gall bladder would not stop the pain although I have some stones and the wall of the gall bladder is thin.so it seems I will have to wait again to see my back doctor,and if its not my back then what.I 'm glad he didn't want to just wipe my gb out but he has left me feeling really down.As we all know on this site the pain is the thing most hardest to take.being able to blame the gs for my pain helped me cope with it but now I feel if its my back there will be very little they can do and i will just have to find away of coping with the extra pain which I'm not sure I can do.All I can say now is if your waiting to see your surgeon don't get your hopes up that he will take your gb out and your pain will stop as I did.I still feel that it is my gb and not my back.this is also affecting my relationship with my husband as when I'm in so much pain I know I can be hard to live with,my husband even told this to the surgeon.I now feel the world has come to an end,there's no light at the end of the tunnel only PAIN.

would love to hear from anyone who my be in the same boat as me

Pat

0 likes, 11 replies

11 Replies

  • Acejohnston
    Acejohnston patricia30000

    Posted

    Hi Patricia am so sorry to hear this. Could you get a second opinion? Maybe ask your gp for a second opinion. Although I wish my surgeon had been the same as yours and I wouldn't be suffering the way I am since the op. He did tell me my gallbladder walls weren't thickened but he still went ahead and took mine out!! I would ask for a second opinion at this stage. If it is your gallbladder your symptoms will only get worse. Big hugs to you.xx
    • patricia30000
      patricia30000 Acejohnston

      Posted

      Hi Acejohnston

      thanks for your reply,yes I'm glad he didn't just want to take my gb out but I would rather he had said he would at least do some other test to see how my gall bladder was working,blood test ect,but no he just dismissed my pain as not being the same as gb pain because it hurts with movement bending down,laying on either side at night ect.I feel as i have a bad back then this is what he desided to put it down too even though I told him I went privatley to see if it was to do with my lower back trouble and was told that the pain was too higher up to be conected with it.So I am now going to have to wait to have a MRI done of my back and wait to see someone from my local hospital, which is where i last went in 2013, sorry to hear you are still suffering after your op and maybe you would have been better seeing my surgeon as he too said that although I had gs my gb walls were thin not thicking like it would be if it was infected.

      hope you feel better soon

      all the best

      Pat

    • Acejohnston
      Acejohnston patricia30000

      Posted

      Hi Patricia am sorry your not getting answers and are still suffering and in pain. I wish I had of seen your surgeon! I wouldn't be in the state I'm in now that's for sure! But I can't change what's happened. I can only hope I get better soon. This has really caused me terrible stress and anxiety. I hope you get to the root of your problem soon. Take care xx
  • lucy33342
    lucy33342 patricia30000

    Posted

    Hi Patricia3000,

    I don't think that surgeon has ever actually experienced the pain himself, I did feel that the gallbladder pain was worse when I moved/rolled over in bed, tried to stand up or go to the toilet, sometimes an attack lasted for up to 12 hours leaving me in so much agony and exhaustion that the only thing I could do was sleep for hours at a time, it's horrendous!! I'm glad I had mine out, but I've got really bad bile reflux now and I'm on medication, but it might need to be upped as it's not quite doing what it needs to do!!

    I think you should get a second opinion on the back of your surgeon not really knowing what's he's talking about!! Hope this helps!!

    • debbie89808
      debbie89808 lucy33342

      Posted

      Hi Lucy

      Just wondering what medication you are on for the bile reflux - I had my gallbladder out 10 days ago and I'm having really bad acid in my stomach which I'm worried may be bile and not acid. I'm on Lanzoprazole at the moment to see if it will calm things down as I get excrutiating pain on swallowing food or drink - all this has been covered up by the strong pain relief taken over several months for the gallbladder pain. I'm seriously hoping that it is acid reflux and not bile which should be easier to treat. I would welcome any advice you could give me on this.

      Kind Regards

      Debbie

    • patricia30000
      patricia30000 lucy33342

      Posted

      Hi Lucy

      thanks for your reply,yes  was really feeling depressed yesterday after beinging told that he felt that my pain was not the same pain as you should feel with gs even though I have gs.but we are all different and I still feel that my pain is from the stones and not my back but what the hack do I know i'm only the one thats in pain.he told me that many woman of my age can have gs and not exsperience any pain at all.I think this was surposed to make me feel better.he has said he will write to my gp and request that i have a MRI scan  asap to see if its due to that.I did tell him that I had paid to see someone because i first thought my back pain was comming from my back after 2 session with him he said that he did not think it was my back causing this new pain.so now i just have to cope with the pain and wait,could have been worse I suffer with depression so they could have told me it was all in my mind which I think is what the thought before my scan showed up gall stones.glad to hear you are feeling better after your op.I hope they find something you can take for your reflux as I know this can be very unpleasant

      take care and keep in touch

      Pat

       

  • debbie89808
    debbie89808 patricia30000

    Posted

    hi Pat

    Like others have said, it sounds to me as if you need a second opinion - was the surgeon a gastroenterologists? if not he may not fully understand all the implications of gallbladder pain - so maybe you need to see gastroenterologist who is also a surgeon - if you have gallstones, how could this surgeon just decide that they are not causing any problems and blame your symptoms on something else? - it doesn't make sense to me. I had my gallbladder out about 10 days ago by a general surgeon and becaue I don't have gallstones, I was treated like a third class citizen and left to wait in agonizing pain, sat in a chair in a waiting room for 9 hours - I got the impression that he didn't believe that there was anything wrong with my gallbladder when I met him the morning of the surgery and so put me at the bottom of his list (it was a gastroenterologist that referred me to a surgeon requesting the removal of my gallbladder after results of a HIDA scan - my horrendous pain has now gone) - a gastroenterologist would be a better option as they will understand better the misery that gallbladder disease can cause.

    If you could afford it, pay privately to see a gastroenterologist who would be able to set the ball rolling for the removal of your gallbladder should he think it necessary.

    Best Wishes and keep us informed.

    • patricia30000
      patricia30000 debbie89808

      Posted

      hi Debbie

      thanks for replying,I don't know if he was a general surgeon or not.I did mention the other test you can do to see how well your gallblader is performing,blood test ect but no he didn't want me to have any more test because he feels because my pain when i have a attack,the pain I'm in is made worse  by movement, bending down,and if laying on my left side or right side,going to the loo,he said is was not normal for gs pain.he feels that because I have a traped nerve in the base of my spine this is want is causing the upper back pain and maybe the pain in my right side just under my ribs.so now I have to wait to see my back doctor to have a mri done,which could take sometime.i last had an mri of my spine in 2013 and was told that things had not changed much since my first one in 2007.I do feel let down but what can you do,if its not due to my spine then i'am back to the begining.I was so relieved when my scan showed gall stones because everyone was telling me that I would just need the gall bladder removed and the pain would be gone having since read some of the replies on this site this is not always the way.you say you did not have gs yet they still removed your gall bladder can I ask why was this.gad you are no longer in pain and are now on the mend

      keep in touch

      Pat

    • debbie89808
      debbie89808 patricia30000

      Posted

      My gallbladder was functioning at only 9% according to the Hida scan and I was in agony day and night. The last two months before surgery were spent in a drug induced haze, with excrutiating pains in gallbladder region, going through to the back and up into the shoulder. Pain was completely gone when I came round from surgery.

      Gallbladders with or without stones can cause untold misery to sufferers, many doctors don't believe in the condition that I had at least in the UK.

      It sounds to me as if you haven't got the right doctor on the same wavelength as you. Doctors seem to be a law unto themselves sometimes and dont always listen to their patients. I would definitely be pushing for a second opinion

  • Finadindin
    Finadindin patricia30000

    Posted

    Gosh this sounds familiar, I was on the waiting list to have my gallbladder removed, but moved areas and had to move the operation, my new cosiltant is now refusing to add me to the list as he says , like yours, that I shouldn't have pain when I move or change position in bed and that my pain must be something else, also that I should be in more pain and longer.  After 4 years of testing for other things, everyone was certain it was gallbladder, but now I have to start all over again.  I am depressed a week after seeing this consultant and I feel he has taken away any hope I had of resolving this .I am now having panic and anxiety attacks thinking it may be my heart or, liver or back ( all things he said it might be) I dont have any advice, just wanted to let you know you are not all alone x
    • patricia30000
      patricia30000 Finadindin

      Posted

      hi

      thanks for the reply i have seen my gp today and I am goig for a MRI on the 15th May,he said wait a week and then go back and he will have the result of my MRI .then if its my back he will refer me back to the back clinic,so i have to wait if its not my back then i 'm going to ask for a second opinion on my gall stones .I'm derrified that one of my stones will move and i will be in so much pain but all he said was that might or might not happen and if it did he wouldn't know when,some help.will be thinking of you and hope all goes well for you too

      keep in touch

      Pat x

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