Haven't had appetite since gallbladder removal. Should I force feed myself?

Sorry to say since 4 -5 months now he has been diagnosed with mnd😕. Now we are wondering if nausea is because of gall bladder op or mnd😉

Hi Trisha.  I had my gallbladder removed on 6/8/2018.  It's been 5 weeks.  I have little appetite, nausea, dizzy, and fatigued.  I also have anxiety.  I keep wondering when this will end.  Did you get better?

Thanks,

Ken

My sister had her gallbladder removed a month before me and she too has developed anxiety too. Really weird how a lot of people develope anxiety after surgery. Just hope it fades away and never comes back soon. But as far as eating, it will get better. Some people just take longer to adjust and heal. 4 months out I’m eating ok. Not like I used to and not as much but it will do. 

Good luck and I really hope you start feeling better soon! 

Good to hear your appetite eventually came back. I just had mine removed 3 days ago and I also caught strep so I haven't been able to eat solid food and I've been nauseated alot. It made me feel like I had this surgery for nothing. I just have to try and make it through I guess.

HI Trisha,

I know its been a few months since you posted but wanted to see how you are doing? I'm 8 weeks post op and still feel really sick and nauseous all day. I do eat very bland but not much. It's been quite a journey and really tough. I wasn't expecting this after the surgery, doctor made it seem I'd be back to normal in a short time. It's hard to keep your anxiety down but I've been doing my best to stay positive. Please send an update in how you are doing. I pray you are better from the time you posted last. It helps me to know others have gotten better.

Hi there,

I'm doing much better now but it did take me, oh I'd say about 3-4 months until I could eat normally again. It was very discouraging feeling so sick for so long. Honestly, I do still have anxiety issues. Been doing some talk therapy and have tried a few antidepressants which haven't really helped me and had a few negative side effects. My life has changed quite a bit from all this but at least the eating issues and nausea issues finally went away after a good 4 months down the road.

Good luck to you and I hope you start feeling better soon. Talking with others really helps a good bit and keeping yourself occupied and busy also helps

Hello,

Thank you so much for your response. I'm happy to hear you are better. It does take a toll on you going through this and I can see where anxiety could become an issue. I fight it every day. I hope the talk therapy will help you soon! It does help a lot to talk to others on here who understand more of what you are going through. I pray every day to feel better and for others going through this. Hope you had a good day! Thanks again for responding! It really helps to know others have recovered even it took some time. 😃

Hello, how are you feeling now? I hope you are healed. I had my gallbladder removed 8 weeks ago and feel very sick and nauseous. Have you had or still have any issues after your surgery? Please send an update on how you are doing.

Hi Trisha,

My situation... lost my appetite, which was the first sign that something wasn't right with me.

Stomach wasn't churning or moving around. Tingling in my chest - first they thought it was my heart, but EKG was normal. Had an endoscopy done & my doctor told me I had a mild case of gastritis - he said that was the reason I didn't have an appetite ( I had my doubts about his prognosis, but I went along with it for a few weeks). Had a lot of heartburn too and felt like I had a lot of gas built up in my chest - acid reflux also. I had diarrhea every time I went to the bathroom. A few weeks passed, my stomach still felt inflamed, I just knew something wasn't right. I didn't have that abdominal pain everyone talks about when referring to their gallbladder though. I went to bathroom and had some blood in my stool so I called my doctor and scheduled a colonoscopy, which came back normal. I finally had enough with that doctor and got a second opinion with a different gastroenterologist. The second opinion doctor sent me for an ultrasound where they found gallstones. Then I went for a HIDA scan where it was determined my gallbladder wasn't functioning properly - that it wasn't detected at all on the scan. My doctor suggested to me it was time to have it removed. So I listened to him and had it removed 1/16/19. Since then I have still had heartburn pretty bad at times and STILL NO APPETITE ( which is huge for me ) - I'm wondering why a bad gallbladder affects some people's appetite pre-surgery and for others it doesn't. I am also having doubts that my gallbladder was my issue. I have had some anxiety during this stressful time as this is my first big health issue. I also have been dealing with cold hands and some numbness in my left arm - sometimes my arms get so cold that they start shaking on me. I have been driving my family crazy with this issue of mine and I just want to feel better. I have lost close to 30 lbs. since the end of November. It's scary when you aren't trying to lose weight and you have lost that much. If anyone has any info for my situation, I would greatly appreciate it.

This is interesting. I have not had my gallbladder removed yet but surgery has been discussed as an option for me. My situation started in a very similar way to yours. I lost my appetite back in November, just after Thanksgiving, and then had the worst nausea and reflux ever for three days. Went to hospital for dehydration and got CT scan which showed nothing. The nausea got marginally better but was still there 24/7 for the next month. Reflux was also horrible. I had severe indigestion, stomach felt full all of the time, and generally my abdomen just felt off. I also lost 8 lbs but that's considerable for someone who only weighed 118 to begin with. Turned into a skeleton and thought I was dying. Was put on 40mg of pantoprazole 2x a day and developed stomach pain and felt worse. Went cold turkey. I had an endoscopy that revealed mild gastritis. HIDA scan showed gallbladder functioning at 35%, which is borderline. No gallstones or sludge. Ultrasound was unremarkable. I was put on Omeprazole and Carafate for three weeks after the endoscopy and the nausea actually disappeared after 1.5 months of dealing with it every day nonstop. I stopped taking the Omeprazole because I wanted to see if that was what was turning my stool pale. It was, as far as I can tell. The reflux isn't as bad and the nausea is still gone. Gained weight back with Ensure. I still have absolutely no appetite.

Now, I have developed bloating and for some reason with as resting heart rate in the upper 90s to lower 100s. Before my HR was in the 70s, and my skin has gone pale. Had bloodwork done and I'm not anemic, but I worry about having some sort of hard-to-detect infection. It's been 2.5 months since the start of all of this and I just don't know what to do. The surgeon I saw said taking the gallbladder out may not help but he could try. I've seen two gastroenterologists now. The second one did a gastric emptying study which revealed nothing. I've had very loose stool throughout the entire process. I also have blood in my stools sometimes but it's because I get hemorrhoids. Got all that ruled out with a colonoscopy a couple of years ago. Diarrhea can also irritate the skin down there and cause bleeding. Red blood doesn't worry me because it's near the end of your digestive tract. I haven't had any black so far thank goodness. This all happened right after I turned 30. I'm terrified of getting my gallbladder taken out both because it's a major surgery and I worry about the danger, and because I am concerned that it won't work. I've seen so many people having reflux problems after and I don't want to make a condition I already have worse. I also don't want the nausea to return when I just got rid of it. The worry is tearing me apart.

I developed mild but annoying stomach pain on the upper left side after taking Omeprazole but it went away after I stopped taking it. There was no right side pain until a couple of days ago, months after this started. Now I have some mild, very sporadic pain on my right side that sometimes feels like burning. I'm debating taking the gallbladder out still but since it's "chronic acalculous" I don't know if its going to help.

The lack of appetite drives me nuts. you have no idea how much it ties into your emotional well-being until you have it. There are days where I almost come close to having one again. It's like my brain is trying to remember how to feel hunger, but then it goes away again. I will let you know if it ever comes back for me. Just know you're not alone.