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I’m convinced this is my gallbladder, I need some help.

Posted , 9 users are following.

marissa78371
marissa78371

I’ve been reading people’s stories on here for months so I thought I’d share mine. 

I’ve had bowel issues for the better part of a decade now; started when I was about 13-14 (I’m 23 now). I get diarrhea for no reason; the foods that bother my stomach one day, won’t blther it the next day. I had episodes almost nightly where I was getting woken up in the middle of the night out of a dead sleep to the most intense stomach pain and diarrhea of my life. You know the feeling: sitting on the toilet, barely able to sit still, sweating your ass cheeks off, ugly crying, hoping you just die right there? Anyway. 

Those episodes stopped for a few years, but the random bouts of diarrhea persisted. 99% of them happen at night, but I’ve had a few during the day. The pain is instant, and only gets worse from there. The longest attack I’ve had lasted about 14 hours. 

Fast forward to 4/28 of this year, I landed myself in the ER because of the pain, I couldn’t take it anymore. They did blood work, CT, and ultrasound. Everything was spotless. I was mad, went home and forgot about it. But the attacks were STILL happening. This past Tuesday, I had an attack where the pain has still stayed with me. Which had never happened before, and I still have pain. It feels like someone is taking the organ by my right rib cage and giving it a good squeeze and not letting go, ever. Then it’ll burn sometimes, then it’ll ache, then it’ll feel squeezed, and the process repeats itself. 

The attacks themselves feel like I’m having a heart attack. Pain under my ribs and my back, sweating, chills, bright yellow/pale yellow diarrhea that’s sludgy, fatty looking, and smells god awful (TMI? Maybe.) once the attack is over, I’m exhausted and feel like I just got hit by a bus, I’m so sore. 

I’m at a loss as to what to do. I just came back from yet ANOTHER ER visit for them to do another ultrasound and labs and have them tell me “well, you have abdominal pain but we don’t know why”. I’m getting more and more frustrated as time goes on. I have a HIDA scan scheduled for this Friday, and if that comes back clean, I have an endoscopy scheduled for next Thursday morning. I’m trying to get other people’s opinions since no doctors are telling me what they think it is. 

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30 Replies

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  • Guest
    Guest marissa78371

    Posted

    Hi Marissa78371, I can fully sympathize with you.  I have sludge in my GB and this is just as bad as stones but if a stone blocks the duct the symptoms would more than likely be around the clock and when ever you eat.  My issues occur mainly at night but last year November began to affect me after eating.  For some years these night episodes were diagnosed as Flu or other related issue which seemed plausible and accepted?  However as I say last November it really became clear this was a eating disorder for me.  But OH MY do I relate to sitting on the toilet sweating buckets and feeling like I was going to die!!  I also suffer with laying down in bed and feeling ill as sweating is a feature of all this, when this starts I would get up check my temperature and everything would be normal except I would be sweating and pains around my body.

    They REFUSE to accept these symptoms as GB and actually blame my Back Arthritis for this????  So YES I fully understand you and what your saying.  I am SOOOOOO happy you have got a HIDA scan as this will without doubt show if all 3 organs are working (Liver, GB & Pancreas).  The reason I sweat when laying down is because the sludge moves around where as a stone is more likely to lodge and block?

    Please keep us posted on your HIDA result, I would love to hear your outcome.

     

    • marissa78371
      marissa78371 Guest

      Posted

      Thanks Julian,

      Yeah I don’t have any stones or sludge. They said it’s possible that I have stones that are just too small to be seen on an ultrasound, or there could be a stone blocking a duct that they can’t see. Or, it could be “silt” in the gallbladder, which is essentially like a balloon filled with sand, except the balloon is your GB and the sand is just tons of little tiny stones. 

  • Guest
    Guest marissa78371

    Posted

    Hi Marissa, sounds like your sand is my sludge cheesygrin  But yes my ultrasound showed no stones but the Stenographer said that if the stones are small they wont show up and that sand or sludge can be worse than stones, so I hear what your saying.  I have had endoscopy and colonoscopy which all came back clear.

    I hope you get sorted out and soon because this really is a sad issue to suffer with.  Take care and GOOD LUCK

  • marissa78371
    marissa78371

    Posted

    Update: I had my HIDA scan today, and just got the call that the GB is coming out. Normal ejection fraction is 33%, mine is 11%! I was told I have a hypokinetic gallbladder, meaning my GB doesn’t eject fat completely like it’s supposed to. A surgery referral is getting sent over today, and hopefully surgery will be soon! 
    • jeff4242
      jeff4242 marissa78371

      Posted

      That’s good in a way that you’ll be getting a surgery for it. I hope it’ll be better from therefort. Nothing else showed up in your HIDA scan? So what are all the test you’ve gone through? I had CT scan and Ultrasound both testing showed tiny gallstones. I have an upcomming doctors visit next week. You think i should push for a HIDA scan too? 
    • marissa78371
      marissa78371 jeff4242

      Posted

      Hi Jeff,

      No, nothing else showed up on my HIDA scan, it was just a low functioning GB. I had an ultrasound, blood work, and a CT done in April, and another ultrasound and blood work done this past Tuesday, and everything was normal. 

      If you have stones, your GB should be taken out anyway, but I pushed for a HIDA scan because I knew something was wrong, and the only way to know if your gallbladder is bad at doing its job is to do a HIDA scan. 

    • Guest
      Guest marissa78371

      Posted

      Great news Marissa78371, hope to see you in here smiling post op and telling us how well everything is goingcheesygrin
  • stephkall
    stephkall marissa78371

    Posted

    I’m glad you have answers! I had a similar experience and symptoms and presented at the ER for abdominal pain multiple times. I was given morphine and sent on my way. 

    My surgery is on the 19th but in the mean time I take 1000mg of Milk Thistle and a tablespoon of apple cider vinegar a day to take away symptoms. It’s working pretty well and I can keep working and working out. I’m not medical professional though, I found this concoction from an online forum.

  • jeff4242
    jeff4242 marissa78371

    Posted

    Hello Marissa, hello everyone. How’s everyone doing as of late?? Any new updates? 
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