Life after gallbladder surgery

Pompon am so sorry to hear your still suffering 4 years after your operation. I had mine removed 4 months ago and it's been hell. I totally regret having the operation and wish I could turn back the clock but I cant unfortunately. I too have persistent nausea and was vomiting until 2 weeks ago and have started having pain were the gallbladder was recently. My doctors keep telling me it will all settle down and that they have seen it before. Where you ok the first 6 months after the operation? Are you on questran for the diarrhea? Caltrate calcium 600 d might help you. You take 1 tablet 3 times a day with food. The calcium soaks up the bile. Also psyllium husks might help you too. I don't know what else to say to you. I just hope you get relief soon. Take care

Hey, there. Thanks for the reply and the ideas. Yeah, the first 5-6 months I was more or less fine. Maybe a little bit upset stomach, but nothing very conserning. Then I started having biliary colics, just as I did before the operation - severe pain, vomiting, elevated liver enzymes. Doctors said I have stones left in the duct or I have actually started producing them in there. So they took out some stones that were causing a blockage and cut the papilla, so that bile would flow and stones cannot form...and even if they did, they would be able to go out without causing a block. And yet I still have the same severe billiary pain...elevated enzymes during an attack and everything. They cannot explain why this is happening. On top of that I have the diarrhea, the constant, less intensive stomachache, the nausea an so on (I also have absolutley exhausting constant low grade fever). I really don't know if the cholecystectomy did that or the papillotomy or both. Or, as of late, an endoscopic ultrasound showed, I might be developing a chronic pancreatitis.

So I also keep wondering if I would have been better off without removing the gallblader. But who knows, maybe it would have been the same. Maybe worse. You just gotta trust you made the best decision you could at that point in time and with the information you had. And that everything will be alright.

Hi Pompon I'm so sorry your still suffering. To have the diarrhea alone is very debilitating but to have the nausea and stomachache too is life changing. That stomachache is dreadful. Thankfully mine has eased somewhat. I just have this horrendous nausea all day long and loose Stools but am. Have had pain like the gallstone pain over the last few days but thankfully it's gone today. Unfortunately we make a decision based on the info provided mainly by the medical profession and sometimes it doesn't work out the way we had hoped it would. I don't think the doctors are to blame as such but they should definitely be more careful about removing healthy organs from people. I can't understand why they can't just take out the stones. I only had 1 stone that was giving me pain and a healthy gallbladder. They should have tried to remove the stone but it seems to be easier to take out the organ. They say 90% of people have successful outcomes but I really wonder about that. A lot of people seem to develop ibs in the months after gallbladder removal and there is never a connection made between the two. Anyway we can't change what's happened we can only hope that things improve and we can return to a somewhat normal life. I hope you Get some answers soon and feel better. Take care. X

Oh, so you had the biliary colic kind of pain even after sergery? What did docs say? Did blood tests or echo show something out of the ordinary during the pain attack?

Just one stone? Yeah, it's a shame. I needed 3 years to decide to take my bladder out even though it was absolutely full of stones and with a chronic inflamation. The thing is, I feel doctors don't look at the bigger picture. Coz in my case I didn't really fit the profile for a gallbladder stone patient. I obviously started developing the stones as kid. I wasn't overweight, didn't have high cholesterol, there doesn't seem to be a genetical reason. I was misdiagnosed for years precisely because I was too young for that. And when it turned out it's gallstones no one wandered why I'm having them. Just took the bladder out, but I suspect the reason I had stones in the first place is still valid and that's why the sergery didn't really help much. Could be hormones, some diskynesis or anything. I have no idea. But I think it should matter. Seems to me if I go to a doctor and say "My left hand pinkie hurts"...he'll just be like "Not worry, we'll cut it off. You can live without a pinkie". :D Just kidding of course...mostly. :D

I only started having the pains the last few days. Thankfully didn't have it today. I was in hospital last month for a few weeks because I was vomiting every day and had dry heaves and horrendous nausea. They did all the tests and nothing showed up. They told me it was a side Effect of the gallbladder removal and very rare but that it would settle down in time. I don't fit the profile for gallstones either except I am 43 but not fair and only 97lbs! I have spoken to others who have gone through similar experiences after gallbladder removal and they did recover slowly over time. My gp has a patient who had a similar experience to me and they recovered in 6 months. I also met a woman in hospital who had a similar experience to me and she fully recovered. This is the only hope I have. If I don't have hope I have nothing. I did have pain from the stone but was only diagnosed in October and had the op in December. If I had to do it again I definitely wouldn't have had the operation and would have tried the alternative route. I don't think I will ever be the same person again. It's a nightmare. X

I know possibly over 15 people who have had their gallbladders removed and non of them have any problems. Most of them don't even follow any diet and they feel just fine. Just one friend was feeling very tired and nauseated for months after the sergery but I think she is now much better. So I believe the odds are your body will adjust and soon enough you will feel just fine and you will forget all about it. Keeping my fingers crossed!

Thank you pompon. I hope your right. Meant to ask you are you taking digestive enzymes? Might also help you. Definitely worth a try. I'm taking the caltrate and the psyllium husk with digestive enzymes and they definitely help bulk up the stool. I did try questran but that made me vomit and gave me worse diarrhea. Are you able to eat or are you still on low fat diet? I am still on low fat for now. Won't try anything else until the nausea goes away. It's a horrendous feeling and makes me feel very weak all the time so can imagine how your feeling. Did any of your friends have diarrhea too? Some people get it for months and it goes away. I know a few people that had it for 6 and 8 months and it went away and they fully recovered. I hope I have given you some alternatives to try and ease your nausea and diarrhea. Anything is worth a try when you feel so bad. X

After the endoscopic ultrasound a couple of weeks ago which showed scarring of the pancreas and enlarged peripancreatic lymph node they did give me Creon (pancreatic enzymes I believe) that actually does help a little bit. I think it's the only thing that has had any effect up to now. But doesn't stop the diarrhea completely. Just reduces 20 bowel movements per day to 12... :D) (which is by almost 50% percent if you think about it :D ...still terrible though). This same doc also gave me a med which is basically Questran but with a local name. I told him I've already tried this and it caused me terrible cramps and nausea...didn't tolarate it at all. He said it's not possible! Thank goodness there are other people who are not feeling well from this...he made me feel like I'm making it up. Can't eat any fat. Makes me feel very sick.

The thing is after the cholecystectomy I didn't have these problems - didn't have diarrhea, could eat anything. Just some bile reflux. And the terrible pain attacks. My diarrhea and nausea...and fever...and everything else started 2 years after the sergery right after a severe pain attack...in fact possibly a second acute pancreatitis (docs weren't sure...so didn't treat it as a pancreatitis while in fact it most probably was). Weird. But I know several people whose diarrhea started after the sergery. I think they managed to handle it with diet and possibly it just got better over time. 

Truly hope the same happens with you and it just goes away.

Sounds like all your problems are linked to the pancreas. If you have a local health store near you ask them about digestive enzymes. They are worth a try and recommended after gallbladder removal. A lot of people who can't tolerate questran take digestive enzymes, probiotics and or pysllium husk and calcium to break down the fat and soak up the bile diarrhea. They are all worth trying and completely natural. X

Hi Pompon, I found your post online regarding your gallbladder surgery.  While I'm sorry to see that you had problems, I've been experiencing similar problems with no resolution in sight.  I'm hoping that you might be able to help me by sharing your path.  I had my gallbladder removed in February of this year.  Since then, I have experienced a low-grade fever, extreme fatigue, pain near my right rib, extreme bloating (no matter what I eat), cramping and to top it all off, my pancreatic enzymes continue to be elevated.  I was so excited to see that you had a low grade fever as well because no one who I know who's had the surgery has experienced what I have experienced.  Doctors look at me like I'm just imagining things and seem to be bouncing me from one specialist to another.  I realize that your post was over a year old but I'm wondering how you are feeling now and if they ever figured out what was causing you so many problems?  I'm desparate.  I'm really regretting having my gallbladder removed.  I didn't have stones.  It just wasn't functioning properly.  That caused me to have vomiting and nausea about once to twice a month.  That was bad but not nearly what I'm experiencing now.  Thank you for your response. Hope to hear from you soon.  

Hi Acejohnston I'm feeling bit better. I went to my GP last week because of the extreme nausea and waking  me up in the middle of the night? I'm  taking  metoclopramide for the nausea. It's been helping but I still feel sick sometimes after I ate but at least I don't wake up in the night with the nausea so much.

My baby is doing fine thank you, just feeling tired if I can't sleep.

PI've tried enzymes in the past and I didn't feel very well so don't take them at all. I've read that psyllium husk can help for bile because is a soluble fibre. Acupuncture is great idea I hope it works for you. Let me know how it goes. Take care u too x

Hi Leni great to hear from you. Am glad your feeling a bit better. There is nothing worse than that nausea. It's very debilitating. I was also waking in the middle of the night with the nausea. Thankfully I wake at 6 now with it. Im still getting this burning pain were the gallbladder was which is Similar to the gallstone pain. It's making me think I didn't need the op and it's something else. I'm delighted to hear your baby is doing well. It must be so hard when you feel so sick. I hope you continue to improve. I'll let you know how the acupuncture goes. Take care xx