My life is a nightmare since GB surgery

i had my gallbladder removed in march after 2 years of suffering, felt so much better then two months later it all started again had so much time off work am surprised i have a job still. fed up of seeing a doctor because i get palmed off back to.the consultant who is also terrible. acid is bad my throat burns i feel sick cannot rat just want to sleep every day is a battle. my mams friend took 3 years to feel better its a viscious circle ive tried lansaprasole omezaprazole ranitidine nexium nothing works at all. fed up of taking pain relief thats does nothing fed up of GP telling me its not gallbladder related. noone understand how miserable this is if one more person tells me i have no pain threehhold i will punch them! only so much misery anyone can take if anyone has found anything that helps feel free to let me know 😊

Hang in there. There is help and hope. I have been where you are... there are likely 2 causes . One is your liver is likely not producing sufficient or strong enough bile so it can't digest fats properly. Try taking Beta Plus (it contains Oxbile and pancreatic enzymes). Try 1 to start to see if you can tolerate it. Most tolerate it very well. I eventually went to 2 for lunch and dinner esp. when there is any fat in the meal or meat.

The other problem is likely that you had LOW stomach acid, believe it or not (I didn't believe it myself). Hence, when you were put on PPIs it lowers your stomach acid further and makes you feel nauseaus (I was bedridden with nauseau from them and GastroEnterologist had the nerve to say Double it!!!). I slowly weaned off PPIs (thank God). If you go to fast, you will get 'rebound reflux' which is awful. Then once you stop, try adding an HCL tablet with pepsin. I use Spectrazyme and love it because you can break it in half. Start taking one at any meal with protein. Next day do 1.5 tablets with meal with protein; the following day 2 and so on (adding 1/2 every day) until you experience Reflux (yuck). Then scale back to the amount you took the day before and that is YOUR ideal dose. For me it is 4 tablets.

If you need help, find a reputable FUNCTIONAL MEDECINE doctor as they specialize in gut and digestive function; Naturopaths (and I saw many) were much less helpful but very kind

and never, ever, ever give up.

Hi,

I'm sorry you're not feeling well. Have you had your hormones checked ?

HI Leni 75 i had my gallbladder removed 6 years ago and i have never been the same sorry i have been put on these tablets cholestagel not saying there your answer but they make me being able to have some normalitily in my life and not stuck to a toilet pan all day dont kmow your syptoms but what i have read your really going through it same as me they tell you just before the surgery that you might develop irratable bowel syndrom as i already had this i went along with the surgery worst decision i have ever made in my life they tell you that eventually everything will come back to normal well not for me ,my next door neughbour is fine and a lady i know who works for farmfoods is ok as well did not think anyone was as bad and lonley as me and the feeing in your stomach after you eat food and like you said you just want the pain to end so you can get on with your life.

I had mine taken out 9 years ago and it has completely destroyed my life. I was 23 and now I'm about to be 33 and I think about suicide everyday.

No one warned me because they're all clueless (doctors/surgeons don't follow-up on outcomes; once the surgery is over with they forget you exist), and I can't sue them because the medical "literature" doesn't support my claim. I'm s**t out of luck.

I'm so ill I can't work. I have developed secondary problems to this (bile gastritis and reactive hypoglycemia). I'm lucky that I'm a veteran and am at the top of the list for section 8 housing, because otherwise I would be living on the street.

My life is not how I planned it would turn out. I should be married, with kids and a place to call my own, and instead I spend most of my life hovering the toilet. Suicide is a very real option. I don't know what else to do.

hi, i hope you are doing well. how are you feeling now? i understand you're feeling. its been about 7 weeks since gallbladder removal, and i live with fear and anxiety everyday sometimes im afraid to eat, i lose my appetite sometimes i am more constipated often i have to eat fiber everyday just so i can use the restroom, i am here for you if you want to talk. i know things will get better for you through time. sometimes it takes time to recover.

i have all these problems everyone's mentioned. i already suffered with crippling depression and anxiety before the surgery which was 2 years ago.

No one understands how much this is ruining my life.

im 47 with a 2 and 5 year old, SAHM at this stage but i am wanting to return p/t to workforce.

i dont know when incontinence is going to hit or the crippling pain. we took the kids for a day out and i had to go and lay on a park bench and breath through it.

im not the same person i was.

i also have a slightly enlarged and fatty liver (i am not obese or an alcoholic. i used to drink socially but i cant anymore).

does anyone else have this problem as well?

I had mine out 2 years ago and I've suffered bad, stomach acid and feeling unwell the runs is a nightmare cause I got to b near a toilet wherever I go! I have no immune system and find it hard to get rid of infections, I have a better of quality of life in some ways but in others I'm still ill on a regular basis. I definitely can notice the difference. Its why they don't want to remove the organ because of the difficulties that await! I kno most people have been lucky I wasn't one of them sadly it's pot luck I think

you are not ownly who life is nightmare after gallbladder surgery I have had nothing but Health issues ever cents and the reason why I got the gallbladder surgeries they said all I would feel so much better well I feel actually worse. I had my gallbladder surgery in 2017 in February I wish this was something that I could wake up from..

So I just had my gallbladder removed July 4, 2020. I was 36 years old and super healthy before. I ran 3-5 miles everyday and felt like I was still in my 20's. Like you...I feel this is a nightmare I can't wake up from. I never imagined something like this happening to me. I was fine less than a year ago...completely normal health. The funny part...it wasn't even my gallbladder!! My gallbladder was fine. The doctors in the ER made a mistake. I actually had a kidney stone in my right kidney that was causing pain the night I went in. They said it was my gallbladder. I even ask them if they found a kidney stone or anything else on my CT. They lied and said they didn't. I found out two weeks after the surgery that they did find a kidney stone. They also ignored blood in my urine, which points to kidney stone.

Anyway, I developed nausea a month after removal. I went to a GI doctor who did an endoscope and found gastritis. All he wanted to do was say I now had acid reflux (never had this before) and put me on a PPI and sucralfate. Well, soon after being on the PPI my hair started falling out by the handfuls. I developed depression (never had before in my life) and bad brain fog. However, the doctor said none of this was caused by the medication. I stayed on the medication for 7 months and I was so sick.

Well, after doing my own research and demanding to see photographs of my endoscope I found out I have bile reflux. The doctor was covering for the surgeon (his good friend that works in the same building) and didn't tell me my stomach was full of bile. You can see it on the endoscope pictures. He didn't want me to have the pictures either. He outright refused to give them to me. I had to ask his nurse when he wasn't around. I could see the yellow bile in the photos.

So eventually they put me on a bile binder. Before this...I felt like I was dying. I was nauseous and had lost a ton of weight. I was getting reflux up into my throat. I felt like my stomach was just open to my throat. I felt sick all the time. Now...I feel a bit better. I'll never be "normal" again, but I feel better. I couldn't stand living before, but now I can stand it...I'm just not as happy as I used to be. So the bile binder soaked up the bile in my stomach. I was worried it would make me constipated, but it doesn't. I only take 4 grams though and some people take 20 grams. So I also stopped the PPI and sucralfate and this made me feel so much better!! The sucralfate was what was giving me brain fog. I know because I stopped the stuff and different times. It was the PPI that was causing my hair to fall out. The PPI also was making the bile reflux worse.

I'll always have some gastritis now (which can lead to stomach cancer), but it isn't as bad as before. I had a second endoscopy done later and some of it healed. So I like to take the bile binder at night right before going to bed. This soaks up the bile that has happened during the day and prevents it from sitting in my stomach over night. The bile binder does make my throat sore even though I try to drink water after. It's not good for tissues or teeth. If you try it...make sure to brush your teeth after. It's corrosive somewhat.

I'm still miserable compared to before. They ruined my health and it feels like...my life. I know that sounds dramatic, but I'm not nearly as happy or healthy. I can't run like I used to because I tire easily. I've tried building myself back up, but I'm exhausted even after walking. I'm also more hungry now that before. I'm worried about gaining weight when I've always had a normal BMI. I gained back all the weight I'd lost when I was really sick. I also have some issues with my memory and processing skills. I used to be pretty smart. I actually have a BA in biology, MS in psychology and I completed a year of medical school before I realized I hated it. Now I feel like I just can't think sometimes. The really funny part...I was a better "doctor" than them because I knew it was a kidney stone going into the ER. I knew because of my medical background. Instead, I deferred to the actual doctors and I should have listened to myself instead of them. I wouldn't be in this mess.

If you have any questions or want to talk then let me know. I've studied this a lot since this happened to me. I understand some of it because of my medical background. The really funny part...they don't even need to remove gallbladders. It isn't necessary at all unless the person has cancer. Why? Well, they can do lithotripsy to break up the stones so that people can pass them naturally. If one gets stuck they can go in through endoscope to remove the stuck stone. Then they can give people antibiotics to clear any infection and the person would be 100% fine and normal again. Now...the reason they don't do this is that the chances of developing stones again is high. However, that usually takes 1-10 years. When the person developed stones again they would have to repeat the removal process. The reason they don't do this is because it costs more money. Insurance companies and for-profit healthcare systems don't want to keep putting out money for lithotripsy ($20k-$50) when they could pay for one surgery. This is true even in universal healthcare systems (like the UK) where they don't want people overusing the tax dollars for healthcare. However, in some countries, particularly Asian countries, they've stopped removing gallbladders and only do the procedure I mentioned. They've shown through scientific studies this is a better outcome for the patient's health. It makes me so mad that they care so little about people in the United States (where I live) that they still remove gallbladders.

Okay...I'm done ranting now. If anyone has questions or comments...let me know!!

about the same based in regional Australia, it's 12 months post op and life a battle.

My gallbladder failed when I went on health kick and lost 30 kgs in 6 months on exercise and diet shakes. sent then I put the weight on.

have fairly constant stomach burning pain and right side liver pain. pretty tired and unmotivated these days.

doctors have runs a few bloods and everything is okay, taking liver detox, ox bile, anti acid.

Also have alot of gas. wish I dealt with pain and tried to keep.