Nausea 12 weeks after gallbladder removal

Hope your doing good! I'm a lot better this week than I was last week! I have been eating but just feel bad afterwards for a while. The diarrhea is gone so I suppose I did have a bug of some sort. I am having anxiety attacks when I wake up in the morning and sometimes at night. I never had this before I got sick! It really complicates things more to deal with the physical and mental stress of all this! Hope this nightmare ends soon

Casey, are you better? I think about you and your family often.

Hi pat13162,

I am so sorry you're having to go through this. So far I am 4 1/2 months out, and I have lost about 31 pounds. I still have the diarrhea, and have tracked my food in a food journal since the surgery -- down to the weight and time of everything I eat. I've been keeping a spreadsheet to tell me when I actually have to go to the bathroom, how my depression is doing, and how my anxiety is doing, and nausea. I notice I am way worse in the mornings, and then by evenings I can pretty much keep food down, so I try to do the bulk of my eating in the evenings. Maybe you could start looking at that? You are still really early in the process, and hopefully it will even out for you! I went back to my doc and he said the only thing he could do was some invasive, uncomfortable, and expensive tests. So I am opting to be patient also. Sigh.

Thank you so much for your response.  I am 70 and have been healthy all my life, no smoking, no drugs, no alcohol.  Healthy and active.  One day while driving to see my mom,in a care facility, I felt and heard a pop in the back of my head.  This event, strange as it seems, started my downward spiral.  After the "pop" i got a headache so thought I was having a migraine.  My daughter has had tons of them but I never had till this day.  Then I thought maybe I had a TIA.  Had Ct scans, MRI, X-rays, endoscopy, colonoscopy, blood work, heart test, etc...all normal.

had intermittent nausea from that day till the present.  Finally choose to have my gallbladder removed 5 weeks ago.  Surgery piece of cake, recovery very hard.  Still no appetite but I can eat, sometimes just closing my eyes and forcing eating.  No energy, dropped two dress sizes....not recommending this weight loss program.  Try to get better with patience, prayer, and no drugs!

Everytime I go and see my parents at their home, my dad constantly tells me this is not the right way to lose weight. Thanks. I know. :-) I stayed two days in the hospital, and had a drain for both days until they released me. My infection had spread pretty badly by the time they figured out it was my gallbladder. Apparently I have a high pain threshhold according to the trauma surgeon. I didn't know, I honestly thought it was just super bad heartburn (never having had heartburn) or bad, bad anxiety, even though I couldn't figure out what I was anxious about. Turns out it was infected inside and out, stones filled it and there was lots of bile. He said one more day and I would've been septic.

It was definitely (and still is) a hard surgery to recover from. I've had spine surgeries that were easier than this. Even my hysterectomy (which was difficult, don't get me wrong) felt progressively better every day. This surgery is weird because it's so many months later and I still wake up nauseous and spending so much time in the bathroom (which is really awkward when you're sitting with patients and have to excuse yourself for a minute because you're cramping so bad you have to run to the bathroom) until about 4:30/5:00 p.m. Then it starts to get better and I can eat a little something. I really average less than 1200 calories a day though. I have even tried drinking protein drinks trying to get some nutrients in that way, but it still goes right through me. I definitely have to force myself to eat. Sometimes I'm just too scared to eat because I don't want to have it coming out 10 minutes later! I have been trying the probiotics, and I hope they kick in soon.

I, too, am trying to do this without drugs because I just don't react to them very well. Sometimes I take a pepto bismol if it's really bad and I know I have to be around people, and that seems to help a little with the nausea, but there's nothing that seems to help with the diarrhea. I even thought about googling foods that constipate you just to get a break! :-)

Hi pat I'm sorry to read this. Nausea and diarrhea is common after gallbladder removal. It does go away and for most it takes 6 months. It took over a year for mine to settle down. I have had many major surgeries which I recovered quickly from but the gallbladder took me 2 years really. I now tend to suffer from constipation and bloating on a regular basis. I feel a lot better but I am suffering from a lot of hormones problems (early menopause) which I had prior to the op but became much more severe since the op. Try Calcium tablets 600d for the diarrhea. Calcium carbonate is good for diarrhea. A women recommended it to me and it did help and also psyllium husk powder too. Ginger tea and vitamin b6 can help the nausea and also accupressure bands helped me too along with acupuncture. It will get better it just takes time as the liver has to learn how to function without a gallbladder which doesn't happen overnight. It's so awful that so many of us suffer after this surgery and are not advised of the side effects. I lost a lot of weight after the operation too which I didn't need to loose as have always been very thin. Also peppermint tea can help too. I tried all prescription meds at the time and nothing really helped and I didn't like the side effects. Keep positive as this will pass in time. Take care

Thanks for your encouragement and advice. I have learned a lot about myself thru this experience. I have always been a self reliant and strong person. I have been humbled and brought to my knees most days thru this. I have learned this is a small bump in the road compared to so many who have life long injuries or debilitating illness's that never get better. I have learned patience, and gratitude for good health that I had taken for granted. I have learned I have been blessed with amazing family members and friends who have come to my aid just when I needed them most. I have a loyal and loving husband who has not left my side thru all this. I have learned I have been blessed beyond measure and my trust and faith has been strengthened. It has been worth it for the valuable lessons I have received.

This has not been a fun journey but it has been of great value.

I am grateful for the advice of all on this issue, it is comforting to know i am not alone on this journey and my symptoms are somewhat common with GB surgery.

Thanks to all.

Pat, I had nausea for about 12 months prior to surgery. It started slowly and then become more constant. I thought having the GB out was the answer. (Had sludge) All was good for 2 months and then it all started again but even worse.

It has now been 22 months since the surgery. I didn't start to improve until last August. Even then improvement was so slow, I hardly knew I was improving. I still can't work and have not resumed a normal life, but things are much better. Today I to went to the grocery store. Funny how sometning that insignificant can be a milestone.

You will get better, but it may be slow. In the meantime, I think you should eliminate some of the things that could be a problem e.g., bile, stones remaining in the duct, ulcers. If your doctor does not want to refer you for testing then change doctors.

Be sure to eat and drink. I didn't and it made things much worse.

I also feel better at night; in fact almost normal. I don't know why.

Good luck and try to stay positive. Anxiety and depression all by-products of this.  Let me know if you have any questions about my experience.

Michelle, I am 22 months past surgery and finally begining to feel better. There could be reasons you are not feeling better yet  that tests would reveal. Continue asking your doctor about what your problem might be-

bile, stones in the bile duct, ulcers?

Be sure to eat and drink. I fell better at night too.

Nancy, thanks for your reply and encouragement. Funny how things happen, about two weeks prior to GB surgery I went to ER room with pain in abdomen. After Ct scan and blood work everything was normal. Determined to have GB surgery after that. Just before doc discharged me he said maybe we should do urinalysis. It showed I had a UT I . They prescribed a RX of antibiotics. Took those but never knew if it was resolved. Today 5 weeks after GB surgery and continued nausea and feeling poorly every day I went to instacare and was told I have a fairly bad UTI. They gave me a shot of antibiotics in hip muscle ( holy smoke it hurt) about after an hour my nausea is gone and I am wondering if a lot of my discomfort and nausea had to do with the UTI. Praying this will continue and maybe nausea will be gone. Reason for hope after 16 months of nausea!

Macy, thanks for your reply. Had a Hida scan and ultrascan, no stones no sludge.

Oh yes Pat, I hope so too. Please let me know if your nausea stops for good.

I do think our bodies are complicated and there is so much we don't know. I had a bad lower back pain before GB surgery. Since the surgery, I haven't had another pain. How could those two things be connected?

I do hope you have found your solution.

Nancy, I actually had a few good days but started thinking I might have a UTI. Went to instacare and I did have a UTI. I had no common symptoms however. Doc gave me intramuscular shot ( hurt like heck for about an hour after) then Cipro for 7 days. Took one dose of Cipro and had diahhrea all night long! Stopped the Cipro feeling somewhat better today. Side effects can really set you back. I was barely getting my appetite back and starting to hold my own on weight. I feel selfish complaining because there are so many who struggle with so much more than I. I know I can and will recover, patience and faith are the keys.

Just rememer youre not alone in all this. 

I can tell you that things for me were taking a while to settle, then saw dietician and started Fodmap diet.  Havent had any rushing to loo since. You are right, you will recover with patience and faith. Appy to answer any queries you have.

I know what you mean. Some of these posts are just heart wrenching. Many are children. I don't know how a child could go through what happened to me.

Good luck and stay well.