I seem to be having gall bladder issues.

I have an ultrasound and upper GI scheduled for the 8th of December.

I get an intense pain on my right side below my ribcage after I eat heavy... Thanksgiving triggered the reaction nicely. The pain is usually a brief throb or surge and then it subsides for 5-10 minutes and repeats this pattern for several hours. This is a classic inflamed gall bladder/gall stone symptom.

Lately, I have a dull pain (constant) in the same location which intensifies when I sit down. I believe this is because my abdomen is compressed when I sit and I am applying pressure to my gall bladder. The only comfy way to sit is to stretch out by sitting on the edge of my chair and leaning back (like I was in a lazy boy).

Anybody have their gall bladder removed. Any bad side-effects or complications to report afterwards.

How old are you Karl? I had mine out around 40. It was an emergency surgery. Mine filled up with stones and started flooding them out to my Pancreas. That in turn tried to kill me. 12 days in the hospital and a huge scar and $96k later I am on Nexium for the rest of my life. Dont wait too long. Get it checked out and hope they can just do the microscopic extraction on you. It heals up much faster and cleaner. I still get pains in my stomach where my scar is.

I'm 34.

I have a bad family history on my Mom's side. About 75% of them have had their gall bladders removed.

i had an appendix out..that count? 9 days in the hospital

do you still have your appendix? i had similar pain when my appendix was infected ...

Andy

I have all of my body parts intact, except for my tonsils.

im not a complete idiot..im missing my appendix

Kidney removed, steel rod in my back about a foot long with a bone graf and disc fusion, three pins in my left hand, repaired right shoulder socket... But I still have my gall bladder

I used to work for Ethicon Endo-surgery - it was a divison of J&J - left when they wanted me to move to Albuquerque to head up the mechanical divison - just too far from family. Anyways - I used to design/develope the trocars used in these surgerys -did do a couple of pigs in the lab but thats another story.

Bottom line - if it is the gall bladder get it done endroscopically. Check to see how many the surgeon has done - usually there are close to 0 problems in the US - but make sure he/she has done some. Recovery time is days - usually an outpatent procedure if caught early. You will have like 3 small insisions - maybe a couple of stitches each. Usually back to most work in 3 days. Really not bad compared to what they used to do.....


M

Had mine taken out in 95. Laposcopic removal. Had problems for quite a few years afterwards. Trouble digestion fatty food, meat etc. I had other health issues at the time. So, I was one of the few that had an adverse reaction to it. Most of the people whom I have spoken that have had it done, don't even know it's missing. If I recall, "normal" recover time is a few days before your back on feet. Maybe 2 weeks before your back at work.
I might suggest ultrasonic blasting of the stones. Talk that option over with your internist. Have to be carefull though, you can get complications from that as well. Accupunture might be an option. Try the least evasive first.
To make your life alittle more comfortable, do not eat anything that is fatty, fried, redmeat, etc. Light food like fish and chicken should be ok. No mayo, etc. Hope it resolves soon for you.

I had mine out several years back.
Was able to get it done using laparoscopy. Several small holes. Went home the same day and was back in business about 10 days later.

It messes up your digestion for a while, but eventually your body adjusts.

I suggest getting it diagnosed ASAP, next week sounds like too long. You should be having the operation next week if that is what it is. The longer you wait, it may get infected, which means 12 inch cut in your side.

go to a doctor tomorrow!

both gall bladder infection and appendix infection can be deadly if not treated ...
Andy

mine rupture 9 hrs before i knew... said 3 more i woulda died

Ok,
I am not looking for a flame war here, and I have not had my gall bladder removed, but most of the people I know who have had there gall bladder removed as an "optional surgery", have only continued to have problems of different sorts with their digestive systems after surgery....
There are some "natural" or holistic ways to remove gall stones... Be prepared to sit on a tiolet for a minimum of 12 hours.... It involves a quart of virgin cold pressed olive oil, and about a dozen lemons...
It's doesn't sound like fun,(in fact, it's not) but it is a lot better than surgery...
And, yes, I am speaking from personal experience....

-Thom

Yes don't put it off. I had mine out when I was @40. It came on as severe abdominal pain then I would break out in a cold sweat. Fold up into a fetal position and lay there on the bed for an hour, until the pain subsided.
I wish I would have had the Laporoscopic gall bladder surgery, much less invasive, or something other than the large scar on the belly.
One thing I did find out was my liver was hardening from excessive alcohol consumption.
CCLINTAKETWOASPIRINANDCALLMEINTHEMORNING

Okay.... I am going to push for the tests tomorrow.

914club is better then Google or Ask Jeeves!!!

I am able to get answers to nearly anything.

Thanks guys!

Thom, just out of curiosity, does that method have a pretty good success rate?

I had to have one removed Karl, but we found a donor just in time.




M

The method requires that you S#!t into a piece of screen cloth... This allows you to see exactly how effective the process is... The stones are a grayish green, and usually the size of small peas...(The Olive oil gives you the runs, and the lemons soften the stones so they can pass through the ducts...)
It is not a pleasant way to spend 12 hours, and I would not recomend it to anyone
who has to go to work the next day, but the 2nd day you feel better, and the 3rd
you should be better than when you started...
If you fear that you have an infection, I would not recommend this treatment until
that was addressed -
Again, this is not a pleasant way to deal with gall stones, but better than surgery -
I have done this once, and my wife has done it twice -

-Thom

Heh, lucky for me. Im never gonna get old!

Hey, Thom.

Do you have a proven way to get rid of Kidney stones?

Mine always get stuck about half way through the journey. Then it takes Lithotripsy to bust em up smaller, but that can be kinda expensive.

Tommy -
Sorry, but I am not aware of any "natural or "holistic" method to deal with kidney stones - that doesn't mean that there isn't one, - I just don't know of one - exept the smartass answer of "only drink filtered water"... No coffee, soda, tea - well,
you get the idea....

Thom

why might this be the night for this, scottstoolwench (my gf) father is sitting in the ER as i type. they are not sure weither if it is his gull bladder or his liver. he does not drink, but his medical history is age 50, diabetic, quad bypass 3 years ago, and 300 lbs.

best wishes lets hope everybody does ok

scott

Your appendix is on the right hand side of your abdomen and your gall bladder and pancreas on the left hand side.....Qarl.you need to describe your pain more...........It is not appendicitis ....Yes it could be cholecystitis yet it could be coming from your panreas......I worked in ER for 11 yrs and know all the signs ....

Age does not matter in Cholecystitis as it is what you eat...fatty foods.milk,diary products, ham,bacon, red meat alcohol can all cause gall stones.

For kidney stones.you would NOT be able to sit and surf the net if u had kidney stones...and also you would be sitting in ER as fast as your ass would take you .

DO you drink alcohol ? often? how often ? Asking as it could be pancreatitis

DId you see your Dr? Did they check your LFT's ? Your FBC ? Cholestrol ?Haemoglobin ?

Not all gall bladders are done laprascopy.as there is tooooooooooooooo many side effects.Massive MI.......Atrial Fribrialltion .You want me to go on .I disagree with the short and so called quick surgery to many ins and outs

Alison,

Yes, blood work was done last week. Doctor called this evening with the results, but I was not home to receive the call. I believe all of those tests were ordered. I suspect my lipids are high (they usually are).

I believe my gall bladder IS on my right side...

http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/ency/ar...icle/001138.htm

My pain is as follows...

1. After a meal, I get a periodic sharp pain on my right side below my rib cage.. as if someone is really grabbing abdominal muscles and twitsing my abominal wall very hard. The pain last for 10-15 seconds and then subsides for 5-10 minutes. Repeats for 2-3 hours. It is more severe after a large meal, and especially a meal that has fats in it, although I tend to eat well. This pain is more aggravated when I sit down (i.e., sit at my desk, drive) vs. standing upright or walking.

2. Lately, I have a constant dul pain, as if someone is poking me really hard with their finger. This pain is focalized in the same area where I get the pain listed in #1 above. This pain has been increasing in intensity over the past several days.

My abdomen is not tender to the touch and looks outwardly normal.

I am not vomiting, I have no fever, no gas, and I have not had any diahhrea.


I'm glad I like you guys. You know too much information about my body!!!!

Hey... on the link above... enlarge the gall bladder photo. The dude looks like Tiger Woods!

Qarl, do you have your blood work results...if so PM them to me ..

If the gall bladder and pancreas on the left hand side, then why do I have a 12" scar across the right side of my stomach where they went in to remove it???

No results yet. Doctor called, but I wasn't home. I am supposed to call tomorrow.

Did you have the full cholecystetomy or lap chole ? if full ........they have to cut u all up to and get all out....plus they have to

take your bile ducts so you will not have problems after getting it out with your pancreas.AS one you need your pancreas too

produce insulin for you body and another thing if you didnt have your pancreas you would be on daily injections to provide

your body with insulin

Does that cover you Scott ?

Qarl..........if you can .......please PM me your blood results...Make sure he does LFT's.FBC.Thyroid,Cholestrol and LVT's if didnt

ask for them to be done

I don't feel so good after reading this thread. I've got the GERD (gastroesophogeal reflux disease-no 12 step for this one). I feel much better on meds for it. No more heartburn.

Craig - you made me not want to finish my glass of Knob Creek after reading about your hardening liver...

Other than that I'm so so.

And I did get my nuts disconnected.

I feel like I'm aging much quicker lately. I'm 34 too Q'arl. I feel yer pain.

Mine was out in '84. Huge motorcycle crash and the fact that I just lay in bed essentially motionless for a few months caused my gallblader to stop functionning. More surgery to remove it.

I've also had several episodes of kidney stones. Those are massively painful too.

I've had steel put in several places (legs back arm) steel removed, steel put back in a second time etc . . .

Michel Richard

Oh and the gallblader is in the upper right quadrant of the abdomen. Anytime I get an X-ray of my lower spine, I see the staples that were left behind when it was removed.

I had my gall bladder out back in 96 making me only 22 years old. I had such severe pain in my chest like someone had kicked me in the ribs. I literally couldn't breathe! The only thing that helped me was to curl up in a ball until the pain went away. Mine wasn't triggered by anything....it was triggered by EVERYTHING. They did an ultrasound and found no stones. They then assumed it was an ulcer or reflux. They did all the testing for those and still found nothing. Then I continued to have problems to the point of water and bread making me have attacks. They did a dye test to find out the % of function in my gall bladder. 30% was the lowest amount of function that the GB could have in order to to still keep it. Mine was at 9% function. So of course it came out about 2 weeks later. I can tell you it felt like I was having a heart attack and that the pain was basically right under my breast bone. Shallow breaths helped, but deep breathing about killed me. Curling up in a ball seemed to make the attacks bearable.

Any of this sounding somewhat familiar??

That sucks, James Dean.





On to other things for a sec.. Alison, could you please edit your posts as not to sound... so.. scary... please.

At least we have a thread that searches positive for the word, 'colostomy'..




M

My sister had her Gallbladder out last year at this time. She was 26 years at the time and although it took them some time to diagnose the actual stones the surgery was an out patient procedure (using 4 holes and scopes and a vacuum etc. kinda like the first time I changed the spark plugs on my 914), she arrived at the hospital at 11 am and was back home by 6 PM. The surgery and the various specialists that she saw leading up to her day in the hospital didn't cost anything.
She was back to her old self and working in a couple of days.

My understanding is that the Gallbladder is just a storage sac for bile that is made by your liver (?). And when you eat, particularily something fatty, the gallbladder squeezes out the bile to assist in digestion of the fats. After removal there is no more bile storage and bile just continuously flows into the digestive system.

Miles, didn't you used to post under the name "colostomy"
on another website?

I had a colostomy bag attached to my leg for about 4 months after the operation. That sucked! I feel better now but like I mentioned, I have to take Nexium everyday for life. At $3 a pill it can get expensive. I was to the point that milk would make me vomit. They kept telling me it was just gastritis. They misdiagnosed me 4 times before finally figuring out that it was not and that is why it was an emergency surgery. I wound up not having to pay for the first 4 visits to the hospital, I had to threaten to sue them first though. Then they decided it was easier to just let it go. They wanted like 4 grand for all that.

Do you write EVERYTHING down?

Jees..


M

Here’s my take on gallbladder problems, my experience was from 6-7 years ago, so things have probably changed. I also had very small, almost sandy stones.
Ultrasound diagnosis can be tricky. If you’re in an attack, or have recently eaten, particularly something you shouldn’t, the gallbladder contracts and it becomes very difficult to see if there are any stones since everything is compressed together. If it’s been too long since you have eaten, the gallbladder will distend (get larger) and is becomes hard to see the stones since everything is so diffuse. (With me, 16 hours fasting was too long, but 12 was OK for a positive diagnosis.)
With the laparoscopic procedure, the bile duct is tied off just at the end of the gallbladder. The bile duct from the gallbladder Y’s into the duct from the pancreas and forms the common bile duct. Just after the junction, the common bile duct necks down a bit, making it slightly smaller than either of the two ducts that form it. If a stone is in the gall bladder duct (and apparently it’s very difficult to make sure there isn’t one there) it may travel down into the common bile duct and wedge into the restriction. This means you will develop pancreatitis, and a Gastroenterologist will have to snake the catheter down your throat and dig the stone out. With pancreatitis you may have violent retching, and it is possible to tear some of the internal closures from the laparoscopy; this may not be immediately apparent. You then have an incomplete closure that can possibly herniate, and at some later date they have to go back in to repair the hernia.

Harvey

Qarl, I'm 34 now and had my gallbladder out several years ago. The ultra sound showed a stone the size of a golf ball. It's no wonder I was in such pain. Each time the stone tried to pass, it would get stuck and cripple me for an hour. Now, I just have to watch out for really fatty foods.

Even though I was in the 5% that had complications, it was well worth it.

My 18 y/o daughter is scheduled to have her gall bladder removed on 12/20/04. Leading up to this, she visited the emergency room three separate times due to severe pain. Any high fat food would kick off a reaction....last time, it was the Fettuccini Alfredo.

Andy

I vote for the lap chole.

I worked on some of the endoscopic first clip appliers for the lap chole (gallbladder removal) procedure at Ethicon Endo-Surgery.

Laperoscopic cholecysectomy, three days in bed and yer up!

Open surgery- six weeks in bed with a big scar....

Kenny like the laparoscopic surgery- it's simple, easy to do and low risk. I can almost do one from memory.
Open surgery is done for complications or more difficult surgeries.

Swood, watch that GERD- gastroesophageal cancer can happen and you don't even know it.

Engman, ya scared the crap outta me... i don't remember you at Ethicon!

Anybody have hemorrhoids? I gotta "do it yourself" kit in my offfice for emergencies....

Ken

I was told that I have a couple of Gall Stones, I have not had any problems so far, I was also told that people can go a whole lifetime without having to have them removed. Is this true? They also stated that diet was very important and to lay off the fastfood. Man this talking about this stuff is scaring the sh_t out of me
Been through the Kidney Stones, I felt like death couldnt come soon enough, now I lay off the sodas and tea and drink lots of water

Blood work came back okay. I don't have the numbers, but the nurse said that my cholesterol was a bit high and that my liver enzymes were slightly elevated. The liver enzymes are high because of an antibiotic I am on. Cholesterol was normal for "me".

All else was within exceptable limits.

Oh I was there 92-94 . Worked on the trocar lines. Great place to work until Black Tuesday happened. Was asked to go to Alberqueke and declined - not really where I wanted to raise my kids. I spent like 6 of those months in Juarez, Mexico on product transfers and changes for the transfer. I am sure things have settled since then.

M

Actually, based on what you told me about your condition, you had a drainage bag, not a colostomy. A colostomy is when they have to redirect part of your large intestine (colon) to your abdominal wall, and the bag retrieves the...well you know!
And then, all things going well, you need another surgery to
reconnect things so they "come out" the previous way!
Sorry to be so graphic, but I have been and x-ray technologist
for over 20 years and I have seen it all!

Lisa

PS Your scar is on the right because your gall bladder is on the right too. Stomach is on the left.