Gall Bladder Issues?

[shably33]

Had mine removed during my late teens. Symptoms were chronic nausea, frequent indigestion, and having fatty meals seemingly just run right through me and out the other end every time I ate them.

Went it for tests and found out that my gall bladder was only functioning at 10% capacity. Had it removed, and over time, I ceased having indigestion and the nausea. Kept experiencing the "runs" even afterwards, but that seemed to get better after a couple of years.

HOWEVER...

2 weeks to the day after surgery, I woke up with the most intense, diffuse abdominal pain I've ever experienced. Seriously, I thought somehow they'd fucked up the surgical procedure. I lay curled up in the floor in agony for a while, then threw up like three times on the way to the ER. Doctor's diagnosed me with a kidney stone, said it's not uncommon for those who've had the surgery to experience stones shortly after, but I never passed a stone that I could tell.

This has been going on intermittently for years. I've been to the ER on a few occasions since. After doing some of my own research, it appears that folks who've had their gall bladders removed sometimes experience spasms in the Branch of Odi. Since the visceral nerves are very undifferentiated, this pain is experienced as diffuse. It's absolutely the worst pain I've ever been in, honestly. Drinking alcohol sometimes triggers it, so I guess I should stay away from alcohol.

 

[the_mask231]

I had my gall bladder removed a few years ago, but I was that guy that would wait till the last minute to go to a Doctor. I waited too long to have it removed, my pancreas got infected by the time I went to the Doctor, they kept me in the hospital for 8 days just to control the infection. Finally I got it removed and it took me a few weeks to get back to normal.

When you finally decided to go to the doctor what symptoms were you having? Your experience is the perfect example of what I want to avoid. My gall bladder is barely functioning and there is no chance of it recovering. Inevitably, it's going to fail on me and I will have to rush to the ER. Although there is no telling how long it will take for it to get to that point. It might be a week or it might be a year. Regardless, I am having bad enough symptoms where it is really affecting my quality of life. Due to this I am leaning towards taking it out now before it gets so bad that I have to take it out. Although there isn't a chance all of my symptoms will go away, having my gall bladder isn't doing me any good. In my opinion I have nothing to lose.

I can understand why several of the people posting are promoting me to keep my gall bladder and only take it out as a last resort. One must definitely think long and hard and weigh all other options before making a decision like this because once the gall bladder is out, there isn't a way to get it back.

Had mine removed during my late teens. Symptoms were chronic nausea, frequent indigestion, and having fatty meals seemingly just run right through me and out the other end every time I ate them.

Went it for tests and found out that my gall bladder was only functioning at 10% capacity. Had it removed, and over time, I ceased having indigestion and the nausea. Kept experiencing the "runs" even afterwards, but that seemed to get better after a couple of years.

HOWEVER...

2 weeks to the day after surgery, I woke up with the most intense, diffuse abdominal pain I've ever experienced. Seriously, I thought somehow they'd fucked up the surgical procedure. I lay curled up in the floor in agony for a while, then threw up like three times on the way to the ER. Doctor's diagnosed me with a kidney stone, said it's not uncommon for those who've had the surgery to experience stones shortly after, but I never passed a stone that I could tell.

This has been going on intermittently for years. I've been to the ER on a few occasions since. After doing some of my own research, it appears that folks who've had their gall bladders removed sometimes experience spasms in the Branch of Odi. Since the visceral nerves are very undifferentiated, this pain is experienced as diffuse. It's absolutely the worst pain I've ever been in, honestly. Drinking alcohol sometimes triggers it, so I guess I should stay away from alcohol.

That is very interesting. I didn't know that could happen. Thanks for sharing. I encourage everyone reading this thread to share their story or knowledge as I am trying to gain as much knowledge on the topic as I can.

It seems like it is very common for people to develop gall bladder issues.

 

[QuietStorm]

this convo turned dumb quick. honestly i just dont care enough to argue with you. my point was, gallbladder stores bile, remove it and bile now drips to small intestine EXCEPT you no longer have any pain, puking discomfort (my expierience).
and for someone to claim to have and spout so much knowledge on the topic, i honestly find it hilarious that you buy into the whole cranberry dissolves the stones. hate to break it to you pal but the second you stop the cranberry "treatment" symptoms will come right back, since all you are doing is putting a bandaid on the problem and not actually addressing the core issue... the lack of function of your gallbladder.

You wish you knew as much as you try to portray you do.

My point: I know what I know.
You can either take my advice or not.
I dont really care either way.

 

[amore169]

The final symptoms that took me to the ER were the color of my skin was turning yellow, I couldn't eat or drink anything at all, the pain was so unbearable when trying to eat or drink anything, I couldn't even swallow my own saliva. I remember that when I was on the ER a bunch of Doctors went to see me cause of my symptoms. The first 8 days they were giving me a bunch of antibiotics just to treat the infection, then I went home and had to wait a week to see how my body responded to the antibiotics then they removed my gallbladder.

 

[the_mask231]

You wish you knew as much as you try to portray you do.

My point: I know what I know.
You can either take my advice or not.
I dont really care either way.

I think you guys both have similar ideas. In short, I think everyone would agree that if you are having gall bladder issues you should do whatever you can to avoid surgery as long as the symptoms are manageable and aren't greatly affecting your life. However, if the symptoms aren't manageable then you should have it removed before it becomes life threatening.

 

[the_mask231]

The final symptoms that took me to the ER were the color of my skin was turning yellow, I couldn't eat or drink anything at all, the pain was so unbearable when trying to eat or drink anything, I couldn't even swallow my own saliva. I remember that when I was on the ER a bunch of Doctors went to see me cause of my symptoms. The first 8 days they were giving me a bunch of antibiotics just to treat the infection, then I went home and had to wait a week to see how my body responded to the antibiotics then they removed my gallbladder.

That must have been rough. My symptoms aren't that bad yet, fortunately.

 

[alan1973]

My question is what can I take to help my gall bladder.... I heard there are a few that support for the GB and liver at the same time.. any thoughts?

 

[saudades]

There are a couple of things, there may be more that I don't know of:

Milk thistle and glutathione. I take them both myself.