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Acid Taste in mouth and lots of heartburn after gallbladder surgery
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MedHelp Member's Question

Acid Taste in mouth and lots of heartburn after gallbladder surgery

by Romy, Apr 22, 2002 12:00AM
Hi Everyone,



I had my gallbladder removed 3 weeks ago and for about two weeks now I have a lot of saliva with bitter taste in my mouth and lots of heartburn.  Doc put me on protonix (40 mg) - did not get rid of the taste in mouth - decreased some of the heartburn.  He switched me to Nexium - same result.  Question:  Is it normal to have "heartburn w. possible reflux after gallbladder surgery.  I never had the problem before!!! Also, why won't the PPI's reduce the excess saliva with the horrible taste???? Any comments are greatly appreciated.



Romy
Member Comments (22)

by Tajtrlik, Apr 23, 2002 12:00AM
Hi Romy



I have exactly the same problems after my goal bladder surgery  (4 weeks ago - on 27/3/02). I am on 30 mg of ZOTON (lansoprazole) twice daily for last week with no improvement. I'm on low fat diet since operation, having the last meal at least 4 hours before I go to bed, but as soon as I lie down, this rush of acid up to my throat start and I can't sleep even with the elevated bed head. The bitter-acid taste stays with me all the time, plus pressure in my stomach and burning chest. My doctor thinks it may not relate to goallbladder and he sent me to gastro specialist. I have not made an appointment yet - I hope my problems will go away with time.



I will appreciate comment from someone who had simmilar experience after surgery and what they did in order to get better.



Tajtrlik

by gumby, Apr 23, 2002 12:00AM
Hello,

I had my gallbladder out on March 5, and I am having the same type of problem.  I have elevated the bed and all of that, but I still wake up in the morning with a sore throat and congested lungs.  Now I have a bad cough in the morning that drives me nuts.  My surgeon put my on Prevacid 30mg, but it does not seem to be doing much.  I need to see him again this Thursday, so I will ask him about the link between sudden heartburn and gallbladder surgery.  I thought that I was the only one having this problem.

by Romy, Apr 23, 2002 12:00AM
You are so right - I thought I was the only one as well.  There has to be a connection, especially since the acid reducers DON'T SEEM TO WORK.  Could it be that the misdirected "bile" is giving us the problem????  If so, this should ease up with time.  Let's see what we can find out.  Thanks so much for posting.  By the way, we all had our gallbladder removed recently, so, hopefully, this will ease up.  I hate it.



Romy

by sagie, Apr 23, 2002 12:00AM
Hi Everyone!



I have had exactly the same thing happen to me after my GB surgery on March 12.  I'm on 40mg of Protonix and that hasn't helped me much either.  I'd never had this rotten taste in my mouth before surgery either or the heartburn this bad.  It's been six weeks today and I was hoping, like the rest of you, this would eventually pass.  Maybe someone out there that has had a similar experience, only sometime ago could give us some insight on this.

by Romy, Apr 23, 2002 12:00AM
Hi Sagie,



Thanks for posting.  Well, maybe it is some comfort that we are not alone.  Let's hope that this resolves.  Maybe we should stay in touch and share with each other when symptoms resolve or what docs recommend.  Here is my email address: ***@****.



Feel free to contact me any time and that does not only include Sagie, but all the other ladies who have posted to my thread.



Thanks

by Romy, Apr 23, 2002 12:00AM
One more hint, ladies.  If you buy sugar-less gum and sugar free candy and chew (or suck candy) - it gets rid of the taste for a little while.  I chose sugar free for the cals or lack of.  Have a good day.  It would be great if we could get responses from former gallbladder surgery patients  with similar problems and find out whether this resolved or not.  I hope it will.  I talked to a friend of mine and she said she had symptoms for about 2 months afterwards and then it was fine.  However, I don't know whether she had these symptoms.  



Best wishes,



Romy

by gumby, Apr 23, 2002 12:00AM
Hi,



I am not a lady.  I am a 24 year-old male.  I never had gallstones or anything, but there were some odd marks on my gallbladder that made my surgeon want to remove it in a hurry.

by INALOTOFPAIN, Apr 24, 2002 12:00AM
....................To the fool who said Gallbladder is a wonderful solution to one's stomach trouble, I hope you are reading these horrible stories

by Romy, Apr 24, 2002 12:00AM
Sorry Gumby!  Should not have assumed that all the replies were written by ladies.  Actually I am feeling a bit better today - so maybe there is hope in the future.  I am still taking the Nexium, so that may hide the discomfort.  The taste has subsided somewhat, but I don't want to become optimistic too soon.



Let's keep in touch!



Romy

by Kat2u, Apr 24, 2002 12:00AM
For the first two weeks after surgery, I had that. And food had such a weird different taste, yuck!!! It is slowly going away, but I do think my body is still adjusting to how it is handling the bile. It takes time for the body to adjust to it. And everyones time frame is going to be different.



But I am not at all unhappy I had the surgery, it is a major improvement.

by Romy, Apr 24, 2002 12:00AM
That was great to read the last comment - it must be the bile we are "tasting" since acid reducers are not helping much.  But I am so glad to hear that your symptoms are going away.



Romy

by IY28, Apr 25, 2002 12:00AM
HI, I HAD A CHOLECYSTECTOMY ON THE 6TH OF MARCH,I AM NOT GETTING THE BITTER TASTE IN THE MOUTH BUT HEARTBURN I HAVE TRIED ALTERING MY DIET BUT STILL FEELS THIS SEVERE BURNING IN MY CHEST PARTICULARLY AT NIGHTS WHEN I GO TO BED.JUST AFTER THE SURGERY I EAT BASICALLY FRUITS AND SOUP NO HEARTBURN THEN BUT SINCE I TRIED EATING NORMALLY AS MY DOCTOR SUGGESTED IT STARTED.OF COURSE I CAN'T EAT FRUITS AND SOUP ALL THE TIME BUT I CAN'T BEAR THE BURNING ANYMORE WHAT I DO IS DRINK WATER AS SOON AS I FEEL THE BURNING COMMING ON AND IT HELPS FOR STARTERS.U JUST GET THIS BLAZING IN THE STOMACH  I STARTED TO THINK SOMETHING ELSE WAS WRONG WITH ME BUT SEEING YOUR COMMENTS MAKE ME FEEL A LOT BETTER IT SEEMS TO BE COMMON LETS HOPE WE FIND AN ANSWER SOON.

by Kat2u, Apr 25, 2002 12:00AM
To: IY28
Keep in mind that it can several months for the body to adjust to the bile! And if the problems dont go away or get to be too bad, they do have meds to help, like Questran.



Your surgery wasnt that long ago...... there is still a great chance it will go away.



My Doc told me to eat low fat and then "as tolerated". Some people may always have to keep an eye on their fat intake after gallbladder surgery..... but eating low fat is not a bad idea regardless. :)

by Bailey1, Apr 27, 2002 12:00AM
This has all been very informative.  I've been very sick for several months.  Pain under right rib.  They found a lesion on my liver, but all liver profile tests were normal.  They found no gallstones, but found the gall bladder