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pain after gallbladder removed
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MedHelp Member's Question

pain after gallbladder removed

by seashoretracks, May 31, 2002 12:00AM
My gallbaldder was removed in December, I had had several attacks before that time, and finally, I just had to stop eating.  It took them 3 months to decide to remove gallbladder because all tests did not show any stones.  When gallbladder was removed, it was full of little stones, scarred and inflammed and so was the area around it.  Since the surgery, I have had some pain on the upper right side, which seemed connected to what I ate.  Finally, about a month ago, the pain stayed there all the time and I am back to not eating fat, or much of anything.  The pain gets worse about 1-2 hours after eating even some fat.  I have been working with gastro Dr. for past month, but he's stumped.  The surgeon did not check my bile ducts during surgery to see if they were blocked.  Gastro Dr. says it's not my bile ducts because liver enzemes are normal. In fact everything is normal except white blood count (CBC) goes up, then comes down.  When I eat normally, I can feel it backing up, I feel pain and swelling in my right side, under the ribs.  Sometimes the pain radiates all the way around, even a little on the left side and on the back.  My symptoms have always been pain, not nausea, when I had the gallbladder there was pressure also.  Any ideas?
Member Comments (18)

by eGoober, May 31, 2002 12:00AM
I seem to get pain anytime I eat meat, even turkey. Is this gallstones ?

by s.mcm, May 31, 2002 12:00AM
Did the Dr. check for ulcers?  I had my gallbladder removed last week because of a large gallstone but the Dr. did a scope and a biopsy to see what was causing me the pain (it is not from the gallbladder problem)  I will find out next Thurs. what else it could be.

by Lor, May 31, 2002 12:00AM
Is this pain the same as you had with your gallbladder attacks? Your gallbladder pain should have gone away after surgery. It is hard to tell by what you wrote how bad the pain is. After my gallbladder was removed I had severe pain. It would start right below the sturnum and radiate around to my back. It took my a year and a half before I found a Dr who believed me. I asked every visit "could it be my bile duct?" No way you don't have the symtoms. My liver tests and everthing else always came back normal for the first year after surgery. The my liver and pancreas started showing signs after a year. I should say the liver test at the end was only a little elevated. Had an ERCP came back normal nothing blocking the duct. As it turned out - the duct wasn't opening enough to let the bile out. While the gallbladder was there it took care of the excess bile. Once it was gone it had no where to go except the liver and pancreas. If my pain sounds similar to yours go to google.com and search sphincter of oddi dysfunction. I did have a Dr tell me this wasn't a illness at all and he wouldn't test me for it. I found another who would. Turned out that is what was wrong. I had a sphincterotomy done and have been pain free since.

by seashoretracks, May 31, 2002 12:00AM
last fall they did an EGD, and said my stomach and small intestine were fine. Also, I believe they tested for the bacteria in my blood that indicates an ulcer is present(I forget what it is called). The pain can be quite bad at times, I am currently taking pain pills which helps.  I also feel this is my bile ducts, because I can tell that eating a normal diet - even with small amounts of fat makes me feel blocked up and swollen.  Only by reducing food for several days/weeks do symptoms improve.  I also feel that it is my liver and pancreas which are affected.  The pain is similiar to what I was feeling with the gallbladder, except when I had my gallbladder, I also felt terrible pressure.  I'm glad I don't feel that anymore!  Next week I am seeing a gastro Dr. at Unv. of Va. and I hope they will be able to help me.  It's hard to have a life with all this going on. I can't eat "normal" food.  My fat intake is almost nil.  I'm also worried about damage to the liver and pancreas.



I'm glad your operation helped you.  It's possible this may be my problem.  What was involved with the operation, and how long was the recovery?  Can you eat pretty much what you want now?

by seashoretracks, May 31, 2002 12:00AM
lor - thanks your information is very helpful.  I too am having trouble finding a Dr. to take this seriously.  I keep asking if it is my bile ducts.  Where did you go to have your sphincterotomy?



eGoober - After my experiences, I am very suspicious of the gallbladder when someone mentions pain in the upper right side.  I also had stabbing pains or pressure in my back.  After this experience too, I am not reassured by tests which come back indicating nothing is wrong.  They did so many tests on me, which showed everything was fine.  Only when they did surgery did they realized the gallbladder was diseased.  I was begging them for 3 months to remove my gallbladder, because I was sure that was what it was.  One way to tell is if you eat fatty food and pain begins 1-2 hours after eating, and can last for several hours.  In my case it got so that it hurt all the time.  Also, the gallbaldder is tricky, sometimes it hurts after eating something, sometimes it may not.  Protein could be triggering it.  If you're having pain, I would start investigating it with a Dr.  I'm glad the gallbladder is out, because I did feel better at first, and like I said it caused pressure which I don't feel anymore.



s.mcm - I hope they can find the source of your pain.

by Lor, May 31, 2002 12:00AM
I had the ERCP with menometry done. It measures the pressure in the bile duct - if the pressure is high they cut the sphincter. The problem that scares most people away from it is that it has a very high risk for pancreatitis. I did get it, but I was informed before hand