Bile

[MG]

I had my gallbladder removed several years ago. I have been having severe abnominal pain and naseau lately. I had a colonoscophy, and there is quite a bit of bile all in and around my stomach. The pain is severe and I feel sick on my stomach all the time. Have you, or anyone, ever heard of this?

[Boots]

Hi T.W.,
I had my gallbladder removed about 7 yrs ago. Afterward I would get horrible abdominal pain and persistent diarrhea after eating. After I went to the bathroom my stomach would hurt for hours. I finally went to a gastroenterologist and had the scope thru my bottom and it was dertermined that I had excessive bile acid. I now take a package of cholestyramine everyday to absorb the acid and it works great.

[Dani]

TW,
Hi again. Maybe you still are having problems with sludge blocking your duct. Have you tried a medication called Actigall? It is suppose to thin your bile out so it can't clog the duct. I jsut started on it a week ago for that reason. Can't say that I have noticed any improvement yet, but I know I need to give it some more time.

[Dani]

TW,
When did you have your ERCP? If it was awhile ago, you shouldn't still be having problems from it. It is possible for the sphincterotomy site to scar over or close up after a sphincterotomy. DO you get bad attacks of pain or is it just feeling bad all of the time? I can't remember...did you have your galbladder out? Sometimes people will have problems with bile reflux after gallbladder surgery that will give them nausea.

[tw]

Dani

I had my gallbladder removed on March 19th and my ERCP was done on May 7th.  I don't get the pain like I am having an attack - I just don't feel good most of the time.

[tw]

Dani

luckily I didn't get pancreatitis - although the doctor said that I probably would have it we would have waited any longer.

I have had my blood work done since and everything looked good.

I'm still really neaseas and belch a lot. But at least I'm able to eat more then I was and have started to gain a little weight back.  I'm just tired of not feeling good.  I'm beginning to wonder if I'll ever be normal again.

[Dani]

Hi TW,
I can't say that I had heartburn after any of my ERCPs (I've had 7). However, I did get pancreatitis each time. Did you have pancreatitis? I always felt that I couldn't eat a thing. Even ice chips didn't sound good. I had a very full feeling. Maybe this is part of what you are experiencing. Have you had any of your blood tests done since the ERCP?

[tw]

Dani

When I had my ERCP done - they did a sphincterotomy and baloon sweeping with extraction of pus and sludge from the common bile duct.

Did you have problems with indigestion and heartburn afterwards. No matter what I eat it bothers me.

[Dani]

TW,
I had a very hard time getting a diagnosis. I had the "golden" test which was an ERCP with manometry (where the pressures in the bile and pancreatic duct are measured). I had an allergic reaction to one of the sedatives and they couldn't complete the test. NOne the less, the doctor who did it said that she felt everyting was fine and that I did not have SOD. She was the big "specialist" at University of Michigan Hospital so all of the other GI docs took her word for it and kept telling me I had IBS. I finally meet a doc who tracked my blood values. I had my liver and pancreatic enzymes drawn after every bad attack I had. They started showing a pattern of being elevated every time. This means that there is a temporary blockage of the ducts. He did another ERCP with manometry and sure enough...it showed high pressures this time, which is a positive for a SOD diagnosis.
Wel, I could give you lots more information if you want, but don't want to ramble to much if you don't....
Let me know if I can be of more help....
Good Luck,
Dani

[tw]

Dani

How was your problem diagnosed?

[tw]

Dollie

i had my gall bladder removed in March.  Weeks after the surgery I continued to have right pain, neasea and vomiting.  I went to see a GI doctor and he felt that I might have stones in my bile duct that were not detected during the cholangiogram the surgery.  

I was scheduled to have an ERCP done.  They found that my bile duct was complete plugged off due to sludge.  They inserted a baloon to clean it out.  I am starting to feel a little bit better now.

[Dani]

HI,
I had my gallbladder out 3 years ago, also. I have had problems ever since, with pain. My diagnosis, after many, many tests, is sphincter of oddi disease. This is a disorder of the muscle between the bile duct and the small intestine. I also have sludge, which makes the problem worse. I have had stones form since my gallbladder came out. I did not have gallstones when I origionally had the surgery. This developed since then. All this stuff can cause the same symptoms as gallstones, or gallbladder problems.
Good luck and let me know if you need any more infomation. I searched for years to find an answer to my problem. I would like to help others so they don't have to wait so long. I think that this whole area is not well established, as far as diagnosis and treatment.
Please feel free to email me at ***@****

[Dollie]

I had my Gallbladder removed three years ago and have had terrible pain on my right side ever since.  If the bileduct to the liver has gallstones in it what will have to be done to correct my problem?  Thank-You!