weight loss, nausea vomiting bile after gallbladder removal

[mother of four]

hi, i am a 42 old female, i experienced gallbladder attacks in oct.2004, was extremely sick, vomiting, lethargy, the ultrasound showed i had alot of gallstones,(30-40) had it removed by laparscopy, had no problems for 2 weeks, then i experienced nausea 24/7,and then intermittent diarrhea, had a colonoscopy, which was normal, then i had an endoscopy which showed a copius amount of bile in my stomach, was put on welchol and nexium (had some ulcers) did okay for a couple of months, then in june of 2005 i lost 32 lbs in a 3-4 week period, i had no appetite whatsover,severe lethargy,intermittent diarrhea, a feeling of fullness. I  had a cat scan which showed a mass in some fluid down by my rectum. I also had a vaginal ultrasound which showed some debri in my cervix. So the gi doctor told me it was female so i went to a gyn and she wanted to do a total hysterectomy because she thought i had ovarian cancer, the ca125 was neg. my insurance did not cover her so i went to a cancer center and they did a uterine biopsy and she told me my female organs were totally normal. so now i went back to the gi doctor, he did a test that i had to have electrodes on my stomach and i carried a camera on my side,( i cannot remember the test name) came back normal, had a lower gi, normal, was tested for celiac disease, normal, lupus,normal every test that i have had is totally normal, i went to another doctor, she repeated the cat scan, the mass is gone but the radiologist saw another mass in my uterus and he assumed it was a tampon, 100 percent cannot be a tampon because i never wear tampons because they bother me too much! i understand that you are not a gyn but i thought you needed to know everything. i have lost a total of 46 lbs to date , extremely nauseous, which i take phenegran for and it does help, there are days that i have an okay day but 80 percent of my days are terrible, i cannot function, very nauseous and i just want to lay down, i feel better if i lay down, when i vomit its always bile, and lots of it, and it is a wicked wretching, not like a normal puking, and i get very sick, almost disoriented, i feel malaise, i feel like i have the flu 10 x over, i sleep for hours and then this syndrome? goes away and then i can funtion again, i have been so sick for 5 months now, i was fine until i had my gallbladder removed, some stomach pain, but nothing that would double me over , the pain is all over my stomach , sometimes in upper right quadrant, sometimes left side, i want the docter to do a ercp but he said that is not necesary, i was told that sometimes your cystic duct closes and thats when i get sick , feel terrible and then when it reopens i feel better. i sometimes feel bloated, have gas and belching . i went back to the surgeon who removed my gallbladder and he said he found nothing wrong, 3 doctors want to put me on an ani-depressant! please steer me in the right direction, you are my last hope, do i stop looking and give up? thankyou so much

[WhatNext!]

To Oatmeal: I love the name, and totally understand where it came from. Prior to my gall bladder removal I lived on PLAIN oatmeal, no milk, with one Splenda, Roasted chicken and PLAIN baked potatoes! After GB surgery which was followed by an ERCP with Sphincterotomy for removal of a CBD stone and debris, I can now eat Wheaties with Skim milk, and Splenda. Still can't eat fatty meals (pain and nausea) Have reflux and diarrhea. But have just been started on Questran and Protonix..so keeping my fingers crossed! Even with the problems I'm totally glad to be rid of that crummy GB, grateful not to have developed post-ERCP pancreatitis ( I had an awesome doctor in Dallas for the ERCP-thanks Dr.G!) Thanks for the grin-and stay away from oatmeal with Maple and Brown sugar-talk about pain!

[karencarr]

Hi.
I have been searching for info on gallbladder removal because my 67 year old mom had her gallbladder out 4 weeks ago and for the past 1-2 weeks has been suffering from severe weakness.  She was taken to hospital 3 days ago by ambulance after collapsing from severe weakness, difficulty breathing and she wet herself.  All blood, urine and heart tests come back normal.  Yet she can barely make it through the day.  She is not tired or sleepy, she is extremely weak.  Her temperature is normal.  She is very scared that something very serious is wrong with her.  They sent her home from the hospital saying 'she is fine', but she is definitely not.  She is going for another ultrasound in 2 days.  By the way, when she was diagnosed with gall stones it was due to an ultrasound that showed many stones.  The pathology on her gallbladder after removal said her gall bladder was normal with no stones.  What's up ?  Anyone have either of these problems ?  How can the stones disappear ?

And last but not least, Janiel, I suffered with migraines for 4 months straight about 3-4 years ago.  It was debilitating, and came on so sudden and intense my doctor sent me for a cat scan which came back normal, and yet I suffered so bad from nauseous and vomiting because of the pain.  My doctor could find nothing wrong and just called it 'migraines'.  She finally did a very smart thing and put me on an anti-depressant that at very low doses is a pain blocker, and often cancer patients are given it, I think it was called amitriptylin ???  Anyway, it did the trick and it stopped my migraines.  Sometimes our brains trigger a pain reaction and we need help stopping it, and that's what my doctor explained to me.  I was willing to try anything and everything at that point to make the pain stop and it was the only thing that worked.  I was a bit put off by the word 'antidepressant' but my study showed me that in low doses it can be used as a pain blocker.   Good luck to you all.

[Molly from Tenn.]

I feel like I've just joined the "Gall Club".  Like so many of you I'm just relieved I'm not the only one going through this.  My symptoms started the 2nd week of September, 05.  Vomiting bile, nausea, etc.  I finally went to the emergency room 10/24/05 and after numerous tests (CT Scan, Ultra Sound, x-rays, finally a test where they ran dye in my veins), it was found my GB was functioning at only 3%.  It was removed 10/26/05, I went home 10/27/05 thinking "thank you, Lord - it's over".  LOL...  On 10/28/05, the symptoms started back over, nausea, vomiting bile, excessive bowel movements, diarrhea.  I went back to the Doctor and have had Upper GI and the Empty Stomach Test, blood work, more x-rays, ultra sound, etc.  Everything came back negative.  Yesterday, I was back to my doctor who is now referring me to a Gastro doc. for Endoscopy and colonoscopy - just like most of you.  It's been 2 1/2 months and I dread eating now - but due to diabetes I have to or my blood sugar soars/plummets.  I'll eat during the day and by 5pm am either pulling over on the road home (I keep a towel in the car) vomiting bile, most times I can make it home.  I eat dinner and am up early in the a.m. vomiting bile from the night meal.  Unlike most of you I am gaining weight and now my hypertension has worsened and have additional meds prescribed.  At this point my med bills are unbelieveable.  I live alone, aside from my 3 minature dachshunds, and have felt so alone with this problem.  It's comforting to know there are others out there in the same "boat".  I do not have much faith these upcoming tests will reveal anything "mind blowing".  Hopefully, some young, zealous, GI intern will see all this and research the problem.  There has to be a common link somewhere and I'm sure there's other's out there that have not discovered this site.  Well, I'll keep you posted and pray for you all.  Keep the faith.

[mirrari]

i've been going though the same thing as most of u. only difference is i had a gastric byass in aug 04. then my gall bladder removed in june 05. in may of this year i had only lost about 110 lbs. had gal bladder removed on june 1. the pain was severe since about an hour after i got home. on june 3 the nausea started back with severe diarreah. on june 5 the pain got even worse. since then i'm down about another 30 lbs. whick makes me look severly sick. i'm tired, but can't sleep, i'm nauseaded and in pain all the time. been to my gp and gastro dr. way too many times. and my gyn because gi thought it was female related. of course it wasn't. and back to the surgeon that did my bypass(which wasn't the same one that did my gallbladder) both my gyn and surgeon said just to keep seeing my gi doc.."he's the best" is what the surgeon keeps saying. the pain is so severe that i've been to the er about 25 times since june. i don't know what to do, cause now the gi dr. thinks i'm drug seeking because he really can't find anything wrong. he did find a dilated bile duct doing the barium ct with intrevenous barium added. but said that because my liver tests are normal he didn't think that was causing any of the pain, nausea or diarreah. the diarreah wakes me up in the early am. and the nausea is constant. the pain is constant unless i have something to help it. i don't know what to do anymore. gi dr. refuses to give anything for pain, which makes it worse because i can't eat when the pain is bad, and the nausea and diarreah is worse when i'm in pain. anyone that wants to email me can i would appreciate any help i can find, i'm in sc so if anyone around here knows a really good gi doc let me know. email addy is ***@**** i'm glad and sad to know i'm not the only one dealing with all this..

[torileenie]

In a strange way I have been comforted reading everyone
s postings, even though we have all had problems since our GB's were removed.  I was completely healthy prior to the removal.  I was at gym, running, felt extreme pain and was rushed to hospital.  There they told me I needed my GB removed immediately.  Prior to this episode, I had not even an hint of problem with my GB.  My digestive system was fine, could eat whatever I wanted.

2 months after my surgery I began having problems.  Severe chest pressure and dull chest pains would come and go (no rhyme or reason), bloatedness, nausia in the morning, constant regurgitation (which i guess is the reflux), felt like a baseball just sitting in my stomach, random coughs..etc..   I've never had digestive problems until know.  as a result, I've developed panic attacts where I feel like I am dying. I also get this fluttering feeling in the center of my chest a few times a day,  it feels like heart, but everone says it is the esophogus.

Does anyone else have that?  It causes alot of stress and panic, cause now I fear something else will go wrong.

I've had stress tests done all was good.  My doctor thinks it's GERD, and medicine seems to help.  What bothers me is that while I like my DR, they seem to dismiss all this as being no big deal.  My surgeon released me 2 hrs after surgery and said life would go back to normal.  No Dr tells you that there are issues after this surgery, but everyone I've talked to that has had this surgery have all had problems.  Sorry to ramble, it helps to know there are others out there waiting for their lives to go back to normal.

[diamond79]

Sorry to hear there are so many of us "victims" of GB surgery. Just to update. I am continuing to go downhill. I have started to have pain like before I had my GB removed under the rib cage and between the shoulder blades. Just started about a week ago. Can't really tie it to anything just happens--mainly at night. I am also having bouts of nausea, cramping, and yellow liquid diahhrea (in that order--sorry if TMI) that make me feel like I am about to vomit while on the toilet--have had to grab the garbage pail a few times. I am tired and weak all the time. I have lost a few more lbs. I was at about 110 now I am 105 and I am 5'5". My dr. ordered bloodwork which again came back normal. I am guessing the nausea is caused by exessive bile that may be refluxing into my stomach. I have HORRIBLE heartburn to the point of gagging at times.
Anyways, sorry to ramble but I do hope someone comes up with an answer as to why we are all suffering like this!
Hope you all feel better soon.
Donna