Have bad gallbladder - is pain on left side related?

I'm hoping there's somebody out there who's had gallstones or sludge that can tell me whether or not they've had pain more often on the left side of the body than the right.  An ultrasound confirmed that I have both sludge and stones, and after five months of pain and not knowing what's going on, I was thrilled to hear that the problem is something so easy to fix.  I know gallbladder pain is traditionally associated with the right side of the body, but up until a week and a half ago, I had no pain whatsoever on that side.  I have had a lot of upper back pain just to the left of my spine, tons of acid reflux, left rib pain, and before I had a lot of pain on my left side (hip / abdomen area), which has since subsided.  Now I have pain all over, but I'm wondering if anybody else has experienced pain like mine, more on the left side.  The ultrasound tech and the nurse I saw said pain on the left side of the body is fairly common, but the surgeon said those symptoms don't sound related.  Anybody have any insight?

[Paderla Anitha, DNB]

Hello and hope you are doing well.

Its unlikely that the pain on the left side is due to the gallbladder. The pain could be due to renal colic. Small stones can obstruct the passage of urine and when the body tries to 'push' against the blockade this results in colic, which is severe attacks of pain. The other causes for the pain could be infections of the bowel, prolapsed intervertebral disc or inflammatory diseases of the colon. Please discuss this with your doctor. He may do blood tests, x- rays and may ask for an ultrasonogram to find out the cause for the pain.  

Hope this helped and do keep us posted.

[Esandem]

ok heres my story ive had burning under both ribs the pain is like twins but the one on the right is the cuz of the left you can get pancrietis from gull bladder disfuntion im sure that could be causing it also nothing will show up in ultra sounds and mris you will need your pancreais tested and a hida scan to show your fraction percent if its lower then 40 remove it if its above 40 no also i had gerd, h-pylori and all that crap i think all these things come from the sick gull bladder cuz if you read eveyone has the same crap so also get tested for h-pylori if you dont take the medicine fro it you can get cancer or is linked to it i did a double treatment because i think i had it for a long time and been misdiagnosed for years because none of the crap shows up on ultra sound an mri so i did the hida scan years later and well i been suffering under both sides of the ribs because the crap squirts to the pancreais makes it all messed up but also check whats the organ that hold your blood um spleen ok so im looking at a picture here and amazingly the pancreis is located in the same spot as your stomache look here so get your hida scan, h-pylori, pancreais, spleen checked but look at this body and see where you hurt ok, i go wednesday to get my gull bladder removed and its not acting up after i made the appointment strange but its been bothering me since 1999 after i had ebv virus for 2 years all that crap hit me so i benn suffering on and off here is a picture of organs but please get the things tested as i said and how old are you?? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Man_shadow_anatomy.png

[DetoxExpert]

Hi

I had exactly the same symptoms you had, pain in the left side for over 8 months especially when I eat greasy and wheat containing food, one time the pain on the left side was so severe that I had to go to the ER, they did ultrasound and told me you have small gallstones. I didn't believe them since my pain was on the left; I kept the same diet and it seems that the stones were getting bigger and bigger everyday, since after 6 months I started having pain on the right side, and the pain was growing fast every day.

They scheduled me for surgery, but I was able to get the biggest stone down before the surgery date, I did that by pushing my gallbladder after a hot bath that makes the ducts wider and makes it easier for the stone to come out, it was a dangerous thing to do since it could have stuck somewhere, but I took my chances.

Eventually, my left side pain was still there, and I felt that gallstones are forming again, after a year of struggling and searching around and trying all types of treatments and alternative medicine, none worked, eventually, I discovered that I have Vitamin D deficiency since I stay indoor a lot and don't get exposed to the sun enough even in summer, while in winter, the sun doesn't make Vitamin D at all here in NY.

After a month of Vitamin D supplementation, all my problems disappeared.

[jessee101]

Hello, I have left side pain. My ultrasound showed gallbladder sludge and a surgeon was recomended. He was not convinced it was the gallbladder and scheduled the HIDA scan and then Barium swallow test. My gallbladder would not even have the courtisy to show up! They waited longer but still could not see it so gave me morphine. The surgeon said that caused it to fill. Anyway, no measurement could be taken of how well it was working because it just would not show up in the test. Technicians said that was not a good sign. He had told me if it is altering my life have it out if not keep it. Because there are no stones or wall thickening. Had went on extreme diet for a month before Jan. attack, of raw veggies, smoothies. Doctor told me that was VERY bad for the system. But it was severe sharp, left side painful, spasms. Lost 17 pounds through all this but none on my diet.

[jessee101]

Appointment was yesterday and I am trying hard to decide whether to have the surgery or not. Everyone I know that has had it says I will feel much better and should get it over with. Still scares me though.

[fb62]

I have pain on both sides below the ribs, on my right shoulder, mid back, sternum, collar bone area and mid back.  When I mentioned this to the surgeon, she did not act like it was uncommon.  I am scheduled for surgery next week and will be so relieved when it's over.  I know it's scary, but this has  become more of a 'quality of life' issue.  All of the complications of this surgery were 1% or less, which I believe is completely worth getting my life back.  Most of the blogs I've read where people were trying to avoid surgery typically had them suffering through multiple diets (none of which worked), deciding to get the surgery, and feeling 100 times better right after.  Good luck.

[kickanxietysbutt]

I am three weeks post-surgery now and prior to this week I felt pretty dang great!  My surgeon told me that the left-sided pain was most likely something else, but since surgery, I have had no pain at all on that side of my body.  Apparently he was wrong.  :)  How are you feeling since surgery?  I've felt terribly nauseous for the past week, but didn't really have any nausea prior, unless I ate something my body didn't like, but then the nausea would only last an hour or two.  This nausea isn't going away.  Are you experiencing this at all?