What to expect

[Dental_chic]

Ok, I'm new to this gallbladder issue. I'm a 37 year old female. Mine started, I think, 11 days ago. It started with what I thought was just heart burn, indigestion and upset stomach. I thought I ate something wrong (little did I know, I did). Then the pain started on my right side, up by my rib cage, then the pain would spread to my upper back and right by my right shoulder blade. I was even running a low grade fever, around 100.4. Finally after 4 days I went to an urgent care after work, they took some blood, and treated me for a gallbladder issue. They prescribed me Zofran and Norco, and ordered an ultra sound of my gallbladder for the next morning. Now, keep in mind, they did not give me any meds or any injections (besides the blood draw) while I was there. Later that evening, I was getting ready for a shower, when I noticed my face and neck was broke out into a rash, I called for my husband to see what was going on with my skin. Well, when he sees me, he said, "honey, your whole body has this rash on it". I freaked out. Long story short, when my blood tests came back, my liver enzymes were double what they should be, and apparently the rash was caused by a toxin that was one of my symptoms. Very weird.

Has anyone else experienced this same type of reaction? They say I do not have gallstones, but doesn't mean that my gallbladder is functioning properly. I'm having a HIDA scan done tomorrow to see what's going on. I'm scared for the unexpected, but ready to get this treated. I'm so sick all of the time, and I'm trying do hard to follow a good diet to keep from having attacks. This ***** and it hurts so very bad.

Any advise and help is greatly appreciated.
Thank you!

[Dental_chic]

HIDA scan was horrible today. I know it was suppose to be easy and simple, but not in my case. It took them 45 mins to find my gallbladder, and when they put the meds in to make it work, it was just like my symptoms at home, but 10 fold. I was in tears. My pain was an 8/9 out of 10.

[Dental_chic]

Thank you so much, I really appreciate the feedback and I hope for a good outcome. I will be having the HIDA scan done today at 12:45, I will keep you updated with my results.
Thank you again for your help.

[fntn]

Cholestasis is something I am quite familiar with, and your rash is very likely due to it as you've already figured out. Fortunately you haven't had to deal with the pruritis (itching) that is also related to this, and it is caused by the bile acids/salts that can sometimes backup through the blood and just under the skin. And you're likely aware that jaundice maybe a symptom as well and it requires your bilirubin levels to rise above 2.5 mg/dL. It all depends on the exact nature of your gallbladder issue.

If they didn't see any significant gallstones with the ultrasound, and you are also running a low grade fever, you may have Cholecystitis - gallbladder inflammation. The problem is also causing some impeded bile flow back into your liver. Bile is hepatotoxic and this will backup/pool around your liver cells, leading to the elevated enzymes that they've detected with your blood work.

If they aren't able to finalize your diagnosis with the HIDA, they may want to do an additional MRI/MRCP procedure next. This will allow them to do advanced visualization of the hepatobiliary system. Then you'll have your answer and hopefully they'll have a non-invasive treatment for it.

Good luck and let us know how you are doing or if you have more questions.