Does this sound like my gallbladder? Not sure if I should have the surgery in 2 weeks!

[HaleyR]

For the past 3 weeks, I have been experiencing indigestion (severe at times). I have a lot of gas pressure and belching. This typically gets worse in the evening. I visited a primary care physician who put me on a PPI for GERD. After two weeks of treatment, I was no better (possibly worse). I am very limited in what I can eat before the indigestion comes on. I have no heartburn and no vomiting. I have had two episodes of a stomach ache and diarrhea. Otherwise, I have no pain. I have been to the emergency room. The EKG and chest xrays were normal. H Pylori test was negative. All other blood work was WNL. The general surgeon I just visited performed an ultrasound that was negative for gall stones, but my HIDA scan showed that my gall bladder was "abnormal" functioning at only 32%. I am scheduled for surgery on July 30th. During the laproscopic surgery, he is also going to do an endoscopy to make sure he sees nothing else going on. Does this even remotely sound like gall bladder. I do not have a fever or the characterisitc "upper quadrant pain." I also have no back pain. I am continuing to lose weight and am miserable. I would desperately welcome feedback.

[rickjoeman]

Hi everyone:  I just had a HIDA scan and unlike you Haley, I have great pain during attacks.  I was told that I would experience this pain during the scan; though I felt only flush and a bit dizzy.  My gallbladder was not releasing the bile nearly at all and when it did, it came out in short squirts.  The doctor told me that it wasn't blocked where he could see and that it looks like the gallbladder is just bad.  I guess we're all different.  I'll tell you this:  To avoid more pain and sickness such as I experience with my gallbladder, I'll gladly have it removed and just pray the doctor is very careful.  I'm a 47 yr. old man, who doesn't fit the norm for such a thing and other doctor's never thought this is what was causing my problems.  I hope you all the best results with your decision.

[Sickboy1]

It could be, you need to get it checked out, an ultrasound will tell you if you have gall stones or sludge. a blood test can check for other possibilities, it could simply be trapped wind it is impossible to tell until you have had the tests carried out.
These pains are normally brought on by eating fatty food, because that triggers the gall bladder to release bile in order to help break down the fat as it passes into the intestines, if you have stones the passageway basically can get blocked and can cause severe pain and inflammation, most people with gall stones end up going to the emergency ward due to the pain being so severe, you can also get infection of the gall bladder very easily.
Gall bladder sludge is worst than stones and can easily be missed on the ultrasound as it only shows up as a faint white mist, my sister got given the ok by one nurse who did an ultrasound, only to go for another a few months later with a different nurse and the sludge was spotted, when they removed the gall bladder, there were 100's of tiny pellet sized stones inside.

[helpme962]

hey i have upper right abdominal pains about every 2-3 weeks could that be caused by my gall bladder

[Sickboy1]

Ps. You would not necesarily get upper quadrant pain from your gall bladder not releasing enough bile, you would only get this pain from a blockage or a disease of the gall bladder.

[Sickboy1]

A problem that gets worse in the evening is a typical gall bladder symptom.
A gall bladder not working properly will not cause fever, it will cause indigestion and possible nutient deficiency, with this will come bowel problems, low acids linked to low bile production, is bad, the food is just passing through the system and is not in a broken down form that the body requires in order to deal with it, gas is a biproduct of indigestion and delayed gastric emptying.
The PPI acid blockers will be making your condition worse, it really annoys me how eager doctors are to prescribe acid blockers, they obviously have no idea how the digestive system works. Do these doctors get bonus's for how many acid blockers they prescribe or something?
The gall bladder is responsible for controlling the release of digestive enzymes which are crucial for the digestion process, once removed the liver will take over this job, the gall bladder is a regulator, the liver will be producing bile without a regulator, for most people this is not a problem and most people never have problems again, but you need to know there is a small risk, you can get excess bile production if the surgeon is careless and nips the pyloric nerve, this can lead to major problems.