Gastroparesis and Gallbladder Removal

Earlier this year I was diagnosed with billiary dyskinesia: my ejection fraction was 19%. My doctor recommended removing the gallbladder, but I told him I'd wait on that. Recently he also revealed that he suspects a case of mild gastroparesis, for which I'm being tested sometime in the next few weeks. He still recommends the removal of the gallbladder.

I'd like to know if anyone reading this has gastroparesis has had their gallbladder removed. How did it affect you? If you know someone personally, how did you see it affect them?

(Kind request: If you intend to answer this with "I've read online of people that...", save your keystrokes. Unless you have either gone through it yourself or know someone personally who has gone through it, I've probably alredy read what you have. I'm looking for personal experiences. Thanks for understanding.)

[sunny12]

I too was dxd with BD last year.  It was recommended I have my GB out-so I did. BIG-HUGE mistake.  Now I have severe sphincter of oddi dysfunction which is the same as biliary dyskinesia (same thing diff., terms).   Taking out my GB caused me to have severe gastroparesis and I've been living on IV nutrition for 10 mos.  I think that biliary dyskinesia is part of a larger motility problem with the digestive system.  The problem is with the ducts (oddi) not the GB-(it's just the one that gets the blame).  Just my story.

[Ani50]

Good call not letting them remove your gall bladder. Wish i had researched it more. I had mine out 5 years ago and have intermintant pain attacks which are now escalating into about 2 -3 a month. Doctor does not have a clue but it is really making life hell and my digestion has gone to the pack and i feel generally unwell. Also very fearfull that i might set off one those horrible, painfull attacks. I know the pain is caused by the sphincter spasming and cannot take morphine because that sets it off. Look at the altenative medicines available and try some of them and avoid fatty foods which set it off as well. God bless.

[pooh_bear_nsc]

I had my gall bladder removed April 1st 2005. I continued to be sick for months after. My gall bladder function was at 21% and I wish I would have said NO to the removal and did my research. After a couple of years being sick I went to a GI that said I had mild gastroparesis, but I should get better.
I was put on a gastroparesis diet and I got sicker. I ended up on a Celiac diet (gluten free) and I got better. I was on the diet for about 6 months. I just went last week to get tested again for gastroparesis and it came back 25% out of 35%. I am currently not having any problems with sickness but have gastroparesis.
I first got sick due to contaminated well water and seem to get sick every time I get pregnant, weird. I have been pregnant twice and got sick both times for months at a time and ended up loosing the pregnancy both times and stayed sick for months after the losses.
I still dont know what was wrong with me but am feeling pretty good.

[Bellyup]

I had my Gallbladder removed January 2005 , I dont' feel any different, Dcotor said it was in bad bad bad shape.
The reason for all of this is what they believe is Gerds, major acid reflux. I am taking Prevacid every day. So far no major bouts, no more heartburn for sure, But I do get that occassional pain and when it comes You are ready to run for a bathroom..cause its very painful. all my muscles ( feels like my organs are tensing up) in my stomach, back, shoulder, sternum all get spasmatic and it hurts so bad you can't breath through the pain, You get feverish and eventually vomit and all of a Sudden you can breath again and the spasms start slowly going away..its like the vomit triggers it to relax..Its weird.
I am betetr than I was 3 yrs ago, so I am not sure if the gallbladder removal did me good, or the prevacid..anyone else get that vomit at the end of the spouts and you slowly feel better afterwards?

[meo1023]

My finance Matt had his gallbladder removed and the pain has returned. We've heard so much about sphincter of oddi and biliary dyskinesia but after sleepless nights of research have realized thats NOT A DIAGNOSIS but a symptom of another problem like gastroparesis which gallbladder removal WONT CURE. And unfortunatley morphine and anything with acetaminophin is no good...may i ask what test you get for gastroparesis because it seems our doctors would rather just give him a catscan and find nothing insisting hes just a junkie and turn us away...the only difference with our story is when matt tried the barium swallow they found a dilated duodenum which suggest Superior Mesenteric Artery Syndrom (syndrome) (SMA) so now im really confused about what constitues a motility issue and how to fix this!

[gnorb]

Wow. I haven't been in this thread forever. So much has changed since then! Let me get you up to speed (if you want to skip all this, just scroll down to the paragraph that starts with 'Now, to your fiance" - it does not begin with a number):

1) Gastric emptying exam (the test you get to see if you have gastroparesis) in 2008 revealed mild gastroparesis. Later tests would not reveal a cause, leaving this in the idiopathic category. Almost 2 years later, the gastroparesis was cured, as evidenced by another gastric emptying exam. (It seemed my case was post-viral, but that's still conjecture.) I still will feel the symptoms come on once in a great while, particularly when I get sick, or if I've eaten a LOT of bad food in recent days, or if I take a medication which slows gastric emptying (like SSRIs, in my case), but 95% of the time I'm just fine. To deal with the GP I was put on Nexium and Domperidone (Motilium, a dopamine-antagonist, pro-motility agent). I still take both, intermittently, as needed, because of GERD.

2) After repeated gallbladder attacks I finally made the decision to have it removed. GREAT, GREAT, GREAT MOVE!!! Turns out the gallbladder was full of stones, even though the ultrasounds never revealed any. My pain was GONE! For a while. But then...

3) Pain persisted after the gallbladder issues, and I feared SOD. Turns out that wasn't the case. In fact, things were far simpler: I was lactose intolerant, which caused many of the same symptoms as the gallbladder, oddly enough. Once lactose was eliminated from my diet almost all issues went away.

4) I still have some issues digesting fats (every person with GB removal does, to one extent or another) so I take enzymes. They work perfectly well.

5) Throughout all this I had GERD, which I suspect I've had for a very long time. However, this is complicated by Eosinophilic Esophagitis, which can cause GERD-like symptoms. A 48hr Bravo Ph test revealed "normal" acid reflux, however I'm still waiting on esophageal manometry and impedance tests. The EoE seems to be brought on by allergies: my doc describes it as "asthma of the esophagus."

6) Speaking of allergies, treating these (getting rid of my doc, buying air purifiers) has helped immensely, both in my heartburn and digestion.

As it stands now, my only real issue is GERD, but I'm working on that by working on my weight and taking Nexium/Domperidone as needed. I'm at 225lbs right now, 100lbs lighter than I was when this all started. My goal is 180, which everyone save for the people who invented the BMI scale think is way too thin.

Now, to your fiance: Actually, gallbladder removal can, in some cases, help increase the speed of digestion. (It did in my case.) There's a lot of info on SOD out there, but the fact is that it's only a temporary diagnosis: eventually something else is revealed to be the real cause. Also, even with all of these cases, it's still a fairly rare condition, the only real test for which is an ERCP, which can cause more problems in and of itself.

As for SMA (and even SOD), always remember: A RARE PRESENTATION OF A COMMON CONDITION IS ALMOST ALWAYS MORE LIKELY THAN THE RARE CONDITION. That rule has proven true in my case. That said, the fact that that they found a dilated duodenum should be cause for suspicion.

I would actually recommend you go ahead with the CAT scan they're recommending, and then request a gastric emptying exam if necessary. I'm guessing that with the CT scan they'll be looking for anatomic issues, including the verification of an abrupt constriction proximal to the overlying superior mesenteric artery. If the test includes an oral and IV contrast they're definitely looking for the duodenal transit time which means that, yes, they're looking for SMA, as well as other conditions you may not yet know about.

Now, remember that if at any point you don't trust what your docs are telling you, FIND ANOTHER DOCTOR AND GET A SECOND OPINION. If you can find a research university nearby all the better. If you can get yourself to a highly rated hospital like the Mayo Clinic, that's optimal.

I hope I was able to help. Good luck.

[missingfood]

The test for Gastroparesis is called a gastric emptying study.  They'll have you eat a small meal, usually an egg sandwich, that contains small amounts of radiation.  You'll then have xrays taken to track the amount of time it takes your stomach to digest half of it's contents. Most only want to give the two hour study but the four hour study is claimed to be more accurate, so if you consider it ask about the four hour study.