Severe gallbladder pains?? But no stones??

[shannonwooten]

First, I am 20 weeks pregnant.

For the last 3 days, I have had severe pain under my right lower rib and the pain radiates up my right back to my shoulder blade shortly after eating... I would hurt every time, it doesn't matter what I eat. I went to the doc yesterday and she said that it sounds like my gallbladder. I was scheduled for a gallbladder ultrasound for 3am this morning and was told I would get the results in a few days.

I woke up this morning and had a bowl of cereal then the pain came for about 30 mins. Later I ate two waffles with apple juice and the pain came and lasted for about an hour. In the afternoon, I had a chicken sandwhich (not the best thing to eat, I know) and the pain came and lasted for about 2.5 hours.

I went to the ER. Ultrasound came back with no signs of stones.... blood test came back normal. The doc said this pain is prob just related to my pregnancy and sent me home with tylenol. (Btw, tylenol doesn't help at all)

I am in severe pain after EVERY thing I eat, it doesn't matter what it is..... but it isn't gall stones and apparently nothing to do with my gallbladder??

Any ideas??

[korincob]

Even if you don't have gall stones, that doesn't necessarily rule out your gall bladder as the culprit. I had abdominal pain for 8 months before it was discovered on my HIDA scan that my gall bladder was only functioning at 3%. I had two ultrasounds of the gallbladder before they did the HIDA scan, and both of those also came back normal, however each time I had a blood test, my ESR came back high, indicating inflammation. I am not sure what blood tests were run on you. I have since had my gallbladder removed, and the biopsy indicated that no stones were present, but the pain was caused by the inflammation of my gall bladder. I have been told that this is not common, however it is possible. I am not sure if you would be able to get a HIDA scan, as they have to inject you with radioactive material, but as you are still having pains I would not give up. It sounds like it could still be your gall bladder to me.

[shannonwooten]

Thanks for the response! I believe that I am having the same prob that you had/have. The only way to really know is to do the HIDA scan which I can't do while pregnant. I am just really frustrated because I don't get pain just ate night or after eating fatty foods... its after EVERY thing I eat so the pain is pretty much constant through out the day. Its been severe for 3 days now... but now that I think about it, the pain started 2 weeks ago. I thought the pain in my rib was normal pregnancy stretching or something.... so I think that is when it started. But now the pain is constant :( After I eat, the pain will last from about 30 mins to 2 hours.

[korincob]

That's how mine started too, and I really don't want to be the bearer of bad news, but as time went by it only got worse, to the point that I was vomiting after almost every meal, and rarely able to eat. This happened in the seventh month, so hopefully you will be able to have something done before then. I am not sure what can be done for you in the mean time, but I did notice that staying away from greasy or heavy foods seemed to help a bit, and of course the pain medication they had me on. I wish you luck, and hang it there!

[Starbuck82]

Your symptoms sound very similar to mine, except that I am not pregnant. I first had an attack back in October. I had a HIDA scan and my GB was functioning at 57%, so it was completely normal. However, that does not mean that the GB isn't involved. Now, I am having severe symptoms again and after a CT this past week, everything is still "normal." My doctor is sending me to a surgeon to discuss the possibility of removing my GB even with all of the negative tests because she had a patient who had all "normal" tests and then when the surgeon went in, the gallbladder was "rotten." I don't know what will happen with mine, we will see this week.

As for you, I wouldn't worry about not being able to get the HIDA scan because it doesn't always tell the whole truth. It could still very well be your GB.

I wish you all the best and I hope you can figure out what is going on. And like korincob said, it might only get worse. If I were you, I'd first go smack the ER doc for sending you home with Tylenol...that was just not cool. Then I would ask your doc about the possibility of gallbladder inflammation.

~Starbuck