Still sick after gall bladder removal

[mgjarrett]

Hi,
I have been sick more on then off for the past 6.5 months.  It began with stomach pain that would not go away.  I was sent to a gastro specialist who ordered swallow since it felt like someone was squeezing the life out of me, came back negative.  Then an abdominal ultrasound, in Nov negative.  Pain continued and got worse.  I was nauseas and dry heaved and had diahreah just about everymorning waking me at 3 am. At times there would be yellow in the commode and when I wipped myself on the toilet paper.  The doctors said they didn't know what it was. In December I had an EGD showed a small hietal hernia.  Gastro doc told me he had no idea what was wrong with me and sent me back to my primary doctor.

Over three weeks I felt great, back to my old self.  In January it started all over again but worse.  I was awaken by the worst pain I ever had in my right side under my rib cage and around my back.  I was at my GP the next morning. She pressed on my gall bladder but there was no pain.  She ordered a stool sample, and hida scan.  They both came back negative.  The pain would not go away, she sent me to a surgeon.  He told me that the hida scan showed my gall bladder was at 34% ejection rate.  Told me to eat yogurt.  I had seen him for pain 3-4 years ago.  The egd at the time he did showed cholestorl crystals in my stomach.

Over the next couple of months I kept going back to him because of the pain, he ordered a complete x ray of my lower body, ct scan.  Finally in mid March, I had another odd attack after taking some olive oil to calm down my hietal hernia.  CT scan showed I had an embiblical hernia and two old pockets of diverticulis he said where non active. xray showed nothing.  I have also had an unbelievable amount of blood work done.

I had my gall bladder removed on March 27th, a Friday.  On Monday I had unbelievable stomach pain.  They sent me to get more blood work showed my liver function as fine.

I got better over the next three weeks, saw the doctor..  All was well.  The day after I saw him the pain started again.  It was off and on for a week.  Not as bad as before, same thing, diahreah, nausea, yellow in the commode, stomach pain.  The next two weeks were great.  Felt wonderful. Then this past Wednesday, I had diahreah all day.  Thursday ok.  Friday stomach pain, unbelievable pain.  Yesterday diahrea with so much yellow, I had to flush twice.  Last night I woke up at 4 with stomach pain and nausea.  At 6 I had such odd bm, it looked like deflated long ballons.  In fact one was hanging when I went to stand up,  about 7-8 inchses long.  I got a good look at it, and it looked like a long deflated balloon.  I am rung out this morning.  And I have no idea what to do.  With all the tests that have been run and showed nothing.  I believe that the gall bladder removal was like an elimination test.  But I don't think that was it.  

Any help, would be greatly appreciated.  I am a 47 yr old woman.  I have a 9 year old.  I am making my family miserable.  I am begging for help.

Marianne Jarrett

[patient915]

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[lacyfannin]

I had my gall bladder removed 3 weeks ago..everything went great.. but 2 weeks after i had it removed i started experiencing a terrible pain right in the middle of my stomach and between my ribs.. the pain was similar to the gas pain from surgery due to the carbon dioxide the drs used to inflate and move my other organs out of the way.. i am nasuated at times and do have diarrhea.. i am just like you and am wondering if this will stop.. eating a low fat diet is not helping that much either..

[Ariom63]

So far...I feel blessed that everything is fine.  However..YES..however I have noticed that when I do have a problem or feel some sort of little annoying pain, or a difference in bowel movements it has everything to do with your fat intake.  I do stick to a a low fat diet....and there are days I allow myself to eat whatever I want. I think there is some misconception that once you get your gallballder out you can pig out and eat everything you want..(not saying you) this is just an overall evaluation from reading tons of info on the net!  However those who recover much better and faster is because sticking to a healthy non fat diet is a way of life and should be much better for you.  

Just try sticking to low fats and see if you notice a difference I did!  

Hope you get to feeling better!  

[jessicafable]

hi i ve been having the same problems after gb removal, all though my liver functions test were bad for a yr. I am sick on and off all the time.  There is are several things that have helped me.  Foods such as romaine lettuce, zuccni, broccoli, Brussel sprouts, cauliflower, cabbage, & spinach all stimulate liver bile.  They all make me quite sick.  My GI explained to me with out a gallbladder regulating how much bile flows to the stomach its all dumping at once and it only has a small tube its trying to force its way through, creating pain.  Drinking lots and lots of water has also helped and staying away from high fatty foods which also stimulate bile.  Its quite hard to know which foods do it and iam sick still  but it has helped.   In addition i take something called BENTYL which helps with the pain and preventing it.  Good luck and i hope this helps some.

[CalGal]

Many people unfortunately continue to have problems after gallbladder removal because they are not able to process fats the way they did before the surgery. It may be helpful to start and stay on a low fat diet..