Upper GI Pan

I am a 42 year old female.  I had my gallbladder removed 2 years ago and since then I get these attacks in my upper GI that radiates to the back.  I can't take a deep breath and these attacks are random.  I have had a colonoscopy to rule out Chrones - nothing was found.  The pain is unbelievable.  I have had a barium that I had to swallow and that produced nothing.  At different times I can either have diarrehea with this or constaption - If I eat pizza I am sure to have an attack - this is one of the foods that will trigger.  I have now started to vomit with the pain - can someone please give me some advise on what I should have my doctor look for?

[CalGal]

If the attacks are triggered by fatty foods in general, you may have to think about staying on a low fat diet. You may not be able to process fatty foods as you once did. It happens to some after GB surgery and there really isn't a 'cure' for the problem. For whatever reason, it could be causing spasms of the common bile duct which can result in the pain you're experiencing. That spasming can ultimately be the cause of the diarrhea and constipation that may accompany the issue.

But if you're having the attacks and they're not triggered by food, you need to ask your doc to possibly schedule an MRCP and to check you liver and pancreatic enzyme levels - (the blood test should specificially be done within 24 hours of an 'attack') to see if there's anything going on with your biliary system. There's a condition called SOD - sphincter of Oddi dysfunction - that can occur after surgery. It can be triggered by stones that may have fallen into the duct during surgery, by new stones that can form after surgery, or by causes that may be termed idiopathic - they don't know what caused them unfortunately.