can gallstones sit in gallbladder and cause pain?

[missfiveday]

After 11 long months of almost daily pain in my RUQ that radiates to my back and right shoulder.  After a US showing lots of stones, a hida scan coming back normal, normal sternum and back x-rays, negative celiacs blood test and countless dr appts, my dr has decided to FINALLY send me to a specialist, because she is back at square one and thinking its my gallbladder once again.  Tho she says my gallbladder is healthy other then stones. My question is...can having a gallbladder full of stones that are apparently just sitting there...cause so much constant, almost daily pain, that is sometime accompanied by nausea and occasional vommiting?

[missfiveday]

Thanks Lissa

Im in the middle or hopefully nearing the end of yet another night of pain.  It hurts to put pressure along the bottom of my right rib cage, gives me a nauseating pain.  I only stick with Extra strength tylenol, because Im scared to take anything stronger, and Im in so much pain so often that I feel I need some way to ease it...which the tylenol doesnt really help even.  My husband always wants to take me to emerg, but all my family lives 30 min away and I have a 3 yr old son to take care of, and hes a mommas boy, so he would be glued to me while Im going through tests, and when hes staying at his granparents I never have the pain....hopefully my dr hurries up and gets me in with the surgeon, but with the way she works, she has probably forgotten...grrr...

[lissavalenz]

I agree with gmac1217.  You definitely need to have your gallbladder removed.  I had every test available for my gallbladder and they all came back normal.  I started with an ultrasound after the first several attacks that sent me to the hospital in severe pain that radiated through to my back and doubled me over.  I was finally sent to a specialist who ordered a CT w/ contrast, then a hidascan.  All of these were normal.  The only thing that would show a problem was my bloodwork during one of my attacks.  My liver and pancreatic enzymes would go sky high.  I had several more attacks and was then admitted to the hospital.  The CT w/ contrast was repeated as well as the hidascan.  This hidascan showed a slight change in my ejection fraction so they sent me to surgeon, who agreed that even though the tests were normal, I was showing classic signs of gallbladder attacks and it needed to come out.  I had the surgery in November of '08 and have not had an attack since.  Before the surgery, I was in the ER or admitted to the hospital every few months on high dose IV pain meds and thousands of dollars worth of tests.  After surgery, my gallbladder was sent to pathology and all it showed was chronic inflammation....no stones whatsoever as well as no signs that I had been passing stones.  Your stones in your gallbladder can certainly be causing the same type of inflammation and would not show up on tests.  Mine sure didn't even though it was extremely painful!

Best of luck to you.  Also, careful with the tylenol.  Make sure that you stick with the recommended dose on the bottle.  More is not better and certainly is not good for your liver.  

LissaValenz

[missfiveday]

Thank you.  My dr has finally decided to send me to consult with a surgeon to decide if it needs to be removed.  I am a person who a jar of tylenol would last a year, but now I have to take 3 tylenol every 4 hours to allow me to even function. The Ultra sound tech did not state the sizes of any of the stones, just reported ALOT of stones.

[gmac1217]

Yes! I had pains at the top part of my stomach that shot threw my back and also shooting pain through my arm. I went through this for a whole yr and the docs kept sayin I had a few small stones but it was normal. After a yr of severe pain that would sometimes last for 6 to 7 hrs a day I went to the hospital and refused to leave unless I spoke to a surgeon. He agreed to take the gallbladder out and its been 2 yrs since and have no pains what so ever. My gallbladder was so filled with stones that nothing could move in or out of it anymore. And the surgeon also said that the stones were huge the size of large marbles. So if I were you I would have it taken out. Gallbladder attacks can last up to 6 hrs. You def dont want it to get to that point, because there is not 1 pains releiver you could possibly take to even dull the pain when that happens..... good luck to you