what will it take for me to be back to normal?

Question

I had my gallbladder removed 2 months ago and i'm still having the same symptoms as before. The burning isn't as bad though. I can't seem to eat a normal amount of food three times a day. I need to gain at least 6 pounds back. Please help. The symptoms slowly started happening around early march and really got bad in june/july. The burning sensation started the last week of june when I was in Belgium. I ate a lot of chocolate and ice cream. I was diagnosed with mild stomach irritation in august and has been on omeprazole 20 mg twice a day since the middle of october. I was put on sucralfate before and I had bad burning with that medicine. I still have most of the same symptoms. I need a way to cure everything. i also had a mild sludge in my gallbladder and it was functioning at 34%. It was enlarged with a cholesterol ring around it. i was on prevacid for 2 1/2 weeks in july. I'm 5'6 1/2 and weigh only 104. i used to be 115. I'm too skinny and wish I could eat more.

Caryopteris · Answer

I had the same trouble after getting my gallbladder out.  I also had a change in my bowel movements, with small, yellow stools.  It turned out I had Celiac disease.  I don't know if I had it before the surgery and the surgery just made it worse or what.  Apparently Celiac disease can make the gallbladder fail.  I had huge stones.  I was anemic and had vitamin D deficiency.  My surgeon gave me B12 shots and I had to get on iron and vitamin D and stay on them.  Get tested for Celiac disease.  Stopping gluten and taking the supplements got my weight up slowly, but I didn't realize I needed to take the iron for years, so I stopped it prematurely.  I know how frantically weak you feel and how upsetting it is when food doesn't provide nutrition and ease that weak feeling like you are going to crash all the time.  If you test positive for Celiac, then you can stop eating gluten, but if you stop before testing, then you can't get an adequate blood test.  If you do have Celiac, your gut is leaky and you may be sensitive to other proteins also, so you may need to stop dairy and even nuts, at least for a while, until you heal.  I hope you have a support system - people to help cook for you and take care of you so you can get enough rest.

selmaS · Answer

Hi and welcome to the GERD forum.

 Not all reflux and GERD issues stem from the Gall Bladder but since urs was removed  I would wonder if u were tested for H.Pylori it is a common bacteria found after a GB removal....u will need rounds of strong antibiotics which may add to how u r feeling but with some pro bitotics u should be able to feel better ....that is if u test positive for H.Pylori.

 If it is negative I would suggest a PH study to see if u have high or low acid levels...and go from there....