How bad is a HIDA scan with CCK for the gallbladder? Is it really painful?

[hannahrose91]

I have been having symptoms which my doctor thinks may be due to an issue with my gallbladder.  I've already had an ultrasound which came back normal, so now she has ordered another test, which I believe is the HIDA.  I assume I will have to have it with the CCK since the gallbladder is the main focus.  I do want to find out what's wrong with me, but at the same time, I am freaking out over this test, mostly due to what I've seen some people writing about it on the internet.  I saw one person who claimed that the pain was so awful when they did the CCK that they would equate it to the pain of childbirth and they said it felt like someone was stabbing and twisting their abdomen (!).  Seriously??  Is it really that bad? :(  I've also seen people saying it made them throw up.  That freaks me out too because you have to lay down the whole time so I'm now having these horrible images of getting sick and choking on my own vomit because I can't even sit up.  I'm terrified. :(  I will say that unlike a lot of people with gallbladder issues, I have NOT been having any severe pain, or any nausea...I occasionally some very mild pain but mostly just tightness in my stomach, which gets a little worse after eating.  So does that mean that the pain during the test shouldn't be that bad?

I was hoping that maybe I'd just be able to be drugged up during this test and then not care what's going on or feel any pain, but it sounds like they can't put any drugs in you because it says you can't take any medications (or eat or drink) for 4 hours before the test.  So I think I have to be totally aware the entire time.  I just don't know how I'm going to relax because I'm so scared.  I know I sound like a total wimp but I have pretty bad anxiety and I've come to believe I have a phobia of medical procedures!  I also have PTSD from when I had the most horrifically painful menstrual cramps- I had to be rushed to the hospital on four different occasions because the pain was so bad that I was screaming and thought I was dying, and they had to give me morphine...finally my mom and I were sick of it so I went on birth control and it hasn't been a problem since, but anyway, I've felt more horrible abdominal pain than I ever care to, and I don't EVER want to experience pain that bad again!

[rca91]

had the hida test on june 18 2012 the test was ok the problem was you cant move at all really for 1hour and 30minutes and the test came back normal , i could barely walk when i got up because you are lying on your back with your arms , wrist and ankles strip to you while in a machinetaking pictures of course my pain had eased up at the time but know it feelslike i have a foot in my right side again butdoctor says there is nothing wrong

[Christopher R Watters, MD]

The HIDA scan w/ CCK provides two pieces of information. The first is how well the gallbladder is functioning by assessing it's response to CCK which is your body's signal for it to contract after you eat. The second is whether your symptoms are duplicated bt inducing a gallbladder contraction. There is emerging data that suggests that the second is the most important to predict who would benefit from gallbladder removal. You can't be medicated because drugs such as morphine are known to produce spasm in the sphincter of Oddi and would alter the results. The good news is that if you experience your typical symptoms during the test you have probably found the problem.