pain after gallbadder surgery

[murphy4511]

I have had surgery about 6 weeks ago and i have had exsptreme pain in my right rib shoot thru to my back and some pain in my right chest by my shoulder. when ever I eat it goes right thru me. I hate these pain meds. I have pain most of the time and when i am up moving around the pain intensifies, my dr has ran all kinds of test and doesnt know he has done this for 37yrs and has seen this he says. I am exhausted all the time. and distaut. Can someone dirct me where I can go and get help I am in columbus ohio

[GKGK]

Hello!

Is the gallbladder surgery reccommended for assintomatic people with 2 gallstones?

Thanks!

[Paderla Anitha, DNB]

Hello and hope you are doing well.

If other causes for the pain like post surgical infections have been ruled out, the pain could be due to the inflammation present post surgery. It should settle with time. However if you develop fever or inflammation of the wound consult your doctor. In the meantime you can take OTC pain medication Ibuprofen. Ensure to take this medication after food to avoid gastritis. Apply cold compress to the wound for relief.

Hope this helped and do keep us posted.

[Sarsi]

I agree with ggreg! Pain relief and a second opinion sounds very reasonable

[ggreg]

Well, if your doc does not know what to do, you should get a second opinion, I think that would be okay to do.  I will try to tell you what I think is going on, altho could be something diff, but this might help.

The main thing that may be causing the pain you describe is sometimes after gallbladder surgery, people are in so much pain and are so tired, that they will do this protective posture where they bend at their stomach and at their shoulders.  So you need better pain control, and press a pillow firmly against your surgical site whenever you feel pain moving around, and in a very quiet room do some deep breathing whilst laying down, knees bent, arms out to your side, to really relax.

The best pain medicines for your pain are:  oxycodone, morphine, and hydromorphone, so if your doc is not giving you that, you can ask him to please change your pain killers.  Whilst taking pain medicines, eat plenty of fiber foods, low fat, and drink lots of water, go for walks.

Now, there are a million other things that could be wrong, I've just pulled what I think your pain locations indicate.  As for your food just going right through you, it's possible that a common thing is going on, which takes time to settle down but it will, and that's since the gallbladder is gone, too much bile is being released into the intestines.

I think an ultrasound should be done to see if something as simple as organs shifting postop hasn't corrected itself, or on up to some sort of problem from the surgery that is affecting the function of your body.  I think bloodwork looking for infection should be done.  And whenever a patient has pain that is not relieved by medicine, this MUST be addressed, and since your doc is puzzled, then I think it's okay to find another surgeon to review your records, examine you, provide you with better pain control, the whole thing.  But let us hope that the outcome is the simple problems I thought were bothering you.