Is this a Post Gallbladder removal problem

[manish_med]

Hello there,

I am writting this on behalf of my mom who is undergoing a terrible gastric problem and has not been able to sleep or eat properly for last one and a half months. I spent a good amount of time researching contents through the web related to post GB removal disorders and found a lot of useful information from various series of topics.

Let me first quote the symptoms and other ailments my mom is suffering from.
1. Her Gall-bladder was removed 6 years ago due to Gall stones.

2. Though not very frequently but she develops nausea sometimes that becomes serious at times.

3. Currently she has a severe vomiting tendency. Please note that nothing comes out of her vomiting. After every 10-15 such dry vomitings sometimes she vomits green color liquid (I think that is bile) in a very little amount. This relaxes her for a while but after couple of hours the tendency restarts invoking nausea. However there is no diarrhoea. But earlier she used to get diarrhoea whenever she eats some oily stuff and it used to take a longer time to check.

4. She also feels severe pain in half of the stomach sometimes that last for a day or 2.

5. She is a patient of arthritis for last 16 years, and has not walked since last 10 years.

After a lot of reading, I suspect that due to GB removal, Bile may have got accumulated in her intestine which is causing a serious nausea. However doctors have diagnosed her with IBS and GERD. Infact she was on some enzyme tablets for sometime and IBS medicines. But nothing is working now. Nausea is getting worse, she has not been able to eat anything for so many days except for Barley/fruit juice and sometimes porridge.

Does it look like a side-effect of GB removal? I am not sure if Cholestyramine will help in this case for nausea because I read that it helps only in Diarrhoea. Will Cholestyramine worsen this case or help?

Is it happening due to Bile salt absorption in Large intestine or just a reflux problem (GERD)?


Please guide me with your suggestions.

[zmombomb]

Have allergy tests done!!!  Food allergies can cause all those problems!!!

[Kay192]

Dear Manish - sounds like the same thing my son has been suffering with for the last year and a half, after, his gallbladder was removed.  He has had every test there is from three gastroenterlolgists  - all of which came back, normal.  He is convinced that he has a gallstone stuck in his bile duct - causing chronic nausea, weakness, headache etc.
Doctors will not do an ERCP because it is dangerous and the tests "don't warrant the surgery".  That is medical lingo for "I don't want to be sewed".  We have had very little help from all the specialists we have seen and no suggestions as to what it is.  I've gotten more help from people here.  Ask about a stone or 'sludge' in the bile duct next time she sees the doctor, and then, demand, a cure!

[CalGal]

It's possible that it could be related to her surgery, however, it would be difficult to say that it is without having some testing done. The green colored liquid probably is bile, so it would appear that at least sproadically, she's refluxing bile into her stomach. Bile binding resins might help - the only way to know would be to try it. But if she's experiencing constipation it's going to make the situation worse.

If she's having bowel habit changes - in other words going from constipation to diarrhea - it would be more of an indication that she should probably have her biliary system checked out. Hopefully, she's following a low fat diet? Make sure that any meds she's taking for her arthritic condition aren't contributing to the stomach issues. Many people don't realize that many meds have very adverse effects on the GI system.

Bile does not accumulate in the intestinal system. Once it's released, it flows through the small and large intestine and can have a very irritating effect on the whole of the lower GI tract - typically causing diarrhea.

She might also want to talk to her doc about using something like carafate to coat her stomach from the caustic effects of the bile.