Gallbladder :: Living With 23 Mm Gallstone For 3 Years
May 25, 2015
I've been having a 23 mm stone at the outlet of my GB for 3 years now, and first I thought I could cope with it by sitting on a low fat diet, drinking herbal teas (quebra pedra) etc., but lately the pain flare ups have increased in frequency from less than once a month to every 3 days and I've decided to go for an operation on GB removal, which is planned within the next couple of months.
But I am still hesitant for several reasons:
1. Carelessness of the doctors - the impression is that they don't want to know anything about your problem (no MRI, no ultrasound - nothing) just cut your GB out.
2. After-effects - infection, hernia*), damage to other organs.
3. I think that if it's possible to live without operation - it's best not to have it.
So to cut the long story short - I wonder if there are people on this forum or your friends who have been living with GB stones for a really long time (like 10 years or more) and if you have - how do you cope?
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I am hearing and reading mixed views on this. Every Time i have alcohol i am up all night and the next day bringing bile up (about 8 times last time). I had an ultrasound on saturday and she checked my liver etc and i have a 2 cm gallstone. My right shoulder/collarbone/back is constantly sore and aching and when i laugh/cough etc it hurts in the front where my gallbladder is. I have been getting right side headaches. I don't have attacks with food just constant discomfort. I feel shattered too. How can a tiny organ cause so much discomfort in other parts of your body?
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Hi, I have a couple of health issues at the moment and don't know what symptoms are what!!! Been diagnosed with a large gallstone, been getting pain but not unbearable. The Dr has put me on 2 omeprizal a day for 2 wks then 1 a day for 2 wks, I'm in my second wk
The sickness feeling has got worse and today I have been sick twice, my stomach is swollen and pain feels worse, is this normal. Any advice greatly appreciated
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I am a slim 23 year old male who regularly plays sports etc.. Around 4 years ago I first had that sharp stabbing pain in my upper right abdomen going through to my back, went in an ambulance to hospital and was diagnosed with constipation. This happened 4/5 times before I was finally diagnosed with gallstones 2 years ago. I had another attack not long after being diagnosed and it gave me pancreatitis because it was blocked in the tube ( or something along those lines), I sort of blame this on the lack of support from the hospital on what I should be eating and avoiding, I mean they was serving me fish and chips, pie etc in hospital and I didn't know any different. I then had the camera down my throat to try and remove the gallstones that way but something went wrong and they couldn't remove them (there is 2 medium to large gallstones).
since then I have been watching my diet like a hawk and I am very happy with what I can and can't eat. I eat chocolate regularly, pastries, low fat cheese, muffins etc and none of these have given me an attack I eat them in moderation and never more than 8 grams of fat in one go. Thinking about it only fried food and cheese have given me attacks.. Now the only attack I have had in two years was my fault because I brought the wrong fish pie ( I am fine with the low fat youngs ones but I got the regular one with 4x the fat )
anyway I am scared to death of hospitals, my mom died aged only 40 a few years ago due to hospital negligence so I'd do anything to avoid having an operation on the nhs, it also doesn't help that I have severe anxiety.. The hospital want me to get it removed but I honestly feel like I can cope and would like to explore all possibilities first.
is it possible I could live happily ever after without getting my gallstones removed and just maintaining a low fat healthy diet? What would you do in my situation?
I have seen lots of people on these forums that are having difficulties after having their gallbladder removed so even if I go through with it there is no guarantee?
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Hey I'm really struggling to lose weight post gallbladder surgery I'm at my wits end it's really starting to depress me! Is anyone else experiencing this at all?
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I am a 33 year old female I do not drink and do not have hepatitis or any type of disease. I was diagnosed with an enlarged liver but after a sonogram and blood work was told I just had a big liver. About six years ago I had my gallbladder removed I was told it was rotten and was functioning at 0%. My symptoms didn't totally go away but was better until about a year ago. I have nausea,severe back pain,pain and bloating in the upper middle and right side of my stomach,itching,a burning sensation beside my rib cage and I sometimes break out in a rash always on my neck and chest. None of this is normal and my liver has not always been like this I feel I have been misdiagnosed ...
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So I just got over mono recently, but for about the last 3 to 4 months I've been having severe nausea and stomach aches. Originally I was told it was caused by the mono, which since has been ruled out. The pain and nausea has only been getting worse. The nausea is the worst, as it occurs nearly all day and night. It gets horrible when I try to eat. It's gotten to the point that I can't drink a sip of water or eat a cracker without feeling really ill. I also had some really bad chest pains recently. They spread to my back and oddly my throat. It hurt bad to take a deep breath in, and worse to swallow. I couldn't eat that day. Since then it's gotten better. My mother (retired nurse) says she thinks it may be either GERD or a gallstone. I was thinking it could be GERD but I don't seem to have much heartburn(none really) I do have an appointment with a GI Dr but it's not until mid September and I'm not sure how well I can make it. Any idea what it could be? Could this be more of a gallbladder issue? Also, I have been mainly constipated but every couple days I'll have diarrhea. I've tried taking Miralax and tums, both to no avail. Pepto Bismol also hasn't helped any. It gets really bad in the morning as well, which greatly affects my working ability.
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My daughter was diagnosed with Sjogren's Disease I was just wondering if there is anyone that has this Disease, and to inform me how they are living and coping with pain and day to day living. She is only 20 years of age.
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I have lived with my partner for the past 4 years and when I met him he liked a drink, but at the time, it seemed just sociably. As the relationship progressed, so did his drinking, if we were out socially he would end up so drunk and quite embarrassing on a number of occasions. The drinking stepped up a notch when we bought our own place and for the past 3 years it has become a problem within the home more times than I care to mention, going from barely being able to speak, not wanting to do anything unless there was alcohol involved in the activity, making promises and reneging on them, wetting the bed, starting arguments when there was nothing to argue about, the culmination of this behaviour has been that 2 weeks ago he moved into the spare bedroom where he drank a bottle of vodka every night on his own, only to pop downstairs to start an arguement with my sons or me. I told him I wanted out, house to go on the market and go our separate ways. With that he made an appointment to see his doctor, who in turn said if he continues drinking what he drinks, he will be lucky to live beyond another 4 years... he is only 40 years old. He has confessed to me since the visit to the doctors that he's always drunk more than he should and has struggled with alcohol for the past 20 odd years. He has moved to his parents to start his detox and has to go back to the doctors in two weeks to let him know progress there has been, also he's been to a meeting with Inclusion, previously Homer, it was just an initial chat, they have given him some material to look through. He will go through an assessment following on from the next doctors appointment, and will then be assigned a key worker who he can chat to and will support him. I suppose what I want to know is how I'm supposed to behave towards him, whilst I still have feelings for him, I'm not sure I want to sign up to be with him forever as I just can't believe he will never touch a drop again. He's emailing me saying he still loves me and wants to get married when he's sober, but what's the reality of that? Do I tell him the truth that I can't stay with him or do I give him time to start the road to recovery without any stress from me?
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I have finally found info on Forestier's disease!
When I was first diagnosed back in 1988 my doctor had no material on this subject. I was told to go home and find it on my computer, which I did. There was a researcher in Canada who hit the nail right on the head, Forestier's is no picnic! He was so right!
When I was first diagnosed with the disease, I was in a lot of back pain. I had x-rays done and this article is correct....my vertebral area looked as if I were leaking wax. I saw all sorts of bony hooks hanging from each and every vertebrate and I was in a lot of pain; but my doctor at that time said I couldn't be in pain, as it wasn't painful??? On the contrary, the article I was told to research stated that there is a great deal of pain associated with the disease and eventually it would be crippling and that is where I am, 20 years later.
At the first time I was diagnosed, I didn't know that my choking could be associated with the disease itself, I thought it was just asthma...after all "it isn't that bad." I was placed on many anti-inflammatory medications. I was place on one that I suddenly would loose my speech and get confused...I was told they might be TIA's. Later this particular drug was found to do just that. Since it wasn't helping, I was put on another anti-inflammatory and the doctor doubled the recommended dose and later I found that the sphincter muscle to my stomach and been burned away from too much of a good thing.
I was told not to see a chiropractor and for good reason! I had a complication from a surgery and they had to knock me out in order to go down my throat....while under someone turned my head further than I could myself and broke a facet in my neck; now I have plates in my neck and need more surgery....Once my neck was repaired, I didn't choke any longer. Right now, the disease has gotten so bad that I have many areas of stenosis and nerve root cut off. The neurosurgeon who performed my first neck surgery stated that every opening that allows the nerve roots to channel through my body was loaded with razor sharp spurs. This is just the spinal region of my body.
I am beginning to calcify at every ligament insertion site. I have bony over growth in my feet, which interfere with the articulation of my foot joints. I can feel the bones sticking out of my ankles and the tops of my feet; I'm beginning to fuse in my left foot. In three weeks I'm heading for a double knee replacement because my left knee can't support my knee cap; over growth of bone has pushed it away. It is getting more and more difficult to participate in daily activities as my range of motion is becoming limited. My elbows and my shoulders are affected as well...I can feel bony growth there as well. I'm losing feeling in my legs, as my nerves are being pinched; the pain shoots down to my feet and it is gripping. My hands can't grip a phone for any length of time.
I found if my pain can be controlled, I can function well, but too many doctors are not up on the pain this disease produces. Controlling the pain keeps me moving, and that is what you need to do, but the support isn't there for this. The disease is so rare that it is brushed off as regular osteoarthritis and it isn't, it's no where near the same.
I was diagnosed in my thirties and I have lived with chronic pain for over twenty years now. I was told that it affects mostly males over the age of 70....bunk! It is genetic, as my mother had it and wasn't properly diagnosed with the disease and my brother has it as well. My mother and I were deeply affected, she had it her feet as well and by the time she reached 70, she couldn't walk without crying in despair.
I had one doctor treat me with Suboxone and it was the only drug that gave me back the quality of life others enjoyed. He left for the north and I am back in severe pain once again. The problem with this disease, it's a square peg and everyone wants to fit into a round hole. I try to keep a smile on my face for my families sake, but the pain can be read all over my face. I'm still young, by today's standards and I just want to be a participant in this life, not stuck in some corner watching my life and the world go passed me.
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I have been diagnosed with multiple polyps in my gallbladder recently. They are all small except one with less than 5mm. I have a symptom recently with pain. My doctor has suggested to remove my gallbladder. But I am wondering if there are any surgery or technique that can take out the polyps without removing the gallbladder or get the polyps for biopsy test to see it is malignant? I really hope to keep my gallbladder as it is a part of body that god created.
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Im 15 and 1/2 and my penis size has been the same for like 6years and it hasn't grown at all My size is 1" plz help because this problem has overwhelmed me for years and im tired of it.
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I am 32 years old and I have 1 child and for awhile i have been trying to get another and i have not been able to conceive ...I should start by telling you that i have been on yasmin for 9 years and i stop taking them for awhile to get pregnant but nothing happened so because of not taking the yasmin my period became off balance and i was put back on them by my doctor. i also had a surgery couple years ago called an umbilical hernia, can this be the cause why i am unable to have another child ? I would like to have another child before I am 40 what should I do ?
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I'm hoping to hear about some other people's experiences and if they're similar to mine! I'm 21 and had to get my gallbladder removed after being rushed to ER with severe chest pains which resulted in me passing out and convulsing (I have Vasovagal syndrome), so the hospital ran some tests and decided I had a gall bladder with sludge and stones. I went to one of the best hospitals where the surgeon teaches other surgeons how to do the laparoscopic surgery (which eases my nerves a bit, as this was my first surgery and I was scared!) I remember initially being super anxious and freaked out about being put under, but when it came down to it, I didn't even realize I was put under lol. I was talking to the nurses and the funny anesthesiologist and next thing I know I'm waking up in a different room with some pain and a sore throat! Now here's the thing that was different: it was supposed to be outpatient ( I was supposed to go home an hour or two after waking up) but my heart rate was just booming for hours and wouldn't slow down. they became worried that i had internal bleeding and ran me through all these tests. then in they admit me into the hospital and I get a visit from the SEPSIS WATCH TEAM which I knew nothing about until they said there's a high mortality rate for people with the infection so there went my nerves! I was stressed out and worried the whole next day and they had to put a damn catheter in me and all this crap. eventually I left a few days later after many tests and such, but the blood tests aren't back yet on the infection yet which I don't understand. why would they send me home? my surgeon never came to visit me after the surgery either, so I never got a real update other than from the nurses who sort of knew what was going on. I'm home and have been on tramadol but i feel no difference. in the hospital they had me on Vicodin the highest dosage and I still didn't feel anything. so anyway apart from my story, about how long was recovery for you? I have finals next week and I'm getting worried. the gas they put in me seems to be the biggest source of pain right now and i still haven't had any bowel movement in four days since my surgery. how long before you can sleep on your side? how long before you can walk and sit through class or work? how long before you were able to have sex again?
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I recently had a liver panel (blood work) done and my alk phos (ALP) enzymes came back elevated. I'm scheduled for an ultrasound of the liver and gall bladder for this coming Tuesday.
My question is....what sort of symptoms did any of you have before discovering you had gall stones/gall bladder issues. I have what I call a "pinchy" pain that radiates from my waist up my right side to under the ribs and it's always accompanied by tons of gas!
At first I thought the pain could be muscle related...but now I'm not so sure.
I do not have any other symptoms of gallbladder disease...such as nausea, light colored stool, etc.
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My surgery went well. Surgery was at 11 and I was discharged at 1:30. They did an endoscopy of my upper GI and all was clear. I am pretty sore in my abdomen area and omg my shoulders are killing me from the gas, and of course I have a sore throat. All in all I'm good...had some soup last night, did fine and I have been juiced today. Already the pain that went through to my back for months is GONE!! I had stones and sludge. I'm so in hopes my reflux will improve, its so bad I get acid in my ears and my mouth stays swollen with a scalloped tong. The worse my Gallbladder got the worse my reflux got.
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Last November I suffered severe pains in my stomach and back and after a scan was found to have gallstones and an inflamed gall bladder. I was told that I would need to have the gall bladder removed which I did five months after being first diagnosed. In that five months I eased the discomfort by cutting out dairy food and fried / fatty food (which I had little of anyway) . I did get pains but were manageable. I did lose a lot of weight though, I went from 13st 12lbs to 12 stone within about three months. This was drastic as I was still eating.
I had the operation to remove my gallbladder on 4 April and came out of hospital on the same day. Unfortunately one of the "wounds" from the operation got badly infected and an abscess formed. This led me being taken into hospital for 5 days for the infection to be cut away and put on a strong course of antibiotics. Unfortunately I haven't felt well since the gallbladder removal, leaving aside the abscess, I still get considerable pain from my stomach most days. I have to go to the toilet more which is quite loose and I get dreadful indigestion making me want to burp quite a bit. I was hoping to put on some weight as I am very thin but sadly if anything it has gone down a bit more.
My GP says I have to be patient and it will get better. Has anyone else suffered symptoms like this after a gallbladder removal ?
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I am 31 years old, female have one son and am married On Oct 12 2013 my life went straight to you know where! 2 weeks prior to Oct 12, I was experiencing horrible right shoulder pain, semi old injury didn't think to much of it, it hurt yes but I usually just suck it up. I am in college full time ( was in the Army for 7 years before all this) well Oct 12 came and all the usual first round symptoms one might get from Gallbladder issue, I lost 13 lbs in 2 weeks, just sick and now scared. The pain was crappy, the not knowing sucked more. Had a HIDA scan done since the doc I was seeing suspected GB issues, it came back abnormal. Took 4 hours just to show up and when they injected me with that CCK stuff, 3 min later I was severely sick to my stomach, reports go back to doc they refer me to surgeon, was supposed to be about a month, well I relay this to my husband, who is 1000 miles away training, and he notices now a difference in me as a person, it has taken its toll on me, this is Thanksgiving now...I am trying to tough it out since I had finals around the corner, well I didn't make it, I collapsed on my parents kitchen floor in agony and thought I was having a heart attack, just on my right side! Go to ER, doc there says he will admit, I need to talk to insurance, I went home called them got the green light, and was like well maybe its past, no more than 3 hours of being home, my husband calls I tell him I am about to go back and hang up, my Dad brought me and I was admitted, GB removed the next day. So normal after surgery pain, at this point I had not worked out since Oct 12, I went from running about 15 - 18 miles a week, I lifted weights and all that, I enjoyed it, now I looked like a shriveled raisin who looked like a swarm of beavers beat the crap outta me...So 2 weeks post op doing pretty good, I am eating yay! Until I sat down one morning and ate an apple, within 4 -5 min I doubled over in agony, couldn't breath, horrible cramps, more like contractions, and burning...lasted about 15 min, I am thinking what the hell! I couldn't help but ask my Mom if they actually removed it, so I made an appt with my surgeon, well it was his Boss, the older Doc, very nice, said I prolly had some grit that needed to be worked out, Im thinking ok, that plausible...I barely managed to make finals that semester, but I pulled it off Phew! Now we are around Xmas time frame, Husband is coming home on leave excited! Had some good days, still had pain, but I could handle it, wrong! From Xmas to New Years I spent in and out of hospitals. We moved me up here to North Carolina on top of stopping at different ER's along the way, the pain was just awful. The worst one was when we finally made it here to North Carolina, I unpacked as much as I could under the circumstances, my husband is now worried, which he isnt, and Im not one to cry over pain and well that's all I had done for 4 days of driving and ER trips, anywho we were about to eat some dinner and I started getting this burning sensation right over my BIG scar, I had a small open cholecystectomy, only like 2.5 inches if that....well of course my poor husband was like Ill take you to the ER here if need be, I was so tried I didn't want too, well about 3 min later I passed out in the living room from intense wave of pain and husband called an ambulance, when I got there I was tachycardic and sweating from bad pain, it was like an 8, pretty bad, well the doc wanted to do a CT scan with that stuff you have to drink the dye stuff, 3 big glasses...I discovered later on that the dye quite literally moves everywhere thru your body, worst thing possible for that day, I drank maybe have of the first glass and my pain shot up, mind you I had been given now two 1 mg of Dilaudid and was still in pain, well I pushed on and drank it down hit glass two, I wanted that CT scan to start, I downed the 2nd cup and I finally experienced level 10 pain...albeit it was more like 15, The burning pain in my Upper Right Quadrant was excruciating, it went into my rt shoulder, down my right arm, and I cramped so hard I couldn't breath, like constant contractions, I literally yowled in pain, didn't let up, then my heart rate went to 157 then dropped to 31, my husband now is on the edge of losing it, and I really thought I was dying, gets better , the burning pain started to travel under my right breast and half of my sternum, I honestly cannot put into words how to describe this pain, I was terrified, I seriously thought I was dying, on top of my heart rate going nuts and me going in and out of consciousness in small increments, well fast forward, more pain stuff and they are admitting me.
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Can anyone tell me if they have had headaches from having gallstones?
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I was recently diagnosed with having 3 gallstones about 8mm in size. I had an ultrasound due to upper right abdominal pain.
I felt fine after finding out what it was and had very little symptoms for about 2 months.
However, for the last 2-3 weeks I seem to be getting headaches every day. I can't see any pattern to them but they gradually seem to come on throughout the day. I still get occasional twinges of pain in my right side but haven't suffered an 'attack' like others.
Has anyone else experienced these headaches? And if so, did they go once you had your gallbladder removed?
It is really getting me down and I just generally feel unwell and fatigued all the time.
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I was diagnosed with gallbladder rocks last year. I am 20 years and haven't removed it yet because I wanted to get some feedback from people close to my age, what was the best approach? did it affect you alot? it would be very helpful if a few people who have had similar problems could comment and tell me about their story in order to get to a more educated decision. I have had plenty of medical feedback but I'd love to hear it from those who had to go through it.
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