Gallstones in pregnancy

[Sandy444]

Has anyone been in a similar situation?

I am 15 weeks now, and since about week 5 I have alot of gas/wind and feeling alot of pain in my upper stomach/rib area.

I went to the doctor today and she said it could be really bad indigestion or gallstones so she has put me on some acid reflux tablets. (She has also requested a liver scan to confirm this)

Has anyone else had a similar problem during pregnancy? Apparently it is triggered by fatty foods which is definitley me :(

Thanks!

[CarbeDiem]

You have my sympathy - massively so.
I had GS in my pregnancy with ds3 from around 6 weeks of pregnancy. It kicked off when I ate fat at first but no one thought about GS. I was told this was because I was so young (21 at the time) and I didn't fit all parts of the 'criteria' they were looking for (Fat,fertile,fair,female, flatulent, forty)
I was ill and back and forth to hospital many times, I was even accused of being an alcoholic at one point bastards
I was finally diagnosed after a scan at around 22/23 weeks - too late to have the option of doing anything about as my womb was too high at that point.
I was prescribed strong painkillers and would only take them if I was crawling the floor in pain. My obstetrician allowed me to be induced at 40+5 as I just couldn't continue anymore.
I lost a lot of weight but I was given high calorie drinks that I had to force down as it got to the point I could only eat apples, haribo, potato and dry toast without pain - ds was fine and a hefty weight but I have biggies anyway.
GB was finally removed around 8 months later once my insides had settled back down.

Good luck with the scan, I hope you haven't got them.

[Sandy444]

Oh no poor you that sounds like you had it so bad!

I have heard it doesn't affect the baby at all- it is just a horrible expereince for the mother.

I am also seen as low risk- young and normal weight etc so I am glad they considered that they could be an option. I am not in as much pain as you desribe YET, so I am hoping it is really bad indigestion or just minor gallstones ;)

Did you also take acid reflux tablets?

Thanks CarbeDiem

[MGFM]

I had a horrible but not debilitating pain under my right ribs that extended into my back from around 15/16 weeks. For the first few weeks the doc just thought it was my ribs moving slightly and getting inflamed then as the pain got worse I went back to the doctor and they sent me for a scan and blood tests. Blood tests indicated some sort of infection but not conclusive. The scan, well the girl doing the scan who looked about 15 yrs old wasn't sure. She thought she could see little polyps in my Gall Bladder but wasn't sure. When I went back to the ward the consultant was all ready to whip out my GB! WTF! I said no no no. I couldn't go from being perfectly healthy to losing an organ! Anyway, I asked for another scan with a doctor present as the girl really wasn't confident. Had another scan, the doctor said he things it is cholesterolosis which are little crystal fat deposits or something like that. He said don't worry too much and that see what happens after baby is born. Anyway, the pain eased slightly as I moved into 3rd trimester. Coming and going, previously it was every day. I am not 37 weeks and it comes back a few days a week and mostly when I am up and moving around. I am hoping it is pregnancy related and might go away after the baby is born. really don't want to lose my gall bladder.

[Sandy444]

That sounds terrible! My guess is it's pregnancy related as most things are that you pick up along the way! My doctor said 12% of pregnant women develop gallstones during pregnancy and although its not harmful to the baby its really painful for the mother. I am confident it will come and go!

[CarbeDiem]

Apparently it's the pregnancy hormones that can kick it off.

Yes I had acid meds too. I can't remember what they were called as it was 15 years ago now.

My main worry with the baby was about stress and my cortisol rising because of what my body was going through with each attack. It was so severe and often, I'd never felt a pain like it before or since in my life inc - labour x3, a burst appendix and numerous broken bones.
This was why I got prescribed strong painkillers to try and control the pain before it reached maximum level - but then I was worried about taking them too.

MGFM - You're right to be cautious about removing it unless absolutely necessary - so many people (me included) especially those who had theirs removed at a young age have had problems after the removal. Dr's are recognising that now though where before they weren't really.
Even after all that I went through post op and still some issues today I would STILL have had mine out. Definitely, as there's just no way I could have managed with it. My GB was full of GS, apparently, I declined the kind offer of seeing it :)