Any gallbladder stories?

[m00rfarm]

I found out this week, after a horrible pain under my rib cage which caused me to go to the hospital - had pain killers intravenously (honestly, I have broken bones several times and this pain was far worse than the broken bones), ultrasound scans, and the diagnoisis was gallstones and a polyp in the gallbladder.

The solution is to remove the gallbladder next week using keyhole surgery. All good so far.

However, I have never had issues with what I eat before. That day I had eaten fresh cheese (which is allowed), small glass of wine, tomato, rocket leaves. Very innocuous an no idea why it triggered such a horrible attack.

I love presunto, hard cheese, red meat - all the things that are terrible for my gall bladder.

I am avoiding eating these, although I have never had a problem with eating them before this attack.

Oh - I am mid fifties if that makes a difference, had one child and am femaile (which apparently is the exact fit for someone who gets gallstones).

Anyway - once the gallbladder is out, can I go back (after a few weeks) of eating all the food that I love? Or am I destined to be eating fish and grilled chicken for the rest of my life?

It may sound a bit spoilt brattish, but one of my great pleasures in life is the ability to eat whatever I want without a problem - trying all types of food and not having to spend hours looking at a menu to find something that would be suitable.

Really hoping for some good news here. Googling does not really give an answer, just a lot of advice on how to control a diet when having gallstones.

I'm having mine out at some point too. Apparently you can eat what you want afterwards, but start slowly as large amounts initially may have an impact on your bowel.
Good Luck and hope you feel better soon.

Since mine was removed, I have been able to eat anything I want with no issues. BTW, for some people, it doesn't matter what they eat in regards to triggering pain. For them, modifying their diet while they still have their gallbladder is ineffective.

I had mine out. I was allowed to eat whatever I wanted after although for the first three months or so I had a very sensitive stomach with some urgent BMs after eating as digestive system got used to the difference. So I’d say eat what you like but stay in reach of a toilet until it all calms down.

My bowels never calmed down after ,ended up with awful ibs.i got gallstones through crash dieting .
In fact I didn’t realise the gallbladder removal had caused the ibs it was only on Mumsnet hearing other people say how they were effected that I put 2 and 2 together
Yay Mumsnet again .
But yes worst pain in my whole life ,far far worse than giving birth .
Good luck for the operation x

I had my gallbladder removed aged 15. I also had my spleen out at the same time. So I can't really comment on symptoms prior to surgery or the recovery as its hard to differentiate between what was caused by the spleen and what was caused by the gall bladder. However, the op was 5 days before Christmas and I was determined and did eat a full turkey dinner with all the trimmings on Christmas day.

However, because of the role of the gall bladder I can comment in the disgestion side of things. I eat a normal balanced diet however i do struggle (for want of a better word) to eat and digest fattier foods. i still eat my fair share of bugers, chips and things but i sort of need to be prepared. The worst foods for this are full English breakfasts didn't normally have them anyway but if staying at a hotel and knowing there would be a long journey involved that day. and donuts from the fair.

However, I am starting to think fatty foods eaten on an empty stomach are worse. Hence why breakfasts are one of the worst because it's the first thing eaten since the previous evening.

I had mine out 2 years ago and can eat anything since then in moderation. I find if I eat too much fat in one meal then it can affect digestion and bowels and I now suffer from time to time with alcohol related gastritis the day after a heavy night out.

Before the op I was in agony if the slightest piece of cheese passed my lips and it was awful as that is one of my favourite foods. The first meal I had after was a pizza

Anything fatty will trigger your pain so avoid that for now and try to stick to plain boring foods for the next week.

I had gallstones for 8 months and lost a stupid amount of weight because I was scared to eat until they figured out what it was. I had keyhole surgery and the first thing I did out of hospital was order a massive pizza. No more pain!

Had the surgery 12 years ago and I can eat what I want now :)

Just to clarify, the difference was immediate, it didn't take 12 years! Haha. Good luck with your operation OP :)

I had mine out about 5years ago and have been fine since, I can eat whatever I want (unfortunately) with no after effects, the recovery after the op was quite quick for me too. You won’t regret having it out and you’re lucky it’s beinh done so quickly!

Thank you all so much. I can definitely last a few weeks on restricted diet!!!

I was lucky and passed my gallstone ... but tell you what I didn’t know I was in full labour as was waiting for the pain to get worse than gallbladder pain!!

So makes you a tough cookie! Sorry your going through the pain though it truly is awful x

Yea pain was worse than labour. I found out after a few bad episodes that coffee triggered mine. Since getting it out l cant touch cream as it gives me nausea but everything else is perfect. You have to be low fat for 3 weeks after op ...lost a stone at that stage.

I’ve had mine removed.
In the early days after the operation I couldn’t eat dairy or anything fatty but a few years on I can eat pretty much whatever I fancy now.