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Original poster

Gallbladder surgery- wwyd?

93 replies

BlueAbacus · 10/04/2021 18:37

Hi all, I have had two crippling abdominal pain episodes in the last ten days, the most recent one was so painful I called 111 and ended up in a&e. Bloods fine (no inflammation or infection) but diagnosed with gallstones after ultrasound. Doc said they won’t go away and it’s low fat diet or surgery, basically. He advised the NHS waiting list is very long for non emergency surgery right now for obvious reasons, and luckily I have the option to go private due to work health insurance.

My question is, what would you do?

General anaesthetic and surgery terrify me, equally so does this pain (albeit intermittent) being a constant part of my life. I have started reading about diet control but it seems haphazard and in my own, very limited, experience, the night I ate a pizza last week was not the night I had an attack! Obviously I can see the benefit of having it out when I am well and it’s not infected and hasn’t got critical, but it feels a bit like I’m making the choice to have elective surgery.

Not sure if it’s relevant but I’m 35, 2 young children, mildly overweight (just lockdown and postpartum) otherwise fit and healthy.

Any experiences or thoughts would be much appreciated.

OP posts:

DifficultPifcultLemonDifficult · 10/04/2021 20:42

I agree, get it done.

I had mine out at 24, I suffered for 2 years beforehand with attacks. The attacks get worse and worse as time goes on and your diet is very limited. The operation, for me, was a piece of piss. I was in on the Tuesday, out on the Wednesday and was on a night out on the Saturday .

I only have a small scar (maybe 2 inches) just under my boobs, a tiny 1cm scar on my side and then a tiny scar on my bellybutton.

Original poster

BlueAbacus · 10/04/2021 20:53

This is pretty unequivocal! Thanks again everyone for taking the time to respond

OP posts:

LoveFall · 10/04/2021 20:55

I was also petrified of anaesthetic and pain. I had keyhole type surgery to remove my ovaries and fallopian tubes this past December. Very little pain and really the general anaesthetic was nothing.

I would get it done as you can only get worse.

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Motnight · 10/04/2021 20:57

Think that you have made the right decision, Op. I waited over a year to have my gallbladder removed from the time of diagnosis pre Covid19.

I ended up in lots of pain, as others have said I couldn't work out my all my triggers, it wasn't as simple as following a low fat diet. I was on Tramadol for the pain, but sometimes even that didn't work.

In the meantime try buscapan and slippery elm, that helped a little I think.

Good luck!

strawberry2017 · 10/04/2021 20:58

You won't ever regret getting it removed. It's the best thing I ever did. Go for it!

Greysofa · 10/04/2021 21:28

Do it! I put up with the attacks for over 2 years after the first GP told me it was indigestion! Resulted in near kidney and liver failure due to the blockage and an emergency op. Pain was far worse than childbirth!

BigWolfLittleWolf · 10/04/2021 21:37

Resulted in near kidney and liver failure due to the blockage and an emergency op. Pain was far worse than childbirth!
Yes this was the case for me too.
Given morphine as my hands were clawing.

ColdTattyWaitingForSummer · 10/04/2021 21:42

Just to be the one dissenting voice.. I opted to have mine removed after years of problems. I had major complications after the surgery, was in and out of hospital for around a month, had various infections, it was horrible. And, although not as severe, I still had symptoms even after. That’s not to say I wasn’t rare - I know people who have had the same surgery and been absolutely fine, but it’s worth knowing it’s not always an easy recovery.

Hawkmoth · 10/04/2021 21:44

Stay on the list, after a year of low fat eating and attacks you will be begging them. I am.

goose1964 · 10/04/2021 21:48

I'd have it taken out. I had mine out and it was severely inflamed. Since then I've had no more episodes but it has left me unable to digest fat. So I'm keeping to the low fat diet.

FatCatThinCat · 10/04/2021 21:49

Get it done as soon as you can. The op is a very quick and easy one. The attacks will get worse and more frequent until you're on your knees begging for it to be removed. I reached the point of eyeing up the kitchen knives and wondering if I should diy it.

MatLeave · 10/04/2021 21:52

Get it done. I had mine removed at the beginning of last year (day surgery) and it was such a relief as the paid was excruciating during flare ups.. I was up and about the next day, had a couple of paracetamol and didn’t need any other painkillers during my recovery.

Roselilly36 · 10/04/2021 21:56

Without question have the surgery, you will continue to suffer otherwise, it’s a simple routine surgery, one of the most common general surgical procedures. I had my gallbladder removed 18 years ago.

ballsdeep · 10/04/2021 22:04

I'm on the list for mine. I'm surrently sat in agony with gallstones and I can't wait to have it taken out

OolieMacdoolie · 10/04/2021 22:07

Have it out. I had mine out and it was life changing. I started out with just a couple of attacks like you and then they progressed to be every couple of days and it was ruining my life. The toll it took on my mental health was huge. I have never felt relief like that of having it removed, and my life is better in every way since it was.

And diet did nothing for me! Once you have the gallstones there is very little you can do with your diet to mitigate it.

Serena1977 · 10/04/2021 22:09

Get it done. It'll get worse. You dont want an infection or migrating stones. Creates all sorts of other problems.

StatisticallyChallenged · 10/04/2021 22:39

I'm another of the rare folk who has had symptoms rear their ugly head again afterwards - they're not really sure why.

But even then I'd say get the bastard out ASAP as the post removal issues aren't as frequent and I've learned to anticipate and manage them better now that I know it can happen (for me that's buscopan, tens machine and diclofenac) which I wasn't able to do with the actual gallbladder. Most likely sphincter of oddi dysfunction but getting it diagnosed, let alone treated, is a challenge.

Gallbladder pain is a special level of hell and the surgery is really ok. I had mine out 5 weeks after a c section and was exclusively breastfeeding so it didn't floor me too badly.

Serialcatmum · 10/04/2021 22:44

None of the cool kids have got a gallbladder @BlueAbacus.. 😆

Seriously, yes you can control and lessen the pain but cutting out everything nice but then you mess up and accidentally have a sandwich with Mayo in and it hurts for days again!

You recover amazingly quickly from surgery. Good luck xx

RamblinRosie · 11/04/2021 01:44

Acute pain, random vomiting...

Oh yes, I was brunette, slim and 27, rather than the classic “fat, fair and forty”, my GP told me I was a hypochondriac and should get pregnant so I’d stop imagining pains......

Eventually I was diagnosed with gall stones, turned out I had enough to bid for the Channel Tunnel.

Gall bladder out but apparently I still had a couple in the bile duct, so further agony, but once they’d gone I was back to normal.

Do it, get it out, nowadays they do it with keyhole surgery. Minimal recovery time, you’ll feel so much better.

queenofmycastlex · 11/04/2021 02:02

I had mine out and it was the best thing I ever did. Mine started with normal issue of eating fatty food then would get an attack but it got so bad towards the end I would eat dry toast and an attack would happen.

It also really badly affected my liver. Ended up going private as NHS waiting list was so long and by the end I could get out of bed for the amount of painkillers I had to take. Honestly horrendous.

Surgery was quick, keyhole so v quick recovery and I woke up from surgery, straight from the anaesthetic and felt 100% better than I had before, straight from surgery.

Honestly couldn’t recommend the surgery enough.

LEMtheoriginal · 11/04/2021 02:09

Posting in support of get it out!! Two trips to hospital in an ambulance with indescribable pain. Made labour look like a walk in the park. It got to the point i simply couldn't eat without excruciating pain a few hours later.

ballsdeep · 11/04/2021 05:23

I've been up all night in agony. I'm taking zapain and buscopan but nothing touches t. I've.got a hot water bottle strapped to me and still nothing. I am going to a and e now for stronger pain killers.

StatisticallyChallenged · 11/04/2021 06:51

@ballsdeep

It's worth going in - when it's really bad IV morphine was the only thing that brought it down. I ended up having to go in several times in quick succession which in my case meant they bumped me on to the emergency list and took it out very quickly.

Original poster

BlueAbacus · 11/04/2021 07:54

@ballsdeep hope you are ok and getting IV pain relief. Really sympathise.

I have managed to avoid an attack since early hours of Friday morning but am only eating dry toast and feel really scared to try anything else
From these stories I feel so lucky mine have been identified early and I have the option to get it out quickly. Thanks so much again for sharing your experiences. It’s awful, and I had no idea it was so common.

OP posts:

SuperintendentHastings · 11/04/2021 07:59

I had mine out almost 20 years ago, keyhole surgery. Changed my life completely and I'm so glad I did it.

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