Cholecystitis

[Bluebird76]

Anyone medical about? I got sent to A&E by 111 yesterday morning because of pain under ribs. Once they'd established I wasn't having a heart attack, A&E weren't too interested and sent me over to the out of hours GP, who diagnosed cholecystitis. As I didn't have a temperature he sent me on my way saying my GP would organise a scan in due course.

Overnight the pain has increased dramatically. I'm still just about ok with paracetamol - as long as I don't move a muscle. Then pain is at 8 out of 10. Radiating into shoulder and arm. Can't get out of bed without severe agony.

Is this going to go away on its own? Or do I need to go back to docs? Can't face going through rigmarole of 111 unless abs necessary.

@Bluebird76 I feel for you OP! I’ve been there and the pain is awful! It should go away on its own but in my experience it could take up to 48 hours. Then I’d be left tender for a few days 😓 and mine recurred VERY frequently!!
If it’s getting consistent worse then it won’t hurt to get it checked. Obviously if you develop a high temp or jaundice then they need to be checked ASAP.

Thanks for the reply KM38, good to know it should eventually disappear. I have a high pain threshold but wow the pain when i move or breathe is just off the scale. I had first attack last week which was much milder, i don't like where this looks to be heading

Go back to A and E, as cholecystitis can lead to sepsis.

It can, but I don't even have a temperature so I think it isn't at that point yet, obviously I'll go.in if it rises. Feeling marginally better now so fingers crossed this bout is coming to an end.

I’m super confused by this! I was at A&E with cholecystitis last week - I was admitted and they had my gallbladder out the next day! I wonder why such differences in treatment...

Did you have a temperature/vomiting? I was a bit surprised at the casualness with which a&E dismissed me straight off to the ooh GP, I must admit, given what I read online later, but I am not feeling ill, just in pain.

@LorelaiVictoriaGilmore Seriously?! 😳😳 you must have got very lucky!! I had attacks at least twice a week for 18 months before they removed my gallbladder 😔 had severe gallstones and ended up in A&E so many times! They used to give me anti-sickness pills and buscopan for the cramping and send me home 😔 couldn’t get a sick note or anything so used to have to work 10 hour shifts on my feet in retail during the attacks. I remember constantly having to leave the shop floor to be sick and just being in horrendous pain for days on end 😔

That sounds hideous KM38 It's been over 48 hours of pain now so I rang 111 (and I was right, what a palaver, after the 342 irrelevant questions I had to persuade the operator not to send a flipping ambulance!!). Nice GP said they'd see me again tonight in ooh, so we'll see!

I developed cholecystitis and saw an out of hours doctor who prescribed two types of antibiotics and referred me for an ultrasound (I'd never had any gallbladder problems prior to this). The pain was still constant three days later so I was admitted to hospital for IV antibiotics. I had surgery three months after than (and a whopping 5cm gallstone removed via open surgery!). I think if you're still in pain you should go back to GP, call 111 or head back to A&E. I don't recall having a temperature at the time, but the GP was concerned enough to get me admitted to hospital.

Thanks fuckweasel (great username ). It's such a lottery with ooh. The gp on the phone just now was nice but said it might just be 'biliary colic' - but that resolves in hours from what I can tell, it doesn't kick around for days. Anyway waiting for a callback with an appointment time for later.

@KM38 That’s horrific! I have no idea why I was dealt with so quickly... maybe because I have polyps and they knew they were going to have to operate on me eventually.... but I still don’t see why that would have skipped me over a waiting list. My surgeon said there was no point in waiting as people who have had cholecystitis once, tend to have it over and over until their gallbladder is removed.

The GP started unreassuringly with 'well I don't think it needs to come out tonight'! But i'm now at the 'two types of antibiotics and codeine' stage with instructions to head straight to a&E if they aren't having an effect within a few days. Temperature has started going up this evening so seems the right call. Bugger of a condition. Thanks for all the advice, it was very helpful as I'm always inclined to think I'm making too much of a fuss, even in the face of all the evidence.

Interestingly though I now realise I have had occasional sharp gallbladder pains my entire life, right from childhood, without ever clocking what they were!

Fuckweasel I missed the size of your stone - 5cm, fucking hell indeed!

Glad you’ve got some medication. I forgot I was given tramadol as well (unfortunately opiates have no effect on me as proved when I came round from surgery!) Yes, 5cm stone and a horribly infected gallbladder meant keyhole surgery had to be converted to open surgery. Strangely I had no other problems other than the bout of cholecystitis. Hopefully the antibiotics work (I wasn’t helped by having an intolerance to metronidazole, was violently sick and had to stop after two doses). Best of luck.

Thank you! That sounds hideous, glad you had no long term effects. My mum also had hers out and says she notices no effects at all.

@Bluebird76 I have a thread going on this at the moment. Have had 3 episodes in 2 weeks and in fact having another as we speak. Unbelievable pain. GP and A&E similarly blasé in terms of having it out (ultrasound has confirmed gallstones) given no temp or other signs of infection so I have activated my health insurance through work and am having it out at the end of next week. Just got to get there now! Hope yours has settled for now.
@LorelaiVictoriaGilmore that sounds amazing in terms of speed and treatment! Are you in the U.K.?

God, the pain is like no other. I still get panicky when I feel even the slightest similar things, even though I had my gallbladder (and 55 - yes 55! - gallstones) out over a decade ago. Horrendous. Did the doctor prescribe any muscle relaxants? That's the only thing that helped me, buscopan. You can get it over the counter but the strength is weaker.

Go back to a&e as pain is getting worse.

I've had this. Raging temp, constant vomiting, horrendous pain. Thought i was going to die.
10 days in hospital on iv antibiotics and nil by mouth. They knocked me out with painkillers for the first couple of days, it was so bad. Gallbladder removed 3 months later. They said they hD to wait for the inflammation to settle properly.

Hope the antibiotics are working OP. My second ever attack of gallstones was like this and I tried to soldier on at home as all they did the first time was give pain relief. Ended up admitted via ambulance with cholecystitis and pancreatitis- I have never been so ill in my life.

If things worsen then go to A&E again. Fingers crossed the meds work though.

Thanks all. Pain is considerably worse this morning, codeine and paracetamol combo not touching it. As long as I lie very very still and don't breathe, it's bearable but if nothing improves over next few hours will be getting DH to drive me in to a&e again. Temperature has vanished again though!! I do have private med insurance through work so @BlueAbacus that's also at the back of my mind if I don't get anywhere on NHS. Hideous. Overnight I couldn't even sit up to swallow the painkillers, such was the agony.

@Bluebird76 hope you’re ok. Ended up in A&E last night for the pain. It took oramorph, codeine, IV paracetamol and diclofenac to even touch the sides. Hope you’re ok, definitely go and get some respite from the pain, the A&E docs were really concerned about getting the pain manageable. They also said waiting list for ‘non emergency’ surgery was huge so I’d look into your health insurance. I just want my normal life back now. Good luck and thinking of you.

Be carful! Any signs of infection go straight to A&E, I ended up in hospital for 2 weeks on ICU with septic gallbladder, that was 3 years ago they couldn't remove it for 2 months after until all the infection had completely calmed down it was to high risk they say. I'm here to tell the tale thankfully but I have never been 100% well in myself since.

I'm not going to go into what my Dh has been through in the last 13 weeks with his gall bladder but he got sepsis. Keep pushing or go to A&E if it is bad.

I'm thinking seriously of complaining to my GP surgery about them saying it was a virus which ended up being sepsis.

Two different conditions.

Biliary colic where there is mechanical obstruction usually with a gallstone, but with no signs of infection, can be excruciatingly painful, classically occurs in the early hours of the morning (possibly due to lying down which allows stones to roll into the neck of the gallbladder) with sudden, frequent waves of cramping pain. Needs painkillers and a scan as it may predispose to other conditions. Try sleeping propped upright....

Acute cholecystitis - infection or severe inflammation in the gallbladder or Biliary tree, potentially extremely serious, tends to present with liver dysfunction, pain, and overt signs of Sepsis, needs admission, urgent scan and possible ercp or surgery depending on the cause.