Gallbladder attacks advice

[HeyBwoss]

Been having episodes of pain since January but have now had 2 in the past 2 weeks. I thought it was trapped wind (actually the first one I thought was a heart attack, at first) but have seen it may be gallstones. All my pain matches everything I have read. Except for labour, it's the worst pain I've ever had.

Anyway, I'm hoping to see the GP tomorrow, but in the meantime I'm terrified to eat incase something triggers it. Does anyone have any advice on how to manage or anything that stops the attacks? Thanks in advance

Eat the lowest fat diet you can while waiting for treatment.

My DD just had a gallbladder out on Friday, after several months of attacks and eventually a stone blocking her bile duct.
I would stick to plain foods and nothing fatty but if the pain gets unbearable ring 111, DD did and was admitted, scanned, put on the list for removal and given strong painkillers

Drink lots of water, no alcohol. Chew your food really well. Low fat diet.

@HeyBwoss I feel for you! It really is a horrendous pain!
I never found anything that stopped the attacks unfortunately but I found that a really warm shower hitting my back would ease the pain slightly when it was happening.
In terms of diet - switch to eating super clean, very low fat meals. I couldn’t eat anything dairy based or anything with tomatoes or anything too acidic.

I found olive oil ok personally, plus nuts. Not fat from dairy or meat, though.

I had a bad one last night, and another one 2 weeks ago. They really stop me in my tracks. Thankfully both have been later afternoon early evening time so didn't impact on work, but they both lasted several hours and i vomited with both. I'll be curious to hear what your gp says. I took some magnesium after a google on webmd suggested it could help open the duct to let the stone through, but i think i vomited before it could have any impact. I also used a heat pad. It was tough because it was such a warm day but it seemed to bring some minor comfort. And i did a lot of deep slow breathing with some gentle movement.

I know the fear of eating. Both happened after my last food of the day so I'm scared to eat too late in the day, but webmd also suggested that going too long between meals means the bile doesn't get excreted and that's when the stones can form.

What was your experience op?

So far all mine have been a couple of hours after dinner, they start at 8pm. The longest so far has been 2.5 hours. I get really hot and sweaty, and throw up. I can't settle, I just pace round the house or am over the toilet throwing up. The pain is worse under my ribs, but my stomach and back hurt too. I'm terrified of them getting worse or longer as I'm a SAHM to a 2 year old plus have older kids to do the school run for. Plus I'm a rubbish mum when I'm worried/in pain/anxious which feels like all the time lately.

I'm not actually sure what to eat, especially if dairy, meat and tomato based stuff are out. I've also read green veg is a trigger for some people. Has anyone got any examples of meals that worked for them please?

My SIL had them a few years ago, and apparently the only thing that stops it is gallbladder removal. Although I'm sure that comes with its own complications

Sorry, I missed the first few comments about very low fat diet

Avoid dairy!!!!

Sounds very gallbladdery.

Digestive Enzymes at every meal have given me my life back. I have stones and sludge but since starting on the DE can eat anything in moderation. Fried stuff, the lot.

If I feel a grumble coming on, I take an extra one, peppermint tea (I also take peppermint oil capsules at mealtimes, but the tea soothes almost instantaneously)

Apple cider vinegar with the mother is also good (you can get capsules by Nordic in H&B)

Hot water bottle, buscopan and ibuoprofen during an actual attack helps me too.

"My SIL had them a few years ago, and apparently the only thing that stops it is gallbladder removal. Although I'm sure that comes with its own complications"

A diseased gallbladder isn't going to get better, no. It's an extremely common operation these days (and it's thought that between 40 and 60% of women over the age of 40 have gallbladder issues.

Most have it out, most are fine afterwards.

As soon as you feel an attack take buscopan and some paracetamol. Recently had mine out after 6 years of on/off attacks

Leading up to my emergency cholecystectomy I had the most painful attack ever. It was ironically triggered by a salad with falafel. I would have gone to hospital but I was home alone with my son (DH was away with work and I had no family or friends nearby).

It didn’t matter what I ate but I would get mini flare up’s, pain, reflux , nausea , extreme bloating , etc to the point I was barely eating or drinking anything for days. It got better but I had an underlying dull pain / nausea / general unwellness which I think was the beginning of pancreatitis (my bloods showed acute pancreatitis a day after surgery).

Please go to emergency if you think it’s getting out of hand. Sometimes the inflammation can travel into the pancreas or really wreck your bile ducts and cause even more issues.

You have my sympathy

I had my gallbladder out privatly in Turkey. Scans showed massive gallstones, I didn't even know I had them.

I'd just been experiencing pain for years with no diagnosis from the NHS.

It's an awful, awful pain.

After my gallbladder removal it's stopped completely.

I looked for buscopan at the shops today, but couldn't get it. Will try pharmacy tomorrow

@NowZeusHasLainWithLeda do you take all that together? So the peppermint capsules and the digestive enzymes together at every meal? I actually got some peppermint capsules after the last time, but haven't taken them yet as I was trying deflatine and wasn't sure they could be taken together.

Thank you all SO much for this advice. It's really helpful and at least given me a plan

I take the DE before the meal. (though when I forget and take it after it seems just as good) I take the Solgar one and I'm very happy with it. I take the peppermint capsules after.

I haven't had a full blown "oh my god, it's a heart attack but on the wrong side" for about 2 years.

Thanks, will definitely try them

I'm suffering now. I've been going downhill for about 2 weeks and finally went to the Dr on Monday. Got sent home with Buscopan.

Lasted 2 hours at work on Tuesday before the pain was too bad. Back to Dr on Wednesday when they decided it probably is gallstones. Told me to take painkillers and they'd arrange a non-urgent scan.

Tried to go back to work on Thursday. Again lasted 2 hours. Got the GP to prescribe dihydrocodeine because the pain when the co-codamol was wearing off was obscene.

That seems to be working but I find it shocking that there seems to be no rush to do a scan or start treatment. Just increasingly high painkillers and waiting for it to pass.

I also follow this group on FB. It's American but it's really helpful. It's where I heard about enzymes and apple cider vinegar (as well as Buscopan etc)

www.facebook.com/groups/GGSG1/?ref=share

Also try cutting out fizzy drinks. Along with fatty foods, the bubbles made things worse.

having my gallbladder removed was one of the highlights of my life

Low fat diet, but try to manage some olive oil and fish oils.
Buscopan - I take two at the first sign of trouble.
An antacid - zantac or whatever's sold over the counter these days. Take at the first sign of trouble.
The strongest painkillers you can get hold of.
Avoid spicy foods
Avoid too much coffee
Try to take about 20-30mls of extra virgin olive oil and the same amount of lemon juice, together each day.
Drink lots of water.

This 👆🏻saved me on numerous occasions.

An indefinite amount of time on painkillers and a low fat diet sounds utterly dire. Surely in the long run that does more harm than good.

Honestly it feels pretty dire and I'm on day one

I had a huge cocktail of drugs to help with mine including Morphine. They were worse than labour. I ended up in hospital in the UK and Greece (awful) with attacks. I never did work out what triggered mine. The only way they stopped was vomiting or belching. Usually vomiting though. Finally had it taken out.