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

Oh @CleanQueen123 how frustrating, to be this close to the goal. I was just speaking with my surgeon friend who really emphasises the importance of getting this seen to as soon as possible, but there's only so much we can do. As @ScribblingPixie says, this is very very wrong.

Just been for my pre-op today, after a particularly bad episode when I was on holiday - in the U.K.

so yes the pain is excruciating and I was whisked off to A&E at one episode and given morphine.

I'm avoiding all saturated fats and managing it ok, but I think everyone is different.

Clearly no other medical professionals think so as I've been very unwell since May and I'm no further forward.

It doesn't seem so unlikely now that the appointment I've been given in 2025 won't go ahead if this keeps happening.

There are more strikes coming in August which makes me think if I don't get this sorted soon I can count out it being done before the Autumn at the earliest.

Oh no @CleanQueen123 that's miserable! Is this with the NHS?

@CleanQueen123 so sorry to hear your surgery has been postponed again. I can only imagine how frustrating that must be.

@HeyBwoss sorry to hear you've had another attack. I'd echo what everyone else says about getting checked if you're still feeling/being sick as that was one of the symptoms I had from the infection.

Yes @Lionoso. Unfortunately there's no way I can afford to go private so it's a matter of waiting and hoping I actually make it through the hospital door at some point.

It's ridiculous and having such a knock on impact on the rest of my life. I'm having to totally rearrange it every 3 weeks at the moment.

It must feel like your life is on hold. Really hope you get another date soon.

It really does. Luckily work are very understanding but it's very tricky to manage when I hand my work over and then take it back within a few days because I'm not actually off sick.

@CleanQueen123 , can i ask, as you're at the stage of negotiating leave (multiple times!) and the impact on work, what kind of sick leave are you planning for recovery time? My surgeon said 2 to 4 weeks, so I'm planning for two and then seeing how things are with the potential to wfh for the 3rd week. Obviously I'll do what i need to do to recuperate well and that might mean more time, and my work is also v supportive, but I've never had a surgery and struggle to plan around it. What are you planning?

@whitewave, sorry you had an attack on holiday of all times. How awful. Did the morphine help you? It didn't work for me, and this is silly but it makes me anxious that my body might not respond properly to the anesthetic!

@dudsville that's exactly what I'm planning if I ever actually have the surgery. We're hybrid so I'm taking two weeks off initially, all being well I'll be back at work for the third week but solely WFH. Then back in the office once or twice from the fourth week.

Obviously I'll reassess if I need longer off/WFH but ideally I'd like to be back to normal fairly quickly.

That's helpful@CleanQueen123 thanks, at first i only planned a week and then colleagues corrected my thinking, but then i worried this was too much. My work has to wait for me so i just want to try to give a reasonable/fair expectation.

dudsville I had intravenous morphine, they tried administering it orally but it didn’t work.

Dont even think about the anaesthetic, it will be fine!

pre-op information yesterday - key hole with 4 small cuts. Day surgery - so attend at 7.30am and home same day. 24 hours after surgery not to be left and in total 48 hours recovery after which you can use your common sense. No heavy lifting of course. Can eat normally immediately. So I reckon moderation and common sense again.

job done🙂 all seems pretty straight forward to me.

@whitewave that's really helpful, thanks. When's your op?

That's pretty similar to what they said to me. No driving for 2 weeks but they said as soon as I can do an emergency stop without it hurting then I'm good to go.

No idea, I asked the nurse and she said not long, but what with the strikes etc. mind you I would have thought the pre-op stuff gets out of date after a time.

What I would like to add is that I find the difficulties some people are having on here puzzling.

my history

first really gruelling pain I had was the first week of lockdown. I was told that they thought it was gallbladder, but needed to follow it up, which of course because of covid never happened, neither did I pursue it.

so fast track to this summer - so after a few years of what I took was bad indigestion and poor diet etc I experienced this mega attack in Cornwall - sent back home (Saturday) pumped full of morphine but by the Tuesday it had worn off and whilst not so diabolical, it was still too bad to sleep. So we went to A&E as the Dr’s suggestion of all the usual off the shelf stuff I knew didn’t work, and they are so reluctant to see you now.
Then the NHS showed me just how brilliant they are! Examined by A&E £ Dr. Sent for - an x-ray, £ given strong painkiller - then day surgery bod was called who said “looks almost certainly gallbladder” told to come back in the morning (it was 3am at this point) for scan (same as pregnant women get) then up to day surgery unit to see surgeon and told GB needed removing and wait for further instructions. That was end May.

so why everyone is having such difficulties doesn’t seem right to me?

@whitewave By going to A&E you skipped the long wait of referral to the surgical team. If I hadn’t gone to A&E I would have been referred to the surgical team by my GP, it would have been a very long wait and then the surgeon would have put me on the list for a removal, also a very long wait -I’m guessing around 2 years perhaps.
Visiting A&E meant I saw the surgeon when there, because my attack was so severe (blocked bile duct, jaundice and infection) I was put on the urgent list for removal which is still about 3 months long.

I haven't been to a&e, so I don't know how it would be sorted if I was there. For me, it has been easy to be referred for the things I need. 1 doctors appointment telling them about the pain meant I got a referral for a scan, but the wait was so long I got a private scan. When I had the results of that my GP immediately referred me to the surgical consultant. My problems have just been the waiting lists for help are so long, and for some reason they keep cancelling/rearranging my consultant appointment (due to clinic changes apparently).

@dudsville dont worry about the anaesthetic, let the anaesthetist know your concerns. DS was really hard to wake after an anaesthetic so I was told to tell the anaesthetist at any further surgeries which I did and they were thankful for the heads up.

Same here. The referral my GP made won't get me seen until July 2025.

No word yet from the hospital on when my new surgical date will be.

Thanks for the reassurance, and the example of your DS @Trollfeet . I had two lots of intravenous morphine @whitewave and i felt all the pain and still totally myself (for someone who's been in pain for hrs with so much vomiting, etc) as confirmed by those around me (it was given by the paramedics via a cannula at home, so my partner was there too). But i shall be relieved for now

In other news, when my pain first started GP thought heart needed to be ruled out 1st so i was only given that referral route. Just had the follow up consultation with the cardiologist following my CT scan 4 weeks ago. I have a 30 % blocked artery! It's not a worrying apparently, but for me this is divinity significant news. I can take statins, aspirin and make lifestyle changes so i feel OK, but this could also be a result of cholesterol, I'm so curious to know which came first and if they're related but no one is overseeing the whole of me.

Oh wow @dudsville you are really having a run of it!

I'm feeling my age a bit @HeyBwoss !

How is everyone doing?

Have you had a new date for your surgery yet @CleanQueen123 ?

Good luck for tomorrow @Lionoso!