Running without a gallbladder

[stripes416]

I’m due to have my gallbladder removed very soon and I’m already trying to think about when I can get back to running! This past year I’ve gotten really into my fitness and I have been running three times a week and doing weight training sessions twice a week. I’ve felt the best I have in years and then in August I ended up in hospital with pancreatitis due to a gallstone issue. Not being to able to exercise since then has been a struggle mentally so I’m just keen to find out people’s experiences of when they were able to get back to running after having theirs out and if they have had any issues after? I know it can cause digestive issues and some people may struggle with fuelling runs long distance as gels can mess with people’s stomachs anyway but to be honest I’m not fussed right now about training for any long distances. If anybody can share their experiences or advice, I’d be very grateful.

Not me, but my running buddy had her gallbladder removed in July (on holiday in France, not planned). We were back to doing our regular twice a week 10km runs in August, so I don’t think it really affected her.

She does suffer from urgent diarrhoea exacerbated by running, but this has been the case for years so it’s no worse than before.

I had my gallbladder removed about 15 years ago. I've not had any digestive problems and run 3-4 times a week. Can eat any old gels. When I had mine out I didn't run (kids were small and I worked) so can't tell you too much about recovery other than I was out and about walking a few days after it, and felt back to normal in a few weeks. Your surgeon will be best placed to advise when you should return to running.

10 days post-op for me. I found a belly binder helpful for the first couple of weeks though. No side effects for me and my op was in April.

I had mine out decades ago, when I was early 20s. Hasn’t made a difference at all to my exercise. Like you, I run and I weight train and it’s not a problem, after recovery from the surgery it didn’t even cross my mind. I can also eat anything I like. That said, I don’t and never have eaten a high fat diet, it’s not my thing. If I did it might be different.

I continued to run right up to removal too (around the gallbladder attacks/odd hospitalisation!) so barely noticed any impact on my running. I did wait six weeks after the op for starting back with weights though as advised by consultant.

I’ve been without my gallbladder for six years and can run just fine, no issues.

Only random issue for me is that I can’t eat KFC without a dodgy tummy.

others here might have different views but hopefully that’s a helpful data point

Depends if you have small children or not. My recovery went really well the first two weeks, but reality and having to pick up my 16kg toddler often slowed me down a bit more after that.

The best results seem to come from keeping moving gently little and often for as long as possible.

Have you had your gallbladder out or did you just get some treatment for the pancreatitis?

If you're going to have the surgery, you should ask the surgeon about recovery and when you can resume running.

Thank you all for your replies & sharing your experiences! I of course will be following the medical advice I’m given and will aim to leave it longer than they say Is necessary before I start again anyway. I think I mainly wanted reassurance that I’ll be able to exercise again without there being any big issues. I stupidly joined a couple of Facebook groups and read a lot of horror stories on there about everything (it was silly of me I know) so the positive experiences here have made me feel much better