To just have my gallbladder removed privately if I can afford it?

[MoveYourArmsLikeHenry]

I have been suffering from gallstone pain for several years, only finding out the cause earlier this year. I went to see the consultant a month ago, feeling relieved that the ball is rolling and something may be done to stop these awful pains.

The consultant doesn't want to remove my gallbladder :( he wants me to lose weight to control it, which is fair enough, have been trying for a month now. And also said I'm am very young (nearly 26) for gallstones, surgery isn't necessary right now, let's try losing weight and improving overall health first and review you again in 6 months.

All well and lovely. Except I am still having these godawful bastarding pains :( even if I am not having an attack, the right side of my back feels like someone has struck it repeatedly with an iron bar, nearly everyday and I can't take it anymore :(

Wibu to say sod the 6 month review, I am in daily pain, and see about having it removed privately? I feel like because I am fat and young they are just fobbing me off but I cat bear the agony of it any more.

Water biscuits bleurgh! :) I'm not surprised :) I ate lots and lots of Haribo, it didn't affect my taste for them :)
Mine was almost 14 years ago and I remember THAT pain like yesterday. Much much much worse than giving birth imo - at least with labour you know it's going to stop at some point.

My consultant for my GB had much sympathy and was sad that no one had worked it out before I'd reached 20 weeks. He promised that he'd operate around the 6 month mark after I'd had my baby, giving everything time to return to the correct position. I had an appointment with him exactly 6 months on and the Op at 7 mths post partum - so couldn't really complain.

I get the odd twinge and immediately feel panic stricken ill get an attack. It's real fear.
I've been god in the low fat, should I lie when I see consultant and say still getting them.

The olive oil 'treatment' for gallstones has been thoroughly debunked time and time again

Here for instance.

Do whatever you need to do to get rid of the damn thing ledkr

I remember that fear a while ago I had a few rumblings and even though I knew it was unlikely to be gallstones as have not got a gallbladder the fear was paralysing.

Ledkr YES!
If you say it's calmed down then it's possible you'll not get offered the op. The GS won't get better nor go away by themselves - all you're doing by limiting fat is reducing the risk of an attack. At some stage ime, you could start reacting to things that you previously didn't meaning you'll have to go through all the crap of being referred for an appt with consultant then getting added to a waiting list.
If you are 100% sure you that you want it removed then honestly -Lie through your fecking teeth, if you have to :)

Girlie
You can still get stones even without a GB, in your bile ducts and along the passage that carries the bile to the intestine. - that fucking terrifies me and was one of the things I was checked for when I first began getting pain post op.

Bore
Thanks for linking.
Even if the olive oil thing was true, there's just 0% chance that I would have done it and induced an attack - not in this lifetime. I'm still dodgy today with olive oil - sometimes I can eat it drizzled on a salad but I can't cook with it.

The debunker does a good job of making the original writer sound absolutely mental :) - unless they really are. Some of the alleged successful treatment sounds pointless at best and at worst really bloody dangerous.

Hello
I am a General Surgeon. In my experience if you have severe biliary colic that is not responding you should be offered a cholecystectomy even if you are fairly overweight. In some areas gallbladder surgery is being rationed along with other problems like veins and hernias as it is seen as non-essential.
Although it is reasonable for you to try and lose weight before surgery if things are not improving you need an operation.
I am a bit worried that you say that omeprazole helps your pain - it should't have a positive effect if your only problem is gallstones. Sometimes people have gastritis or a hiatus hernia which causes some of these symptoms. It might be worth your gp organising an endoscopy to check this out before you go through surgery. Often gallstone and hiatus hernias occur together so you may have both problems.

How the bloody hell can something this excrutiatingly painful be seen as non essential.

Yip mine kicked off loosing weight.

Next big attack get o A and E

Just to clarify, I do not think GB surgery is nonessential. It is commissioner groups AKA GPs trying to save money.
I agree with Helesburgh - just go to A&E if you have a severe attack. It usually only takes a couple of times to get you on a list for surgery :-)

non-essential and again
I'm shocked at that but sadly not surprised.
If someone is suffering badly then it's very essential in order to live a normal life. When you have daily attacks it's difficult to cope never mind get on with living.
Sorry Olympic I'm not ranting at you and realise you don't make the decisions :) Thank you for coming on to comment.

Surely though it would cost more money in the long run. I can't tell you how many times I ended up in A&E or the maternity unit when I still had my GB not to mention the extra appointments and care I needed because I was pregnant at the time.

Olympic i got gallstones FROM losing weight Have you read the thread I lost ten stone and got the first attack AFTER losing almost the first 4 stone.

YY Carbe I was back and forth to A+E so often they may as well have painted out a parking space for DHs car.

Olympic im sorely tempted to go public with this Because if obese people are to embark on losing weight they need to know this can happen to them.

And they have the BLOODY RIGHT to make an INFORMED decision!!!!!!!!!!!!

They need to know that if they get gallstones they WONT be a priority.

They need to know that after going through the SHEER HARD WORK and FUCKING PAIN of losing weight that they will then be treated like a drug addict if they then have the temerity to ask for drugs that will actually stop the pain.

I was contemplating suicide at the time. I remember telling DH that i would be very likely sending my suicide note to a national newspaper.

I wouldn't go private unless you have money for the follow up care if needed. \i had my gall bladder removed after it perforated and ended up needing a drain in my liver for 12 months. I had to have a lot of hospital treatment during that time.
When I signed the forms before the operation giving the surgeon permission to operate I was told there's always a risk of complications. I wrongly thought these things happened to other people. While I appreciate most of these operations are straightforward things can and do go wrong.
Goodluck with whatever you decide. Only people who have experienced the pain of gallstones can appreciate how bad it is.

Hi
Can I ask any of you peep with gallstones, do you ever have discomfort in your back???? If so where is yours please???

X-ray suspected gallstones, scan says no he said calcifaction !!!

I don't understand. I was found to have gallstones in my early 30s when I was being investigated for something else. I had been having some pain and other symptoms, which the gallstones explained. My consultant was adamant that it had to come out and sooner rather than later. His rationale was that gallstones will not go away and it is far better for all concerned to operate in a non-emergency situation that waiting until a medical emergency arose.
You have gallstones, you have pain. Having it out seems like a no-brainer.

OP has your consultant indicated how much he or she expects you to lose and how long they would want that weight to be stable to rule out surgery?

Are you actually significantly overweight?

I'd want to understand whether the weightloss is all about the gallstone symptoms (recognising the link) or the surgery itself. If it's all about the symptoms would would the trigger be for saying 'actually this isn't working and we need to operate'.

mini05 Mine was in my chest stomach all over my back and shoulders. HELL ON EARTH as others on this thread will testify. I remember rolling around on my bed screaming that i wished id stayed at 21 stone Its the kind of pain that is hard to forget.

Mine was mostly in my back.

Yes Mini, I had back pain. It came from front to back all on the right hand side mostly but sometimes all across. It affected my breathing, I couldn't take deep breaths in because of it.

DH had upper back and shoulder pain with it.

Thank you so much!

Yes mine is right hand near shoulder blade, I wouldn't say pain more discomfort!
But as said scan says no gallstones, yet X-Ray showed possible gallstones but X-ray man said no gallstones calcifacation.

Going to oesteopath to get back looked at to see if it goes, if not more test.

Do you find you burp a lot?

Yes Mini, was also very gassy. During an attack it felt like I'd been pumped full of air.

Maybe Olympic can comment - I don't think they class GS as an operable problem until they calcify and become stones. Lots of people have lumps or soft stones which don't appear on scans but have no issues. I'm not sure if the 'lumps' are capable of breaking themselves up and passing out of the body. Unfortunately unless it causes major issues they could leave you to wait and see if they turn into hard stones.
Good luck I hope you get sorted.