not to want my gallbladder removed?

[bezinee]

A few weeks back out of the blue found myself in agonizing pain. Ended up in A&E where the dr said he thought it was biliary colic, and I should have an ultrasound.

Went back to GP, who agreed to refer me (after some persuasion). GP said if the scan found anything I'd have to have surgery..

Have now had scan, turns out I do have one, fairly large, gallstone.

After the first attack, I had one other a fortnight later (after eating some deep fried food). Since then, I've been taking ibuprofen and paracetamol 3x a day, and although I've had the odd twinge, no further problems.

My GP, hospital, everyone I talk to, seems to be saying I should have my gallbladder removed - but I'm not sure that's what I want. I'm now being really careful with my diet, have stopped eating chocolate, biscuits, crisps etc and am losing weight (which I feel should help - and because the first attack happened after a chocolate binge).

AIBU to want to avoid the op?

I had my gall bladder out twelve years ago, after going into hospital with severe stomach pains. I ended up in hdu for three weeks while they stabilised me because I developed pancreatitis. I'm so glad I had it taken out.

I very nearly didn't make it, so I do urge you to consider having it taken out. I was very worried about the anaesthetic, as I had been so sick after one when I had to have my appendix out. I was given a lot of anti sickness stuff and was absolutely fine.

Hi there,
I know this is a old thread.
But I was wondering have many people that have had the gallbladder removed experienced weight gain even if you are still working out and eating healthy.
Many thanks

You can't get rid of gallstones once you have them and in most cases the attacks eventually get worse. I put off my own op for a few years, but got hideously ill - I was having attacks daily, couldn't keep any food down for months and ended up in hospital with an infected gallbladder and jaundice. It was horrible. But I recovered from the op after 2 days and, apart from gaining some weight, have felt brilliant ever since.

Missed that this was an old thread!

But yes, I gained a lot of weight. I dropped to less than 7 stone before the op then put on 2 stone within the first year before stabilising again. It does make it easier to put on weight, partly because you can eat again (yay!) and partly because it seems to change your digestion.

I haven't rtft but I can say that I had my gallbladder removed 9 years ago, the only problem I do have is diarrhea if I've had coffee but I understand from alot of people who have their gallbladder that this is probably nothing to do with not having one.
If you do want to avoid the operation then slow and steady weight loss is recommended as sudden weight loss can also cause gallstones.
I also found that avoiding eggs, dairy, caffeine and fatty fried foods helped as these make the gallbladder contract which, if you have stones, is painful.

I’m having the surgery next week and come across this thread.
I did have a blockage as my 2 stones moved.
But I have just come across a lot of forums that are staying they are gaining weight even while they carry on with a healthy lifestyle & exercise.
It just makes me super nervous as I know the gallbladder needs to go but same time I do t want to gain lots of weight.
I know it many seem silly
But thank you for your replies

cholecystitis will bite ya on the arse sooner or later... believe me, I’ve had patients who’ve had gallstones 10yr & they’ve not caused much hassle till their gallbladder got infected...

Ok, this will be super controversial, but if it helps someone who ends up reading this...
This may sound completely crazy to you, but it might help you if you eat a lot more fat. Youd probably be in a horrible state for awhile but then the body gets used to it. The gallbladder is there to deal with fat, if youre on a low fat diet too long it loses its ability to deal with fat. Thats why so many ppl on slimming world end up with gallbladder problems. Its a "use or lose it" kinda thing with your gallbladder.
I would suggest you do some serious googling about this.
The entire low fat craze is COMPLETE bullshit. We need fat. Its very unhealthy to eat low fat.

I had to wait 2 years to get mine out. I've had 4 med free births and would swap gallbladder attack for all of those in a row plus a dentist visit. They can be horrific. Also the surgeon said I was riddled with inflammation even though I seemed fine. Ive had 2 ops very overweight and recovered well. Hope my experience helps. In the meantime, apple juice and especially apple cider vinegar helped me.

Hi bezinee,

just another gall bladder less person chiming in to say that I have no complications or dietary restrictions after the op. I had keyhole surgery and stayed in overnight.

Not worrying about another attack of that awful pain is marvelous.

It depends. My friend had emergency surgery because her gallbladder went all infected from a gallstone so I’m inclined to say get it done now before something horrendous happens.
On the other hand they want to take my tonsils out and I don’t want the recovery time off work or trying to look after the kids, plus my mental health. So I’m opting out and putting up with the bouts of tonsillitis for now

For God’s sake, have it out. I had two huge stones. This is one of them. My gallbladder nearly burst and it would have been curtains.

I'd have it done. I was similar to you and just stopped eating fatty foods to avoid the attacks. I ended up getting recurring infections in my gallbladder which caused adhesion's between my gallbladder and liver. I ended up going into liver failure and had to have emergency surgery.

A dodgy gallbladder can also affect your pancreas and in worst case scenarios leave you needing insulin.

You could be fine without having the surgery, but there are risks. And you face getting that pain every time you eat fatty foods for the rest of your life.

I had mine out and have never felt better.

I had mine removed nine years ago. I had intermittent attacks of excruciating biliary colic (the first caused by a cheese toastie!) for about nine months, during which I ended up in A&E a couple of times. I asked every health professional I came into contact with if it could be gallstones, and could I have a scan, but it took that long to get one. The consultant radiologist told me there and then that I had four large stones, and would need it removed. I got through the six months’ wait for surgery by eating less than 2% fat for all that time, which was really challenging. I lost over 2 stone, but not happily - I was just scared to eat anything. The surgery was keyhole and really straightforward and I was back at work about 10 days later. Since then, I do get some indigestion problems with overproduction of bile and acid, but I take omeprazole daily and now I can eat pretty much anything I like. I’d really recommend it. My surgeon told me that my gallbladder was very close to bursting, and I’d have been in as an emergency with it rupturing very soon, had he not take it out then. Please don’t risk that. I got jaundice a few days before and it was touch and go whether I’d be able to have the op as planned, and it would have been much worse if I hadn’t at least had the degree of control over it which the planned surgery gave me.

It is completely up to you however in my experience have it out ASAP.

I had mine out after I started to have attacks if I ate full fat dairy or greasy food, so of course I avoided those food groups. The waiting list was so long that it got so bad I was having attacks when I ate pretty much anything - totally random no pattern - and the attacks would last for days/a week. I was so ill due to it beginning to badly affect my liver function.

In the end I paid to go private and the surgeon said I was very lucky I had as the stones had started to get stuck in my liver ducts and if they had got stuck for any longer I would have been seriously ill.

Obviously not everyone’s gets as bad as mine did but honestly the op is so quick, keyhole and I had a fab recovery. I literally woke up from the anaesthetic and felt 100x better than when I went into theatre. I also have had no probs since and can eat whatever I want with no issues.