Surgery? No surgery? Gallbladder.

[EscapeRoomToTheSun]

Sorry probably not my most interesting thread.

Taken into hospital yesterday with severe pain which the doctors think are from gallstones. They want to take my gallbladder out. Has anyone had this done? It seems very sudden to me because this is the first time it's happened. Maybe I'm just scared of surgery!

If anyone has any experience of living with gallstones or having that the surgery I would be very grateful. Thank you.

I have been in a lot of pain for a long time with my gallbladder and have been told my surgery won't be until 'sometime next year.' If I was given the option to have it out right now, I wouldnt even need to think about it, go for it.

Gallstones are agonising, they are unlikely to go away and the attacks are, as you know, incredibly debilitating. My DM lived with undiagnosed gallstones for years, frequent episodes of severe pain resulting in hospital trips every few weeks. They diagnosed her, whipped it out and she was a new woman.

Practically everyone I know, including me has had theirs out!

It's a very very common problem and a very common surgery.

Unfortunately once gallstones have caused you problems, they will only carry on.

Living with gallstones is shite - you need a fat free diet to stop them flaring up. And sometimes they just flare up anyway for fun. I lost a lot of weight on the steamed fish, plain boiled potatoes and veg diet while waiting for surgery but OMG I was desperate to eat something else.

It's one of the most common routine surgeries there is. It's usually keyhole surgery - I went home the day after mine and was able to potter around doing stuff at home pretty much immediately.

Gallstones can be extremely painful, can flare up very unpredictably, and are pretty much impossible to treat in any other way - and they can also cause blockages and infections that can be very dangerous.

Honestly, have the surgery. Best thing I ever did.

Having gone through gallstones whilst pregnant with DS and unable to do anything about them, I can say I would jump at the chance of surgery if it's offered. The gallstone pain was a million times worse and harder to cope with than childbirth was and for me it got worse with every attack. So the longer you leave it the worse it's likely to get and you may get pushed down the list and wait longer.
It's a fairly minor surgery, I was in and out in 24 hours, should have been quicker but as I'd had a baby 2 months earlier they wanted to check I was ok for a bit. It was painful for a few days, but I went to the Nottinghill carnival 10 days post surgery, so recovery was quick for me.
The difference afterwards food wise was immediate. The only after effect I seem to have is that my body can't cope with very fatty foods and I need the toilet very quickly afterwards, but that's not such a bad thing as it reminds me to avoid them!

It’ll get worse if you delay. I had gallbladder pain that was ignored/misdiagnosed as a teen (I wasn’t ‘fair, fat and forty’ as they used to say) and the pain episodes ended up taking over my life.
Ended up with a stone lodged in my bile duct and massive infection (after being told I probably just had constipation) and after eventually being scanned I had surgery.

Ended up with ‘open’ surgery; it was too late for keyhole which in turn led to a longer stay in hospital and protracted recovery.

Honestly @EscapeRoomToTheSun, get it sorted now.

I was diagnosed with gallstones in January, common side effect of some other surgery I've had so it was picked up really early.
I expected the surgeon just to say we'll see how you go but he put me on the waiting list straight away. When I asked why, his answer was "now you've got symptoms it'll only get worse so we might as well sort it". Fair enough! Ha. I'm still waiting, but they symptoms are definitely getting worse so I'm glad I've been added to the list now. I'm nervous about recovery afterwards but I'd rather have short term discomfort than longer term pain x

Had mine out 6 years ago and never looked back. Keyhole surgery, home the same day, signed off for 2 weeks (though a week would have been do able). I can eat whatever I like with no I'll effects.
The pain of the attacks was horrendous and meant several trips to A&E, mainly because they had the only drugs that could touch it, plus a couple of episodes of jaundice. I'm not a doctor botherer by nature but this was unbearable.
I hope you get some relief.

Take it out! I had to languish forever on waiting list with increasing agonising attacks and ended up paying to get the ruddy thing taken out. Never looked back.

Living with gallstones is shite - you need a fat free diet to stop them flaring up. And sometimes they just flare up anyway for fun

Yes, I stuck rigidly to a fat-free diet when I was waiting for surgery... and then had the worst flare-up of all after eating some vegetarian sushi.

Also couldn't drink tea or go near anything citrus. Gallstones are absolute bastards. So weirdly unpredictable.

Also the fat-free diet did horrible things to my general health. It's way different from just eating low-fat. Having basically no fat in my diet left me with dry, cracked hands and lips, my hair got really thin and my immune system was a mess.

In the “what’s the worst pain you’ve ever experienced” threads I would say my gall stone pain while waiting for surgery.
Way worse than 2 childbirths, being hospitalised with a kidney infection, being in an accident and having cracked ribs (where I would hold my breath as it was so sore to breathe) and also two major abdominal surgeries that couldn’t be laproscopic. I eventually got my surgery when I went to the hospital yet again for morphine pain relief and they kept me in and offered me the surgery there and then.

I went to the Nottinghill carnival 10 days post surgery, so recovery was quick for me

I flew abroad on day 7 after mine. Don't do this, you aren't supposed to fly so soon after laparoscopic surgery! However by day 10 I really was back to normal.

Day 1 I thought the hospital were unbelievable bastards for making me go home. But the recovery is very rapid. Just don't take too much co-codamol, the pain from the constipation was worse than the pain from the surgery. Big mistake on my part.

Having my gallbladder removed was one of the best decisions I've ever made! I like you suddenly had an attack and thought surgery seemed extreme but the pain was so bad that I agreed, I didn't ever want to feel that type of pain again. I'm so glad I did because by the time I had my surgery over 2 years later (thanks covid) I'd had dozens of attacks, 3 in the week before surgery alone.

The surgery and recovery were a breeze, I was out the same day and felt back to my normal self within 5 days.

Thank you everyone that is very reassuring as to the necessity.

Surgery, without a shadow of a doubt. 11 years ago I begged the doc to remove my gallbladder, & haven't looked back since. It's a very simple procedure, probably a day case & at most one overnight in hospital. Plus the added bonus of a GA, which is blissful.

I had mine out after 1 attack. Worst pain I'd ever had. Operation ok...I reacted to anaesthetic badly but was out in 4 hours. Walking to local cafe by day 3

Gallstone pain in horrendous but I really didn't want to go through the surgery route. I went on a fat free diet and completely cut out red meat which was the hardest. I've not had a flare up since.
I was recommended surgery when I first when in to hospital for the pain but I wanted to fix my diet to see if that helped. Doctor at hospital was more than happy for me to carry on and said if the pain came back, the option for surgery was always there.
What put me off from surgery was some peopleb were still in pain despite not having a gallbladder. I believe it is to do with liver issues not just the gallbladder

100000% get it out! It just gets worse and worse, and the longer you leave it the more complications you have.

How long ago was that? Are you still on fat-free diet now?

I'm in the same boat as @MrsK89 . I started fat free, and now eat a fairly low fat diet, which became easier once the inflammation settled properly. I do eat nuts and oily fish and olive oil. Have managed 6 years like this. Not for everyone, I realise.

It is a very common surgical procedure and usually done as a key h

It's a very common form of surgery. I know several people who have had it done. One more person I know has gallbladder issues but can't have surgery due to her heart so she eats a restricted diet instead.

Get them out friend!

@EscapeRoomToTheSun
I had 3 gallbladder attacks after birth, he's now 2 so I cut out fried/oily foods along with red meat completely.
I stuck to this for around 6 months and now able to have fatty foods sparingly. So we'll get a takeout with the kids once a week. I haven't touched red meat as I once tried it and I could feel a flare up coming so it's really not worth it.
I do find my stomach is sensitive so I regularly have peppermint tea and apple cider vinegar before I have a fatty meal.
The doctor did agree most people find sticking to this diet difficult.

I spent 2 weeks in hospital and another 3 months off work from pancreatitis caused by gallstones. Even if you only ever get the gallstones they are still very unpleasant and an ever present threat.

Had my gallbladder out earlier this year and it's been life changing not having to live with the constant anxiety that it could happen again at any moment. I came out feeling like I'd been given my life back.

Physically and in lifestyle terms I couldn't tell you any differences between having a gallbladder and not having one.

Day case keyhole surgery, in at 7am, home just after lunch then a week watching Netflix on the sofa. Was a bit painful for a day or two but nothing too bad.