What do gallstones feel like

[Kalei87]

for a few weeks I have had indigestion starting In the usual normal place for heartburn, centrally in the sternum, I feel like I need to burp, but can’t, then keep getting painful hiccups.

I’ve been taking nexium and gaviscon. This does help with the heartburn but then sometimes it travels down and turns into this pain relentlessly nagging and burning kind of gnawing pain for hours and hours that is more on the right hand side where my rib cage ends. No pain in my back. It feels like I have lots of trapped gas, but I don’t, as nothing is happening other than just having this pain. I have to lie down for ages and eventually it might go away of its own accord but nothing I do helps the pain to go apart from time. I’m not sick otherwise in any other way just this pain is ruining my life! It does hurt if I press on the area a bit

Earlier I felt ok a little bit of indigestion. I ate a normal healthy breakfast but then I was at a kids party and the only food was a slice of pizza, I was hungry, couldn’t leave and no other options so I ate one slice and since then I have been lying down for 5 hours with this pain. Regret regret.

I have nothing to compare this to so just wondered if this sounds like an ulcer or something. I will go see a doctor but just wondered if the 2 things might be related in anyone else’s experience

Fat is the culprit.

@PrincessofWells bread has been a major dominator so far and in all honesty it’s not really high in fat I think it’s also about fibre?

"what has anyone found is the wrong thing to eat? are there any common triggers?"

When it first began I kept a food diary - turned out to be linked to dairy, too much spicy food and (bizarrely) eggs. I don't think it was necessarily linked to the meal I had directly before the pain but I think my overall diet.
I let that slip over the last week with some postponed NY catch ups, threw caution to the wind and paid the price this weekend.

Your doctor clearly didn't think your clinical need was that high otherwise you would have been prioritised. Had it been life-threatening you would have been dealt with earlier.

Then why did the surgeon apologise for the delay and tell me it had caused unnecessary complications? I got overlooked in the system is the reason.

I’m not engaging with you any more, you’re not posting in good faith.

Yes, that sounds like gallstones. A pain that gets progressively worse, and then clears after 2-6 hours, when the stone has passed.

Gallstone pain for me was an awful pain right by the middle of my bra which seemed to go through and hurt in my back and right shoulder blade - gallstone pain is horrible

When my issues started before the actual attacks, I tried to keeping a food diary but it made no sense at all for the things they were investigating (IBD, colon problems etc). There was no obvious pattern at all, not even now tbh. Can't do too much milk (half a tsp in my tea is all I have) or young cheeses but fine with mature cheddar & blue cheese etc. Also fine with any type of authentic Greek yoghurt so something going on with higher lactose.

No eggs. An oat biscuit tried to kill me as did some cherry molasses. Half an avocado led to an ambulance visit. Pork is an absolute no, but proper fries (in soya oil) & butter are fine.

Have you tried peppermint tea today to help with the stuck burp feeling?

Ooo one thing that really helped (I was running gastritis, IBS & undiagnosed gallstones at one point) was Moju gut health drinks, the pink one. It didn't upset me at all & seemed to do more for the gastritis pain then the omeprazole if I did it daily for a few weeks.

Did you have IBS or was it actually the gallbladder?

@PrincessofWells both, I think, ibs bought on by stress (had a terrible start to 2024 & it didn't get better) & then some part of that was gb & then it was all gallbladder. Mucus in the stools is a giveaway for ibs. Yellow stools that can sometimes STINK for the gb being a tosser.

I was previously 'diagnosed' with ibs in my teens

I was diagnosed with IBS in my teens too. I have a bit of a dairy intolerance. Hard Cheese I was ok with up until recently but normal yoghurts and milk ice cream etc do not agree with my IBS. Partly why I started eating better and losing weight was chronic IBS with either terrible constipation or constant loose stools. I can now consistently go to the toilet normally and got my life back a bit there. I get mucus when it’s playing up and then I will usually get piles to add into the mix too. Currently unsure of my stool status as I did go today but it was different to usual. So I am keeping an eye on that too. I don’t want to be a poo troll 🤢 but it was really sticky and that’s not usual for me

Thanks for your response @Caerulea I was wondering because my ibs has pretty awful the last few months, I wasn't sure whether it was the ibs or gb or a mix of the two. Sounds from @Kalei87 it's possibly a mix of the two.

@PrincessofWells myself and others seem to have this hand in hand with whatever is going on. Chronic IBS, GB and reflux seem to go together, mine does, usually the whole digestion system gets upset at the same time in different ways. I do not yet have GB diagnosed but whatever this is, it’s more than just IBS or acid reflux on its own. I have read up a lot that IBS and reflux is very common with GB related issues

My IBS has been way more settled now I eat less sugar and more fibre but I still get flare ups. This time round it’s more of a GERD flare up than IBS but I have been a bit more constipated than I usually am which doesn’t help.

I’ve been ok so far but I ate an identical lunch and dinner to be on the safe side 😂

Yes I know exactly what you mean about eating the same things. I don't have a gallbladder any more but passed a stone last night omg. It's true the pain is cataclysmic, I was on morphine but it didn't touch the sides.

When I had my attacks the buscopan injections worked amazingly quickly and coupled with warm milk to drink it made me feel quite full when I was scared to eat.

I found that anything could set it off, even an apple a couple of times.

That's interesting about the gall bladder issues being linked with IBS and other issues.
I have gallbladder stones and I definitely have some other digestive issues which aren't diagnosed.
But making me think I'm not imagining them or anything.

You're not, @Datgal , it just isn't clear if it causes the other issues (ibs, gastritis etc) or you're just likely to have all or some other issues cos you're prone to your midsection despising you. Both the gallbladder & gastritis subs on reddit have a lot of crossovers with ppl often being in both.

Can't help but feel if the biggest risk factors weren't being female & middle aged that it might be taken more seriously...

The pain has pretty much resolved but the aftermath is now my bowels. Painful cramps and different to usual. Urgency too! I’ve had very low fat since. Definitely an IBS flare up on the tail end that wasn’t flared up before!

I had pain like this and was ulcer. Never known anything like the pain and I've had 2 major surgeries in 2024!!! Hot water bottle did help slightly tho don't burn yourself like i did !

Once my gall bladder became dysfunctional it could be triggered by any food, as it turned out rather than large unpassable.stones my gallbladder was described as full of grit, so many tiny stones that JUST ABOUT fit through the ducts. So every meal some bile would be produced and out would come some stones. As a result I did lose weight and a fear of food, thinking too much ahead of a meal etc. It took a ridiculous amount of time for the doctor to have me checked for gallstones (a nurse even suggested it before my first Dr appointment about it, which I stupidly told.him as he became fixated on it not being possible). Be VERY clear about how much pain, also use information like how much weight you lose, how quickly. How.much sleep you lose, time or days of.work.lost as a result. Keep clear records of your food so theres no assumption youre regularly iverindulging. Doctors are extremely dismissive of how.much of a problem this condition can be, probably because it mainly affects women, usually after you've had children. And women post children seemed to be viewed as 'surplus population' by the NHS.

I’m worried it’s making a come back, appt isn’t for another week!

Got into the car after work to go home and felt hungry. Ate my dinner (fish, rice and veg) and been laid up with really painful trapped wind all evening. It’s not quite the same as before it’s all over my abdomen and it’s really burbling and gassy but this is how it started last time

what is it that I can or can’t eat, not knowing and spending most of my life in some kind of gastric discomfort is sending me. Am I intolerant to something? How would I even find this out? I am constantly gassy, in some kind of pain or discomfort from the boobs down.

I’ve cut dairy out completely now as I thought it might be that, I’ve stopped eating bread. I just want normal digestion 😩

Mine were horrendous, the pain was worse than giving birth. I only ever had 3 massive attacks, one which landed me in hospital via ambulance. My symptoms were a constant sharp pain in my right side, just under my ribs, pain in shoulder blade, pain in back on right side. The two worst attacks, the pain spread up into my neck and down my right arm. Sickness, vomiting bile, aspiration of bile, everything tasted funny and I was a funny colour - I didn't go yellow but I had a weird grey/beige tinge to my skin - that disappeared the day I had my gallbladder removed.

Fortunately for me, the surgeon saved my life. My gallbladder had filled with sludge as well as stones and was told by the surgeon I was lucky I was still alive, a couple months max and I would've been a goner as it was poisoning me inside 🤢🤮.

Buscopan really helps, they gave me that via cannula when I was taken to A&E by ambulance. The paramedics gave me morphine that helped remove the worst pain, but once that wore off, the doc gave me buscopan, which really helped stop the cramping. I'd give birth again without pain relief than have that pain again - worst pain I've ever had in my life. You have my sympathies.

I've just read your other posts/updates. I too have GERD and IBS and had those well before the gallbladder started acting up. The bile aspiration started about 6 months before my first gallstone attacks, I woke up gasping for air, thinking I'd had reflux but it was bile seeping up that I was inadvertently inhaling 🤮, one of the most awful experiences.

The practice nurse told me to 'lose weight and your stomach problems will go away' and repeatedly told me I was overweight so what did I expect - I've ALWAYS had stomach/digestion and bowel problems no matter what my weight was, from size 10 to 16 they've always been there. I changed GP surgery and spoke to my new GP, explained symptoms and said I think it's gallstones - he referred me for a scan and I was seen, scanned and diagnosed within 6 days.

My daughter just saw me in bed at 7pm and was like omg you always have a stomach ache go see a doctor. I am trying DD! I keep a food diary I don’t drink alcohol anymore, limit sugar etc.

I was planning on exercising this evening but I can’t do anything apart from lie down.

I am a normal weight so they can’t keep telling me to lose weight or just giving me lanzoprazole. I’ve had some tests before but they just say oh it’s IBS. I had a long spell about 10 years ago where I was on a lot of antibiotics and this was related to a terrible long flare up I had. I took antibiotics in December so it’s possible that these have disrupted my system. I am avoiding dairy but maybe I should try a probiotic but I have no idea what one to even try?

Mine wasn’t set off by anything in particular. It was completely random. You need an ultrascan. Make a fuss.