To ask you : How is life without gallbladder ?

[Soloflight1]

I know boring and completely wrong section but I’m sick and having my gallbladder removed in few weeks - I want to have hope, that life will go back to normal once this is done ! Thank you

I can't eat dairy and high fat on an empty stomach or else I get diarrhea. But if I have had something else in the day I am totally fine!

Absolutely no issues and I can eat anything I want (as long as in correct order in the day).

DH had his out about 12 years ago. Had absolutely no problems since and just eats normal diet - although I will say that we eat mostly home cooked food anyway and not a diet of greasy takeaways.

DH had his out 25 years ago. No issues at all ever since. (That he's aware of!) Good luck.

I have gallstones but have opted not to have my gallbladder removed for the time being, preferring to adhere to a low-fat diet to see how I get on.
I'm puzzled by those people saying what a relief it is not having gallbladder pain any more now they've had it removed. The reason for my puzzlement is that, surely once you know you have gallstones you just stick to a low-fat diet and then you don't get the pain. This has been my experience and how it was explained to me regarding what happens in the gallbladder when you have eaten fatty foods, i.e. it contracts around the gallstones, causing pain.
I was reluctant to have my gallbladder removed because I had seen an article about a condition which can happen to people who've had theirs removed called sphincter of Oddi disfunction which is agonising but incurable. The article said it happens to about 20% of people who've had their gallbladder removed and since I'm a terrible pessimist I was worried I would be one of those people.
Did those people who got repeated bouts of pain before gallbladder removal experience this despite ensuring their diet was very low in fat?

Crikey it sounds like I was really unfortunate, had my gallbladder removed 10 years ago and now have BAM and bile acid reflux, and take daily medication for both.

Had it removed with keyhole surgery a few months ago. A bit sore post op for a couple of days but can eat anything with no side effects. Tbh only had one real episode pre diagnosis but was advised to have removed as it obviously could cause problems at any time and had stones and inflammation. I’m a pessimist too, but it has been fine.

I'm in the same situation. My diet is extremely repetitive and very low fat but since I'm overweight I think that being very strict about having as little fat as possible is good because it's also limiting calories, especially as I'm 70 and have very bad osteoarthritis limiting the amount of physical exercise I can take. I make sure to have a daily multivitamin and mineral supplement with 1000mg of fish oil for Omega-3 for my brain and as an 'insurance' in case I'm lacking in anything from my diet.
This thread is making me feel as though I may be wrong in being so scared of gallbladder removal, as most people seem fine afterwards.

The reason for my puzzlement is that, surely once you know you have gallstones you just stick to a low-fat diet and then you don't get the pain. That's not necessarily true. The gallbladder is triggered to empty by food in the stomach not fat in the stomach. And one of the worst gallbladder pains is if the emptying of the gall bladder tries to push a gallstone down the bile duct.

Gallstones can also cause irritation in the gallbladder itself and that too is painful/

OK, thank you. That must be why, last August, I had a sleepless, agonising night with what turned out to be cholecystitis, meaning nearly a week in hospital on IV antibiotics. In a later consultation with the consultant I was led to believe that it would have been due to having something fatty, which I was sure I hadn't. I haven't had any pain since then, but the consultant has given me one year 'open access' - meaning I can contact his office direct if I have problems and decide I do want to go ahead with removal.

My DH had his out 3 years ago after some awful agonising episodes. Not one single problem. He eats anything and everything and he's very fit and active. He had keyhole surgery and you can only see one slight dimple scar from the three incisions.

Same here. I had mine out last month and been fine eating everything since then.

I only ever had two very bad attacks but also had a few niggling pains, and really awful nausea. But I was advised to have it taken out as they don't get better and the complications can be very serious.

It's horrific! I was in labour for 4 days with DD and look back on that with fond memories compared to when I had pancreatitis - poor you.

I've had no issues as a result of having my gallbladder out, i do still get the odd flare up of pancreatitis though, nothing painful but just a tightening that signals for me to calm down on rich foods and booze for a couple of days and drink plenty of water. It's only ever an issue on holidays and around Christmas funnily enough. One dose of ibuprofen and a few days clean living is all that's needed if I do get a twinge. Again I stress, nothing painful I'm just alive to the early warning signs.

I wonder whether there is any difference in outcome after surgery related to the age of the patient. As I said, I'm old (71 next month) and have had a lifetime of severe depression and anxiety. It's only recently that physical ailments have started to be a problem too. I'm definitely wearing out!
I forgot to mention earlier, but when my gallstones were discovered 3 years ago, and I was in hospital, I was told a few times "This may never happen again" - 'this' being the pain from gallstones.
It's believed that a great many people have gallstones and are unaware, as I would have been, had I not listened (3 yrs ago) to a programme by the late Dr. Michael Moseley advocating the Keto Diet and trying a Keto bar which was low-carbs/high fat. That was what caused the pain leading to diagnosis of gallstones. That made me believe that all I needed to do was continue the low-fat diet that I had been following for years anyway, and I wouldn't be troubled by the gallstones. After that I had no pain until the bout of cholecystitis last August. I was told that my diet had not been low-fat enough and needs to be under 5% in any meal, which seems to working so far in that I have had no more pain, although previous posts have explained that I could still have pain because of a blockage.

I try to keep to a less than 5% fat diet but it can be difficult sometimes. I would love to know what people eat to keep the niggles etc at bay. I know fruit,veg and chicken are good lots of water but get stuck alot of the time x

Three incisions! Lucky guy! I had 7

It's believed that a great many people have gallstones and are unaware I read this morning that only 20% of pe0ple with gallstones have any symptoms.

I had mine out when I was 28 - over 30 years ago. No problems living without a gall bladder in that time.
@CustardySergeant it's not just pain that's the issue with gallstones. Cholecystitis can cause sepsis, and stones blocking the common bile duct can cause obstructive jaundice and/or pancreatis.As an ICU doctor I'd seen my fair share of serious complications of gallstones and I felt a lot happier waving goodbye to my gallbladder once I knew I had stones.

I had it out 16 years ago and noticed no different

The only thing I noticed is that I get heartburn now and I never used to. It used to be a lot but is rarely now so maybe it's settled down. Apart from that fine

I can't wait to get mine out. Absolutely anything can trigger them for me. What was safe one time isn't another and what triggered them before doesn't do it again. I hadn't had any attacks for a couple of years and then had one on Tuesday night that had me rolling on the floor in pain. I had a consultation in 2022 after they were first picked up but nothing since. Thankfully only a few attacks in that time but it's the most painful thing since I had kidney stones. Apparently my body loves making stones of different kinds

@CustardySergeant I used to have spate of a year or more with no symptoms, then get a flurry of attacks, the nothing for months and months, then repeat.

The last spate of attacks I had that sent me to A&E in the end, and got me on the list to have surgery, were a once every couple of weeks, then twice a week, then progressed to every day including when I'd eaten nothing at all for fear of setting it off.

I don't think the low fat diet actually had any effect on whether I had an attack or not. I'm fact think I read a study where they found it can make it worse, as the gall bladder doesn't empty regularly it just lets stones grow and grow rather than be flushed out when they're small enough not to notice.

Would you still have the operation if you were my age (nearly 71)? Are the risks greater? When I was in hospital last August with cholecystitis I thought they were going to remove my gallbladder then, but they said not while it's inflamed/infected. I saw the consultant at the end of last October and agreed to just follow a low-fat diet and see how I got on. It's so confusing to know what to do for the best.
There are supposed to be so many people who have gallstones with no symptoms and as I said, my first bout of biliary colic in February 2022 after which the gallstones were discovered, was only because I had eaten a Keto bar (high fat/low carbs), otherwise I would have been among those people who have no idea they have gallstones. Also the doctor said "This might never happen again" which doesn't sound like she thought radical action i.e. surgery, was necessary. Of course, I did go on to have cholecystitis August 2024, but OK otherwise.
I'm a terrible pessimist, so while I don't want cholecystitis again I also don't want complications from surgery, including from the general anaesthetic and also sphincter of Oddi disfunction afterwards. The article I read about the latter said that 20% of patients who have their gallbladder removed will get that which aren't negligible odds, but the consultant surgeon said it wasn't that high.

This is what I did, I straight away started eating very healthily and they disappeared, I kept that up for a few months to make sure. But after that I went back to eating takeaways sometimes and other high fat things and haven't had an attack since in decades. Maybe it was just a spate of trapped stones.
Mine were so bad I couldn't get off the bed one day and turned bright yellow. Worst pain ever, no relief..
But think some gallbladders are too far gone and inflamed and it's just best they come out. Having a few digestive niggles is better than that horrific pain.

Am I odd. I had my gall bladder out early December as I had a single stone that took up the whole gallbladder so it never moved and therefore I never had any pain or noticeable symptoms. Since it has been removed I have to be far more careful about what I eat or I have D&V. I still have pain from the operation which is like a constant stitch and I have completely gone of wine. I have felt unwell since the operation and now I have to have a catscan on Tuesday to ensure everything is ok.

Oh no. That's terrible. If you had no pain or symptoms why did you seek medical treatment leading to the discovery of the gallstone? Would you please update after you have the results of the scan on Tuesday? I hope you are OK and will soon be pain free.