PAINS and stomach pain since Gallbladder Operation

[spandau1980]

Dear All, im hoping for some answers and support as i m at my wits end as a single mum and in so much misery!
Basically i had my gallbladder out 5 weeks tomorrow, i have had since i woke up right sided pain in my breast area and in my back and shoulder blades. 2 weeks after my op i had an "attack" of some sort as never had full blown gb attck(mine was infected) i assumed it was acid.. it went on for 4 hours then since then ive had what i thought was acid reflux? so took pantoprazole to no avail... i have pain right ALL the time and increases if i eat, i also hav a pain in the centre of my sternum area.. luckily no Heartburn which is odd... anyone have these..docs at a loss, pain is so bad in shoulder some times i cry and pain relief doesnt help... scheduled for endoscopy soon... PLEASE any one had these sympoms and found an answer or resolved in time! I WAS TOLD ID BE BETTER OFF POST OP BUT IM TEN TIMES WORSE OFF AS NOW IN PAIN 24/7 OH and i have stomach ache alot and bloating, no diarreah (sp) and feel like ive not eaten for 6 months each morning my stomach hurts so badly... im so deperate for answers and advice.. DOCTORS are USELESS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

has urs settled?? x

My surgeon rang me today. Said that I didn't have any infection but GB and Bile duct definitely inflamed so referred for ercp ASAP. I asked him when I am likely to have my actual GB out and he said 6-8 weeks as I am recovering from this surgery. So, I am now wondering what will happen if my duct gets blocked again after ercp possibly preventing my next op from going ahead. Can they test this through blood tests does anyone know. What a palaver. Thanks for your support on various threads, I keep getting them mixed up and I'm abit woozy from it all tbh.

good news on the infection :) i hope erpc goes ok... if that does and im sure it will thn thy can take bloods to show inflammation.. xx

An update... i am having a bit of heartburn and stinging sensation really high up near my collar bone? heartburn that high up its stinging not burny feeling..
have pain in shoulders still but really bad pains radiating around under my right rib... feel worn out with all this :( any ideas if it is heartburn and whats the pain under my right rib... started last week..
im a medical mystery :(

Hi Spandau, I can't diagnose it but I know what it's like to have pain and have no one help or explain what it is.

From what you say it sounds like it isn't an infection, it isn't a slipped disc or something similar, and you're still in pain. :(

If you're still in pain there is something wrong. Could you go back and ask for help - they are supposed to help. If they won't, could you go to another GP?

Spandau, I second what HedgeHop says, I would speak to another GP as you aren't getting anywhere with your current one. Nobody should be in pain without a decent explanation these days. Have they looked into food allergies for example, like ceoliac etc?

hi everyone, i called him today as im in more pain and more spasms without meds being the cause.. more heartburn.. and he said i repeat "there is nohing we can do"
im considering presenting at a&e and demanding i get sorted i am o a pain level of 7/8 every day all day :( thanks for listening to my whinging :)

Spandau, if you are feeling pain of that level, that is really high, and you should be seeing a specialist. With your background and that level of pain I would go to A&E. GPs and out of hour doctors are a crock - well, not all, but I am very bitter this week having been cut open for nothing, knowing that if the nurse at out of hours had done a blood test last week, my pointless op might have been avoided.

Speaking of which, I got a letter today - not meant for me - my surgeon copied my referral letter to me instead of my doctor!! Although, at least I now know that he has referred me as urgent for my ERCP. Says in the letter that my Common Bile duct is dilated to 1.5cm. I know that's twice as big as what it should be. I have been an idiot and have been googling and I'm wondering now if he would have checked my pancreas or would have spotted something when he was in looking around. I'm so worried - again.

oh bless ya ... yes think i am goin to go a&e im in agony just trying to go work too but think this has gotta be sorted now!!!
dont google i sh*te my self looking at what it could be:(( xx

Spandau, did you actually have your bile duct checked. I had the exact problems you seem to be having after gall bladder removal including acid reflux, and that ended up being my problem. Blocked bile duct.

BambinoBoo, don't panic!! When I had my gall bladder out, no one checked the bile duct. Three huge stones and they had been there some time, my symptoms were gall bladder and pancreaitis even before gall bladder removal, I just didn't realise. A blocked bile duct will cause pancreaitis but once removed all will be well. Seems you are having surgeries opposite way to me. Oh and the ERCP was OK, sedated and knew nothing about it and finally got rid of the pain I still had for weeks after gall bladder removal :)

no my doctor said there is nothing they can do???!!! :S i feel so angry! ive had bloods done they re ok did ur s show up in blood tests?? x

Arrrrrrrrgh!!! I got a call from the hospital today due to the referral letter from my surgeon and now the consultant there wants me to come in for a CT scan FFS. I am so pissed off. I said to the secretary that my surgeon was very specific that I needed an ERCP so why am I being CT scanned. She said she didn't know but would talk to her boss as there was no mention of ERCP in the letter. I told her that her consultant probably needed to speak to my surgeon. The poor woman, I think I then gave her my gallstones life story. I know a CT scan will show exactly what the blockage is, but then surely I'll need an ERCP to treat it so will just mean another hoop to go through. All the while, I am sat here feeling like I have a time bomb of all sorts of complications ticking away inside me.
I am getting angrier by the minute as if my own GP, and 2 nurses had bothered to do bloods, they'd have seen how inflamed my GB and CBD were and I could have been treated before the op. I am a massive supporter of our NHS but I feel like I need to write a letter to someone.

Spandau, did you get to A&E in the end?

This is such a great thread by the way. So good to have people around that understand what the hell I'm on about and have been through it. My DH looks like this most of the time when I start banging on.

Spandau - that pain and its location are classic symptoms of a panacreatic or biliary duct blockage (ie just like gall bladder symptoms).

You need to get to a specialist. I do not go to my GP and ask him what treatment thinks I need. I tell him politely and firmly and ask specifically for a referal to a named specialist. I suggest you do the same. Do not leave it to yoru GP to decide. Make a specific and firm request to see a specialist because you are concerned your bile duct may be blocked by a residual stone.

It is a very common problem after a gall bladder OP and if it gets much worse go straight to A&E. Do not take pain killers for a long time. It is bad for you.

I say this from bitter experience of my own gall bladder history and watching my mother being fobbed off for 2 years by her GP until she ended up in A&E with an infected gall bladder with a consultant expressing complete amazement and disgust at the way she had been treated.

Some GPs do not take this condition seriously enough.

Spandau, I echo what morebeta says, If you google your local hospital, you can find their Hepatobiliary department which should list their consultants. You can ring them and ask who referrals are normally addressed to then ask your doctor - or another GP - to refer you to that person. I am finding out more and more recently - and it is a very sad thing - that those who shout the loudest are the ones that are treated more seriously. I have to say that through my own experiences I now understand the rivalry between GPs and hospital doctors.

Now I'm really confused. The hospital who recommended the CT scan have spoken to my surgeon and he is in agreement despite saying that he wanted an ERCP. I feel so in the dark on this. Maybe they are thinking that if I have an ERCP and move the blockage, then by time I go to get my gallbladder out, there could be another blockage, so I'll end up having an open chole in the end anyway so may as well aim for that from now. Can they even remove what's in the bile duct and the gallbladder during an open op. I have no idea. Whenever I think of CT scans, all I think about is cancer.

went to see a private specialist today and he said " well i m sure they ve done all the usual scans of the area?" i said "no" he said "what after 8 weeks in agony?" i said "yes" he is disgusted, i am in a catch 22 i have 3 boys and i live apart from my family so if i go a &e my parents have to travel 100 miles to hav them oh why is lifeso complicated....?
bambinoboo your being messed about and i too am going to be writting a written complaint i cant believe how ive been treated!!!
ct scan will be ok once but not loads... ty about telling me who to contact im on that tomoz....
im prob going in a&e fri afternoon ....
morebeta thankyou i hav been saying this an no one listens im in agony all the bloody time!!!!!!!! thanks again to everyones support xx

Spandau, yes showed up in blood tests, raised levels in liver. Depends if that is the blood test they gave you, your symptoms so match the state I was in though.

BambinoBoo, they can remove stones from the bile duct whilst doing keyhole for gall bladder. First question my doctor asked me was did they check the bile duct? Apparently not it turned out, I could have avoided all the extra pain and the ERCP if they had!

Try not to worry about the CT scan, maybe he is just being extra thorough. I was left with the vague worry as to if any permanent damage had been done to my pancreas, no scan offered.

alwaysme I don't understand why my surgeon didn't attempt that then. He literally opened me up - albeit through keyhole - saw the inflammation and closed me up again. I wonder if he looked at my pancreas at the same time. He didn't say that he thought I'd ever had pancreatitis, but did say that it was a risk factor in the future. He knew that I didn't have an infection.

So many questions. I am having my stitches out today so will try and ask the nurse practitioner. I'm also going to ask her to do a blood test so I have a recent result to hand when I go for the CT scan. It seems that as long as I stay off most foods, bread - which is a real trigger bizarrely, and alcohol, the attacks seem to be at bay. I lost another 5 pounds as I'm living on a super model diet sans crack and booze

spandau are your folks coming up on Friday to take care of your boys whilst you go to A&E? Did the private specialist advise you to do anything inparticular?

oh my goodness how awful for you.

i had really bad pain just after my daughter was born in 2009. After weeks of being messsed around, n me loosing weight through not being able to eat anything at all they took out my gall bladder. However the same bloody pains returned as soon as i ate again..this time they said parcreatitis..had an MRI and no stones stuck. Finally 3 months n almost 4 stone weightloss i had a ct scan and they found the problem had been my bowel all along. I then had an operation to remove part of my bowel that had become narrowed n ulcerated. no cause ever really confirmed as to why my bowel had died off..few theories but never confirmed..

hope you find answers, its bloody awful being in pain and not being helped xx

I've been off my iron tablets for a week and finally had a No2 so can see the real colour without the iron making it look black, and it is much paler. Not grey or anything but like an orange colour. Has anyone had that. I know I have an inflamed bile duct and gallbladder but I don't have any pain but all the symptoms. So weird.

Span - how bad is the pain?

Bambino - i had a weird no2 that was 'pasty' i'd say, beige like just before a gall stone attack (mine were small and blocking the bile duct. Agony). The surgeons couldn't find a stuck one but burnt my bile duct bigger (sure that's not the technical term!) just in case. Also whipped out gall bladder. This was in UAE though not UK.

Should also Spandau, how you have been treated sounds appalling. Hope you get to the bottom of it.