Gallstones - WWYD?

[Tinselitis]

I have had gallstones for a couple of years. Discovered during a scan and at the time it seemed I had lots of very small ones. Over the last couple of years I have had occasional pain after a heavy meal and nausea on and off, but I don't feel it has hampered my life particularly.

However, in the last few weeks I have had lots of nausea, a constant nagging ache in my right side and a horrible 'ticking' sensation constantly under my right ribs, which i think is the gallbladder squeezing its liquid stuff out (iyswim).

On Weds night and well into Thursday I had an excruciating bout of pain lasting about 12 hours. I ended up in A&E - bloods were all fine, doctor said there was no infection and she thought the pain might have been caused by a gallstone passing out of the gall bladder. I have been feeling awful ever since. The pain has subsided but I feel totally wiped out and the weird ticking sensation is almost constant (sort of like the sensation of a baby kicking at 4/5 months pregnant, but high up on my right side).

I saw y GP today who has referred me for another scan and more bloods and mentioned keyhole surgery to remove my gall bladder is an option.

Should I go for it? I am quite scared of surgery, but managing my diet hasn't helped my gallstones and I could not bear that awful pain again if it came back. Worse than labour

its hard, but i know with me the pain was too bad for me to consider anything else. Just be careful, if pain gets too bad, please go back. I ended up very poorly, after being sent home having been told "it was all ok, and now await op in 6 months"

Best thing I did was have my gallbladder removed. Haven't looked back.

What was the operation like? How long did it take you to recover? And were you symptom-free afterwards? Sorry for all the questions!

Ditto best thing I every did was to have mine removed.

The operation was by keyhole - I had no pain after the op at all no need for pain killers stayed in hospital one night and home the next day.

I took about two weeks to get back to normal but that was due to the GA so was not feeling ill or in pain etc just a bit wiped out. Also I had been pretty poorly before with severe attacks so had not eaten much for the three weeks before the op.

Totally symptom free afterwards

Yes get it removed, it won't get any better otherwise no matter what you eat. In fact it will probably get worse! I had mine out a few months ago, was sore for few days but back to normal within a couple of weeks. I haven't had any problems since

If you're otherwise well & they offer you surgery, I'd go for it. Gallstones can cause a lot of problems & complications other than pain. Pain is reason enough. You don't need a gallbladder.

I was diagnosed with gallstones in April - they were multiple but small and my biliary tree was of normal size. Fast forward 7 months and the situation has deteriorated so much that a recent operation to remove my gallbladder was started then stopped because they found my gallbladder was inflamed and my Common bile duct was dilated to twice the size it should be ? this can result in complications. My point is, you know they are a problem because they are causing symptoms and pain, and IME, they won't get better, just worse. At the beginning, my GP advised me to follow a low fat diet to try and control the attacks ? he really should have been talking me into having the op instead ? had I done so 7 months ago, I?m sure it would have been straightforward. I'm now waiting for a scan to see what?s what and another - hopefully final ? op. Get the bugger out I say.

Do it :)

I had mine done after 10 years of being misdiagnosed and I was very very poorl;y towards the end and in almost constant agony, passing out with it even.

I had keyhole, was in two nights, relief was immdiate, even the horrid gass feeling and tightness from stitches/being pulled about was miniscule compared to the agony before.

Do it. I was talking to a surgeon recently who specialises in gall bladder removal and he says it's much better to just get it over and done with as the more attacks of cholecystitis you get, the more tricky the operation becomes because you get a build-up of scar tissue. I would push to get it done as soon as possible, they're frequently done on emergency operating lists when people are really suffering with them.

Again, I'd say go for it. I had an emergency operation in October to remove my gallbladder. I'd never suffered but ended up with a stuck stone. The surgery was keyhole and within 2 weeks I was driving and looking after the children again.

In fact, I have to say that whilst I didn't exhibit signs of gallstones, I am actually feeling better than I have felt in many years.