Urgent question re gallbladder recovery and whether this is normal...:(

[Badvocatyuletide]

Hi
Had my gb out 4 weeks ago.
I then got a chest infection 2 weeks ago.
Since then I have had the most horrendous pain in my ribs, under my breast and my back.
I went to the gp on Xmas eve and she said she thinks it's musculoskeletal but reading google (I know, I know...) it could be a bile duct injury :(
I don't have a fever or jaundice but do feel nauseous.
The pain isn't all the time, it comes and goes, but when it hits it's bad.
Am taking paracetamol and ibuprofen.
Help!
Wwyd?
Any point going back to gp tomorrow?
Don't want to end up in a and e on a Sunday - they won't do anything anyway (bitter experience from prior to my op :()

Don't sweat the gastroscopy - ask for the sedation, tis most excellent and the procedure will really help them to understand what's going on.

Costochondritis is a very good contender for why you have pain, considering that you are also recovering from a chest infection. There's a lot of info about it on Wikipedia.

Sometimes it's good to chat about it with someone who's been through it, and not had the best results.

Take it easy, ok? x

It also may be worth taking your PPI's at night (if you're on a 1 x daily dose) to help with the night time pain.

Oh I will. I will ask for them to sedate the hell out of me :)
I am Now on 2 x omeprazole x 2 a day and then going down to 2 x 1 x day.
I'm not convinced re the costo tbh...had bornholms a few years ago and costo is very similar and it doesn't feel like that.
I think that perhaps I have just been very unlucky - first having to have the gb out in he first place, then he chest infection, then the poss gastritis and ulcer.
Most people wouldn't have these issues.
But then again, I am not most people! :)

I am due to have my gb out next week. Can i ask if anyone had any difficulty swallowing or feeling like food/pills were stuck before their op?

Yes, but that was due to my GERD.
Do you have GERD too?

Sorry to hear the recovery isn't going so well Badvoc. I had the endoscopy in october and definitely agree to ask for sedation. I couldn't as i live alone with dc and found it hard to bear. They did diagnose a hiatus hernia from it and i am not sure how much of my current pain is related to that and how much is gb. I get pain in the middle of my back between my shoulder blades as well as the front in the bit btween lower ribs/upper abdo iyswim. i do get such a tightness during a gb attack feels like i am wearing a corset and i cannot wear any clothes above my hips.

i have noticed i have a gb attack after feeling like something has gotten stuck after swallowing, even soft foods get stuck and pills. currently i am on the pre-op diet of yogurt and the pain isn't so bad but still wretching too after being on metaclompramide since nov

i am petrified of complications and that the op isn't going to do anything to relieve my pain

I am fuzzy-headed from 5 days without food is gerd reflux?

GERD = gastro oesophageal reflus disease. I would imagine no food for 5 days would mean lots of stomach acid which could week cause the symptoms you describe.
I do not have gb pain anymore. The pain I have had has been different and in different places.
Tbh as I said upthread, I think I have been unlucky. No reason to think you will be. When is your op?
There are lots of threads on the op with some really upbeat stories if you do a search x

I am on zantac long-term so assume i must have it, i often wake in pain and have had symptoms of both gb and swallowing since late pg with dc2 (6yo). went through years of investigating my lungs because i complained of the pain in my shoulder blades until a different gp suspected stones in april/may, then confirmed by ultrasound. it's taken a battle to get the op approved finally last month to be done on 9th Jan. i have been warned i may end up open- instead of keyhole as i am very overweight.

i has csections with both dc so not worried about the actual op iyswim just that it wont be an end to the pain. i am starting arnica on Monday which helped immensely post-cs with dc2 after not using it the first time around. it's amazing for internal bruising.

what pain relief can they give us to take home if NSAIDs and codine (my go-to painkiller) are not allowed? I have tramadol here which i use rarely because it makes me nauseous. i have yet to tell them i won't be going home the same day oops!

How interesting!
My issues started when I was pg with my youngest who is now 5 - so 6 years ago now.
The actual op was a piece of cake tbh.
The worst bit was the shoulder top pain from the gas they pump in!
Didn't need any pain relief after op really but they were most insistent I have some :)
You could have cocodamol, codeine phosphate, nefapam and oromorph (I have had all of these)
My surgeon told me that my op might have to be converted to open if there was bad infection/inflammation but it was fine, he said it was very straightforward in the end....how ironic!!
They should have given you anti sickness meds to take with the tramadol and also take paracetamol with them...it's increases the efficacy.

Are you sure it's not your GERD playing up with the increased bile acids from having your gall bladder out?

It just seems so suspicious that your pain is mostly at night (when you are lying down) and lasts around 20 mins, in the classic 'heartburn' location.

it's crazy what having these dc can do to us! i also blame having 2 close together and not giving myself time to recover.

in a way i can't wait for it to be done. I may take my heat pad for the shoulder as it's been as helpful as painkillers to me so far.

i really do hope you recovery speeds up soon and thank you for being kind enough to answer my questions even though you're suffering

Don't know Lougle.
Have had GERD for so long now, but never pain like last night :( it was just awful. I perhaps should have gone to the gp this morning but I had the dc to look after til dh got home.
Dr seems to think gastritis most likely cause due to lots of NSAID use (even though every dr I have seen told me to take them!)
I guess in any case an endoscopy is probably sensible.
Yes to a heat pad! I wish I had thought of that! Also peppermint tea.

...and the pain has been at all sorts of times...morning, afternoon, night...
Sunday it was 3pm.
Last week it was 4am one morning when it was really bad.
No idea.

Ugh.
Another really bad night :(
Am going to ask the consultant on weds if he will do the endoscopy - will be quicker than the NHS I think (?) and am also going to ask him to do a biopsy for coeliac whilst he is in there.
Dr said the referral would be urgent but....could still be weeks couldn't it?
Lougle...I thought if you had issues with too much bile after surgery you got really bad diahorrea? I am the opposite!

Pathetic bump...

It can be both.

Yes, urgent means 'when you can see her'. Emergency means 'now'.

how are you doing today Badvoc?

Hi
Am ok I think.
Nasty headache.
Had a much better night but tbh any sleep is better than none! :)
Current plan is to ask consultant on weds if he will do a endoscopy ASAP.
Perhaps he will have another idea what's wrong?
Who knows?
How are you?

It took 10 days (incl wekends) for my referral from the day i saw my cons until the actual appt but afaik this wasn't urgent.

my gb is pain free as no food for a while now but the reflux is still there, i am contemplating an adjustable bed as my next purchase, am thinking it could be a sound investment if i am to suffer long term

Ooooooh I would love one of those!
Was that an endoscopy appt?

yes it was, though i have heard it called all sorts of names. the nurse was fantastic and told me as she found the hernia rather than any waiting for a result

You dont need an ajustable bed, but a couple of housebricks under the feet at the head of your bed to raise it up about 3-4ins will make all the difference if you have gerd. Also, eat early in the evening and take a spoonful of gaviscon just before you go to bed. Stop the NSAIDS immediately, if you have GI problems they will really aggravate it. Dont drink alcohol in the evenings and avoid caffine and very fatty food - all sounds a bit sad, but I have suffered for years and despite meds have only just got it under control.

IMO Nexium (esomeprazole) is brilliant, but a lot of GPs wont prescribe it as it is slightly more expensive that other PPIs

Hmmm...may hear by Weds then!
Hope so.
I hate waiting when I know something's wrong :(

I don't envy you, the waiting is the hardest, i am down to counting nights and days to get through (4 & 3 to go now). I broke down when the nurse confirmed that it wasn't all in my head as per most other medical professional in the last 6 years, there was actual visual evidence!

I still have the bed donated to me after a house fire 5 years ago, and it's too fragile to prop up at one end. instead i have to sleep on the sofa. everything else (big purchases) has been replaced and having looked around a sleep-easy is only around 20% more than i would pay for decent solid frame and mattress. tbh it would probably be offset by the electric i save not using my heat pads to relieve the pain.

i was on esomeprazole before ranatidine, it affected the SSRI i take for depression meaning i didn't absorb it properly. I haven't eaten solid food since september and tee-total. I am on day 7 of bovril and fat free/sugar free yogurt atm to prepare for surgery and some days it's so unappetising i haven't even had that (just clear fluids) so i don't think i can control it by diet.