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Original poster

Gallstone scan

44 replies

WeeClype · 06/08/2014 11:16

Can someone tell me if I just move my top up for a scan to check for gallstones or do I change into a hospital gown?

How long should the scan take?

thanks

OP posts:

yellowsnownoteatwillyou · 06/08/2014 11:19

I just pulled my top up and lay on my left side, it only took a few minutes.

themonsteratemyspacebaragain · 06/08/2014 11:25

Pull your top up. The scan is just under your ribs and around your stomach area.
Get them out ASAP if you have them. Trust me!

Original poster

WeeClype · 06/08/2014 11:30

Thanks I was hoping I wouldnt need to change.

If my pain is not due to gallstones then the doc better not muck around and send me for more checks for stomach ulcers etc as i'm fading away and living off toast for fear of eating

OP posts:

themonsteratemyspacebaragain · 06/08/2014 11:40

Common sense would say that if they didnt find any then as you are already there with the ultrasound then they could have a quick rummage around the stomach and check for anything else. Im almost positive they kind of scan the stomach area anyway, but may not concentrate on it.

What does your pain feel like and where? People may be able to tell you if it is simailar to a gallbladder attack.
My sympathies are with you, never known agony like it!

LEMmingaround · 06/08/2014 11:50

Gallbladder pain can very considerably. Mine was excruciating, the worst pain i have ever experienced and i gave birth to a 9.5 pound baby with no pain relief! it was worse of a night, triggered at first by fat then by pretty much anything.

Mine felt someone was tightening a belt around my stomach, mostly under my ribs (first attack i thought i was having a heart attack) and then spreading to my back. Often just pain in my spine area about two thirds of the way up. General feeling of ickiness and tiredness to absolute exhuastion and vomitting. Was horrible horrible - i hope you get yours sorted soon.

Original poster

WeeClype · 06/08/2014 12:14

I used to only get the pain with greasy pizza but the last few months everything seems to trigger it off.

What usually happens with me is I wake at 3/4am with a mild pain which starts central and gradually moves to the right and up my back. The only way I can get the pain to ease up is by making myself sick, pain killers and a roasting hot shower hitting off my back. It is bloody painful but not severe like alot of sufferers describe but the doc did say not everyone is the same.

I was prescribed Omeprazole too but the doctor says that they probably wouldnt make any difference so I stopped taking them after 3 days because instead of the pain starting 3am it started as soon as I finished eating.

OP posts:

LEMmingaround · 06/08/2014 12:19

Sounds like gallstones. X

Original poster

WeeClype · 06/08/2014 12:35

Ha yeah when the doctor says asked me if I had any ideas what was causing the pain I told him Mumsnet had diagnosed me and I think I have gallstones

OP posts:

chockbic · 06/08/2014 12:51

You are asked to lie on each side and do a lot of breathing in! So hope you aren't a smoker.

It takes about fifteen minutes for a full abdominal scan.

Original poster

WeeClype · 06/08/2014 12:54

no not a smoker

15 mins is good as im leaving my 15 yr old dd in charge of her two younger sibling's so im sure she'll cope with that lol

OP posts:

themonsteratemyspacebaragain · 06/08/2014 12:55

Yep i would say gallstones too. LEM describes it perfectly. Feel like being crushed around my ribs then the agony of back pain was unbearable.
Get them out ASAP! I had my gallbladder out in May and the relief to know i will never feel that again is amazing!
Though i haven't given birth yet and i have read alot saying this is worse! So will look forward to that time when childbirth will be a walk in the park comparing the two

Original poster

WeeClype · 06/08/2014 13:01

themonster.....were you in and out of the hospital on the same day?

OP posts:

sh77 · 06/08/2014 13:17

I had a gallbladder scan and nothing was found even though I had the exact same symptoms as you weeclype. Only vomiting and hot shower relieved the pain. I have no idea what else it coukd be.

I read on MN ultrasound is not hood for picking up silt/sludge stuff in the gallbladder.

Good luck with your scan.

elephanteraser · 06/08/2014 13:24

i have this too so many on mn have this! due to have op soon, though haven't had pain for a few weeks

themonsteratemyspacebaragain · 07/08/2014 10:59

Sorry for getting back to you late!
Yes i was in and out in the same day. They wasn't really enthusiastic about the idea but i insisted before the op that i wanted to go home.
My op was at 130 and i was out at about 930pm. I think the general rule is if you have op in the morning you may be able to leave at night but if the op is in the afternoon you will more than likely be kicked out the next morning!
If you have any questions feel free to ask!

brighthouse · 07/08/2014 11:08

I have just Had the scan for the gall bladder I just had to pull up my top. They say I have a distended gall bladder. I am in agony more so my right side. Just want to get it out.

PinkSparklyElephant · 07/08/2014 13:08

I was already in a hospital gown as I was taken in from A & E. I hope you get some answers soon. I never had any 'trigger' food, the pain could start for no reason. I also never had the pain in my back, mine was in the middle of myy ribs and down into my stomach.

themonster, I went home the same night but I got the same impression as you, you are more likely to be out the same day if the op is in the morning. I'd made it clear that, if I was well enough, I wanted to be home as soon as possible and the surgeon agreed.

Original poster

WeeClype · 07/08/2014 13:39

Thanks for everyone's replies, no doubt I've spent hours and hours reading other posts on gallstones that it'll probably show nothing at the scan.

OP posts:

70isaLimitNotaTarget · 07/08/2014 15:00

Clype I had a scan which showed gallstones (well a gallstone) but still getting Left Sided Pain (which was what I was scanned for originally)
Just found out I have colitis (GP says Ulcerative Colitis) after a colonoscopy.

IKWYM about the diet (BTW mine is tons better giving up all white bread) Can't eat fat, fibre, (cheese causes massive flare up)

Oh, the fun never stops.

Original poster

WeeClype · 08/08/2014 15:03

ah bums! Ive had my scan but wasnt told anything all I was told was to see gp in 10 days.

I had to laugh when the wife who was showing me out said "now go have something to eat"....if only I could.

OP posts:

70isaLimitNotaTarget · 08/08/2014 19:38

WeeClype I wasn't told anything either at the time (I don't think they do, you need to wait for the report)

I went in thinking I had something hormonal (it fitted the pattern of an ovarian cyst). They asked me to cough when they checked the left side and said something was moving (I was wondering 'hernia?'
When I phoned the GP for my results they weren't back, (they took longer than the 2 weeks)
I was when it came back with gallstone (22mm IIRC)

Sandthorn · 09/08/2014 08:51

OP, I wasn't told anything at the scan either. It was done by a technician - really not qualified to read the result. Your experience sounds a lot like mine in that it started being triggered by pizza, and ended with being triggered by almost anything.

My pain was diabolical though. During an attack it seemed to fill my entire upper abdomen. I'd have to curl up wherever I was (on the stairs at home was relatively common, but floor of the loos in work once), sweating with the pain, and just wait for the worst of it to pass before I could move. Only in the aftermath the next day did it resemble my GP's textbook idea of how gallstones should present (upper right quadrant, radiating to back, referred pain in arm).

My stones were teeny-tiny: like a handful of dry couscous.

helensburgh · 09/08/2014 09:09

I'm waiting to get mine out, due to confusion re diagnosis its been blooming months .

Had the worst attack this week, in a forest while out a walk.

Jeez. I thought I was dying.

Since then I have diarrhoea and feel really sick, don't know if it's a bug and coincidence

70isaLimitNotaTarget · 15/08/2014 21:18

I had a follow up today (I managed to get my appointment moved from October to mid Aug)

Waiting time is 12-14 weeks (so mid Nov- Dec)

Yesterday, I was really busy, I had coffee and oat cereal for breakfast then
later on oatcakes and peanut butter.
Still bloody hurt this morning.

I'm having to balance between the colitis and the gallbladder, they fight amongst themselves to cause me aggro.

Original poster

WeeClype · 15/08/2014 21:26

I had to take myself to a&e on tuesday night, I had constant pain since the Sunday and couldn't deal with it any longer. I don't have stones but alot of sludge .

2 days later and I got a emergency app with doctor as I was totally drained, dizzy etc so she referred my to have the camera down the throat and sludge pushed thru. I'm hoping the app is quite soon as I've not eaten since Saturday.

OP posts:

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