Does this sound like gallstones?

[0898]

I have had moderate discomfort in my upper back and mid-ribcage every day for about 4 years. It's been getting slowly worse and I've started to get tenderness in my upper right abdomen under my right rib.

Seen GP, she suggested gallstones.

From what I've heard about gallstones, the pain is usually infrequent, very severe and linked to eating fatty food. I've almost cut out fat completely in the coupe of weeks since I saw the GP but the pain (moderate and frequent) hasn't gone.

GP said she'd refer me for an ultrasound but I haven't heard anything yet.

I'm a bit miserable with it, tbh.

A bump of misery

You describe what I had, my scan showed no stones but sludge.

I'm now waiting for a app to have the sludge poked away.

Gall sludge! That sounds like the kind of glamorous ailment I'd get. How does one get the sludge poked out?

It sounds like gallstones.

Classic pain under right rib going round to back just under shoulder blade.

You need an ultrasound promptly and don't be fobbed off. The pain of a 2 day long biliary colic is indescribable.

GPs are seemingly oblivious to the impact this has on quality of life and it doesn't get better.

ha I've to get the camera down my throat and the doc says it'll be poked away....I buried my head in the sand at that point and asked no more questions

WeeClype does that mean you keep your gallbladder ? Would the sludge be eliminated and not return?

0898 it does sound like gallstones from what you describe - mine is much worse when I'm sitting (which I do sometimes at work) better if I don't eat during the day.

Worst pain is after eating chedddar - had to cut out all fat as much as humanely possible.
My symptoms day-to-day is bloating/tightness in the abdomen to a skewer type stabbing from under the ribs at my belly to my middle back .

Mine is due to be hoiked out in October - can't wait

Yes I'm keeping my gallbladder, I'm not even sure I need to have the sludge poked away now as I'm back to being able to eat anything again so I have no idea whats going on.

It definitely could be gallstones - the scan will tell. Some of my attacks are worse than others. I have oramorph for the very worst ones which are excruciating. Dairy definitely affects mine but apart from that even eating little to no fat doesn't stop the attacks. I had a terrible attack in the night and for last nights dinner I had roast chicken cucumber and lettuce.

70's - mine is being whipped out in October too - the 15th, I'm counting down the days now!

Thanks folks and sorry you're in so much pain. Not surprised that you can't wait to get the little buggers out.

My GP said that they only do the op in my NHS area if the gallbladder gets infected. Which seems a bit arse-about-tit. If mine is the culprit behind all this pain it would improve my quality of life enormously to be rid of it. Wish I could afford to go private.

That is fucking outrageous. It is much more complicated, let alone dangerous to remove an infected gallbladder. I was told that they wont do it if it is. I had similar symptoms to you for years and stuck my head in the sand. Then after i had dd2 i had my first bad attack. Blue lights to hospital. Twice within a few weeks. The pain was so bad i couldn't breathe! Made childbirth look like a twinge. It got to the point that every time i ate i would be in agony. I was breastfeeding and my dp had to hold dd to my breast as i couldn't bear to be touched.

I would be seeing a different doctor if i were you.

Since my gall bladder was removed there has been no more pain. I definitely would have killed myself if they made me live with it.

Lem - I totally agree. My consultant said they would always remove a gallbladder with stones causing infection. I've been ambulanced to hospital quite a few times now too. The first time a bad attack happened I was convinced I was dying of a heart attack.
Op- try another doctor, if you start getting very bad attacks you won't be able to live with it.

Not causing infection - sorry, I meant causing pain and problems. Not just infection.

Thanks LEM and MrsB. My GP said "Don't expect anything to be done, we have to jump through so many hoops to get extra funding for gallstone ops and they don't often get approved"

OK I'll just keep pinging back and forth to A&E in excruciating pain with two small children in tow, as ended up happening this week

I had gallstone for three years which went undiagnosed due to also having the pleasure of suffering from stomach ulcers at the same time. I was told at 25, healthy BMI and no kids I wasn't at risk for GS This meant every attack was put down to the ulcers rather than the stones... It was only when the ulcers were treated and I was still in pain that they took notice. Scan showed a gallbladder which was PACKED with stones.

Pain sounded similar to yours, under the shoulder and a lot worse after eating anything remotely fatty. I would often have to make myself sick to stop the pain quicker...I was unlucky enough to be hospitalised twice with biliary colic (stone in pipe) and the pain was excruciating. I've never given birth but I was told by every doctor I encountered that this pain was was worse than labour...I'm pregnant at the minute so we'll see!
Ultrasound scan will definitely show stones, the waits for these are always ridiculous.

Good luck!

OP, when you go to A&E do they do blood tests or just fob you off with pain killers?

In the 3 years I had gallstones I attended A&E on five seperate occasions and was sent home with codeine, advice to drink milk (honest!), or use gaviscon before one nurse took a blood sample. This showed a HUGE liver infection (levels in the thousands rather than hundreds!) which resulted in finally being admitted (and the discharging doctor being sternly informed of his missed diagnosis) and it was only then that they seriously looked at surgery.

I completely sympathise, the pain is just unbearable.

Sorry to hear about your discomfort. I am waiting for a gall stone op which will probably be around December time. I have had years of stomach aches, nausea etc but only had pain on the right recently. Sometimes there is a delayed or cumulative effect of "forbidden" food and it takes days for a change of diet to have an effect. I would eat very small meals for a few days and avoid coffee, acidic stuff and spicy stuff and too much fat. I find too many carbs set it off as well. At the moment I don't have any symptoms from limiting myself to small meals. I can eat fats but the doctor said to avoid them if possible.

They did blood and urine tests, which were all clear, so at least it's not infected (although if it were at least they'd whip the damn thing out)

The A&E doc recorded 'biliary colic' and thought it was probably a stone passing. Bloody hell it was sore.

Thank you for letting me witter on about my dodgy innards, I hope I'm not becoming a bore

I had an infected gallbladder with the symptoms you describe, never agonising pain but ongoing miserableness and feeling generally rough.

GP was dismissive and was discouraging about getting it out, but I was lucky enough to go private and see a specialist who recommended removal. When I did have it out he described it all as pretty disgusting as it was very infected, despite that not really showing up in the tests. As soon as it was out I felt human again!

Try being the squeaky wheel and push for treatment. If it does have stuff in it you could get a serious infection and become pretty unwell as pps have said.

As another poster has says, my first attack was so painful I thought I was having a heart attack. Was taken to hospital, released at 2am, an hour from home, no money, and told to take gaviscon! I then had attacks every few days, even when eating next to nothing. It was absolute agony and I couldnt have lived like that any longer. Luckily I went privately, but even that took 3 months.

I've had 2 gallstone attacks - never had pain round back or at shoulder, but felt totally wiped & very sore after.

An ultrasound showed I have stones, but didn't measure their size, so I'm due to have an MRI-type scan next week so the consultant can decide whether to operate (or not). My blood tests are still abnormal - perhaps due to a stone causing a blockage.

I've got a 18 month old & 5 year old so am seriously considering not having surgery due to the recovery.

But at least I have a supply of codeine at home in the meantime.....

The thing with gallstones is that the symptoms can be many and varied, so your problem could well be related to stones, or not. As an USS is safe and not too invasive, go for it and see what it shows.

As a general rule, if stones are found but not causing problems (e.g. when looking at something else) then leave it alone. If the gallbladder gets infected, or the stones move out of the gallbladder into the ducts (tubes) causing a blockage or pancreatitis, then the gallbladder really should come out unless theres a good reason not to.
Painful stones are the grey area, but it definitely isn't an automatic no for surgery. I see loads of people like you and each case is decided on risk vs benefit. (Not cost related!!).

Hope this is helpful and that you get some improvement soon.

I didn't know I had gallstones (I thought I had bad indigestion ) but I ended up at A & E with pancreatitis. When I saw the surgeon he told me I didn't really have a choice as it had reached that stage so it came out less than 2 weeks later.

It turns out my gallbladder was badly inflamed as well so it was a good job it came out when it did as I was on my way to getting an infection.

I was just about to post about my pains and saw this thread.

I have too had on and off right sided lower rib/side/ back pain.
Feels more discomfort and fullness than the agony that I understand gallstones to be?
I often feel bloated and gassy, almost like I've swallowed a giant alka seltzer?

Discomfort has been present since Monday now with occasional stabbing pains in right side....does it sound like gallbladder issue?

It could do Chesty - get a GP appt to at least get checked out and the ball rolling for a scan, I've been waiting 8 weeks for my scan letter now!

Hope it eases for you.