Kind of coming round to the idea that I'm having my gallbladder out - what do I do in the mean time?

[KatyMac]

As I am quite uncomfortable/struggling to eat

Been diagnosed about a week, been poorly since mid-October with one horrific insident (lasting 3 weeks) in January

I'm eating less and putting on loads of weight and quite miserable

Bump

For me it was the best thing to have done. I had a major flair up and did find it hard to eat waiting for the op I found eating low fat was better for me and eating small meals.

Afterwards it was fantastic everything after the surgery was a breeze in comparison to the pain before.

Best thing I ever did was have the sodding thing out.

Also I lost loads of weight while waiting to have it out as fat triggered attacks so that was a nice bonus, although the diet was amazingly dull.

I basically lived on grilled fish and steamed veg. Oh and fat free yoghurt for breakfast. It got beyond tedious.

Surgery is definitely the best decision OP, I had mine out many years ago and it’s been the best thing ever. In the meantime avoid fatty foods as they can often trigger a painful attack. Good luck OP

I had mine out. While waiting for the operation I ate an extremely low fat diet, which was the only way to stop the attacks. I lost a load of weight, which was a bonus, except that I put it all back in after surgery!

*on

Thanks

I eat fairly low fat anyway - no dairy, no eggs, lots of skinless chicken!

I just feel so miserable, bloated, sore, queasy and generally rough

And I have put on SO much weight!

I had to be super strict about the low fat thing! Even about 10g of fat in a whole meal would set me off. Good luck. The op was fine and I've had no problems since.

It wasn't low fat - it was practically no fat I had to do. As Eolian says, even the slightest bit of fat set me off.

So no meat at all?

Gosh I see a lot of potatoes in my future (I already can't eat most veg)

There was a lot of minute steak, grilled white fish and boiled potatoes. With not butter or oil. Chicken was not trustworthy.

It got very very dull. Sorry.

Ooo steak!

I get so bored anyway

Egg dairy soya almond coconut green veg fruit are all on my not allowed list and now this

Can you go back to normal afterwards?

Absolutely I went back to normal afterwards. I had a roast lamb dinner two days after the op... it was bliss

I could eat chicken without skin. I lived on porridge made with water and no milk for about 5 weeks.

How long will you have to wait for the operation?

8-12 weeks for the appt then who knows how long-distance after that

I really wish I could afford private

I understand where you're at but I had mine out about a year ago and now feel and look like a different person ( in a good way)!

I had to eat as little fat as was possible before the op , basically lived off grilled white fish, fat free yoghurt, grapes and black tea. Salmon, eggs and meat of any kind triggered horrendous attacks. Never known pain like it. Best decision I ever made.

Had mine out last year - best thing ever, didn't really realise how shit I felt until the bloody thing was gone!

I am wondering if some of my longterm issues are connected - I have been reading about bile acid malabsorption which looks pretty accurate

Everyone has their own threshold for fat - chicken might be ok for you. Be conscious, though, that your threshold may lessen as you get worse whilst waiting for the op.

Coping in the mean time... don't have your evening meal too late, eat little and often rather than big meals, but not too close together. When you get an attack, a hot bath is one of the most effective ways to relieve the pain. Buscopan Cramps stopped my less severe attacks in their tracks.

Just thought of something else - you mentioned putting on weight... if you are overweight, some surgeons will insist on a liquid diet for up to 2 weeks before the op. I mention this just in case it does apply to you and you want to avoid it. With the weight I lost, it fortunately wasn't necessary for me, but I didn't even know it was a possibility until it would have been too late for me to do anything about it.

Lean meat, plenty of veg.

My BMI is about 25 i think so hopefully I'll be ok

Sadly I can't eat much veg

Sounds really boring but keep a food diary, it helped me narrow down what would trigger an attack.

For me it was anything citrus and any sort of oil (olive oil, rapeseed, sunflower etc) within a meal or on fish / meat (pre-cooked chicken) would have me in a heap within an hour.

oh and when I had an attack I'd jump in the shower for a long hot hot shower. I found it helpedme.

I pretty much eat meat, bread, potatoes and root veg there isn't much to diarise !!

One thing I didn't realise until a really bad attack after a day living off toast was how much fat there is in bread. It's really quite shocking when you start looking into it all. Hope you don't have to wait too long. You'll feel so much better once it's out