What does a Gallbladder attack feel like?

[Jelly4444]

Decided to treat ourselves to a Chinese last night. Big mistake! Woke up at 4am with excruciating pain under my right ribs! Vomited with the pain for a few hours. Took a difene but it did nothing. Never felt a pain like it before. I intended to get the kids to school at 8.30 and go to A&E but the pain went and I felt fine. Rang the doctors and I can't get an appointment until next week.

Does this sound like a gallbladder attack? I'm so worried!

Yep, so sorry, it's horrendous. So glad when I had mine removed.

Oh I've not heard the 5F's before but I suspected that age and fat were involved. I'm fair, fat, female, infertile and fifty. So nearly!

@RWK29 Thanks for all the advice today and best of luck with the birth and your new baby! Exciting times ahead for you.

@RWK29 P.S. I thought that giving birth was easier than the gallbladder attack! You can do this!

@Jelly4444 Thanks 😂 lots of people have said that so I have my fingers crossed 😂

I had cholecystitis years ago. Weirdly, the pain wasn’t that bad, I just ended up phoning NHS24 because I felt like a had a flu that the painkillers weren’t touching. I just had some tenderness in the affected area. Went to hospital for urine test and infection markers were off the scale so was admitted immediately. Also they wanted to take my gb out but as they couldn’t find any evidence of stones etc I opted not to.
Reading these I feel very fortunate!

I’ve been there whilst waiting a year to get my gallbladder removed my GP gave me a suppository anti inflammatory Dictophenic (sp?) to use when a bad attack hit, the idea that swallowing meds don’t work or touch the pain. When I had a horrendous attack i was desperate and I did use the pill and DH said it definitely calmed me, I was out of it with the extreme pain so not that aware but it helped me then cope. It did take me 4wks post surgery to feel more human, and I have to watch what I eat but it was definitely a godsend having it taken out.

Not sure if it's been mentioned above already but apparently it's very common to have gallbladder issues shortly after having a baby. Pregnancy hormones slowing the digestive system down etc. My first really bad attack was 3 weeks post partum. I panicked at the time and thought I had some kind of retained placenta scenario going on 😂😂

It does sound like your gallbladder OP. My first attack was when my baby was 5 weeks old and bizarrely it felt just like I was in labour, which I couldn't be having given birth 5 weeks before! My second attack I had the vomiting etc. I controlled it for 6 months with a low fat diet until I had my gallbladder removed. Please make sure you see your GP.

Mine made me think I was having a heart attack, but unlike a lot of people I had almost permanent pain because I also had an inflamed gallbladder.Since the removal I've become very sensitive to animal fats and have to be really careful what I eat.

TriSki diclofenac suppositories are the best thing since sliced bread. Much faster acting than swallowing them, and a godsend when you're vomiting (either due to the gall bladder itself or due to the antibiotics - I had to take a course of antibiotics alongside the doxicycline - if that's how you spell it - in order to keep them down).

@Jelly4444 did you go to your gp about this? I think I may have had this Friday evening.

Hi @lostandfound55,

I have been meaning to update all week. I went to the doc last week. She said that it was more than likely a gallbladder attack. I'm waiting for an ultrasound - I expect to get a call this week from them. I have health insurance otherwise it would have taken mucher longer.

I have been watching what I eat since the attack and I feel fine. The doc told me to take solphadeine if the pain happens again.

What were your symptoms?

I had something like this a few years ago. A year after having a baby and losing a lot of weight, I was still fair, fat, fertile and almost forty. Like others, the pain was so bad I thought I was having a heart attack, and far worse than labour. The advance paramedic had gas and air which didn’t touch it so the main crew gave me morphine. I vomited in A&E and then fell asleep. I ended up leaving without ever having been formally admitted (still not quite sure how that happened) so nothing is on record or followed up, and that was about seven years ago now with - thankfully - no repeat. Horrible though.

On Friday evening I started to get stomach pains on the right hand side near the bottom of my ribs. It progressively got much worse so bad that it reminded me of childbirth as the pain came and went like contractions. I couldn’t sit, lie or stand comfortably. I was doubled over in pain gripping onto husbands shoulder. It hurt to breath and the pain went right through to my back. Then after around an hour or so when we were thinking to go to a&e it started to improve. Within 1 1/2 hours it was over and I felt better again just left with a red mark under the right rib where I had been gripping it in pain.

Ohh! That sounds horrific @lostandfound55! Get yourself to the doctor tomorrow and get it looked at.

Your more recent pain sounds very like the pain that I had although mine was continuous rather than in waves. I think the doctor said that a continuous pain is more likely to be sludge (yuck!!) and a pain that comes in waves is a trapped stone. She said to check for dark urine, light bowel movements and to check under your eyelids to see if they are yellow (jaundice). I had none of these though. Everything looks normal.

What had you eaten before the attack? Anything oily / greasy sets mine off. I think I have been having milder attacks for years.

I hadn’t eaten anything particularly greasy, chicken and veg for dinner trust night. Ham and pitta for lunch.

I'll keep you updated! I hope to have the scan this week. According to the GP, they normally do surgery pretty quickly after the scan.

Sorry to jump on your post op! But I’ve been having something similar and I have no idea if it’s my gallbladder or something else. It’s been going on for years now. I would say probably about 8/9. Pain on the right hand side right under my rib. It takes your breathe away. It feels like someone has stabbed me with a knife and I can’t move. Will last a few minutes then go away and then come back in waves then completely vanish again for a few weeks/months. It’s really bizarre. Does this sound like gallbladder issues? I’ve been to the gp once about it in the past but was told it was probably a pulled muscle? Sure it doesn’t go on for this long! And yes, I would say the pain is worse than child birth, it’s reduced me to tears at times.

Good luck with your scan!

@Jelly4444 I couldn’t get booked in for a scan with the nhs until December or January so I have gone private and managed to get an appointment for tomorrow.

Good luck at your appointment this week.

@lostandfound55 lucky you!! It will be good to get it over with. Let us know how you get on. I got my appointment today too - Not until 2nd Nov though I'm in Dublin though so a different system to you.

@BippityBoppity87 My pain was a constant pain but I believe the pain can come in waves too. I think that a constant pain is more likely to be sludge in your gallbladder and an intermittent pain is likely to be a stone.

@Jelly4444 I will let you know what happens.

@BippityBoppity87 mine has come in waves just like contractions then lasts around 1-2 hours then completely disappears.

@lostandfound55 yes that’s what if feels like, contractions, but more stabby if that makes sense. And the pain will intensify then ease up intensify then go away. Sometimes the area can be a bit tender afterwards then I’m usually fine again like nothing happened

I’m worried about going back to the gp as I have so many things wrong with me as it is! Knee issue which I need an mri for, possible sleep apnea. I’m guessing all weight related as I’ve put on a ridiculous about of weight in 4 years. Like 8 stone, and I have no idea why! And so hairy around my face chin and neck, it’s embarrassing and gets worse the more weight I put on. I’ve had my liver, kidneys cholesterol and thyroid checked. All fine

I find alcohol can trigger the attacks but most of the time it does just come out the blue