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!

@lostandfound55 I'm just back from the clinic. Multiple gallstones as predicted.

The results will go back to my gp today and I guess I will need an appointment to see what is next. Its a relief to know what it is.

@Jelly4444 glad you have an answer. My gp contacted me a couple of days after my scan so you shouldn’t have to wait long. Let me know what they say.

I had another attack in the night, it woke me up and lasted about 3 hours but pain was not as bad as previously.

@lostandfound55 Let's see what the doctor says! Have you had anymore info on your mri? I asked the sonographer if everything else looked ok and he said yes so hopefully there's nothing else to worry about. He said that he wasn't sure how many gallstones were there - obviously too many to count

I'm sorry to hear that you have been suffering again! How often are the attacks?

@Jelly4444 no more info on mri other than wait for them to contact me.

I seem to be getting 1-2 attacks a week although some are worse than others. I think the attack this week was due to eating a shortbread biscuit in the evening. I was wary about eating it but the surgeon had said to eat what I want so thought it wouldn’t hurt, unfortunately it did

How often are you having attacks happen?

@lostandfoubd55 I think your attacks are worst than mine. I've had pains on and off for years but they don't last long. I've had about 3 attacks since March and smaller attacks before that. The worst pain, by far, was when I posted here.

I'm not eating anything greasy or oily. Even oily fish is a trigger for me. I think that I can eat fats that aren't cooked, for example butter or cheese. A cheese sandwich is fine but a toasted cheese sandwich might kill me!

@Jelly4444 eating cheese is a no for me. Every time I have eaten it recently I have had an attack. I have brought some low fat cheese spread though to test but I haven’t braved eating it yet.

I had noticed my attacks were getting worse each time I had one however the last one wasn’t so it doesn’t seem to follow a pattern however that is the first time I have been woken in the night with it.

Just to give some advice, if having an attack don’t go near sharp objects Last night I started getting pains again around 4am. Thought I would go downstairs and take some paracetamol and walk around the kitchen to ease the pain. I managed to faint and woke up to my hand covered in blood from where I had cut my head on the table. I have been to a&e had my head glued back together, blood tests done and were all fine apart from I heard the dr on the phone and something should be 40 but was 50. They have called surgical outpatients who have now moved me up the list for the op and had a chest X-ray. Not quite sure what happens now with the other surgeon saying I didn’t need the op.

@lostandfound55 Oh my God! What an awful night. I have felt close to passing out from the pain at times too. I hope that you are ok now. I don't think its fair that the 1st surgeon ruled out surgery when your attacks are so frequent. You can't live like this. The pain makes me terrified for weeks. I couldn’t cope with very frequent attacks.

At least one good thing had come from it all. Do you know when you might have surgery?

@Jelly4444 the dr said it would now be weeks rather than months which she said was a good outcome as she said she would try her best on the phone to help me. I heard her tell them I had 3 attacks in 10 days and that I hadn’t been to a&e for the other attacks so I think it may make a difference if you go there however I wouldn’t have gone if I hadn’t banged my head. The dr said in future stay upstairs and have pain killers by the bed of it happens again at night.

They also did what she called Murphys test by feeling the gallbladder and I had to breath in which hurt and she said that shows the gallbladder is inflamed so not sure why the dr last week did not do that test.

I've been having stomach pains intermittently for the past couple of years now. Scale of 1-10 has been at least 6/10. a couple of times were like 12/10! I had one in the summer where my husband dialled 999 but there was a wait and a paramedic triaged me an hour or so later and it had eased off so I cancelled it.

Anyway after that one I spoke to my GP and said I suspected gallstones and was referred for an ultrasound, I have ''porcelain gallbladder'' which from what I understand is scarring/calcification from repeated gallstones episodes. I'm on a 2 week fast track to the hospital to rule out cancer (I'm confident it isn't) but looks like it will need to be removed.

The pain sounds like yours though. The one in the summer if you'd said the pain would be eased by cutting off my right arm I would have offered my arm. On hindsight I should have gone to the hospital anyway. But I'm a nurse myself, and I always see myself as someone who gives help, not great at asking for it myself, which appears to have stored up problems!

Oh and when I had the ultrasound it was painful, I've seen the report which did say Murphy's test positive.

@Iostandfound55 I had Murphys test done too but it barely hurt at all. I'm delighted that you are finally getting somewhere with all of this. Imagine how well you will feel when it's all sorted.

@spidey66 you are not the first nurse that I have heard saying this! I'm not a nurse but not great at asking for help either. A porcelain gallbladder sounds absolutely horrendous! I hope you get it sorted out soon. Will you let us know how the operation goes?

I need to be seen at the hospital first, I had the ultrasound Friday and bloods today, waiting on hospital appointment.

@Spidey66 hope you hear from the hospital with your appointment soon.

@Jelly4444 yes it will feel good to have no pain and not have to go to the drs or hospital.

I got this appointment letter, but I'm confused as to whether I go to the hospital or are they ringing me? The telephone number on it is an automated one for changing appointments and urging people to go online to do so if possible. What do people think?

It's horrendous pain. I agree worse than labour. Avoid all foods containing fat until you've seen the doctor.

I hope you all get sorted. I had mine removed about ten years ago in my early thirties and it’s been such a relief.

@Spidey66 that looks like a telephone appointment to me. I’m guessing they have just edited there normal letter which is why it doesn’t seem very clear.

@Spidey66 hope your appointment goes well today

Thank you, will feedback after.

I thought the GP was referring me to gastroenterology for further investigations, but seems they've gone straight to the surgical team.

@Spidey66 yes please let me know how you get on.

I was also referred to surgical outpatients by my gp and would be interested to see how your appointment goes.

I had a gallbladder attack and there was a point where I considered that perhaps I was about to be that woman that ended up giving birth to a baby without realising she was pregnant.

@FourTeaFallOut

I had a gallbladder attack and there was a point where I considered that perhaps I was about to be that woman that ended up giving birth to a baby without realising she was pregnant.

lol

I've had a few stomach pains of late which I now think were episodes of gall stones, with varying degrees of pain. On a scale of 1-10 with 0 being no pain, they've been from 6/10 to about 12/10! The worst one, if it hadn't been for the fact that I'm 54 and have had a hysterectomy I would have thought the same as you. If you'd told me I could get rid of the pain by cutting my right arm off, I would have asked where the saw was.

My pain was only relieved once I had been sick, had no routine of when it started, I had woken up with it in a morning so it wasn't what I had eaten or just before going to bed. I spent a lot of time on my hands & knees with my bum in the air when the pain was bad or knelt on the stairs with a hot water bottle under my chest. I was prescribed dihydracodeine & anti sickness medication, I also took buscopan as well. My only advice is to ask your doctor for a choose & book appointment to your nearest private hospital, I managed to see a consultant within two weeks of my first attack & have my gall bladder removed within seven weeks, it didn't stop my gall bladder getting infected, my surgeon said he was minutes away from converting to open surgery because it was stuck to my liver, it looked like i had passed my biggest stone because my bile duct was stretched but he managed to do it all keyhole, I went in at 1.00, in theatre by 2.00, back in bed by 3.30 & home watching soaps by 7.00, I was out & about within a couple of days & discharged a week after my op.

Its sounds like gallbladder. You sometimes get pain in shoulder and back too with it. I'm a good old NHS waiting list as mine needs removing. So far I've waited 7 month.