Gallbladder op - 50% chance of working

[Harry978]

I saw a surgeon last week with regards to a gallbladder op, he said looking at my scan whilst there were gallstones the gallbladder did not look inflamed therefore the operation to remove my gallbladder would only give a 50% chance of stopping the pains I am having therefore he would not do the surgery.

I am now confused as my symptoms are classic gallstone symptoms so if having the op would not stop the pains then what will and what am I to do now?

Gp advised ultra low fat diet this surgeon said not to do this. He said it is bad for the body to eat ultra low fat and that as long as I didn’t eat takeaway everyday to eat what I want. However I know that eating cheese for example will cause me to be in agony so I know I can’t eat this but I can’t surely not eat this forever due to being in fear of pain?

I think just eat a low fat as opposed to ultra low fat. Find your own triggers-which can change over time anyway, I have found.

For what it's worth, I eat quite carefully but can now eat oily fish, which wasn't possible initially, as Gb was infected. I've been fine for 3 plus years now. What I did was lose weight as I needed to drop a couple of stones then change my diet so that I have lots of oats at breakfast and ensure I get plenty of both soluble and insoluble fibre. So plenty of veg, and some fruit. I can now eat some nuts and olive oil and low or fat free Greek yogurt but sadly not cheese. I'm really careful about solid fats, and trim any meat, and avoid biscuits and junk food, and absolutely no pastry, that's a killer for me.

So overall I'd say healthy some healthy fats, plenty of fibre, carbs , low fat dairy, healthy (wholemeal) carbs and lean proteins. Anyway I'm not a medic but so far it has worked fir me.

Thanks for the tips they are really helpful.

We’re you ever given the option of surgery or were you advised to control with diet?

Can u get a 2nd opinion?

I would definitely be getting a second opinion. Does the surgeon just want to wait until you are in agony all the time?

I had surgery and due to complications they left 20% behind. I have worse pains now than before if I eat the wrong thing so can see where he's coming from.

I would definitely get a second opinion. I had mine removed this week. I was in almost constant pain and although scans clearly showed gallstones, they also showed that, like you, my gallbladder bladder was not inflamed.
My surgeon stated that, because of the lack of inflammation, the op might not get rid of the pain but at least it would rule out the gallbladder being the cause and they could do further investigations.
After the surgery (which was keyhole) the operating surgeon came to check on me and told me that, although the gallbladder was not inflamed at the time, there was evidence of previous inflamation. She was confident that this had been the cause of my pain.
I'm still recovering and have some pain around entry ports when moving but the initial pain is gone.
Good luck x

Thanks all. I don’t really know how I can get a second opinion.

As well as having the labour type attacks I also sometimes have a dull pain that can last for a day or so then go but the consultant advised this would not be pain from the gallstones and that I should have this checked by gp.

He also looked at his computer and said I hadn’t been to a&e with the pains. I advised him that this was because I feel in that much pain when it happens that I couldn’t face the car journey but he seemed to think this meant the pain wasn’t that bad.

That sounds ridiculous esp the a and e visits! Go back to your gp and ask them to refer you to another surgeon

@nitgel thanks, I’ll speak to my gp next week

Your surgeon is talking out of his arse. If you're in that much pain you can't get in the car, you need to have your gall bladder removed or it could eventually get infected or you could end up with pancreatitis like I did. I had to spend a week in hospital and then later on had to have it removed.

Incidentally the A&E doctor didn't think I could have gallstones because I 'didn't look that bad'. I had been in agony and throwing up for 24 hours. Sometimes they base their decisions on very subjective criteria but actually we all behave differently when ill so you can't generalise.

@Gregariousfox thanks for the input, the radiologist had advised me the only treatment would be to have it removed so I was not expecting this. This surgeon also said to me well you look nice and healthy but considering I was wearing a mask as well I don’t know how he could tell that from my eyes and forehead.

@Harry978 I was advised that it's quite possible to overcome gallstone disease, and to try.

In the early months after that, I did have a few further attacks and was advised by a couple of GPS that it may need to come out, but once the initial inflammation had properly died down me, and I had changed my diet, it's been fine.

@Mumisnotmyonlyname thanks, I was surprised the surgeon said not to change my diet as I thought that was important. Hopefully mine will settle down as well.

I hadn't been to A+E with my gallstone pain.

Turned out this was because instead of having a low pain threshold as I thought, I was actually a legend I'd by rolling around at home on all fours screaming but it never once occurred to me to go to A+E.

I only avoided the gallstone pain pre-op by avoiding all fat entirely which was entirely and completely miserable.

Second opinion.

@Harry978 perhaps it depends how healthy your diet is already? Mine was obviously ropey as I was overweight. I think low fat rather than no fat is the way to go.

I have a hunch that (once you have no active inflammation) that it's the yo yo of less fat/more fat which helps do the damage. I also know that gallstones is more common in people who lose large amounts of weight quickly, so if you need to, no more than 2lb/ 1 kg a week.

@AnnaMagnani I'm not a doctor so that's only my personal hunch, and it worked for me. So who knows.

I went for an ultrasound Friday. I have been having regular episodes of stomach pain and have been convinced it's gallstones. The symptoms and those that normally get it (overweight, over 50 female) is me to a T. I've missed work because of it, and one episode in the summer my husband dialled 999 but they were busy and when a paramedic rang back an hour later it had started easing so i cancelled it.

On hindsight I actually found the ultrasound quite painful and I'd seemed they were hurrying me out like they didn't want to ask questions.

I was on the train coming back and the GP rang me back saying it showed "calcification of the gallbladder." It was a difficult conversation as we kept going into tunnels but it seems that it's likely gallstones, but cancer needs to be ruled out and I'm to be fast tracked to the hospital. I dont think it's cancer, Dr Google says it's rare, usually happens in people from Asia and Central America and in much oldrr people, plus theres normally weightloss (i wish) and jaundice. Im a Londoner but my background is 100%Irish, definitely no Central American or Asian blood!

I wonder if the fact the gallbladder is calcified, which it seems is common in gallstones, does that mean it's inflamed? I don't have a temperature at all (it's checked daily going into work due to covid). The only other thing of note is recently I've had mild pain near my right shoulder which sometimes happens with gallstones.

I wish I'd been told this. I had mine out and boom I've been left with sphincter of oddi dysfunction .. bile acid malabsorption

@Harry978

I saw a surgeon last week with regards to a gallbladder op, he said looking at my scan whilst there were gallstones the gallbladder did not look inflamed therefore the operation to remove my gallbladder would only give a 50% chance of stopping the pains I am having therefore he would not do the surgery.

I am now confused as my symptoms are classic gallstone symptoms so if having the op would not stop the pains then what will and what am I to do now?

Gp advised ultra low fat diet this surgeon said not to do this. He said it is bad for the body to eat ultra low fat and that as long as I didn’t eat takeaway everyday to eat what I want. However I know that eating cheese for example will cause me to be in agony so I know I can’t eat this but I can’t surely not eat this forever due to being in fear of pain?

Your surgeon practices evidence based Medicine and has probably trained for around 10 years after medical school to even be a Consultant. They have performed thousands of operations as an SPR. PLEASE take their advice regarding if it is advised to be removed or not. I have seen many complications post surgery and sadly many people think that surgical management really is the golden treatment. If he did not think it would be 50 percent chance of success he would not have told you that.

@Spidey66 good luck when you go to the hospital.

@Leonardo87 I understand everything you are saying however last night from 4am to 7am I was in such pain again that I had to pace around the house as no position to lie or sit was comfortable. I just feel like I’ve been left to get on with the pain on my own.