Gallstones HELP

[lisad123]

I was taken into hospital on weds after being sick all day and being in major pain. Had a scan and i have a a number of gall stones and my gall bladder is inflamed
They are planning to remove my gall bladder once the infection has settled but for now i have been sent home.
Im still in a lot of pain and feeling sick. Any advice? I have been told to stick to low fat diet, and go back if im not managing pain.
I was allowed to keep LO with me, so n ot as bad as it could have been.

Lisa

so sorry for you to be going through this, cholecystectmy (sp?) removal of gall bladder is a fairly minor procedure these days and is usually keyhole, iirc, have you got anti-sickness meds and pain meds?

I take it by lo, you mean that you have had the baby that was due Oct 07? (profile)

i have AB and paracetomol but thats it. Im not sure if its still meant to be hurting this bad. I thought it was meant to settle, but im in pain all the time

yeah sorry my LO is 4 weeks old. I have to switch to FF for 2 days as AB would have made her unwell she is now back to BF but is consitapted not a good day in the lisad household.

paracetamol isn't going to help an awful lot, I'm going to assume you have baby, are you bf? that will limit what you can take... it should settle with the AB, how long have you been taking them?

I'm struggling to think of much more to suggest to be honest, would you be willing to stop bf altogether to get yourself the treatment that you need? (I know it's a toughie, but life throws these things at you sometimes)

They started the AB on weds night, though IV. Im now on tablets for another week.

is it getting worse or just not better? was it this painful when you left hospital?

it was worse when i was admitted, but was a lot better yesterday, if that makes sense. Even breathing hurts right now

Hi Lisa,

Sympathies. I had gallstones diagnosed when my DS was 4 months old but had been getting painful attacks since he was six weeks.
Eventually they removed my gallbladder - this was done using a keyhole apprach and I was home the next day.
Personally I didn't find what I ate made the slightest bit of difference - if I was going to get an attack then I got one.
If the pain continues it would be worth ringing the out of hours service to see if there are any stronger painkillers you can have.

thanks so much. I had a salad yesterday but still had an attack. I think i will call the out of hours doc soon if gets no better as the pain is getting a bit too much, but dont want to go back into hospital, especially with LO.

Is there a link between a gallstones flare up and childbirth? I know 3 people who had their gall bladders removed within 6 months of giving birth.

Sorry, I know that's not helpful, but I just wondered!

One of the friends who had hers removed while she was still breastfeeding said that she found it really hard to get the baby into a comfortable feeding position due to the 3 (I think) small wounds.

the doctor said there is a link between giving birth and gall stones, not that it made me feel anybetter.

{{{Lisa}}} So sorry you are going though this pain

Gallstones are terrible, I was hospitalised twice with them (once when DD was 4 months old and then again when she was 6.5 months old)

They wouldn't allow my daughter to stay with me But I insisted on her being with me during the day.

You can get breastfeeding friendly painkillers and antibiotics. I can't believe they didn't suggest this for you. When you go back in insist on getting breastfeeding friendly drugs (use the drug line below or the nurses can check with the midwifes for advice)

Morphine is also ok to breastfeed with ...just like c-section new mums do. No need to pump and dump or anything.

Some painkillers have to be time dosed...i.e.Breastfed first and then take drug.

I also found that sticking to low fat diet didn't stop the attacks, even fat free crackers would set me off once my bladder was inflamed.

Sorry to say, that for me recently the pain has returned (even with gall bladder removed four months ago)but I will be insisting on breastfeeding friendly drugs if I go back in to hospital for my 14 month old DD.

Here are a few numbers which might help you if you have to go back in...

NCT Breastfeeding Help Line 9870 444 8708

Drugs in Breastmilk Helpline (generally answered at night) Wendy Jones 0844 412 4665

Drugs and breastfeeding help website.
Drugline

I have got a few more links and information I got of a fab NCT tutor if you want more information...let me know.

I have a number of AB I cant take and the drugs they insisted I needed were too strong to BF on. However, they did let LO stay with me and I just pumped and dumped for 2 days, and now am on BF friendly drugs.

Im just worried if i go back will have to go back on the unfriendly drugs. Will be sure to keep those numbers to hand.
Wish I had gone in when pain started a week ago, but it came and went. Maybe if i had gone in earlier it wouldnt be so bad now. Thanks for the advice on diet. Im having chicken and rice tonight, as I feel so sick, but will remember not to worry too much about my choccy biscuits

They also discovered i have raised liver function but they will retest in a few weeks. My wee is also dark orange which is very odd

babieseverywhere, that's great advice, I forgot opoids are OK in moderation during bf, codeine perhaps if you don't want to go straight to morphine, best to call out of hours really, so sorry you're having a crap time!

why did I put a '!' at the end of that? sorry.

I had morpine in hospital it was fab Will see if i have any codine in the cupboard but will call doc first.
Thanks for the support.

Huge sympathy from me Lisa, I've been through what you ar going through, it was hideous and I ended up in A&E 3 times on morphine before I had the surgery. My LO was 4 mnths old though and I had started mixed feeding that week after 4 months of exclusive bf. There was no way she could come to the hospital with me and I had no idea I could feed with morphine so that was the end of bf for us unfortunately.

I hope you are ok and get over the infection soon. If you start to go yellow, go to A&E asap.

DON'T USE CODEINE -

Recent research has shown problems with breastfeeding linked to one baby death and other side affects.

I turned bright yellow on the verve of liver failure and my wee was bright red (due to billurubin)and they still found me antibiotics that were safe to breastfeed on.

Here is a list of drugs and side effects...why not print them out and take with you to the hospital.

Antibiotics and Breastfeeding

Painkillers PDF Document

Great List of Drugs safe and not safe including codine
Drug List

Last link, just thought I better back up my claim of Codeine issues.

Q&A Codeine

oh bugger.

I rang GP and e said to take one 30mg tablet. It has only taken a tiny edge off so wont take again and hope that LO is ok tonight. She is due a feed 3 hours after I have taken it, so hopefully shouldnt cause too much problems but will be sure to keep an eye on her.

Thanks for the site. The docs and nurses were wonderful at the hospital and did try very hard to make sure i could continue to BF, and LO was only FF for a short a period as possible. I couldnt have asked for better. Looking at your info they did the right thing.
Im hoping the AB will work soon and pain will calm down.
Thanks so much, MN is wonderful

Thinking of you, Lisa: I had my gallbladder out after my first child was born (I became ill when he was 4 months old) and I developed pancreatitis. Look after yourself, I hope they can operate soon. xx

Lisad - if you are not feeling must better then the out of hours doctor should be able to come out an give you a pethadine injection.

I suffered really badly with gall blader pain and rised billyruben(sp) levels that I have mine removed at 20 weeks pregnant with DS1.

There is a link to gall blader pain after and during pregnanys.

I always found that I could managed plain boiled rice and a small portion of grilled chicken or fish, no diary or fat.

I hope you are feeling better soon