Suspected gallbladder attacks

[123feraverto]

Just looking for any advice on things that have helped others suffering gallbladder attacks.
It is being investigated by the GP it's just a slow process.

The first time I experienced the pain I was 19 weeks pregnant. It was severe with sweats nausea and vomiting and I ended up calling 111 who sent me to a&e.
A&e did blood tests, ecg and chest X-ray. Nothing untoward in the results, the pain disappeared after and hour or two.

Second time I was 24 weeks pregnant so 111 sent me to maternity triage , again bloods taken , nothing appeared wrong. Pain disappears after an hour to two
Dr advised use paracetamol to manage further episodes.
No real conclusions on what it was , they suggested trapped wind, or muscular pains.

Had infrequent less severe episodes of pain for the remaining of my pregnancy.

July brought a week of intermittent pains nearly all day every day. Did some Googling and it sounded to me like gallstones/ biliary colic. Contacted my Gp who agreed and arranged a blood tests and referred for an ultra sound.

Pain has been frequent and far more persistent.

Bloods show my liver is not functioning properly.

Ultrasound showed I do have gallstones , the GP I saw this week for my postnatal 8 weeks appointment. Wanted to rule anything else out as she said the ultrasound didn't look like the stones had moved. Had a more in-depth round of bloods taken on Tuesday, which have ruled out hepatitis, still waiting on the other tests which she said could take a week.

In the last two weeks I've had 3/4 pain free days

Sorry that's long 😂

I'm using ibuprofen, paracetamol and heat to manage the pain episodes but it's not really very effective. I'm breastfeeding so it restricts the pain relief I can have.

Anyone got any tips or advice whilst I'm waiting for GP ?

A low fat diet can help. Sometimes certain foods can be triggering so if you keep track you can cut out potential problem food.
It’s horrible pain. Biliary colic is worse than labour in my opinion!

Thanks I am trying that, I haven't noticed anything in particular triggering it so far.

It does happen more often in the afternoon/evening

But I can also just wake up with it

Definitely worse than child birth !

Buscopan for cramps and paracetamol as soon as you feel a twinge.

But sounds like you should also continue with investigations to get to the bottom of the cause.

Sorry, it’s awful!

Also apple cider vinegar with the mother and hot water - google if for gallstones lots of people swear by it

My advice is drastic, but it saved me when I was so distraught.

Go to A&E when the pain next hits. And if they send you away, go the next time and the next and the next until they remove your gallbladder.

Nothing else is going to help, and if you go to A&E they usually treat you as an acute patient and just remove the evil organ instead of fobbing you off with paracetamol.

I had a baby almost exactly the same age as yours when I went through it and it was so, so awful but I was a different woman once the bloody thing was out, and I could actually enjoy my baby. It made all the difference in the world to me.

Sympathies Op, I had gallstones.

What helped me (certainly didn't take away the pain but I think might have stopped a few attacks) was taking slippery elm, peppermint capsules and buscapan every morning and evening, whether or not I was having an attack.

For me triggers were caffeine and noodles. But as things got worse it didn't matter what I ate. I also couldn't get too hungry, I had to eat little and often.

The only semi effective pain relief was tramadol. I got to the point point of feeling awful 80% of the time just before my operation. It was miserable. I was also on a 12 week waiting list for an operation and ended up waiting nearly 9 months so do push to be referred quickly.

Good luck.

@OaxacaChihuahua in my trust gallbladders are only removed urgently if there is in infection not just pain. So you attend a&e but if your bloods are normal then painkillers is all you will get. This may not be true in all areas of the uk. I’d only go to a&e if the pain is truly unbearable OP. If you’re struggling get back in touch with your GP to see if you can have more analgesia

No advice but they are a bastard. I was also breastfeeding, and you can have more effective pain relief- check out the gallstones and analgesia fact sheets from the drugs in breastmilk service, which is part of the breastfeeding network (Google or Facebook will help you find them). I breastfed through gallstones and gallbladder removal 🙌

Thanks I'll check out those other things mentioned

, my bloods are abnormal for my liver function which the first gp I spoke to didn't expect. So I'm hoping that will warrant a fairly quick removal of it before it damages my liver too much but who knows with the nhs

I avoided fizzy drinks/bread/pasta/potatoes/fatty food and they were my triggers.

Nothing helped the pain, the only solution is removal.

I can't understand the GP's comment about the stones not looking like they've moved so wanting to rule other things out. If the ultrasound shows stones you have them and the recommended treatment if causing the attacks you have described is removal of the gallbladder pronto. The waiting list for surgery on the NHS is long so I would push for a surgical referral ASAP.
I had my gallbladder out last October and it was the best thing ever. The periods of pain, sweating and vomiting every time I had an attack was honestly worse than the two occasions I've given birth. The frequency of your pains sounds absolutely terrible.
I was really frustrated by both GP and hospital treatment when I was having attacks as they would not prescribe any "good" pain relief or anti nausea medication so I would have it on hand in the event of an attack, but instead told me to present to A&E each time (in the middle of COVID!)
I was lucky enough to be able to go private for my surgery and if this is an option for you I would recommend it.
In the mean time, a pretty much zero fat diet reduced the frequency of attacks for me. I also cut out all alcohol and spicy foods - no idea if the latter helped but no fat and no booze certainly helped.

Oh and the only thing that would have warranted emergency surgery on the NHS was apparently perforation. I actually had to have a follow up procedure to remove a stone that had lodged in my bile duct so am very glad I went private.

I had my gallbladder out as I had similar issues.
Didn't stop it. Turned out I have sphincter of oddi dysfunction. Have a Google

Love fat diet. I was on really strong pain killers which made me like a dribbling zombie but it was better than the pain.
Push to have it taken out. I had mine out because I was admitted to hospital with a fall bladder infection time and time again. The stones kept getting stuck in my duct and at the end I couldn't even drink water it eat dry toast without an attack. Mine got worse and worse and they started in pregnancy. I could set my clock that I'd have an attack during hormonal periods such as ovulation it periods. I hope you're ok

I also looked at going private because I was so absolutely desperate. It cost around 6k but I would have gladly paid that to get it out. Awful pain. A million times worse than childbirth

@NanooCov she said something along the lines that she would have expected to see some stretching of the duct if the Stones were moving.

I'm not sure what the additional blood tests were for this time they had 3 blood forms and took at least 4 vials . I've had the standard results back which still show my liver function is abnormal and the hepatitis virology which was negative. She said the rest could take a week to come back. And to book another blood test for next week.

Today has been pain free but I'm keeping a diary of the pain, frequency and intensity and if it makes me vomit etc.

I've had 5 pain free days in august.

I had a look at the sphincter of oddi sounds so similar to gallstones, sounds hard to distinguish between the two

On all fours and breath through the pain, also take dissolvable tabs like Panadol extra. They get to your blood stream quicker
Red meat garlic or spices upset mine

I've actually just started another thread but maybe I'll ask on here, for those of you who went low fat, how low fat is low fat? I am absolutely clueless as to what would be considered low fat. Is it just trial and error of working out what does or doesn't trigger you?

I haven't found anything particular that triggers just avoiding anything obviously fatty .

My referal for surgery has now been sent, they won't give me any strong pain medication because I'm breastfeeding, she's trying to use that as a reason to get the surgery sooner - I hope it works

Surgery date has been given!!

Next week 😱

Good luck. I was going to suggest paying for surgery, which I did after a year of hell and being told it would be a very long time to get it done on the NHS. For several weeks at a time I basically lived off boiled sweets and potatoes.

You will be so much better very very soon.

I've recently had my gallbladder out, and it sounded like yours....horrendous. Like you the attacks while severe +++ often lasted up to 1-2 hours, often werent touched by painkillers

What I would suggest is to avoid a heat pack. It's likely while youre having a gallbladder attack theres already a level of inflammation, which heat would only worsen. Compare it to, say, a sprained ankle. As its already inflamed, you'd use an ice pack to counteract the inflammation. Does that make sense?

Ps great you have a date. I was sore and drained for a week but ok after.

I here it done start of august but havingca shit year....2 weeks back i fell off my bike, fractured my arm badly near my shoulder and having surgery on this tomorrow as it's not responding to a sling on its own. Im going to move into the hospital

And it's out!

Im 3 days post op
Incision sites are a little sore but easily managed with ibuprofen and paracetamol

Brilliant news! I hope you will be feeling loads better very soon!