still having problems after gall bladder removal

[Babyramone]

Hi have posted about this before.
Had my gall bladder removed in august since then have had 3 attacks similar to when I had gall stones. Had the 3rd atttack on friday and it was awful. Nearly phoned NHS24 but after taking both cocodamol and diclofenac got it under control. Anyway will be visiting G.P tomorrow but wondered if any onw else has experienced this.
I googled (bad idea i know)and there is a condition called Post Cholecystectomy Syndrome.
Has anyone had this?
I seem to remember someone mentioning this on a previous post, may be wrong though.

Sparkle - it is possibly that, and if they've done bloods before, they may have checked your pancreatic enzyme levels; it's worth finding out if this is the case, and if so, what they are.

My amylase is raised, and has been slowly getting higher since I had my op in 2007. I had an attack of acute pancreatitis within two days of being discharged - the consultant believed it was because of a small stone being dislodged during the op and blocking the common bile duct. Unfortunately I went on to have more attacks that year, and infrequent ones since.

After enough tests and scans to glow in the dark, my diagnosis is borderline chronic pancreatitis - and I recognise all my symptoms in your post above.

I'd really recommend having a chat with your gp; they'll be able to give you more info and sort out blood tests. I would also say that if the pain does get that bad, go to your A&E, they have access to all sorts of wonderful pain relief.

I posted another thread on this but perhaps some of you might be able to stop me worrying. I went in to have lap chole yesterday, was put under and they went in thru keyhole but closed me back up as common bile duct was inflamed as was my gallbladder. They have referred me for a ercp but having googled - so stupid I know- I am in tears thinking I am going to get an infection and then that will be the end of me. I'm so frightened. I can't remember if the surgeon referred me as an urgent case as I was groggy from general. I now know that I have had classic symptoms of this over the past few weeks but all the docs I saw said was to wait till gallbladder came out as I wasn't yellow and sent me away. Only one bothered to do a blood test. Having looked on nhs website, being yellow isn't even the most common symptom. I'm recovering from an op that achieved nothing and am so stressed waiting for a call about the ercp and thinking I'll get an infection in the meantime. All I can think of is my little boy.

you will be fine hun... you may get an infection BUT they will know tht is possible and keep a CLOSE eye on you... try not to worry big hugs xxx

Hi
I had my gallbladder removed November 2010 and it contained fish gravel size stones. Extremely painful, very relieved to see it go! In May 2011 I had an attack of pain which I could only liken to gallstone pain - hospitalized for 4 days whilst they found nothing wrong, though liver level tests high and unexplained. Another attack in July 2011 - again with high liver levels. Had MRI, CT, PET Scan - many tests and could not fault the NHS, but they could still find nothing wrong and no explanation for pain or high liver levels. Was discharged 3 weeks ago, although was given blood cards to take just in case I had another attack and to get blood tests done whilst attack happening if possible. 5 days later another attack - took me completely by surprise - blood taken and, once again, liver levels high. Couldn't stop being sick and back ache was horrendous. Anti-sickness tablets and tramadol got me through that episode. Anyway, a fantastic doctor at my local hospital called me in within a few days for an ERCP and diagnosed Sphincter of Oddi Dysfunction. He cut the sphincter muscle on Thursday last week during the ERcP and although still recovering from the op the doctor believes it will be curative and I should have no further attacks. As I understand it the sphincter muscle had seized up and was not letting bile through, which was then backing back up in my body causing the pain and sickness. By cutting the muscle he has released it and bile should now flow through. The only test for this is ERCP - I was heavily sedated and was unaware of the whole procedure. Apparently it is a rare condition, but can occur after gall bladder surgery, but not always. Your GP/medic may or may not have heard of it - my GP hadn't until I told her about it! If you read on the internet about it there are loads of scary stories about pancreatitis after an ERCP - I didn't have a chance to research until after it was over - but I would still have had it done. Living with the knowledge I could have an attack at any time for no reason - it was not linked to anything I ate or drank - was horrible.
Hope this helps !

I had my gallbladder removed 7 weeks ago after having stones and a very bad infection had to have antibiotics in hospital for 5 days and they couldnt get the inflamation down so removed it through keyhole felt like i was recovering for the following 4 weeks and then had a very bad attack as though it hadnt been removed been in hospital 3 times since bloods and water showing no infection but showing blood in my urine had continious pain since under ribs in lower back upto shoulder. pain which is present all the time but getting daily severe attacks of shooting pains from side around to back upto shoulder unbearable pain had ultrasound scan came back clear waiting results for mri scan but think this maybe clear because they havent rushed to send report back dont know what to do now people can clearly see im unwell as im very pale with very dark eyes and im also unable to work but feel like im making it up dont know if i should ask for the camera down my throat if the mri comes back clear can anyone advise me please dont know what way to turn now

hi, i just had my gallbladder removed 2 days ago and was sent home with no follow up appointment needed and no advice on what to eat afterwards, does anyone know what kind of things you can eat or can you just continue with your usual diet, also feeling very dizzy and lightheaded with some nausea is this normal aswell? any feeback is truly gratefull x

weeclairey if everything has gone as planned, you are usually advised to return to your normal diet. However, I have heard some say that post-op, they were unable to tolerate food very high in fat as it went through them pretty quickly. Do you have a nutritionist at your GPs who might be able to advise or work with you on a meal plan.

With regards to feeling light headed, that could be the after effects of the general. Again, no harm in going to your GP just to be on the safe side. I am assuming that your op was keyhole. Whenever people talk about keyhole, they say oh it's just keyhole and you are out the same day, but a lap chole is still major surgery so make sure you get lots of rest and keep hydrated.

thanks for getting back bambinoboo yeah it was keyhole that i had and everything went according to plan, yeah going to see the nutritionist on monday so get a meal plan set up, ive just been confused as i had asked the docs n nurses about what diet i should have now and they didnt tell me anything just that the gallbladder is something you can live without and i will be fine with plenty of rest apparently thats what most patients got told aswell, just feel as if no one really wants to answer questions about gallbladders and seem to brush it to the side,

Hi, I had my Gallbladder removed 8 weeks ago, come round from keyhole surgery in intense pain across my stomach and in the right side of my back, I had an overnight stay(as planned) and was sent home the following evening.I was in alot of pain for the days after and thought this was normal as I had just had surgery, but after 2 days at home I collapsed and was rushed into hospital with a very high temperature too, because I still had the pain in my stomach and bloods showing an infection of some sort they decided to open up the incision at my stomach (as it was red on the surface but no leakage or bad smell) to find that the badness of an infected blood clot just came pouring out. I was in hospital for 5 days on IV antibiotics and sent home with antibiotics aswell. the hole was originally 7cm deep and I have to have it packed and redressed every day it is now at 3.5cms deep and has been for about 2 weeks, I am also still experiencing a dull pain in the right side of my back and am dreading the thought that this is a further problem. Has anyone else had this experience or similar and have any information, thankyou.

Hi, I just got my gallbladder removed in January of this year and today I began to feel small pains where my it used to be and as I researched I found it to be more and more common. I still have a worry I haven't found any case where the pain came back so soon, if anyone could help me.

Hi
I had my gallbladder out in Nov 2007, found out it had been gangrenous . was given no specific info on diet or anything and have been mainly ok, however had 2 bad reactions in the last few Weeks where my mid back has hurt like hell and been throwing up bile. Linked it rotating pork as I know high sat fat food doesn't go down well. Anyone else have particular trigger foods??

a friend of mine had gb removal four years ago and gastric band surgery, not for being overweight but to stop reflux She has had constant pain, stomach ache, burning sensations in mouth, nose, other symptoms as listed in above posts.
Consultants and juniors very off hand and still not able to take this shit on board, in the meantime she still in terrible pain most days.

Has anyone had any success with any diet, medication, anything at all, to reduce acid production or found ways to ''mop up'' the acid or line the stomach effectively after gb removal?

Hi, I had my gallbladder out in July 2010. I have pain now and again after eating but usually my biggest problem is having the runs after too much food or anything really fatty. I really have to wait for my food to go down otherwise I get an upset stomach, I couldn't eat and then dash out or I would be dashing to the loo!! I have been suffering though since Saturday night, my partner cooked salmon with a rich sauce (I haven't had salmon since my op) and I also had a few glasses of wine which sometimes gives me indigestion. Sure enough I had indigestion but I woke up in the night with pain just like a gallbladder attack, across my stomach ribs and back, the problem is, it isn't easing. In the morning I had bile in my mouth (nice NOT) I'm going to give it until the end of the week and if not I'm going to see the doctor - anyone else had similar experiences????? I struggle with bacon and anything really fatty. Anyone reading this pre-op please please please don't be put off I'm so glad I had mine removed as I was so ill with gallstones I lost 3 stone, couldn't eat a thing and was throwing up constantly and in pain, just because some of us experience problems later it doesn' mean you will.

Ohdobuckup- I have taken Lansoprazole daily since I had my GB removed, deals with excess acid and bile. However, I like many others on here continue to have trouble.
I had my op in 2001, when I was 22. Pregnancy hormones were blamed at the time for speeding up my symptoms and pain of Gall stones as I had none at all until I was around 2-3 months gone. By the time they diagnosed me I was around 7 months and too late to have it treated. I remember a Dr explaining to me a tool that they would use to help diagnose Gall stones, he called it the 5Fs= Female, Forty, Fat, Fertile and Flatulence lol (I only fit the female and fertile at the time)
I had my op 6 mths after giving birth and was led to believe it would be the end of it.....The op itself went well and I was home the same day, I had a few niggles over the next few days but on day 4 post op I had just eaten a cheese sandwich and boom the pain came like never before. To cut a long story short my GP and the surgeon both said it was fluid causing the pain and it would die down, until eventually another few days later I got myself to the GP surgery( as they wouldn't give me a home visit!!) and demanded to be looked at. I could barely walk because of the pain, my tummy looked like I was 6 months pregnant again, I was shaky and actually collapsed and passed out on the GP's floor, an ambulance was called and I was re-admitted to hospital. A few hours later I had turned completely yellow, my skin and my eyes and was vomitting litres of bile....so now they believed there was something seriously wrong. After lots of prodding and poking, scans and tubes they found that my bile duct was damaged so I had to endure another surgery to fix it. All was well until last year when the pain suddenly returned, resulting in 2 trips to A&E for shots of morphine to relieve it, my first thought was that the stent they had put in my bile duct to repair it had came out/moved. They found proof of neither and were reluctant to operate for a third time. So I have to suffer the odd bout of torturous pain and basically get on with it :( It's rubbish really and not acceptable to me and many other people who thought that by getting the GB removed would be the end of their suffering.

Ohdobuckup - I am another fan of lansaprozole, and have taken it daily since August 2011.

I had my gallbladder removed in Jan 2011 but was still having problems until the doctor prescribed this. I have had to modify my diet though, and although I can pretty much eat anything now (had chip shop chips for lunch today :-) ) I have had to cut out coffee (am ok with decaf though), wine, mayo and peanut butter. I also have to make sure I don't eat too late.

One thing I have noticed is that I have to lay on my left side in bed, with the bed raised ( a brick underneath the head end). If I lay on my right side I get reflux feelings. Apaprently it is to do with the position of the stomach when you lie down or something.

Hope that helps your friend. I do have the odd day when I feel 'refluxy' but I can usually put it down to an excess of a food type.

It's a god send isn't it wizbit? Have you ever stopped them? I had to twice and within 2 days the acid was back with a vengeance lol
I find if I need any extra help (usually after eating anything citrus) then a swig of cold gaviscon does the trick.

Dondon33 - I'm too scared to stop them! Between having the op in Jan 2011 and going on them fully in the Aug I tried them for a few weeks at a time and whenever I stopped I got the awful pain again. In the end the Dr said I needed to go on them for a year and let everything calm itself down. I really hope when I go back in August she will let me carry on with them - eek!

I just remembered another thing I've had to give up - polo mints! (well, any mints). If i have them I get the refluxy feeling back.

Wiz- if you feel you still need them and Dr agree's it's possible that if you are on 30 mg daily now they will just drop you to 15mg to see how you go. I was Ok on them, noticed a little difference, a little more acid but nothing bad. I got put back to the 30's after the bad pain flared up again, so still on them for now.

Aww not mints- I love all things mint but agree it can be a bit acidic. Have you tried peppermint tea? I know it sounds as if it could cause you misery but it's really relieving to the stomach especially when cold. Oh another thing I find a great reliever is Kefir- my BF introduced me to this one (being Polish) it's like natural yogurt but more like a milk,The natural yogurt works well also.

I am a bit of a weird case in that, I went to have my gallbladder out last Nov. They started the op then stopped as my gallbladder was inflamed and bile duct was 1.5cm dilated (my crapola GP had failed to notice the signs in the lead up to my op, despite me bugging him about constant pain and brown wee - sorry TMI). Anyway, after many scans and tests at another hospital, I had a Spincterotomy through ERCP 6 weeks ago where they made a cut at the bottom of my bile duct and removed a 9mm stone. I am now back on the waiting list to have my gallbladder out.

One thing I have noticed since they cut the duct is that I do seem to feel gurgling in my stomach where the bile duct pain used to be - almost feels like those first flutters of pregnancy - and I wonder if that is reflux as they did warn me about it, but said it would be well into the future!! I am on a mega low fat diet - nothing over 3% fat at any one meal, so I haven't had any bad gallbladder attacks for a while but the bile reflux concerns me particularly in the long term as the ERCP procedures are relatively new (I think they've only been doing them since the the late 70s). It sounds like once you have problems in that area, you always will. Having said that, I can't wait to have my gallbladder out as the constant fear of attacks and general feeling of not being quite 100% really drags you down.

Hi Bambino, Aw what a shame about your postponed op, I bet you were looking forward to relief from that pain :( but good you have a little relief from the GS
I know what you're describing with the flutter feelings, I get them too but its more like my stomach lurches or squeezes itself....very strange feeling :@
Some people don't suffer any after effects after having the surgery, I just wish they would inform better about what could happen...maybe they are starting to now. I don't think I would have decided against having my Op- what was the alternative? keep the damn gall stones, no bloomin thanks :)
I couldn't even manage to eat a small amount of fat, I was pregnant at the time they started and I could literally only eat apples, dry toast and jellies. I was ordered to take lots of vitamins and I could force a shake (kind of like a build up drink to give the baby nutrients )so I would try to force a minimum of one down daily and hope it didn't kick off the pain. It felt like I couldn't do good for doing bad- I needed the shakes for my baba but when the pain started from them I felt guilty that I was stressing him out by my being in so much pain :( Luckily I have big bruiser babies or god knows how small my son would have been if I didn't as I lost masses of weight.

After your ask about medication straight away, I was given the lansoprazole or it may have been omoprasole when I left the hospital and I hope they do your op soon for you, good luck next time x

after your OP that last paragraph should begin :)

dondon you poor thing suffering all that when pregnant. Bloody hell, it must have been so worrying on top of all the usual pregnancy stresses.

The way you have described the reflux is spot on. Like the stomach squeezing itself, although when mine does it, it's like I can feel bubbles going upwards. It's such a weird feeling. I will definitely ask my consultant about it when I finally go in for the lap choly - whenever that will be!!!! Thank you for he tip about the medication too.

You're welcome Bambino :) and yeah it was absolute hell at the time. People - obviously those who've never experienced Gall stones pain- think I'm nuts when I say I would happily give birth twice in a row than have the pain from GS, horrendous just doesn't come close to describing it :(
Hope you don't have to wait too long, take care xx

Dondon33 - I'm actually only taking 15mg and generally feel ok (with the odd blip!). I've never really thought to try the natural yoghurt. I find that when I am feeling refluxy a cup of tea usually does the trick (must be the milk I guess).

Thanks for your help/chat xx

no probs Wiz :) so if you still feel acidy when you return to GP tell them, maybe they would give you the 30's for a while, it could make a big difference to you.
I quite like natural yog anyway but I use it like medicine for my tummy if I know I'm eating something that's likely to hurt...3 big spoons before the meal and 3 big spoons after :)
Take care x