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.

just realised this thread is years old

It is years old but still relevant I think. Will you keep posting andy - I'll be very interested to hear your outcome. I'm still in pain - although not 'fall down and collapse' kind of pain and I also went through all those tests like you did. I was also told I'd have to see the chronic pain consultant because there's no reason for my pain.
GP keeps chucking Tramadol at me - can't take NSAIDs because of the duodenitis.
It's wearing me down so I'm very interested to see what happens in your case.

OhDearieDearieMe: hi yes i will keep you informed, i know the feeling of dragging you down, i did suggest to my GP that he send me to a shrink cos it must be in my head, he replied it was not but they do not know what it is. i am allergic to tramadol, morphine, codine etc so i am a nightmare to treat anyway!

Schezza: i have had a few attacks this week and tried your drinking water tip, and i can say yes it does help, my attacks have not been major but the water has helped, i'm going to tell my GP tomorrow and see what he has to say about it!! probably poo poo it but i'll let you know. thanks for the tip. andy

ok update again, i've been back to the GP who is slowly agreeing with the hospital's diagnosis as the anti-inflammatories are working, i mentioned drinking water and he said its because the muscles go into spasm and the cold water releases the spasm, makes sense to me. as for certain foods giving me an attack he again said its the muscles spasms, gave me milk of magnesia to try when i get an attack instead of water to see if that has the same effect. he was interested in the water theory though. good luck fellow sufferers i hope you all get sorted soon. Andy

I had my gallbladder removed in May last year and within a couple of days I was back in hospital with the same pains. These kept on coming and going for the next few months - in fact I was having them more often than before I had the gallbladder removed. In November I went for an MRI scan which showed that I had two gallstones stuck in the bile duct. In December I went for an endoscopy and then, to quote the doctor, they inflated a balloon and used it like dyno-rod to push the gallstones out and also to slightly widen the opening to the bile duct. Result! No more episodes since then and am feeling fine.

Don't know if this information will help anybody - but good luck to all of you!

i had my gallbladder out 8 years ago. after 2 years of the pain and going back and forth the GP, with them passing me off with "it must be gas" causing the pain i ended up being rushed into hospital after having an attack (of pain) and not recovering from it. turns out that after the hospital taking loads of tests and ruling out i wasn't an alcoholic, a stone got into my pancreas giving me Pancreatitis. they told me that the GP didn't think to test me because i was to young to have them, guess not. its hereditary mainly in the women of the family. i was in hospital for 16 days recovering and then had an emergency op to have the bladder removed. i have suffered a few times over the years with the pain. went back to the GP, they told me to stop taking pain killers with an anti-inflammatory or codeine ie co-codamol in them as they produce acid that can cause the pain, i was also given Omeprazole. this seemed to work for a long time.
last month i had the worst attack since and it happened while i was out. it only ever happened in the night because i was lying down. i have been back to the GP an have had blood tests. They came back with what ever test they done on my liver it is 2 levels above normal. they said its nothing to worry about but they want to know why. im now waiting for more blood test results. i got a feeling i will be fobbed off with another reason other than something to do with having the gallbladder out. my GP don't know why im having the pain again because my liver shouldn't be causing me pain.
its like telling a brick wall sometimes. i have goggled around and i might as well of told him what is wrong with me. the DR's has never said to me that stones can be left behind or a sludge can block ducts. i know they can form again and don't need the bladder to do this, and i have told them this. i think after reading this forum i will be demanding i see a specialist as i cant end up in the state i was in 8 years ago again.

I would ask to be referred to a hepatobilliary specilist. I am not sure the local general surgeons who take gall bladders out really know about the rest of it... They seem to err on the side of treating 'conservatively', ie nothing :(

hi is anyone still experiencing pain after gallbladder removal, i had mine removed march 2010 and still got pain my stomach is still big i still burp and have severe pain and wind still. I also had pancreitis aswell which had to be treated aswell. i have been put on omeprazole one twice aday andfor the pain mebeverine. I do not sleep and tired all the time.Any advice would be welcome. thanks

Had my GB out in Sept 2010, no stones but biliary dyskinesia...enjoyed being pain free but 3 months ago i started with stitch like discomfort lasting 3 days at a time and also feeling like there is pressure building up where the gallbaldder used to be. Went to the GP today, he has prescribed buscopan but has also said will refer me back to the surgeon. After reading the thread i feel grateful to get this far so quickly.

I had my gall-bladder out in November 2012, after not really having problems before. Had put the pains under my ribs down to stress, and spent several years trying to ignore them.

2 weeks after the operation, I developed 2 hernias on the line between 2 of the keyhole incisions which were extremely painful, to put it mildly.

I'm now having frequent low level pain, not to mention horrible burning diahhorea which strikes without warning.

I'm almost wishing I'd not had the operation....

diarrhoea

hi guys me again, well i'm still in pain but was prescribed Domperidone last week, by gosh they worked the pain went immediately but i'm having bad side effects so back to the gp on Thursday i want the same thing but going to ask to try another make, the domperidone make the food go down the oesophagus quicker i could not believe i was pain free after being in pain for 6 months solid!

hi, newbie here but experiencing same. had gallbladder out 6 months ago, then had a massive attack 2 weeks ago (lipase 750) after gastro on preceding day. was treated as having pancreatitis in hospital. surgeon was a complete ass, refusing mrcp/ercp to check for retained stones. been to checkup just now and he's changed his story and thinks all I had was gastro. am pretty upset at all this. any advice?

Hi guys
I thought I'd add to this. I had my gb out nov 2012 after 2 horrible attacks which had me in hospital for days. Anyway had the op, felt great very short lived after 4 months had horrendous pain like gb pain took some rinitadine (spelling wrong I know,) calmed down then had migraine attack so was popping nurofen like no ones business then wam bad bad pains again lived off gaviscon all day every day then had ear infection 4 lots of anti biotics and co codemol and its back every day worse than ever. My diet is good low fat as always on a diet!!! Docs tried me on emprozole didn't work now she's tool bloods and put me on osomeprazole 40mg day 2' hoping they work - bad feeling its this bile reflux. Am I ever gonna be normal again???? Can't enjoy wine anymore fear of attack no idea what it is new job to start in 2 weeks feeling really sorry for myself and low :-(
Thought after gb out I would be grand!!!!
Was lucky enough to have my op privately. Surgeon said all went well I had over 20 stones (big ones!) praying its not one stuck somewhere

I posted the following on a separate thread but got no replies. This thread might be a better place for it.

I had my gallbladder out a year ago after 8 months worth of tests, waiting, and finally an ERCP with sphincterotomy to release a stone stuck in my bile duct. Shortly after, within days actually, I started to get what I can only describe as fluttering and like my tummy was rolling from the inside - felt vey much like a baby moving about. I also got spasms in the same spot as the pain was when the stone was stuck, so the bile duct area. At first the spasms and fluttering weren't painful at all, just felt weird, but as time has gone on, the spasms have got more intense and rather painful. They mainly happen when I'm hungry and last no longer than 2 or 3 minutes but this still doesn't feel right and I get them every day. I am finding that I need to snack on the hour to avoid them. To my shame, I have been on Dr Google and the sphincter of oddi dysfunction describes my symptoms to a tee. I wondered if anyone had been through the same, particularly after a sphincterotomy - which ironically is the treatment for oddi dysfunction! Obviously, self diagnosis isn't the ideal way ahead so I intend to ask my GP to refer me back to the team that did my ERCP and lap chole, but I have a feeling that because I am not in chronic pain, I may not be taken seriously and fobbed off wth drugs. Really wondered if anyone had any advice for me or any experiences to share. Many thanks.

Hi Isabella, are you me? !! I could have written your post word for word. I had my gall bladder removed in 2011 and then ERCP to remove 4 stones stuck in bile duct. Within days after ERCP I suddenly got those flutterings and spasms right at the top of stomach where the pain was before ERCP. They gradually got worse so that instead of discomfort it became pain.

Doctor put me on Omeprazole and although I still get the fluttering and spasms, they don't turn into pain. I seem to have to keep eating frequently or the spasms get worse. I did attempt to give up the omeprazole, big mistake. Was fine for 4 days and then the spasms were followed by real pain again. Took 3 days back on the pills to get it under control.

I did Dr Google and came up with the same answer as you re oddi dysfunction. I've had two hip replacements since this all started, just recovering from last one now so have just left this problem for now. Not much help but at least you know you are not on your own with this. If your doctor does suggest omeprazole it might just help if your spasms get really painful, mine certainly did.

If you do get anywhere with answers from your doctor please come back and say. Feel I have been stuck with this for ever.

Thanks alwaysme I thought I was going abit bonkers and trying to describe the spasms to other people is often met with > . I am glad I had my gallbladder out as the pain was immense and if it had stayed, I'd no doubt have far more problems due to stones on the move etc. However, Post-cholesystectomy syndrome - as I understand is the collective term for all of these issues - is so rarely acknowledged. I am going to try the doctor for the omeprazole as I sometimes get a warm feeling in my stomach too which is no doubt caused by the constant presence of bile, and will insist that I am referred to a specialist, even if I have to go for a private referral. I will let you know how I get on and share anything I hear that may be of interest. Look after yourself, you sound like you've been through the mill.

Hi everyone im new here, I canny believe how many people are all having the same problems after GB surgery. I had my first GB attack when I was 19wks pregnant and ended up in hospital bent over in agony being really sick. After an ultra sound they found small stones in my GB but said it wasn't that and said I had bad acid reflux so put me on Ranitadine, and i took milk when I was having an attack which started to happen every 2/3wks.

After giving birth to my daughter the attacks continued and after a ct scan with die put in through a drip and blood tests they finally said i should have my gall bladder removed and milk was probably irritating it more so I switched to water, it really helped stopping it lasting so long.

I finally got my surgery Jan 2012 when my daughter was 9mths. The surgery went really well and I recovered relatively quickly. Apart from the occasional bloated stomach and aching I was all good. Well until Jan this year I was hit with another agonising attack and another one a few weeks ago, again only water helps to relieve it.

Now for the past 3 days I've had mild pain under and around my ribs on the right side. I'm so fed up with it all now and at a loss. X

I had my gallbladder out over 8 years ago and my partner is currently in hospital after having surgery on Tuesday but has had a load of complications which is how I stumbled on this site. I suffer from Bile Salt Diarohhea which is an uncommon side effect, not very pleasant but can be managed. But the pain a lot of you have talked about on here is something I also experienced. I was so bad, the doctors put me on pethidine to manage the pain as it used to feel like I couldn't breathe! I had on and off occurances for 2 years after my surgery - I had scans, including an endoscopy, was prescibed Omeprazole and many other things until I figured it out and I stopped taking anything with codeine in. Yummymummy3maz I also suffer from migraines and this is how I discovered the link between my pain and codeine. I usually took migraleve for a migraine but since my gb removal, it made me worse - vomiting, severe pain and feeling like I can't breathe. Initially I put it down to being a very severe migraine until I made the connection. Look for migraine tablets that do not contain codeine in as most of them do. I use Sainsbury's migraine relief now or the nurofen one which only contains ibruprofen and lysine - both of which seem to be ok for me.

For everyone and anyone who is suffering pain after gb surgery whether it was one month or 20 years ago. It may not be what is causing your pain but check for any relations between any drugs you are taking and the pain. The liver is what processes many medications and the absense of a gallbladder and therefore the "store" for bile seems to cause an effect. Codeine is definitely one to avoid - once I discovered my migraine tablets were causing the problems and then realised it was specifically codeine, I have been pain free since now 6 years. It may not be everyone's cause but hopefully this will help some people stop suffering.

Hi guys, so Im 29, I had my gallbladder removed n 06/07, I was pain free but in the last couple of years I was experiencing the pain I had before the GB was removed, however this time it was more sharp than before like able to take my breath away.

I found by accident that vomiting can relieve the pain somewhat but obviously this isn't a decent enough solution, I've been to my GP who gave me Lanzoprazole (sp?) It has made the vomiting less acidic and painful but still hasn't stopped the pain in my upper right abdomen which radiates through to my back and up to my right shoulder.

So after badgering my GP they took 2 lots of 4 sets of blood samples which showed my liver enzymes were raised, I don't have hepatitis or any other auto immune diseases, but my GP is no closer to coming up with an answer and I've got an ultrasound appointment on the 29th hopefully they'll see something they can tell me about.

I want to post this for anyone that has this incredibly frustrating problem.

My wife had daily pain attacks, all in the upper-right quadrant. They lasted between 5 minutes and an hour, and could be incredibly severe. She had already had her gall bladder removed.

All the imaging she had came back as normal.

After substantial effort and MANY gastroenterologists, including one at the Mayo Clinic, we were able to come up with a solution - it is biliary microlithiasis. Essentially, small calcifications in the bile that flow through the common bile duct from the liver get stuck at the Sphincter of Oddi (where the bile duct enters the duodenum).

Imagine a grating where water is flowing through, but small rocks and pebbles are flowing also. Normally, these rocks and pebbles can pass through the grating, but if enough of them come at once, they can stop the water flow.

When this 'sludge' or these calcifications build up behind the Sphincter of Oddi, this causes pressure, and the pressure causes pain. Eventually the pressure pushes the calcifications through, which relieves the pressure.

Essentially you're feeling a gall bladder attack without the gall bladder.

And every GI doctor we went to thought the problem was IBS or nerve pain or just in her head. Incredible. But there is a medication that can make it go away!

We've found the drug Ursodiol to be a godsend. Ursodiol dissolves the calcifications as they pass through the bile duct. It's relatively inexpensive, we haven't noticed any side-effects. And it's like turning on or off a light bulb. If she's not on it - pain attacks extremely frequently. If she's on it, it's about 99% effective in removing the attacks altogether.

Please ask your doctor about this, if you have these symptoms. We are amazed how well it works!

I forgot to mention this - she had also had an ERCP with sphincterotomy, and yet the pain continued. Try Ursodiol!

Hello Guys, I had my gallbladder removed 4 weeks ago and was fine no problems at all, back on normal diet and was fine then I over did the fat content i mean by miles so silly and ever since have been in so much pain as if have gallstones again, i feel as if been punched in stomach.
I went to doctors and he gave me pain killers and gaviscon even though I am on Omprozol (spelling could be wrong) which i take twice a day.

I am still in so much pain, can anybody help or suggest what to do? I've already gone back on low fat diet and water and still no reprieve

Well just to update, I had a scan and there has been damage to the bile duct, which is quite normal from a GB op and causing my bile duct to spasm so it feels like an attack. I decided to experiment and cut out gluten as a starter for ten.....I've had no more "attacks". Hope this helps.