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Original poster

Is this pain ‘normal’? Gallbladder related

5 replies

Applesinmyhouse · 25/04/2023 13:23

So after years of agonising pain & vomiting I found out what I thought is indigestion is actually gallstones. I ended up in A&E with a gallbladder infection. So incredibly ill. Two weeks of antibiotics. Infection cleared up but I still have stones.
The pain has not stopped, wether I eat or not. I am eating very little, I can’t seem to digest vegetables or chicken or anything like that, I just vomit it back up. I’m living on one particular type of tinned soup, and rice cakes. The pain is just continuous, where the gallbladder is, severely hurts if i press there, and the pain extends to my back.
I went back to A&E. They checked everything, said my bloods didn’t show another infection but gave me more antibiotics just incase. Further pain relief wasn’t offered. I’ve been rationing the strong co codomol I have left over from the infection but even they don’t get rid of the pain. I wake up in the night with pain. I have pain all day. The doctor chased up the surgery team & they said basically tough you have to wait your turn on the list. The surgeon said I am meant to have surgery in 6-8 weeks but it’s been 2 weeks & I haven’t got a letter or a date or anything.

I have a baby to look after and I’m just continuously in pain and it can’t be good for my liver to be taking painkillers all the time? Which don’t touch the pain anyway!

should I go back to a&e? Surely continuous pain cannot be normal?

OP posts:
Seekingadvice40 · 25/04/2023 13:56

I had and still have what you’re experiencing. On my 2nd trip to a&e I got rushed in and they took my gall bladder out that day as my bloods and obs were quite bad
on my ward their were people their that had waited 18 months plus for their operations and were asking why I had mine done so quick
the doctor told them that my gall bladder was seriously infected from the stones etc so I think unless you do have an infection etc then they do put you on a list for surgery. I had mine out 6 months ago but unfortunately I’m still in severe pain on constant pain killers etc and due to having it out may now have pancreatitis
so I would ask and look into everything before having it out
if you can just have stones removed I’d opt for that . Good luck

KatieBenz · 25/04/2023 14:03

Poor you. That sounds awful.
I would go back to a&e if I was you.
I had something similar. Went to a&e as I honestly thought I was dying, the pain was so bad. Was told it was probably gallbladder problems and to see the gp. I had only gone to a&e because I couldn’t get an appointment with my gp! The day after I went back to a&e after collapsing. By the time I had my surgery, 3 days later, I had developed sepsis as my gallbladder had gone gangrenous . It’s good that you are already on antibiotics, but unfortunately, I don’t think the pain will ease up until you’ve had the gallbladder removed. Might be worth giving 111 a ring. They got me an appointment at a&e ( this was during lockdown).

Original poster
Applesinmyhouse · 25/04/2023 14:10

Seekingadvice40 · 25/04/2023 13:56

I had and still have what you’re experiencing. On my 2nd trip to a&e I got rushed in and they took my gall bladder out that day as my bloods and obs were quite bad
on my ward their were people their that had waited 18 months plus for their operations and were asking why I had mine done so quick
the doctor told them that my gall bladder was seriously infected from the stones etc so I think unless you do have an infection etc then they do put you on a list for surgery. I had mine out 6 months ago but unfortunately I’m still in severe pain on constant pain killers etc and due to having it out may now have pancreatitis
so I would ask and look into everything before having it out
if you can just have stones removed I’d opt for that . Good luck

Sorry that sounds rough :( the doctor said I definitely need to have it out & I was on a priority list but I haven’t heard anything. The surgeon said the same thing. I just wish I had a date.

OP posts:
Original poster
Applesinmyhouse · 25/04/2023 14:14

KatieBenz · 25/04/2023 14:03

Poor you. That sounds awful.
I would go back to a&e if I was you.
I had something similar. Went to a&e as I honestly thought I was dying, the pain was so bad. Was told it was probably gallbladder problems and to see the gp. I had only gone to a&e because I couldn’t get an appointment with my gp! The day after I went back to a&e after collapsing. By the time I had my surgery, 3 days later, I had developed sepsis as my gallbladder had gone gangrenous . It’s good that you are already on antibiotics, but unfortunately, I don’t think the pain will ease up until you’ve had the gallbladder removed. Might be worth giving 111 a ring. They got me an appointment at a&e ( this was during lockdown).

That sucks :( I might go back to A&E & ask the dr about pain relief. Ibuprofen isn’t cutting it, neither is paracetamol or even the 30/200 cocodomol I have leftover. I bought some cocodomol from the pharmacy but you can only buy 8/200 over the counter. I don’t even usually take painkillers!

A&E said my bloods were okay and obs are all fine. They even did an ecg. The A&E dr said I should get it removed privately but I don’t have a spare 7k.

OP posts:
Cranarc · 25/04/2023 17:49

In my experience that is not normal for gallstones. I had attacks for probably about 10 years but the early ones were something like 2 years apart and I put it down to really bad wind. Then they ramped up to every 6 months and then every month by which time I had a scan and found out what the problem was. By the time of surgery (private through work, thankfully) I was having an attack about once a week but it would only be for a few hours. Usually in the night. No painkillers would touch it - only a hot wheat bag held over the area gave any relief. Some specific foods triggered my attacks but also they would come out of nowhere. As soon as I figured out triggers I excluded them and I kept to a low fat diet. But still I got occasional attacks. Taking digestive enzymes with every meal seemed to help a little bit. Attacks still came but were perhaps a bit milder.

I hope you can get it removed soon.

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