Massive gallstone attack today but……

[Pinkstanley]

I had my gallbladder removed in 2017. I’m still sore now with the main “attack” being around 2.30 this afternoon which lasted about 45 minutes or so. DH nearly called an ambulance thinking it was my heart. I’m not sure what to do now. Has any one had anything similar. I’ve taken loads of buscopan. I am hungry but I don’t want to eat.

This happened to me..a year after I had my gall bladder removed.
Turns out to be something called sphincter of oddi dysfunction.
But it could also be like some sludge d veloped over time in your pancreatic duct.
Give your GP a call
I find codamol sets it off for me

Thanks. Yes, I’ve heard taking strong pain killers can cause it fuses. The most I’ve ever taken is one ibruprofen plus for migraine. I am too scared to take anymore. I had a slice of cake in a marks and Spencer coffee shop today. It was a passion fruit one. Extremely sugary and seeet. I wonder if it’s caused a reaction.

You might still have a small stone stuck in one of the ducts.

My SIL still had “gallbladder” attacks 4 years after her removal surgery and this was the culprit. They did a scan and saw the stone. She had surgery and has been fine ever since.

Yes! Mine was removed 12 years ago and I still get them. However I can spot when they're building and usually stress, strong beer, or over indulgence in high fat foods. Christmas is always guaranteed to trigger if I'm not careful.
I use buscopan, but also have Lansaprazole on prescription to calm things down.

The only time I've had severe attacks has been when I've taken codeine - prescription and over the counter. And they're awful, just like the gall bladder attacks themselves. Last time I ended up in A&E because it felt like a heart attack (or so I'd imagine) and I stupidly phoned 111. I've had surgery twice since and had codeine listed as an 'allergy' to stop it being administered.

It's never got so bad that anyone has tried to diagnose why and I generally manage by recognising the triggers and avoiding them!

I haven't been able to take anything with codeine in it since having my gallbladder out - I believe it causes your bile duct to contract, where it has been clamped or something? I took some dihydrocodeine for a headache whilst in a work meeting and quickly regretted it!

But yes, if you are getting rogue pain it's worth seeing your GP in case of (reasonably rare) complications. I occasionally get severe pain across the middle under my sternum, frequently and badly enough that I was worried about possible pancreatitis etc - GP took bloods and my "tumour markers" were a little high, so she referred me for a CT scan. Consultant took one look, scoffed that the results were meaningless and insisted that I have a colonoscopy and endoscopy instead. Had those, all normal, discharged me.

Great, but I still have ghost gallbladder pain....

Codeine is a no-no for me too after GB removal.