Gall bladder problems in pregnancy

[CilC]

Was wondering if anyone has experienced gall bladder problems while pregnant. A few weeks ago I went to hospital thinking I was having a miscarriage only to discover it was an inflammed gall bladder and bile duct. I was told that (like so many things) your gall baldder can become more inflammed during pregnancy.
I have been vomiting a lot and producing more than my fair share of bile - but doctor said this was not necessarily the cause.

I hve since had 2 more very frightening and incredibly painful attacks for which I have had to be hospitalised.

Was wondering if anyone has experienced this? I am on a very low fat diet to try and keep everything at bay until the baby is born. Not sure what will happen after this?

Oh poor you, really feel very sorry for you. I had Gall bladder problems in my last pregnancy (4th) from about 28 weeks to I give birth. I had no idea what it was and thought surely labour would be less painful..i did think I was dying and still dread any more attacks. In that time I had about 8 flare ups but the pain generally was with me most days. Hospitalised once and was so bad they thought my placenta had abrupted. I got no help with what to do or not do other than eat a low fat diet which I stuck to religiously and not sure if it made any difference as still had flare ups. Maybe these would have been worse if I did not eat a low fat diet. Have to say though my diet was very low in fat when i first had the attacks, only fattening thing in it was a bit of margarine on my sandwich or toast or some cheese, I cannot eat a lot due to coeliac so diet is generally quite healthy. I know when i was hospitalised they gave me buscopan which definatley helped and think the doctor can give you a script for it. Good luck and i hope it does settle down for you. {{{{{hugs}}}}} cos the pain is terrible and I felt everybody thought i was exaggerating the pain.

I didn't have this during pg but two months after so I sympathise. It's definitely strongly correlated with pg. It's absolutely horrendous. I had mine out within about a month of it flaring up but in the intervening time all you can do is go very low fat. I found black coffee had a small beneficial effect for me (maybe psychosomatic?) but the pain is extraordinary.

If you're having these probs now, get hte thing taken out once the baby is born. It's an overnight in hospital but it's totally worth it.

awww...it's horrible isn't it! I first had probs when I was pregnant, although they didn''t realise what it was until afterwards (first time in hospital they dx a chest infection!). I think a low fat diet has certainly helped me to avoid the horrendous pain that I had sometimes, although I generally feel a bit like it's about to come on and I'm not sure whether that's related or just because I'm always carrying DD & I'm a bit achey. I've put off the op until I stop bfing, and since the symptoms have gone away I'm not sure whether or not to have it anyway. There's nothing like the prospect of pain to make you eat healthily!

I didnt have gall bladder probs but had kidney stones when pg and it was awful.

Something the pain specialist told me was that bearing the pain is more stressful for the baby than taking the painkillers that I needed - when I refused morphine.

Ds and dd2 are both fine, despite many injections and hospitalisations. The hardest thing I found was to get people to understand just how sore it was.

Thanks everyone for your feedback. I have really struggled to find any conclusive information on what is the best way to handle this, so have just stuck to my low fat diet. Doctors have not been able to give me anything definitive and have all been quite vague. So any advice or tips you have been given/found helpful I would appreciate knowing.

The pain is dreadful and I honestly thought the first time I was going to die. The pain was also in my right shoulder...which apparently is a sign.
I will be having a C section so the thought of having another op straight after is a little daunting but then the pain is also!

cositjustisok - I found people under estimated my pain and it was not until I finally stopped trying to be brave and broke down I was finally taken seriously and offered pain relief.

Anyway thank you everyone for your support. Will plod along and just hope everything stays fairly settled until after my baby is born!