Positive Gall Bladder Removal Stories

[Keggles36]

Hi all

Just wondering if anyone has any positive stories of having their gall bladder out? Ask I can find online is people complaining of constant diarrhoea for years after the surgery.

I am aware this can be a side effect - but it must go well sometimes?

I'm 37 and mum to a beautiful 6 month old. I started having attacks 4 months ago, have ended up in a and e a couple of times and had gall stones diagnosed last week and offered to have gall bladder out in next couple of months. I did labour with no analgesia, but just can't cope with the gall stone pain and can't breast feed or parent when it happens, but don't want to have diarrhoea so bad I also can't parent.

Just any positive stories would be amazing.

@Keggles36- it does take over your life. It's really scary not knowing if or when you're going to have another attack - or if it will get worse. My gallbladder ended up becoming infected, which was a whole new level of pain and illness.

And having gallbladder pains must be even harder when you have the responsibility of caring for young children too (fortunately mine are grown up now). I feel so sorry for you.

I was very fortunate because I had private health insurance so I could get it dealt with relatively quickly once gallstones had been diagnosed. If you're not happy with your hospital, can you request a second opinion elsewhere? Isn't there a 'right to choose' option via your GP? Someone else might know more about it.

Your comment about diarrhoea being easily managed suggests to me that you have never really experienced this first hand. The impact of chronic diarrhoea is horrible - as well as the physical it creates a horrible mental burden. People feel unable to leave the house, they always need to know where a toilet is, it impacts methods of travel and even having people travel with you in a car ( in case you have to jump out at the roadside) . It impacts what you can wear - never white trousers and sometimes disposable pants which show up on airport scanners . It impacts everything from work to cinema visits. Yes there are meds which have a varying degree of success from person to person. This condition raises certain other levels eg triglycerides in your body. Many medical professionals know next to nothing about it. This is not " hearsay" . This is the daily life of many people. I'm not saying that it is something that everyone without a gall bladder develops but it is good to be aware of it.

I had to have mine out, due to pancreatitis and jaundice, slight hiccup with a stone stuck in my bile duct after the op (and another bout of pancreatitis) but the stone cleared on its own and I got the all clear. No more issues I can eat what I want (do get a bit of extra 'gas' though) 😳 Rather than than gallstone attacks.😀

Best thing I ever done as the attacks were horrendous. Had keyhole surgery and was home the same day. The next day I was able to cook lunch. Fully recovered within a week and now able to eat anything

It's hard because the diarrhoea can be a side effect, and I'm not convinced I'd want that less than the pain... Though the attacks are becoming worse and more regular leading me to believe it might turn into something more complicated at some point.

We're currently on holiday and I had an attack the other night... Getting in the hot tub and popping a couple of dyhydracodeine was quite effective, if only I had enough money/space for a hot tub at home.

I've had a truly awful consultant appointment today. He asked me twice if i was sure it wasn't period pain, he point blank refused to answer about diarrhoea but basically said it was likely to persist, he said diet probably didn't matter, and then turfed me out of the room saying the wait could be 2 months to 2 years.

I feel so upset and scared and sad. My MIL had offered to lend money to private, but I feel bad.

Have you had any scans to confirm stones? Was this the first consultant appointment ? If so then email them PALS and say what happened and you don't feel you were taken seriously. I find my Trust very responsive to things like this.

I am wondering if you’re in the north of Scotland or if there are two going around blaming everything on period pains, my one did that after I showed him the ultrasound scans of all the stones (had to get a private one)

Take the money and go private. Gall bladder attacks are so debilitating and if left untreated, gallstones can become infected and turn into sepsis, pancreatitis and cause liver issues.

I’d been having attacks since December 2024. They were about once every 10 days and then all of a sudden nothing since march. Then Friday at work I was hit with the worst attack I’d ever had accompanied with vomiting and diarrhoea. I ended up going to a&e and got given iv morphine and a ct scan which showed no gall stones but serious inflammation. I had a surgical consult and was admitted then had my gall bladder out on Saturday morning. The surgeon came to see me after said it was one of the biggest, most severely infected he had seen and also a 15mm stone along with a lot of smaller ones. I had to stay in hospital for 48hours on an antibiotic drip but came home this afternoon. Recovery has been tough, I have zero appetite and am absolutely full of wind! I look about 6 months pregnant! I’m very bruised but just about able to get around to the bathroom etc. The pain in my shoulders from the gas was unreal but better now.

I haven’t “opened my bowels” yet so they’ve sent me home with laxative along with good painkillers. My surgery was quite long, I was expected to be in and out in an hour but was actually in for 5 hours. I don’t fully know the reason for that though.

Ive been living in constant fear of the attacks and while I’m in pain now, knowing I’ll never have to go through what I went through on Friday again is a huge blessing.

Please, make use of the fortune position you’re in and accept the gift. A lot of people suffering with this pain on an nhs waiting list would kill to be offered a chance to resolve their pain privately. Your mil wants to help you, let her.

@justtaketheeffingpicture hello 😊 yep, I had an ultrasound scan done at the end of May that confirmed it. I'm in the process of going through PALS for all of it. In January I called 111 who got me to go in via the emergency out of hours GP at our hospital. I saw a lovely female doctor who immediately said "I think this is gallstones" but then sent me through to A and E as that's where I would need to be reviewed the surgical team/bloods etc. Surgeon decided it was appendicitis (fair enough) and wouldn't even consider gallstones. Waited for a scan for 5 hours in agony with no pain relief. I was 8 weeks postnatal so also really engorged, upset at being separated from baby, sleep deprived - a mess 🤣Got me a CT, appendix fine but pancreas inflamed, but sent me home as felt I was ok and no beds. No follow ups. Follow a few more attendances to A and E and I asked for an ultrasound as a friend had said gallstones don't always show up. The same guy refused to order an abdominal scan but asked for an internal pelvic one as thought it was likely a cyst... I pointed out that my ovaries aren't under my right ribs and I didn't need a medical qualification to know that. The sonographer took pity and had a look and confirmed my gall bladder is completely full of stones - collapsed and compacted apparently 🤷🏼‍♀️ (my ovaries apparently look great though so that's a win). Then roll on my appointment today with a specialist who didn't seem to know anything. Ugh. And still thought it was my uterus' fault even with the scan and diagnosis.

Sorry for the rant, but yes I'll be complaining!

@Greenoteao no just outside of Manchester, in Cheshire. Sadly I don't fall under the big Manchester trusts where I believe some of the leading gall stone specialists work! Sounds like you've had a similarly annoying experience.

@Prettybubblesintheair I'm so sorry to hear of your experience that sounds terrible - wishing you a speedy recovery! I'll definitely speak to MIL as imagine I'm going to receive better care privately than with the bunch of clowns at my local hospital! And you're right, I'm very lucky - just need to get over it feeling weird.

@Keggles36 well that’s depressing that’s there’s more than one! Like pp said take the money and go private. I ended up having to get my scan and then the operation privately as just lots of lots of just nothing happening and not getting on the list with lots of “but maybe it’s period pains” etc, getting it out has improved my life leaps and bounds, no pain issues anymore.

I had mine out 3 years ago in November. Mine was done as an emergency in the end as was in so much pain and in hindsight having been misdiagnosed for some time before. Recovery was fine all in all and no effects after either. Was definitely the right decision here x

Ask to be referred Choose & book to your nearest private hospital, I had mine done this way, I had my first attack in July & had the op on 30 August, went in at lunchtime, was home watching soaps by 7.00pm, I drove the next day & was out at an all day sports event 3 days later.

@Nat6999 did you ask to be referred privately from ab NHS trust? I agreed the consultant today about this and he just said "no" so in guessing I'll have to pay for all the investigations I've already had as well. Any advice greatly appreciated!

@Keggles36 you can get copies of your scans/reports via a subject access request and then take them to a private dr, some may ask for retests but others will accept them (had this experience last year but not for gallbladder) so you may not need to redo

My DH had his out after years of worsening pain and restrictive eating. The day after he felt a little rough and the day after that he was eating a fry up and couldn't believe he could without pain! He's not a veggie but I am and I cook so he's 80% vegetarian and has no problem at all with what we eat which is loads of veg, legumes, some dairy, etc.

Good luck, I'm sure it'll be great! A surgeon friend was reassuring me before DH had his (i have a bit of health anxiety) and iirc said its the second most common surgery in the UK after appendectomy and one of the very safest with the best outcomes! Silly little troublesome organ!

Regularly in agony prior to surgery, hours of intense pain and vomiting several times a month. Recovered very quickly from keyhole surgery about 12 years ago, little pain and zero side effects.

I don't know anything about going privately but in your shoes if I could I would after what you've described with the consultant.

The first time I had an attack I was pregnant. I went to a&e and was dismissed as it being indigestion. I got attacks randomly and would just suffer through it. I don't mean that lightly. It's the worst pain I'd ever had and I would really violently vomit too to the point I felt I couldn't breathe because it wouldn't stop. My "don't go to the doctors unless your leg is hanging off" family members were extremely concerned, but I could not bring myself to go back to a&e again to wait for hours and hours and be given a rennie.

One day someone mentioned gallstones and luckily I went to the GP who agreed it sounded like that and ordered a scan. GP told me that in the mean time, if the pain is bad enough that I couldn't stand up straight (which it always was every time I had an attack) I should go to A&E.

Two days later, I had an attack - no worse than any other attack I'd been having regularly. I went to A&E not because it felt any different but because I hoped that being a nuisance might at least speed up the whole process of the scan and waiting list for surgery.

Imagine my surprise I was admitted to hospital and the doctors told me I was very unwell and had a very bad infection. I had to stay for over a week and the surgery was scheduled a couple of months after (which was as urgent as they could really get it without doing it there and then and they wanted to wait for the infection to subside).

I've no idea how unwell I'd have got if all those things hadn't lined up to happen at that time There was absolutely nothing about the attack itself that was worse than any other - they were all as horrific as the last. It's very concerning. Gallbladder stuff seems to often be dismissed as "painful but an inconvenience" but you can actually become very unwell.

I got mine out privately, as the wait on the NHS was a year. It cost around £5k, and I got it removed within a week of booking it.

I should say: the hospital emailed my files to the private doctor no problem.

I just asked my GP for a choose & book referral, I had 5 operations in under a year all under choose & book at the same hospital, 3 gynae, 1 orthopaedic & my gallbladder, I was on first name terms with the nurses.

Have you had any hormonal changes? I had my first attack a month after giving birth to ds, then nothing until a month after a total hysterectomy.

They whipped mine out. Home the next day. I was fine after a week. No ongoing issues and I can eat whatever I want. It's been 12 years now.

Had mine removed as an elective day case. Barely any pain following removal and my tiny scars from the keyhole surgery are almost invisible 2 years later. I have no problems whatsoever. In fact, I feel better than I’ve felt in years, as the living in constant fear of an attack was really dragging me down, plus my pain wasn’t typical, so it took a while to diagnose and I had several years like this.