Help me through a gallstones flare please ?

[Liverly]

I’m in tears in the bath. GP sent me to an and e. A and e GP has got me a consultant appointment for a few days time but the pain is blood horrible. Luckily I’ve got some codeine from a bad back earlier in the year but it’s not touching it. I think food flared it. Half a bloody sandwich earlier and it wasn’t even a very nice sandwich. Amy tips / magic or just healing thoughts for me ? It’s so horrible. Only just got diagnosed November after going with suspected reflux pain and finding my liver was out of whack. I haven’t drunk much this Christmas at all. Always the way. Too busy hosting to actually relax. I did however eat califlower cheese which seems to have set me off. I just can’t get comfy. Please help. Silly stories, anecdotes , anything. Talk me away from this pain. Please

I used to fill a cup with boiling water and put it on my gallbladder. The burning water scolding my skin was the only thing to stop the pain.

My nhs surgeon did my gall bladder removal privately and I avoided waiting 9 months! Best thing I ever did was go private. Recovery was about 3 weeks for me.

How much did it cost?

£8,100. Best thing I’ve ever done. I was always sick and in pain.

I’ve been seen today by surgeon. My bloods showed jaundice even though I’m not yellow. My pee was quite dark yesterday but better today. I’ve to have an urgent mri to check no stones in the bills duct then surgery. No advice in between times. Just a link to a video about the surgery and what to expect there. I went alone so perhaps didn’t ask any questions.
I now have to work out how to remove my faith piercing before mri I think ? Or will my head not be in the scanner ?

Thanks. Apparently I dont have them but its the sort of thing I would want to sort asap if I did. Ive had kidney stones before and it was excruiating but at least they tend to resolve quickish, gallstones will just sit there killing you slowly.

I was never able to remove mine and they just caution you about it.

I had my gallbladder removed years ago but when I was in horrendous pain before hand, I read that drinking as much water as you can, as quickly as you can, got rid of the pain. I thought it sounded like it wouldn’t work but after trying many other things, I gave it a try. It was the only thing that ever worked and I had stones caught in my bile duct so the pain was immense.

I ate a really low fat diet. I ate at regular times (not late at night). I also avoided eggs as they’re really high in cholesterol and gallstones are made of cholesterol (but have read that this was a bit unscientific of me!!).

It might be unscientific, but eggs (the yolks) can cause flare ups. I limit myself to one a week and that seems okay, and I avoid any food which might have a lot of eggs in it.

Please may I join with a question? I have had a number of what I call digestive episodes, the first was on holiday in either 2020 or 21. Then nothing for two years then I had another after a wedding, and felt absolutely appalling. I finally vomited and the relief was instant. I virtually never vomit (once other than that since age 7) so I assumed food poisoning but no one else had any issues.
Shortly after the wedding we had a bereavement and my dh had a cancer diagnosis all within a few weeks so I didn't think any more of it. Several other episodes have followed over the last 2.5 years but none as bad as the first two. Sometimes I might get a couple in a week, then nothing for months.

However, here's the question- I would describe the episodes as extreme discomfort, but not pain. It feels like a band is being tightened around my bra strap level. I can feel them coming on, they last for 20 mins to an hour usually then they pass suddenly, as quickly as they start. Could these be gallbladder grumblings, for want of a better word?

@insightnumber9 I would go and ask for blood tests for liver function etc. I too had a strange episode of sudden vomiting but was sick for 13 hours every 20 minutes with really thick gelatinous bile. Like nothing I’ve had before. My pain was also crushing. Please go get checked.

Buscopan was the only medication that helped during a flare up. I was given Tramedol but that used to knock me out then I would wake and vomit! I had to cut out lots of fat, eggs & butter were a definite no. I eventually had my gallbladder removed which was such a relief . The pain I had I can only describe as it hurt where my bra was n the middle of my chest, it went through to my back and over my right shoulder.

Sympathies OP - worst pain ever
I thought I was dying! I had mine removed last year and feel so much better now. A daily probiotic - alforex has also been a game changer for my dodgy gut

I had my gallbladder out August just gone, cost for operation was £4,000, I went in at 7am and was home by 6pm, although they first said I would stay in overnight, so cost may have been more if I had.

Ask your GP for Diclofenac suppositories.

Hi can I ask a question. I had this exact pain that everyone describes on Christmas Day (have had recent rapid weight loss). Severe pain below my breastbone, as strong as labour pain. Had to sit on the floor, legs crossed, curled forward over my left thigh but was still excruciating. I was shaking with the pain. I thought I would have to call an ambulance but after nearly half an hour it stopped completely.

i have since eaten fatty foods etc and it hasn’t come back. How often does gallstone pain happen? I’m thinking because it’s not happening every day it won’t be gallstones? I have a doc appointment booked for the 16th

It’s likely to be gallstones. Pain comes in “attacks” often with nothing in between. Relative works for upper GI surgeons - massive increase in gallbladder problems in those taking jabs for rapid weight loss. Hopefully your GP will refer you for an ultrasound scan - they are easy to spot.

It does sound like gallstones. It can be very unpredictable. I went for a month with almost daily attacks, was hospitalised twice, then nothing for six months, was back to eating normally for about four of those, and now it’s started grumbling again. My stones are very small which weirdly are the bad kind as they get stuck in places. The worst attack I’ve had where I was in hospital for two days all I’d had to eat that day was some toast, but consultant said that sometimes it’s just random.

If you go to doctor they will likely refer you for an ultrasound and do bloods to check liver enzymes. Mine were sky high.

Very common in women 30s-40s who have lost weight rapidly unfortunately. Feels very unfair!

That sounds exactly what I have from time to time.

I assume it's gallstones, but I don't know because it passes too quickly to bother with A&E and when I tried to get an appointment with the GP, the automatic appointment system went "urgent: chest pain. Phone GP immediately" and GP receptionist went "don't care if it's urgent we have no appointments for 4 weeks, and we won't give you one of those because the computer says it's urgent, so you need a sooner one..."

I now know when one's coming on and take co-odermal asap and normally it doesn't get too bad, but after an attack I'm often very tired for a few days.

MRI scan is in next couple days. I’ve had rumblings tonight but ate some crackers and cottage cheese followed by some popcorn. Toffee popcorn. Which I thought wasn’t too bad but it’s got butter in it. Damn you fancy snacks. I am just fed up today. Tired and want it done.

@Liverly honestly before you get gallbladder probs you think you know the meaning of a low fat diet! Then you find out everything is full of it 😳 I munched my way through plain crackers & couldn’t understand why I got a flare up afterwards. I thought that’s what you to have if you’ve had any digestive upset. The clue was in the name but still did I not cotton on yep Jacob’s Cream Crackers 🤣 Good luck for your MRI & hope they give you a date for surgery soon.

@Otterdrunk. Yes!! There’s fat in so much stuff. I have had a tonne of veg tonight with some yoghurt diluted hummus and fat free cottage cheese. My calories are quite low today and I just want to eat a whole airport size Toblerone. But the pain hasn’t come back yet. Fingers crossed it has subsided /stone moved or that the diet helps.

Well I thought I was ok. Had some chocolate. Now feel bad again. Not “as” bad but griping.

I’ve been living on chicken soups and chicken breasts and vegetables- I ever imagine having chocolate again, but then my first ever attack was only ten days ago and I honestly thought I was dying, so it’s been a bit traumatic