I thought I was having a heart attack last night - seems I may have gallstones though.

[MehgaLegs]

Second time I have had chronic high abdominal pain, moves under my right ribs and radiates through my back and shoulders. i can't move and only get relief laying tucked up on my tummy.

Have docs appointment at 5.30.

Bit scared.

My friend had gallstones, she was 26.

She had her gallbladder removed, never looked back.

Keyhole surgery, straightforward op.

Good luck

I had mine out whilst I was 20 weeks preg with DS1 due to complication. I was back at work 2 days later

The op was really easy and it was such a releif from the pain

Did you feel it in your rib cage? On one side?

I have had that twice. I thought something had exploded inside me. Nothing happened tho. is that gall stones??

Same here - keyhole op, couple of days asleep (which may have had more to do with the 20hour+ days running up to the op than anything else!) and I was fine.

oh you poor thing

i hope you feel better as soon as

I've had mine out. It was an absolute breeze and I got a couple of unbroken nights' sleep in hospital.

The pain is a killer tho isn't it? I hope you get it sorted.

Get the docs to give you anti-spasmodics as well as painkillers. I have seen some people have bad reactions to them but for me they were fab - in the (fairly brief) interval between diagnosis and op they were a godsend for me - I had a couple of 'attacks' when I was at work and would no way have been able to carry on or drive home without them.

ditto on getting it whipped out. I had excruciating pain twice - thought I was dying. Came on three months after DD was born (it's closely correlated to pg). Had the thing whipped out when DD was 4 months old - heartily recommend it.

Yeah, I think the pain is worse than labour. I had mine removed with keyhole surgery.

I got it really bad when pg with DD, and they actually would have operated on me while still pregnant! In the end I hung on until she was 12 weeks old.

Hope the docs give you some decent pain relief. Keep away from high fat foods, althoiugh some people say that this makes no difference, I think it does.

I've had a couple of episodes of gall bladder pain -the first one was when we were snowed in so I had to rely on a telephone consultation and hope that it was something that would pass and that I didn't need to get to hospital or anything.

Its incredibly painful as you know. The only thing I could compare it to in the level of pain was childbirth.

You may get referred for a scan. My scan didn't show a stone so the doc said it was probably the stone passing through the bile duct (?) that caused the pain and my body would have just "passed it" out the usual waste route!

Not just me then - I was feeling old but I see pg women and post natal women it's quite common.

Yes, worse than labour, DH sort of hovered over me, he has recently done a first aid course and was flapping about asking if my heart was still beating.

Really scared me at first but once I realised it wasn't a heart attack I calmed down and the pain eased off after about 40 mins.

When I was pg with DS4 I had something in a blood test that was indicative of gallstones.

i've also been told that Gaviscon can cause them and as I drank it by the litre through all four pgs I wouldn't be surprised.

Liking the sound of this rest and sleep after the op.

hmm i read that ibuprofen can cause them too.

Oh yes - the pain is excruciating. I thought I was having a heart attack the first time too. And when the pain goes, there's a lovely warm feeling.

When I saw my GP he said the typical gall-stones patient was:

Fat
Fair
Forty
Fertile
Flatulent

The last 3 apply to me.

I'm not sure whether you fulfill any of the criteria (won't embarrass you by asking which )

(I decided that the 'fair' bit referred to female, as in 'the fair sex').

aah, I never thought of it like that.

OK so I'm female too (just in case you think I'm a trucker called Betty )

No, it means fair-skinned, apparently - and my doctor omitted the 3rd and 5th ones, very tactfully!

..but added 'female' come to think of it

Aah, I see.

I have had gallstones too - had key-hole to remove my gall-bladder 5 years ago.

The pain was terrible. I would wake up in the middle if the night with the most awful backache. Ever since the surgery, have not had back ache since.

Before I had the op, I did stick to a low-fat diet and this REALLY helped. If I ever slipped and had a packet of crisps or something, I would nearly always get some pain later that day. It's the only time I ever stuck to a diet!!!

yep. had mine out too after a year of being told it was indegestion. i was 26 and overweight. (still am overweight!) but op went well and i can eat normally and am pain free.
i used to just lie still not being able to move from the pain. eventually i sometimes made myself sick as it felt like there was food stuck in my throat, but that didnt help, just felt worse.

LOL Betty all of those apply to me. (Well I'm 39 and a half)

Well saw new GP, she was very airy fairy. Said it could be a stomach acid thing, I told her the pain was beyond heart burn, it was a totally different pain. She had a feel, no pain and she couldn't feel anything. Have been referred for an ultra sound.

I've got my gallstones in a little jar in the desk drawer to my left. Is that tmi?

How big are they Jackie? If I have them I shall definitely want to keep them, even if it's to wave them at DH and say "see, I was ill!"

There are three that are maybe 4 mm across, and then I think 28 that are 1 mm across. I have no idea how typical that is though.