Anybody with gallstones still have their gallbladder?

[2026isnear]

Just found out I have a gallstone and now I’m freaking out about reading all the horrible pain stories on the internet. I don’t have any pain so I don’t think the consultant wants to do the surgery. Has anybody else got them and still got their gallbladder?

@H202too thank you ❤️

I was diagnosed with gallstones 15 years ago and told my gallbladder was virtually full with them. I’ve never had any symptoms and never had to adjust my diet so feel quite lucky. (Hope I’m not now tempting fate with this post!)

@QueenCityooo that’s very reassuring!!!

A very good friend of mine developed them after rapid weight loss (which was due to a restricted diet from gastritis)
it took 18m to get diagnosed and removed (a&e and gp just kept giving her gaviscon) and her life was absolutely untenable in the mean time. She was frequently in a&e and hardly able to work.
If it gets bad, you will want the surgery op.

I just found out this morning, the specialist phoned me about an MRI i had for something else and mentioned the gallstones, the back, the liver and the kidneys .... appreciated, but maybe a bit too thorough !

This is familiar to me except no one even bothered to scan me ( until DH came with me to the GP). I just got paracetamol if I was lucky and various things treating symptoms which have all disappeared since GB removed ( eg high BP).

I had mine out in 2003 after i got gallstones caused by fast weight loss (Slimming World) The pain was excrutiating and couldnt eat SOLID food at all.
I do have bowel issues now and this likely has something to do with it.

Am aiming to keep mine OP! On a very low fat diet and taking Ursodiol (Ursodeoxycholic Acid). Could take months to years to clear the sludge but I think it’s worth it.

Yep mine lasted 5 hours once

I was in and out of A&E for nine months i had doctors come out to give me morphine injections I got a letter from the hospital telling me id have to wait another year for the op. I was angry and upset. Id lost weight which the NHS is always telling us to do. I had no idea back in 2002 that weight loss can cause gallstones I saw the surgeon privately and told him how much weight id lost and had the op two months later.

I kept mine for four years after the first symptom.

I regret every moment of it.

The attacks got worse and more and more frequent. I started getting infections in my gallbladder on a regular basis and they started to affect my liver. Eventually the gallbladder started adhering to surrounding organs and I went into liver failure.

The operation ended up being a much bigger deal than otherwise as they had to separate everything back out and I was in hospital with a drain in much longer than usual.

If you are fully symptoms free then maybe risk going without it, but once you start getting symptoms, get shot of it as soon as you can because it will only get worse.

I had entire 24 hour episodes. I tended to throw up so also got very dehydrated. I gave up drinking altogether but I swear they assumed I was hungover as they always struck at weekends.

I had one of my attacks on Christmas Eve 2002 and a doctor came out and gave me a morphine injection The next day we were supposed to be going to my parents for Christmas dinner. I got up out of bed and tried to walk but my legs wouldnt work I couldnt stand for long and just fell. I remember waking up with my nose on carpet and hearing DH on the phone saying "my wife has collapsed" Ambulance took me to hospital which was where we spent Christmas Day.

Nothing but a trip to A&E and morphine would kill the pain I experienced from the attacks. If the symptoms were settled with a bit of buscopan, then I may not have removed it. However, I’ve had no problems with having mine out. I remember screaming “please just let me die” during the attacks though. Childbirth is a walk in the park in comparison to the pain. I wouldn’t wish it on anyone!

gosh all of these experiences sound so awful. I really feel for anybody who has suffered.😩😩 I don’t have any symptoms at all at the moment though. Is it quite sudden or do you get warning signs for when it might occur?

Ignorance is bliss right!!? What will you do? @Tumbler2121

God that’s awful, I can’t imagine that pain for that long you poor thing

I seriously considered taking my own life when i got the letter telling me id have to wait another year.

I just mean on average so op isn't living in fear. Of course can be worse better.

I dont think there's a typical attack.

I have had two really horrific ones ended up in hospital. Luckily I can sense it now and take buscopan it maybe that it was a smaller stone that it worked for me. I weirdly found that making myself sick also helps. Maybe its a pressure thing. Guess we are all different but can all agree its worse than child birth.

An hour and sorted with buscopan would have been a dream! Mine were frequently 6-7+ hours and I was hospitalised several times. I had morphine at home in the end to help control it until it was removed.

But if you aren’t symptomatic then I would just put it out of my head. If things change in the future then deal with that when (if) it happens. No point in stressing when you may go your entire life without an attack.

You poor thing but I can totally relate. I think I was lucky that I had it out surgically in less than 6 months.

I’ve had 6 attacks in last couple of months. Absolute agony and I can’t carry on like this. Desperate to get gallbladder removed but a massive wait.

I ended up having over 100 attacks during my 4 year wait. The worst one lasted 32 hours. In the final year with a very strict diet I managed to get it down to one every 3 weeks or so but sometimes they'd happen no matter what I ate (and sometimes when I ate nothing at all).

The only way to stop the pain was to head to A&E for morphine through an IV as I would throw up constantly so couldn't swallow any. Around half of the time they'd keep me on the ward for 3-5 days as they found an infection again.

I ended up with PTSD once it was all over. Started when I was 18 and I finally got the surgery at 22. I ended up having to drop out of uni because I was so ill all the time.