Have you had gall-bladder trouble? Is it really worse than man-flu?

[phdlife]

About 10 days ago he came home from work with massive stomach cramps, ended up in A&E. After a few tests and a shot of morphine they sent him home with a letter to his GP to get some more tests done. Dh hasn't done this as he's used all his sick leave (when that piece of artillery rolled over his leg at the start of the month) and doesn't feel we could take the pay cut atm. (I think we could, his health's important, but that's another story.)

They only found the tender gall-bladder once the morphine for his stomach cramps had kicked in, but atm that seems to be all he's focusing on - even though he is still incredibly tender in the tummy area and not eating much. He's also experiencing pain in his back. Is the tummy and the gall-bladder pains likely to be related?

I can see he is pale and getting thinner, but I'm struggling to be sympathetic when (for example) I'm cooking dinner/wrangling over-tired 2yo and dh yells for me to go pick up crying dd because his back hurts too much.

I know I'm being a bitch testy cos I'm tired and stressed and he can't help, but he should just go to the feckin' doctor, shouldn't he?

Gall bladder pain is god awful, worst pain i've ever experienced. I'd give birth 50 times over than have it!

tamarto does it get better with treatment?

My MIL said that her gall bladder trouble was the worst pain she ever had.

He needs to go to doc though.

Missed a bit, of course he needs to go to the doctors, it could become serious if left.

It'll have to be removed, that is the only treatment really.

and did you have stomach pains as well, or is that something else? he didn't even realise he had a tender gall bladder til the doctor palpated, now he's constantly giving me updates.

Yes kind of, they are higher up than my stomach, just under my ribs on the right hands side but spreading across, when it is really bad i can't function at all, when it's moderate i still want to scream but it shouldn't last more than a few hours.

If he looks yellow at all get him back to the hospital it could be the start of pancreatitis.

thanks tamarto, he's not yellow just quite pale

and he seems mostly to be complaining about his stomach, not eating much poor bugger. and it seems more or less constant.

When I had my first gall bladder pain, I thought I was having a heart attack - it was incredibly painful. Had the gall bladder out - very good, easy (iyswim) operation - keyhole surgery. Had to have a couple of weeks off work though, though I could have done my job (sitting at a computer all day) - just wouldn't be able to do anything too physical.

Make sure he avoids anything that is fatty or hard to digest, they make it worse.

yes, he had a terrible day yesterday after eating a shop-bought curry pie.

what about dairy? someone said that should be avoided too.

Has he been checked for h.pylori? That's more stomachy than gallbladdery, my docs thought I had g/bladder ish-oos this year, but it turned out to be a h.pylori infection. I've since talked to loads of people who have similar stomach goings-on and it turns out to be that.
My liver was swollen when I had it as well, which was giving me achy feelings on the right hand side.

I am currently being investigated for gall bladder probs and I have to say that the pain is very very bad, I'm hoping its not gall bladder but my symptoms are exactly like Tamarto describes. I've been given some acid reducing pills and told to eat little and often and keep food bland.

Your poor DH, Gall bladder pain is the worse pain I have ever experienced, makes childbirth look like a walk in the park, seriously. I was rushed to hospital as i was in so much pain that i couldnt breathe, you need to cut him some slack.

He is likely to feel sick too. The pain from gallstones can be felt in the stomach, back, shoulders and it ranges from niggling to paralysing.

He needs to go to the doctor and get it sorted, some people can go on with gallstones and never need treatment much more than taking gaviscon, but once you have a bad attack they tend to come more frequently,once the gall bladder is inflammed it is more likely to be painful later on.

The good news is, its very simple routine surgery which he should recover from within a week. Once he has had the surgery its problem solved.

He must go to the doctors and get booked for an ultrasound to confirm the gallstones and them get them whipped out, it will only get worse.

IT is most likely to be gallbladder to be honest, they way they press your stomach is done in a way to diagnose it - not sure how.

In the meantime he can lessen the likelyhood of an attack by reducing (almost to nothing)the amount of fat in his diet and not to eat too much late at night. Nothing after six i guess.

Was he given antibiotics? The only time my gallbladder hurt when being pressed was when it was infected. When I was first diagnosed with possible (then confirmed via ultrasound)gallstones the doctor said I had to watch out for turning yellow, or for it hurting when pressed because an infection can be serious.

When I have attacks the pain doesn't show up from the gallbladder being pressed. It starts like a huge cramp in my stomach, sometimes going to a tight band all the way round, sometimes just remaining in the back, and also have a compulsion to use the toilet. It is the worst pain I have ever had, even more than my pain-relief free induced labour.

Yes he should definitely go to the doctors.

Agree with the others that it could be gallstones. If it is, he really must see the GP. They're not going to go away and there can be serious complications if your gallbladder gets inflamed - can also effect liver & pancreas. If he goes yellow or his poos go pale - I'd get straight to the hospital.

Much better get it sorted now. I've just had my gallbladder out & recovery time is about a week. No heavy lifting for a few extra weeks too.

Hope he gets it sorted soon as the diet sheet the hospital gave me for a v. low fat diet (pre op) is pretty depressing!

thank you all I nagged all weekend and he did go to the doc's tonight and is now booked in for a ct scan rather than an ultrasound.