Can I have some advice on gallstones?

[JugularPiggy]

For the past couple of weeks I have been having really bad pain just under my ribs and in my back.

This got so bad on a couple of days ago I was doubled over and could'nt do anything all day. The pain seems to come and go as it pleases regardless of what i am eating/doing.

The pain all started when I decided to stop taking xenical and started at the gym. I have'nt been able to get back to the gym for the past few days as I have been in so much pain.

I had a blood test last week and my liver results are raised as they were in pregnancy. GP has referred me for an ultrasound and one possibility is gallstones.

Can anyone suggest what I can do to try and minimise the pain? Gp has advised paracetemol but some days it just doesnt touch it.

Also about a week ago I started to get alot lower tummy pain like period pain. I now have constant aching in my hips, my legs especially my shins and what feels like period pain on and off in my tummy and back but its not that time of the month! Is this related? GP dismissed it but the ache in my hips and legs is keeping me awake at night!

Can anyone offer some help before I google and scare myself silly?

Have you tried a hot water bottle to ease the pain?

I've suffered with pain under my ribs on and off for the past couple of years (occasional attacks, not constant). Although it sounded like the classic gall-bladder symptoms scans have showed no problems with my gall-bladder and the GP and hospital doc seem to think its a form of IBS .

The ultrasound test you have lined up will either show or rule out gall-bladder problems

I've got suspected gallstones too

I've been prescribed cocodamol which seems to help - no way would paracetomol be enough. it's hideous isn't it? I'm having an ultrasound scan tomorrow to confirm it, but the doctor says it only picks up 60% of cases...

VERY low fat diet (no cream / curries / fried food etc) and strong painkillers. I was advised to take soluble paracetamol as it gets into the system more quickly. Have a look at Rosemary Connelly's hip and thigh diet - she wrote it to overcome gallstones.

Sympathy to you, it is the worst pain I've had bar being in labour. Had my gall bladder out in August and I've a new lease of life!

Yes I have tried the hot water bottle but it does'nt help much.

I guess IBS may be another thing to consider but I think my liver results are whats causing the GP concern. Although when it was really bad the other day I was so bloated and it was like someone was flicking a switch between me having to run to the loo and not being able to go!

Hideous just about sums it up titfertat! I feel like someone is squeezing my insides while sticking a big stick through my chest and back.

Is there any other way to diagnose if the US is clear then?

just had my gall bladder out in june after lots of pain and a 999 call.

www.gallbladderattack.com/gallbladderdiet.shtml
try this web page.

Avoid cream,eggs cholesterol, fats ,spices, alcohol.shouldnt be taking xenical as it is contra-indicated in patients with gall stones.

Yes Gp is right,they missed mine for nearly years...idiots.Hospital sent me home saying i had irritable bowel,but i knew i hadnt got that.
I had over 200 small lentil sized stones and 4 x1cm ones....how the hell did they miss those.

Greatest empathy with the pain you must be in

I have been doing Slimming world for the past five months so Im already on a low fat diet. I am veggie, don't smoke or drink but do have a couple of stone still to shift.

thinking back i had similar but not as bad pain while pregnant but nothing was done at the time. I was also monitored throughout pregnancy as i had cholestasis with DD but apparently my liver results were fine then?

I had exactly the same thing off and on for over a year. It happened when I ate fatty food or pork products such as bacon etc. Doctor thought it was gall stones and I had an ultrasound but that came back negative. I then went into hosptial with on on Xmas day and they seem to think I have Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS) and I now have buscopane (also available over the counter) and a laxative drink which I take as when i get it I get constipated too although some poeple go the other way and have overly soft bowel movements. It is also brought on by stress and at the time I was in a particularly stressfull time in my life and since that got sorted in April I haven't had another pain since (touch wood).

Well I had 2 x ultrasounds (about a year apart) and both were clear.

I then had blood tests (can't remember exactly what they were all for but one was a liver function test) which were all OK so they've now decided its an IBS related thing.

There was also talk of a camera down the throat but only if the blood tests threw up some abnormalities.

is it your liver enzymes that are up. How about your CRP test.

irritable bowel is not likely to affect your liver tests but gall bladder and pancreas can.
Mine started with a flare of pancreatitis 3.5 years ago and im not really a drinker.Consultant reckoned a tiny stone had got into the pancreatic duct for a short while but a was in agony. I felt like a horse with colic and my abdomen swelled up like a drum. couldnt even lie down when the pain was at its worst.

Hope your scan sorts it out and gives you some peace of mind.Personally i would be more concerned about the liver tests

GP did'nt go into specifics on the blood results and i did'nt think to ask.

I went today as the pain although not as bad is till lingering especially in my back between my shoulder blades. He thought i'd come in as he had requested to see me about my bloods so he did the US referral for liver and gallstones straightaway given the raised results and my symptoms.

I just need to find out what the lower back and leg pain is now. Its annoying as when im stood up, sat down etc I have the higher abdo/back pain which is better when i lie down but then the lower back and leg pain gets worse when i lie down!!

Can't blinking win!

Thanks for your help everyone, I am going to take it easy for the next two weeks and I should hopefully have the US results back then, thats if they find anything.

Buscopan. It's an anti-spasmodic thingummy and much more effective than any pain killer.

also with gall bladder issues it can be common to throw up bile with wht appears to be coffee granules in it - i didn't have that which helped towards ruling out gall bladder and diagnosing IBS. The pain I get is between the shoulders and in my back too and also what I call a bad period pain but not had pain in tops of my liegs, however, as your bowel is a big organ it wouldn't surprise me if some people feel it lower down. Let us know how you get on x

Stealth -Thats what I've been prescribed to take when I get episodes of pain .

one characteristic pain of gall stone pain is a pain radiating up to right shoulder as i was lead to believe that there is a nerve from gall bladder which runs up to the right shoulder. When i had mine removed the CO2 they pump your belly full of,for the op,gives you the same pain,in the right shoulder for 48 hours after the op ,until it disipates

i waqs given pethidine by my doc as a v strong pain killer, as codeine and morphine can affect the sphincter of oddi which is around the same area.

any consolation I had pain everywhere when I had gallstones! My shoulders, middle of my back, lower back, stomach! Once it was removed it was fantastic. A one night stay in hospital and I have never looked back I was eating a roast dinner two days later but then I am a bit of a pig gourmet. Hope you get it sorted soon

I have just been diagnosed with gallstones. Have had 3 episodes of biliary (sp?) colic, each time within 9 months of childbirth. Had crazy liver related blood test results, raised esr and have just had an ultrasound that confirmed the presence of stones.

The gastro consultant said the stones can be formed during pregnancy due to high levels of oestrogen.

I have done a bit of research and found out that codeine can actually trigger attacks in 'some' people, although it doesn't for me, as I have been taking codeine for tooth pain with no ill effects. Apparently strong ibuprofen combined with analgesia is supposed to be the best form of treatment, although there isn't much that can touch the pain to be honest.

I dont have constant pain under my ribs, in fact the first two attacks were put down to GERD as the pain was epigastric and to the left rather than on the right hand side.

Consultant said they advise anyone who has had an episode of colic to go for the gallbladder removal, but ultimately the decision is mine to make as I don't suffer chronically and have only had 3 attacks in 7 years.

I am really not sure what to do, as I've read/heard an awful lot of negative stuff about people having a plethora of digestive problems following surgery and a good number of people continuing to form stones which just get stuck in the bile duct as there is no gallbladder, end result being they still have attacks of colic following the operation.

I have another appointment to see the consultant at the end of November and have to have made my decision by then. I'm erring on the side of not having the op at the moment, but then again, another attack of colic would probably change my mind completely.

Hope you manage to get some relief from the pain soon.

moosemama .....i was really ill for 5 weeks after gall bladder removal but then all of a sudden i started to feel better and have never looked back. Can eat absolutely anything,had loads of tiramisu at the weekend and cheesecake and it doesnt affect me now. Thank god theres no more trips in an ambulance thinking im havin a heart attack.
I thought i was dying when i had colic ,my belly looked just like a horse with colic(if youve ever seen one...its pitiful)

JugularPiggy, so sorry you're feeling so rough!

It could have been me writing your post. Sitting here in PJs with hot water bottle plus blanket wrapped around my abdomen, having sat next against one of the radiators for half an hour. Nothing seems to take this pain; just like yours it's my lower back, right shoulder, and under ribs. Horrifying! Also feeling sick.

I have been checked for gall stones back in April, but this came back negative. Only thing consultant found was some calcifications (i believe) on one of my kidneys. And my liver enzymes were also up then.

I had some pinkish blood yesterday, but nothing since. Have a coil though and I have not really had a period at least 6 months.

Am puzzled! But IBS is interesting suggestion...

Honneybunny...is blood in urine or 'lady bits'

JugularPiggy........how long have you been on xenical

oh my I can't believe this sort of thing is affecting so many people!

alypaly i was only on xenical for two months. GP I saw yesterday said he would not have prescribed it. My normal GP had commented on my raised liver results but still prescribed it?

I decided not to go back for another prescription as I am on a very low fat diet (SW) and had decided to start at the gym plus I only lost a stone on xenical and I had lost the same without it prior to starting.

I do wonder if stress is adding to this as i started back at work around the time it first kicked off and last night I got stressed with DH and before long the pain in my and chest was raging

I am hoping to get back to the gym this week but will be taking it very slowly.

That was very naughty of your gp as it says it is contraindicated with liver problems and gallstones. I would be rather cross as xenical can exacerbate gall stones and should def not be prescribed with lver problems.
i have worked in a pharmacy for 30 years and it is a no no.

emc.medicines.org.uk/medicine/4417

open patient info leaflet.

Part of the way that xenical is eliminated from the body is through biliary excretion,so if you have gallstones this cannot happen properly.
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alypaly, no not blood in urine, in "lady bits" .