Suspected gallstones; burning and sharp pain under right breast area - 27 weeks pregnant

[moe1989]

Had burning sensation under right breast / rib area for around 2 weeks which has developed. Been painful with movement, when trying to sleep etc. Went to an emergency doctor who believes it is gallstones. Advised me to take basic pain relief (paracetamol - twice every 4 hours). Anyone had any similar experiences / any advice?

I had gallstones triggered by pregnancy, but was lucky in that the attacks started shortly after I gave birth, so I had a few more options in terms of managing it.

In all honesty, paracetamol did very little for me. Ask the doctor whether you can have Buscopan - it's not a painkiller, but it relaxes the muscles that constrict during a gallbladder attack and is one of the most effective ways of easing them.

The other main thing to do is to pay attention to what you eat - find out what your triggers are. Broadly speaking, the cause is fatty food - but some people can eat pretty much anything as long as the amount of fat stays beneath a certain level, whereas other people always suffer after eating a particular thing, no matter how little of it. In my case, I found the time that I ate also made a big difference - if I had anything fatty within about 3 hours of the lead up to bed time or lying down, I really suffered for it.

I had gallstones, not pregnant so took every painkiller going, they injected me at hospital etc. Nothing helps with the pain. The only thing that helped was avoiding fatty food like the plague. Not sure if that would work if pregnancy related though.

I'd also push for a consultant referral now, if you're not already getting one. Most of the time, the solution to gallstones is surgery to remove the gallbladder and the waiting lists for that can be long (6 months in my case). Even if that ends up not being the solution for you, make sure you're being properly evaluated so you don't end up waiting longer than you have to.

I'd start the ball rolling now to get the bugger out because it can take a few months from the scan. I also followed as low a fat diet as I possibly could (green traffic light on foods) and anything with banana in as that seemed to set it off. I managed to control it until I got it out but it was miserable I'll not lie.