anyone have gallbladder pain during or after pregnancy

[Suehuang99]

doctor says im too young

Too young for what?
Yes your gallbladder can give you a biliary colic 'attack' during pregnancy and after. Happened to me. It hurts like nothing else.

Yep I was 26 and ended up with emergency surgery when ds was 4 weeks old the pain was worse then labour after I had him

too young to have gallbladder problems - do you mind me asking how biliary colic was diagnosed? is that different from stones?

my liver markers are elevated along with calcium, cholestrol & phosphate

Yes. Had awful pains towards the end of the pregnancy. Midwife assured me it was baby's foot. Continued after he was born. Had a couple of admissions in pain in the first couple of months after the birth. Had small op to remove a stuck stone then had gallbladder removed.

this was the same with me 3rd trimester - pain was middle of top stomach & would come in waves. is it better now that you had your gallbladder removed? how did they diagnose you?

I can't remember exactly but think there were some ultrasounds. Possibly a ct scan. When the stone got stuck I went yellow and my liver markers were all over the place (also I was in screaming agony). It's much better now it has been removed but still get the odd phantom pain. Nothing like the stone pains though. Still need to be a bit careful after very fatty meals.

Hi, the "colic" is when a stone is being passed through the gallbladder and it causes great pain, like going into labour but in your upper abdomen/side etc. I also had dull aches in my right shoulder blade on and off for years.

It didn't really get diagnosed - had no idea what it was and initial doctor was useless. After discussing with other women I told a new doctor I suspected gallstones and they did a scan and it was. I was late 20s when the attacks started but they weren't too frequent. By mid 30s I had got my gallbladder removed but that was after my first child. Absolutely no problems since then.

did they get more frequent with time? this is same as my doctor - i am trying to push for a scan now too. i have been hospitalised with upper abdominal pain a couple of times but they just tell me its probably ibs

i was yellow at the end of pregnancy. liver markers are high but not insane (double the normal) thank you for your advice so glad you feel better

Yes I'd say they got more frequent over time. Are you pregnant now OP?
Does the pain feel like it's sort of based around your right shoulder blade? For ages I didn't recognise that this was the case because it's everywhere but that's often the sign it's gallbladder.

Some people get attacks after eating fatty foods but that was never a specific/obvious trigger for mine. Am/was otherwise healthy, not overweight etc. Did they tell you the 5 'F's - fat, female, forty, fertile, fair... I was female, fair and fertile but not fat or forty!

@HellyR took words outta my mouth
BFF had hers removed at 25 post DC1 !

Im currently suffering from them. Waiting for further tests and hopefully removal ( i never though id be desperate for an operation!?)
have an attack about 2/3 a month, despite eating bland food. Havent had a takeaway ot slice of cakes in four long months!
apparently its common during amd after pregnancy: but NO ONE mentions it amongst all the pre natal classes AT ALL!
i rang an ambulance as i thoght i was having a heart attack.

My 1st gallbladder attack was when I was about 30 weeks pregnant. Dreadful pain.

I was fobbed off with 'two young' for gallbladder issues at 27. 7 years later I ended up hospitalised with serious complications and emergency surgery to remove it as every attack I had was dismissed as something else.

is it possible to have attacks which last days at a time?

I did after DS was born. Ended up having acute pancreatitis and having to have my gallbladder removed. I was 34 I think?

did you feel better after removal?

does anyone know would gallstones be picked up on pregnancy ultrasound? i'm 3 months post-partum & wondering if they would have been picked up during pregnancy so would it be a waste to push for another ultrasound or is it a different part of body?

and does the baby press on gallbladder when pregnant making attacks worse?

No to either of those (I'm not a medical expert but I can't imagine that's the case in either situation).

I think if an attack had lasted more than a few hours you would have gone to hospital. It's not something you can ignore, it's excruciating- I thought I was having a heart attack. Do your symptoms match the symptoms for gallstones?

www.nhs.uk/conditions/gallstones/symptoms/

If those sound like you, go to your gp and ask for a scan. "Too young " isn't a reason.

No, standard pregnancy ultrasounds do not look at the liver/gallbladder. I think it's the hormonal changes of pregnancy which make gallstone problems more likely in pregnancy, not the physical pressure from the baby (the gallbladder is small, squashy, and so high up that it's out of the way for most of pregnancy).

Gallstones is the last thing gps think about but I had my first attack whilst pregnant with ds1 when I was 22. I was told it was severe Braxton Hicks, baby was fine then again after he was born but by the time I was seen by a doctor the pain had passed.
It was only 3 years later whilst pregnant again that an out of hours doctor picked up that my urine sample was cloudy and he wanted my liver function checked then a scan performed that they picked up the gallstones.
I had surgery a few years later as outside of pregnancy the attacks were very few.
That was 12 years ago now, in the beginning post surgery I used to get some phantom pain but not anymore

I had gallstones after DS2, I was 25. The pain was horrific, like being stabbed in the lower back with stomach cramps too. I'd rather give birth without pain relief than ever have to go through that again