Gallbladder issues….i think?!

[lemmein]

I’ve been on mounjaro for about 9 weeks - moved up at the suggested times and everything was going well. The only side effect I’ve had is slightly sore skin on my arms after a few days of injecting - felt a bit like sunburn, more annoying than painful.

Anyway, I took my first 7.5 last week and I found that the food noise shut down almost immediately, I was still feeling quite hungry on earlier doses. This morning I woke up really ill though 😫 I’ve had severe pains in my abdomen all day - in the middle just below my bra band radiating into my back and I’ve been vomiting since I woke up. It’s eased off a bit now but it’s still there niggling.

I’m due to take my next dose today - obviously I won’t, but what do I do now? Carry on, reduce, or pack it in altogether? I know you can have gallbladder issues on all WL treatments, it was a risk I was aware of and willing to take, but today has been so horrendous I don’t want to piss my GB off any more than I need to - but I don’t want to stop either!

(I’m selfishly hoping my DH comes down with it so I can write it off as a bug instead but annoyingly he’s a picture of health 😒)

I would go to a and e or ring 111 at the very least. It sounds like a gall stone is blocking the gall blt. Is your skin yellow and do you have a temperature ? If yes straight to a and e. Not trying to scare you but I have gall bladder problems and these are the warning signs I have been told to lol out for X hope you feel better soon x

Once your gallbladder starts grumbling, that’s it! Go see your GP sooner rather than later, I didn’t (after similar circumstances to you) and after 6 months of hell, I’ve just had mine out.
Eat a very low fat diet whilst you’re getting it checked out, too.

Book a Dr's appointment, once you have gallbladder problems it never gets better and you just have to get it out (speaking from experience unfortunately). In the meantime you need to eat a really low fat diet to help ease the symptoms.

Thanks for your reply :)

i don’t have any yellowing of the skin and no fever at all - I did check Dr Google (🙈) and it said to look for those symptoms so I’ve been checking the whites of my eyes all day but so far nothing.

My DD had her gb removed a few years ago despite not being in any of the risk groups. She was in her early 20s, fit & healthy - unfortunately I’m fat, female and 40 (+) so at higher risk anyway. I remember the pain she had in the middle of her bra band though which is why I suspect it’s my gb - I’ve never had a sickness bug that hurts there.

Do you take MJ with existing gallbladder issues?

(This would have to happen when I’ve bought a new pen - annoying!)

I had this (and it was awful!) though I have no gallbladder. Where are you injecting? I changed from stomach to my thigh, half dosed twice a week for a month before moving up again - also make sure you're eating a meal and having plenty of water especially on injection days (this is not medical advice, just based on my own research and experience!)

Arghh really? I had hoped it was something that would just go away if I stopped annoying it!

That’s interesting, thanks :) I inject in my stomach.

@Queenage@HorsingAround2022 were you on mj at the time? Did you stop taking it till you had your gb removed?

That definitely sounds like your gallbladder. I had mine out mid 20s, despite being like your dd, fit, slim and healthy. Go to your gp and get it sorted. Gallbladder flare ups hurt, a lot! I had mine out with zero side effects, except the fact that I can’t eat a lot of deep fried food (well, I can but tmi, I have to be near a toilet, so I generally don’t).

Unfortunately very common with weight loss in women of a certain age (which many of us on MN are!).

Stick to a low fat diet while waiting to see GP and see if that alleviates symptoms, but unfortunately once you have them, and they are problematic, then they tend to remain so until you get your GB out. My consultant said he had seen a lot of women my age on MJ in recent months coming in because rapid weight in your 40s or around that time is a big risk factor for it. He was happy for me to stay on MJ though (although I’m at goal and off now).

You might be lucky and able to control it through diet. Stick to foods under 3g of fat per 100g where possible.

I am on list for removal, but it’s managed well enough through diet at this point as I’ve removed triggers, which is just as well as the waiting list is not good.

Plenty of advice to seek medical help but also you don't have to keep going up the doses. Maybe go back to 5mg and in the meantime take it less often like every 8-9 days or a smaller amount, but I'd speak to your provider too. Definitely try a lower fat diet to stop triggering the gallbladder and drink plenty of water to flush anything out of your system.

I had my gallbladder out as an emergency after losing lots of weight a few years ago, nothing to do with Mounjaro as I wasn’t on it at the time. Unfortunately you are more likely to develop gallstones if you are overweight, ironically losing weight can also be a trigger for developing gallstones so damned if you do and damned if you don’t.

Your symptoms do sound like gallstones, I never developed jaundice but was admitted after a night of agony that progressed to projectile vomiting and fever, turns out there was one massive stone completely blocking the bile duct and causing a massive infection. After a couple of days admitted on IV antibiotics and morphine they accepted defeat and took me into surgery, it had started to rot so they got to it just in time (or a little late depending on how generous I’m feeling).

Get yourself to the doctors as soon as possible, if the pain becomes unbearable or you develop any of the cause for concern symptoms go straight to A&E, in the meantime monitor your diet carefully fat is often a trigger, and speak to your prescriber about whether you need to stop the Mounjaro.

Hey @lemmein just checking to see how things went for you? Found this thread through searching as having similar issues myself 😕