Do not self diagnose gall bladder problems, or how not to kill yourself, Stupid.
 

One butt heads self medication blunders and How to get to complacent about your condition..

I have had three(3) gall bladder attacks in the last 20 yrs. Not a big thing. If I watch what I eat,,no problamo.. I take (Prilosec MEPRAZOLE) as required. One pill has always worked.

Until, September 12th... I had made some simple pasta sauce, stock sauce with added hamburger and a 1/2 lb mushrooms. Tomato sauce can be problematic, because of the high acid content, but I had not had any in over a month.. Had a little gas after dinner, during the night a little more. Still no big deal, simple "bloated" feeling. Next day it continued, I had taken one of my gas pills Friday night, took another. By this time I had other lower gastronomic bowl problems, ( u no what I mean). Went to a liquid intake only to maintain hydration. Moderate
pain, but it seemed to be getting better. I have a standing script for Tynol-3 for my back, but "it wasn't that bad"

By Sunday afternoon, I thought it was better, but decided to go to the ER anyway. Did not feel good and I never had a gall bladder problem last more the 6-10 hours.

Here is where the story get strange. My cuz Teri drove me to the ER, Bless her soul,

I was mobile, alert, no fever or other symptoms, just the gas bloat, pain radiating from the upper intestinal track. No dizziness or light-headiness, No throwing-up, BUT Now even drinking water hurt.

Then I can only guess the process and timing, BUT my systems started shutting down. As I can piece the story..

1)the gall bladder stones somehow did a push back into my pancreas.
2)the pancreas was pissed so it pushed nasty stuff into my liver and kidneys
3)everyone of my markers were off the charts, white count 1800, amylase and lipase over 2400
4)while doing tests in the ER, I can only say I thought I was having a heart attack or something, I could not breath the abdominal pain was that bad. O2 was 95+ but I could not breath.

Doc comes in and I had an acute pancreatic attack, and was on the coin flip for kidney dialysis. Jaundice set in after I arrived within 3 hrs. Somehow I managed to get to the ER just in time and the team managed to delay, then stop the major problems.

After a week of doing stuff, the kidney & liver numbers were down, I was off the dialysis list. On Saturday, Sept 20 The offending gall bladder was removed. I finally was released Friday the 26th.

As to the activity during this period, I have little remembrance. Pain and drugs were my diet, communication was not there. I had lost 7 days.

The DEAL,, If I had not stopped being a butt head and taken myself in, I may not be here writing this note..

How bad was it?? I had 4 roommates between initial entry and exit. All 4 were in for similar problems. All four went to hospices...

JJ
A time traveler, very happy to return to reality..

Glad to have you back, hermano!

I have had a few gall bladder attacks myself, and that hurts! Bad.

Tomato sauce is one of my triggers as well.

I have had decent results taking Donnatal for flare-ups, as well as daily Nexium.

I had no idea it could kill you.

Get well soon, brother!

TR

Holy pancreatitis there Batman! You are one lucky SoB and glad you are still here to even be able to write that post, Brother.

Severe abdominal pain is nature's way of telling you SOMETHING IS NOT RIGHT! :D

Get an abdominal ultrasound at your next PE!

Glad to see you're back! Take care of yourself!

JJ
Glad your getting better......

We can be our worst enemy sometimes!!!

Sometimes, just taking a couple of Motrin, drinking some water and changing your socks doesn't work. Glad you went with your "gut instincts" and got checked out.

Glad to hear you're back and that you're up and moving.

Now ..... MOVE OUT !!!! :D

No value whatsoever.

Approx 1/6 of the population has gallstones. Only a fraction of those have symptoms and need surgery.

JJ -

Gad to hear you are doing better. Pancreatitis is basically a third-degree burn in your abdomen. People die from it, regularly. Glad to hear you recovered!

BTW, medicines like omeprazole (proton pump inhibitors) do nothing for gall bladder symptoms. Do not stop taking it until you speak with your personal doctor.

Thanks all..

The fact that I went bad so fast, scarred the shiite out of me.

The other part, drugs for pain on a body that had not eaten was also a major side trip. I was a card carrying Space Cadet for 4 days, bugs on the walls, grass growing in my bed, very spooky. I will load out the movie I took of the ant colony under my pillow, those guys were funny, but tickled.. :confused::confused::confused:

Rich, I plan to do 4 or 5 office visits this week. My GP, Kidney, Surgeon, & Internist. Need to get the new BP meds straight and set a plan to monitor the Pancreas, numbers still high.

Still losing weight, down 3lb after leaving the hospital. I have a "healthy" fear of eating and know I need to up the intake to build some strength.

:lifter

Close call.:eek: Glad you're doing better, Sir JJ. Stay after it.

Glad to hear you are back, up, and running again, JJ. Two things about Gall Bladder Disease that absolutely hold true are that: 1. Gall Bladder woes never really go away, and surgery is the only real fix; and, 2. Everytime there is an attack of Gall Bladder symptoms, there is also a degree of pancratic involvement. The question is the degree of pancreatic involvement that happens. The smart way to deal with Gall Bladder Diseasee is to find a surgeon you like, and trust to take out your Gall Bladder. The next smart move is to have it removed soon. Do not wait years and years, while you develop other organ problems. Do not wait for another attack for surgery; your Gall Bladder only gets worse and you will spend time in hospital to get it cooled down again so it can be removed.

Red Flag

It is entirely possible to have isolated GB disease without pancreatic involvement.

That being said, it certainly sounds like JJ needs to see a surgeon.

Guys,

They took the GB out 10 days ago. They waited until the kidney & liver settled down and dialysis was pulled off the todo list.

They also were dealing with a BP problem. One day it was 203/118, then it dropped to 92/46. Part of that was the machination with my BP meds, but they never gave me a answer as to why I was getting such wild swings, other than the pain may have caused the flux.

:munchin

And you have the gall not to tell us! Heal fast, mi amigo. ;)

Pat