You have my sympathy. My gall bladder quit on me a few years ago and i have been struggling ever since. I had it removed immediately, but had to go back in a couple of weeks later and load up on morphine (for 3 days) because my pancreas revolted. :eek:
That was 10 times worse than the initial gall bladder event. Worst pain i have ever experienced. I really thought i was checking out for good.

Ha!

Hope you are feeling better JJ!

Old thread Gall Bladder issues.
 

The search button certainly is my friend found this thread regarding gall bladder issues. From Friday at 1700 till Monday morning and 0400 the wife and I made two trips to the ER. 1 hour after eating on Friday I started to develop a very bloated feeling just below my rib cage. At first I thought perhaps I had just eaten too many leftovers from the day before. The bloated feeling turned to pain and the pain would migrate to the middle of my back about mid spine. I let this go on for about 4 hours before telling the wife that we should probably go to the hospital. I have dealt with pain in the past and I don’t deal with it too well. This pain was very intense and radiated over a large area.

The receptionist in the ER took one look at me and said you need to see somebody right away don’t you? I said yes and they wasted no time in getting me to the clinic. Their first thought was that I was having a heart attack, I had a mild heart attack five years ago trust me when I say this pain was 1000 times worse. My blood pressure spiked at 148 over 91 and eventually hit 160 over something. It took a shot of Dilaudid and about 5 minutes before the nurse could get an EKG I was a little wound up. The EKG was fine so they ordered a CT scan of my chest.
What they discovered through the CT was that I had a very large gallstone which seemed to be moving around and at times causing me a great deal of discomfort. According to the Dr. my gall bladder looked normal except for this gallstone. They would not commit to say the gallstone was my problem as I had never had an issue with my gall bladder before. They had me drink some sort of chalky cocktail I have no idea what it wants but the idea was to relieve the bloating. I do not know if it helped but it certainly did not hurt. They sent me home with some sort of painkillers and suggested that I come back if it continues to cause problems.

In a little less than 48 hours my pain came back this time it was a lot worse a lot faster. Back to the ER we went. As they were pretty sure that I was not having a heart attack I didn’t get into the clinic quite as fast as on Friday. Again that they gave me the cocktail and a shot of Dilaudid. Eventually I did a consult with a surgeon. They would not remove my gall bladder at that time as it was not an emergency. They called it an elective surgery, now when I hear the word elective used in conjunction with surgery I think boob job or face lift something of that nature. But the Doc dialed me in as to what it meant and it all made sense after that. My gall bladder will be removed sometime within the next 2 to 3 weeks. It has been suggested that I start following a bland diet. My question to any of you that have had their gall bladder removed is, how long did it take following the surgery to get back to a normal diet? Do you still continue to enjoy an occasional greasy meal? Thank you in advance for your feedback and advise.

cbtengr,

My GB was removed over 20 years ago, and there are still certain foods that I cannot tolerate that I once enjoyed with no problems. I can no longer have anything that resembles a nut of any kind. Also, until you get a sense of how certain foods effect you following the surgery, watch eating anything remotely spicy unless there is a bathroom within sprinting distance. Overall, however, the side-effects are negligible. Others to whom I have spoken (that have had the surgery) have similar, but sometimes unique, experiences.

I had the gall bladder removed in October. Within a week I was eating normal, but I have a fairly bland diet anyway. I don't go to taco bell, spaghettis is still on the menu. I find that it's more the seasoning than the type of food that gets me.

I had a drain for a week following the surgery. Something about the doc didn't like what he saw coming out of the gall bladder when they were cutting it lose. Just something to be aware of.

Good luck!

cbtengr,

Hope you're able to get in & get your surgery soon. Gall Bladder problems can be frustrating & not always clear-cut to diagnose.

I will tell you that I do this procedure fairly often, and I usually tell my patients that afterwards they can eat whatever they want. Some people can get "post-cholecystectomy syndrome" where they will get milder symptoms like you describe when they eat greasy or fatty foods for up to 6 months after surgery, but it usually resolves on it's own.

However, reading the responses by tst43 and Kyobanim, I gotta say, I'm going to start telling my patients that weird, individualized food intolerances are possible. I can honestly say I have never heard of tst43's reaction, but everyone is different...

More to the point - your surgeon was correct, removing the GB is not generally an emergency in the situation you describe.... HOWEVER, if your pain / discomfort returns and it lasts more than 6 hours or is accompanied by fever, or if you are unable to keep anything down, all bets are off & go back to the ED. When you do, make sure to let them know that your surgeon was planning to remove your GB anyway....

Good luck to you & dont hesitate to ask if you have any questions

I wish to thank those of you who have commented on my post. I will be having my pre surgery meeting on Monday, followed by surgery on Wednesday. I will let you all know how it works out.

I'll bet every guy here has self diagnosed and medicated.....it is what we do.

A good warning and glad you made it back!

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