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-   -   Do not self diagnose gall bladder problems, or how not to kill yourself, Stupid. (http://www.professionalsoldiers.com/forums/showthread.php?t=47091)

JJ_BPK 09-28-2014 08:57

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..

The Reaper 09-28-2014 09:11

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

Trapper John 09-28-2014 09:14

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

Trapper John 09-28-2014 09:20

Quote:

Originally Posted by The Reaper (Post 564013)
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

Get an abdominal ultrasound at your next PE!

BryanK 09-28-2014 09:39

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

SF_BHT 09-28-2014 10:10

JJ
Glad your getting better......

We can be our worst enemy sometimes!!!

Sdiver 09-28-2014 10:20

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

RichL025 09-28-2014 18:16

Quote:

Originally Posted by Trapper John (Post 564016)
Get an abdominal ultrasound at your next PE!

No value whatsoever.

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

RichL025 09-28-2014 18:18

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.

JJ_BPK 09-28-2014 19:25

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:

Quote:

Originally Posted by RichL025 (Post 564030)
JJ -
BTW, medicines like omeprazole (proton pump inhibitors) do nothing for gall bladder symptoms. r.

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

Barbarian 09-29-2014 13:48

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

Red Flag 1 09-29-2014 14:27

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.

RichL025 09-29-2014 18:42

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.

JJ_BPK 09-29-2014 18:58

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

PSM 09-29-2014 20:32

Quote:

Originally Posted by JJ_BPK (Post 564079)

They took the GB out 10 days ago.

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

Pat

CW3SF 09-30-2014 07:58

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.

Gypsy 10-06-2014 19:42

Quote:

Originally Posted by PSM (Post 564092)
And you have the gall not to tell us! Heal fast, mi amigo. ;)

Pat

Ha!

Hope you are feeling better JJ!

cbtengr 12-03-2019 12:07

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.

tst43 12-03-2019 15:57

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.

Kyobanim 12-03-2019 18:16

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!

RichL025 12-03-2019 22:39

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

cbtengr 12-05-2019 09:31

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.

PRB 12-07-2019 22:49

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!

tom kelly 02-15-2020 18:06

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