Gallbladder pain

Kewreeuss

Scans say I have gallstones, Doc says I have to get my gallbladder removed.
I'd prefer not to, the pain isn't unbearable, I'll soldier on and keep all my bits together for as long as possible.
I have been reading up on gallbladder troubles and I see that the pain is caused by gallstones or Sludge blocking the ducts.
Because I don't have pain or discomfort all the time, I assume the sludge or the stone moves on and the ducts unblock.
But what causes them to move on? Contraction of the gallbladder, movement of the body?
And where do they move to, or just shift within the gallbladder?
People also blame their pain on certain foods, I don't seem to have a trigger. Doesn't seem to be fats, or sugar or chilli.
I'd love to think it was that massive muffin with the 200 gr of buttercream on it yesterday that caused my latest attack, but I had one a couple of weeks ago and nothing happened!

Dizzyblonde

Mod note: This isn't suited to the Food forum so I've moved it to Health Sciences. Maybe someone here can answer your questions.

donegal.

(listen to proper medical advice from a doctor not to me)

very often the stones become dislodged or dissolve and the problem never comes back.

If the stones are persistent you may need to have it removed. Getting you're gall bladder removed is a relatively small , routine operation .Nothing to be afraid of.

but if the stones move and block the bile duct you could become very ill. The operation to remove them is called an ERCP, its not very pleasant and the possible complications are not good either

donegal.

the liver makes bile, which is used to break down fats in the food you eat.
the bile is stored in the gallbladder until its needed.

foodwise, you should eat more fresh fruit and veg, whole grain (eg pick brown rice over white rice etc),lean meat( no fatty meat) chicken and fish.

and you'll have to cut out the high cholesterol foods .So no fried food or highly processed foods (thats your muffins and buttercream out the widow) and no milk/cheese etc. or at least change to low fat version.

Kewreeuss

donegal. wrote: »

the liver makes bile, which is used to break down fats in the food you eat.
the bile is stored in the gallbladder until its needed.

foodwise, you should eat more fresh fruit and veg, whole grain (eg pick brown rice over white rice etc),lean meat( no fatty meat) chicken and fish.

and you'll have to cut out the high cholesterol foods .So no fried food or highly processed foods (thats your muffins and buttercream out the widow) and no milk/cheese etc. or at least change to low fat version.

Thank you Donegal, I eat meat about once a fortnight, lots of fresh veg, don't do fries, it's probably all the olive oil I put on everything and no exercise.
I'll just see how it goes, and hope the stones shed a bit and they pass on through.

fussyonion

If you get gallstone attacks, you'll be begging them to remove your gallbladder.

It's the worst pain I have ever experienced. I had my gallbladder out in 2010 and it was the best thing I ever did.
Triggers for me were high fat foods, fried foods and strangely, coffee.
I would be absolutely doubled over in excruciating pain and the pain only subsided once I'd vomited.

I suffered these attacks very frequently and despite me eating a low-calorie diet, the attacks kept coming and I had the gallbladder surgery five months after my first attack.

If they're causing you no problems, they usually won't remove the gallbladder, though, so thank your lucky stars you don't get them.

EDIT: Sorry, didn't see that you do get attacks. They mustn't be that painful otherwise you'd be having the surgery.

Wellyd

fussyonion wrote: »

If you get gallstone attacks, you'll be begging them to remove your gallbladder.

It's the worst pain I have ever experienced.

I couldn't agree with this more. My first attack was Christmas night 2014. I was convinced I was in labour. BTW I've never been in labour but it literally was the worst pain I've ever experienced! I had constant attacks every few days. After a few weeks I gave in and went to the doctor who sent me to a&e which led me to have it removed a few months later. It honestly was the best thing I've ever done. I ate really healthily at the time so I couldn't figure out where I was going wrong. The main foods that caused flare ups for me were tomatoes, garlic and onions, which were later explained by the pre op nurse to be high formap(!) foods.

I've never once regretted having it removed. I've 4 small scars on my stomach and that's about it. I was in and out of hospital as a day patient and was back to normal in a few days. I've never had any ill effects of not having a gallbladder so I'm a huge believer in surgery.

fussyonion

Wellyd wrote: »

I couldn't agree with this more. My first attack was Christmas night 2014. I was convinced I was in labour. BTW I've never been in labour but it literally was the worst pain I've ever experienced! I had constant attacks every few days. After a few weeks I gave in and went to the doctor who sent me to a&e which led me to have it removed a few months later. It honestly was the best thing I've ever done. I ate really healthily at the time so I couldn't figure out where I was going wrong. The main foods that caused flare ups for me were tomatoes, garlic and onions, which were later explained by the pre op nurse to be high formap(!) foods.

I've never once regretted having it removed. I've 4 small scars on my stomach and that's about it. I was in and out of hospital as a day patient and was back to normal in a few days. I've never had any ill effects of not having a gallbladder so I'm a huge believer in surgery.

Same here.
It had gotten to the stage where I was living off salad and super lean meat but the attacks still kept coming so I was practically running to the operating theatre when they said they were removing it.

I was speaking to a female patient in the hospital, the night before my surgery, and she said she'd had gallstones.
She'd also had five children and said she'd rather give birth to all five of them at once than suffer a gallstone attack again.

It's so hard to describe to people what the pain is like but my God, it is horrific.

I have three small scars on my tummy and they don't bother me at all.

Twenty10

I put up with gallstone attacks for quite a while before I eventually got my gallbladder removed. First attack I thought I was dying.
I found the attacks began to occur more frequently and lasted for longer and longer. I also believed attacks occurred for me when I went from a period of low to high fat and also the opposite way.

I've had no regrets or symptoms since having my gallbladder removed.

fussyonion

Twenty10 wrote: »

I put up with gallstone attacks for quite a while before I eventually got my gallbladder removed. First attack I thought I was dying.
I found the attacks began to occur more frequently and lasted for longer and longer. I also believed attacks occurred for me when I went from a period of low to high fat and also the opposite way.

I've had no regrets or symptoms since having my gallbladder removed.

I noticed when I lost a good bit of weight due to completely changing my eating habits, the attacks became frequent too.