gall stones - need some reassurance please, feeling so low.

[xpensivtaste]

hi, i recently gave birth to my son (dec 30) and for the last few weeks of my pregnancy i began to have suspected gall stone attacks. this has carried on and became more frequent (every 1 -2 days in the evening) i went to the doctor recently who has arranged for an ultrasound but said i may not get surgery for months or longer.

the attacks are so bad i darn't eat anything now since people keep telling me my gall bladder can rupture during an attack and that is life threatening or i may get pancreitis(sp?) and need emergency surgery.

when i have an attack i cant get to hospital as i have two children and my partner works at night and they almost always occur in the evening. not only that, i cannot speak or do anything other than vomit or roll around on my bed in pain, nothing takes it away but then it will subside after an hour or two as if it never were.

i know diet is a big part of it but i struggle to eat healthily as i am such a fussy eater.
i can't sleep and i keep having anxiety attacks due to the fear of dying during an attack.

sorry if this sounds extreme i just don't know what to do and the doctor didnt seem interested in how i felt, just gave me a form for an ultrasound (which i still have not been contacted about) and sent me on my way.

can anyone please reassure me and tell me i am going to be ok and i am just being silly? i really can't cope with the stress of this and it's getting me so down. i have never been so afraid of anything in my life.

 

[alamaya]

Firstly just wanted to say had my gallbladder out on 10th Jan and i understand ur pain.

I had pain for years and it got worse after having my daughter. Had scan and had loads of little stones.

In fact i didnt each much the whole of december. Missed xmas dinner and everything.

When they scanned they found my gallbladder was infected and in surgery it fell apart eeek.

Heres some facts to help.

Firstly, Pancretitis my friend on the gallbladder surgery list had this and its treatable. As a gallbladder pain sufferer trust me even you would know if it was more than a normal attack. My last attack i nearly rang an ambulance something was deffo worse and that was the infection.

I was told as long as i dont have a temperature then it is just a gallbladder attack. However i would always ring nhs direct or go to your docs the day after. I found the more i pestered them the more my surgery happened quicker.

Honestly hun you wont die. I tried paracetamol, inbuprofen, cocodamol. etc nothing worked. In the end i got tramadol and it took the edge off lovely. Keep at them doctors hun.

Im 3 weeks post surgery now and still healing but i can eat. Had no attacks and other than having the flu lol im great. It seems it will never end but it will.

Message me if you need any info hun xxx

 

[rachael22]

can i ask a question please? i have a gallbladder that dont work (no stones) , does your stools look normal 2 u, my isnt the same since being diagnosed with a malfunctiong gallbladder, like undigested food etc sorry to ask such a gross question

thanks.....

 

[alamaya]

Not sure although i know i suffered major constipation before the surgery while the gallbladder was in me.
Since having it removed i now have looser stools as the bile has no where to go but out.
Im happy with that though not uncomfortable with constipation anymore
I would say you are not producing/storing enough bile to digest the food. Maybe worth mentioning to doctor.

 

[GeorgeyGal]

Jeez hun I really feel for you having attacks so frequently! I had them twice a week to begin with, saw numerous docs who told me it was musculor pain until I demanded to have a scan, I knew it was gallstones, there's no other pain like it in the world and they can only be described as 'attacks'. Lo and behold lots of stones detected, luckily I'm on my fiance's healthcare so got the damn thing removed in a matter of weeks. It was also causing me insomnia and anxiety and I was terrified it would happen when I was alone with the baby, which it did a few times but I was able to put LO to bed safely thank god!! I cleaned up my diet and was only having attacks every few weeks and even went 6 weeks attack free at one point, but I did read and I dont know if its true that a low fat diet can be detremental to an attack as the gall bladder needs a certain amount of fat to flush it out regularly and if you are on a low fat diet it doesnt get to contract and the gall stones are left to develop and when an attack comes from whatever foods it has gall stones to flush out, and then they get stuck in the bile duct, neck of gall bladder which is what causes the pain. That kind of makes sense in a way as I didnt experience attacks until I went on a diet and lost alot of weight recently. Then again its a double edged sword of course for health reasons you dont want to eat fatty meals and hope that an attack wont come on.

A few things that helped me during an attack was massaging really HARD where it hurt, the sides and back of my ribs, I've heard a red hot shower helps, sounds extreme but making myself sick helped and reduced the time of the attack, I was desperate! Drink lots of water and walk about the house as much as possible, I know how awful it is not to be able to feel any relief no matter what you do.

Definately go back to the docs and ask that they mark your referral as urgent, that sped mine up. Watch out for jaundice this is a big detector of pancreitus. Good luck, and if you can going to A&E during an attack that could bunk you up on the gall bladder removal list. pm me if you want to chat xxxx

Oh Ive just remembered my out of hours doctor said he would come and give me morphine during an attack, but as they only lasted an hour it didnt get that far, although I have heard that morphine doesnt touch the sides and if you do end up in a&e ask for a muscle relaxant!!

Ive just realised Im not exactly cheering you up am I!!! I thought Id never feel well again but here I am a few months on and feeling much better, you will get there to I promise and it will all be a distant memory. x

 

[rachael22]

Not sure although i know i suffered major constipation before the surgery while the gallbladder was in me.
Since having it removed i now have looser stools as the bile has no where to go but out.
Im happy with that though not uncomfortable with constipation anymore
I would say you are not producing/storing enough bile to digest the food. Maybe worth mentioning to doctor.

thankyou for your reply... thats maybe what it is because my gallbladder doesnt work unlike others thar just has gallstones my gallbladder doesnt release the bile when needed as it doesnt work properly i didnt think of that thankyou i will bring it up next time i visit the doctor