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Post-cholecystectomy or gallbladder removal surgery
Hi – I had my gallbladder removed 17 years ago and have chronic, sharp back pain behind the port incision. That incision was in my upper left abdominal quadrant; the pain is felt in my back, directly behind the incision. It is thought that I have an adhesion in my upper left quadrant. Is it possible that nerves are trapped and that it causes referred pain in my back? The pain is nauseating and hasn't improved. I have been on anti seizure medication and a pain killer that isn't a percocet-type medication. I am curious if anyone else has persistent pain in their back following gallbladder surgery. If so, how is your pain treated.
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I know it has been a couple of years since your last post, but can you write an update as to what you have done since, and how your wife is doing now? I am a couple of years older than her and have had undiagnosed (not that I haven’t tried) abdominal pain for years that greatly worsened to 10/10 pain three months ago. Imaging found stones, so I underwent laparoscopic cholecystectomy where they also found lots of inflammation, which they were certain had been causing extreme pain for years, and they excised the gallbladder and the strands of inflammation, but two weeks post op, I am in the same 10/10 pain and in the same places that I had pre surgery. Interestingly enough, from what I read on this thread, one doc suspected MALS 4 years ago and I did the duplex US, so they sent me to a cardiovascular doc who did a CT that he said proved I didn’t have MALS. I never got a explanation that I understood as to why I could have had the pressure numbers consistent with MALS on the duplex US, but then a CT which only shows point in time pictures and no pressure reads could prove it was not MALS. Didn’t want to undergo MALS surgery when there was no divinities proof, so moved on. Now, when the pain is still horrible after two weeks cholecystectomy, I am wondering. Your wife’s situation resembles mine, so am wondering if you can tell what has happened in the past two years…what tests, procedures, and how she is now.
Anybody else have some ideas, please weigh in. I am in so much pain, and desperate for resolution, but don’t want to jump, like I thought I had to with my cholecystectomy, and then have to recover from surgery that doesn’t seem to have helped at all. Thanks.
I have had right upper quadrant and upper epigastric(upper middle) abdominal pain for years and went all over the country to the best hospitals years ago to try to get it diagnosed with no luck. About three months ago the pain increased becoming constant and unbearable. I had an ultrasound done which showed gallstones, then an MRCP which showed gallstones, and mild pancreatic atrophy and either a developmental cyst or branch ductal ipmn which is 2 mm. I went through laparoscopic cholecystectomy surgery (gallbladder removal) almost two weeks ago where it turned out that in addition to gallstones I also had lots of inflammation (so much that he had to remove it to even see my gallbladder and told me I must have been having gallbladder attacks for years and now the chronic inflammation was causing constant terrible pain) and at first I thought it was going to solve my pain if I just waited for post op healing, but now, two weeks of terrible pain throughout my abdomen and most often in the same areas I had pain pre surgery ( now under the left lower rib cage as well as the right and throughout my abdomen and back) is making me concerned that this is not post op pain, but either the same problem I had before surgery or something they did wrong in surgery causing this pain. Not sure if the pain is still related to food or not, since I have been eating a very low fat diet, but pain is still constant. Anyone know what might be going on here, and do you think it is still post op pain this bad, or maybe the surgery didn’t fix the problem or created a new one? Also wondering if there could be some pancreas involvement…anyone out there who may have pancreas issues that might please weigh in on this…
I am taking 100mg to tylenol every eight hours and 600 mg of ibuprofen every eight hours ( alternating each four hours), but the pain is still terrible… Post op appointment with surgeon gave me no answers or direction. Please help if you can. Thank you so much!
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2 ReactionsHave you had your post op follow up? Do you have a fever? Please get in touch with your physician.
I am so grateful to find this group. I am 3 weeks post surgery and although my energy has finally returned I am having excessive gas pains and now constipation. I’ve really been watching my diet but yesterday tried eggs and hollandaise sauce and have been in pain ever since. I’ve not experienced the diarrhea I’ve read about. I have lost weight (which is a plus) but am so confused as to what is safe to eat. Any suggestions that work? One person suggested Beano, so I will give that a try.
I am now five months into the bloating I cannot tell you what works, but I will tell you what I have taken that doesn’t work for me. Both of which were prescribed by my doctor. One is famotidine the other omeprazole I feel your pain and much much luck to you
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1 ReactionHello @doverspike and welcome to Mayo Connect. I'm sorry to hear about your digestive issues post-gallbladder surgery. Have you discussed any of these symptoms with your doctor? As it has just been three weeks since your surgery, it may take more time to heal.
Many times, keeping a food journal will help you find out what foods trigger symptoms. Perhaps the ingredients in the hollandaise sauce might be a trigger for you. Perhaps the fat content in the sauce is a problem?
Keep posting and sharing your experiences.
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1 ReactionYes I do have another follow-up appointment on June 4 to talk about ways to navigate this. And I think you are right, that hollandaise was so delicious but way too aggressive for my stomach. Ugh. Back to boring for a while.
I soo appreciate finding this group! It’s very encouraging to hear of others struggles and successes. Gives me hope!!!
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1 ReactionI’m going to try Beano (someone had suggested it) before I eat to see if that helps!
I am 12 days post surgery (laparo) for gallbladder removal and I do not feel any better. Constant nausea, pain where the GB was , stomach spasms. I was was misdiagnosed for 6 weeks before they realized it was the GB. The rushed me into surgery. I can barely get out of bed. Am I struggling because I was so sick prior to diagnosis???
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2 ReactionsI have a dietary question. I’ve gone on Google and YouTube and getting conflicting info on fats. Some say to eat olive oil or avocado oil whereas others say those are bad fats and you can eat butter? Some say go back to your original diet and others say low fat diets are best. I’m sooo confused.
Any suggestions for what works and what is best?
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