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Post-cholecystectomy or gallbladder removal surgery
Digestive Health | Last Active: Oct 21 11:40am | Replies (567)Comment receiving replies
This is sort of a last ditch effort to find some idea about what has been plaguing me for years. I had my gallbladder removed after a series of attacks in 2016. I did not have any stones, but my HIDA showed 6% EF and after removal, they said I had a very narrow sphincter.
Since then, I have been to the ER several times for debilitating severe upper abdominal pain. I mean SEVERE. I have a high pain tolerance, and did not experience this level of pain with child birth. Each time they do bloodwork and X-rays, but tell me they cannot find anything wrong. I started noticing that the attacks came on after eating a particularly rich or fatty meal with wine. I got better at avoiding the attacks after awhile.
A few years later, I was having severe GI issues. Pain, extreme bloating (looks 9 months pregnant after eating), severe diarrhea, and daily crippling nausea. This lasted for months. I have struggled with nausea most of my life, but this was impacting my quality of life. They did an ultrasound, emptying scan, and upper and lower GI. They essentially found nothing wrong and said the nausea might be "in my head". I kind of gave up on GI drs after that. I did go GF because that seemed to help some.
Fast forward to 2023. I went to the ER with some abdominal pain and it turned out I had a ruptured diverticula and had most of my colon removed.
I recently started zepbound, and had food/wine in an amount that would not have normally caused one of these attacks, but it caused one of the worst ones yet. They last anywhere from 30 min to 2 hours usually. I cannot express enough how severe the pain is. I didn't go to ER because it is the same thing every time.
If you read this far, thank you. I feel like I am losing my mind. I still live with daily GI issues such as pain and nausea, but I have learned to cope. I wish I knew of at least a direction to point a new doctor in, but I have zero idea what this could be. It is like a gallbladder attack on steroids, but I don't have a gallbladder or appendix anymore. PLEASE HELP!
Replies to "This is sort of a last ditch effort to find some idea about what has been..."
I probably should have added that I do take 40mg of omeprazole daily, which has helped with the pain/nausea some, but it definitely hasn't made me symptom free.
Gut issues can be so tricky! I finally got an amazing doctor in Scottsdale AZ, Dr. Lucinda Harris. Finding the right specialist is step one in getting your life back.
Getting the right diagnosis and treatment can take so long and is a hard road. You have been through so many different things.
I had my gallbladder removed in ‘09, it seemed to help for a bit but not long at all. Then in ‘12 I got my Celiac Sprue diagnosis which was so amazing to me. I finally had a path that made sense and I was so willing to learn more and calm this crazy disease.
Then Lymphocytic Colitis in ‘22 sent me into a tailspin. I had many treatments but in the end bile acid sequestrants were my answer (colestipol and colestyramine).
Keep plugging along, get a good nutritionist also. Figuring out how to make friends with different foods is an important journey. It is not always a certain food we need to cut out, focusing on the right diagnosis and battling that beast is the best path.
I had heard of microscopic colitis but didn’t know any more than that. I have cut out sugar, fats, any alcohol, carbonated anything and caffeine. I am not sure this is still necessary but it is habit now.
Check with your doctor about your colonoscopy results. If it is a microscopic colitis you should know so you can get some much needed help.
If you still eat less (or none) of the grains that Celiac patients can’t have a celiac panel wouldn’t give you correct results. The antibodies have to be present for a positive result, if you are watching gluten intake any results won’t be accurate. If you have done the “23 and me kit”, it would tell you if you have the hla dq 2 or 8 genes that have a play in Celiac Sprue.
Gluten free is a joke really, ‘gluten zero’ is the only way to help.
Gluten free snacks are so processed and terrible mostly. Even microscopic amounts of wheat, barley, rye and sometimes oats, kick your body into war against the small intestines. This happens with cross contamination in many GF foods.
If you can’t pick it or shoot it, don’t eat it. (A good rule when you are miserable). I never eat at any restaurants (including gf ones) and only eat organic anything.
When we get sick it is easy to blame it on different foods but that can be misleading. It is important to continue a good balanced diet.
If sweets and breads are needed, the only place I will order from is ‘Gluten Free Creations’ out of Phoenix AZ…they do it right and excellent as …..;)
‘Against the Grain’ pizza also does not mess with me and my family prefers them over gluten pizzas. ‘Edison Grainery’ out of California is superb also.
Nobody in my family was ever diagnosed with celiac, my sister (now diagnosed) had migraines her whole life and that is a major symptom. She also was constantly constipated and had a hard time with weight loss. I had ‘traditional’ symptoms but still went 53 years before a diagnosis. After my nephew was diagnosed with Type 1 my doctor immediately suspected Celiac. Autoimmune diseases are tricky to say the least. Hashimotos, lupus, RA and Down syndrome are frequently suspected in this genetic fun too.
When the villi are damaged by the bad grains, the first thing you notice (at least in my case) is not processing dairy right…and anemia…the last thing was that only fats got digested…thus the weight gain…then when that is damaged and the small intestines are slick…nothing is digested properly and weight loss happens. This is all in layman's terms, specialists wouldn’t put it in these exact words. The colon is a different thing but is affected by how the lack of properly digested food constantly enters it. There are over 200 symptoms of Celiac Sprue, none of us do it the same.
The great news is that strict adherence to a gluten zero lifestyle is that we can heal that villi some and slowly get back the ability to eat dairy and other foods. Gluten is a poison to me and is not allowed in my house, nobody misses it.
This possibly doesn’t pertain to you but for what it’s worth it is my adventure.
Hyoscyamine dissolved under the tongue every morning and 30 minutes before meals. Your doctor will need to prescribe it.
with that low of a number on the gallbladder it should have been removed and when it is you run a chance of Gastroparesis which my surgery the Dr. damaged my vagus nerve now living hell and can not do anything about it can ease some of symptoms but in the end the food is not moving in my digestion and am constantly constipated to both ends of the spectrum
Because I had searched for 18 years answers to my digestive, epigastric pain, weight, loss, food problems, and many more issues. I thought I would mention here about vascular compressions.. It’s not something doctors would look for, but it’s worth a try if you done everything else. I had Mesenteric artery ligament syndrome, which the mesenteric artery ligament is squeezing the aorta when you eat. It causes, severe pain when eating, and eventually all the time. I had every G.I. test several times over and finally found on this site the information about it. You can look up MALS which helped to lead me to a resolution from my Mals. There are several vascular compressions that cause digestive issues and pain. It’s worth a try.
I wonder if hyoscyamine sublineal will help you?
I’m so sorry your having such pain .
I had my gallbladder removed in 1996, zero ejection fraction and stones inside polyps and and a stone left in my bile duct . Then I began so many ERCPs, acute pancreatitis , endless hospital admissions .. There was a few good years then started again in 2004.
Now they feel it’s scar tissue from the surgeries ( also had nissen fundiplication and take down..
The abdominal pain is daily , eating is not good most of the time . I push through it and when I can’t deal go to the ER.. but feel like I’m not heard .
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I had my gallbladder removed in Feb 2019. No stones or sludge either. However my HIDA scan replicated my symptoms. I had what the general surgeon said they've been seeing more of and that is a "high functioning" gallbladder causing just as much pain and issues as a low functioning. I went ahead and had it removed. It took several months just like you to find a "new normal." It seemed I trucked along in my new normal for a few years and then in 2022, I began having severe GI issues. Labs revealed H. Pylori. Fast forward, I've seen 2 GI's, had every test known to man, been treated twice for H. Pylori and even did 2 weeks on an antibiotic for SIBO as this most recent GI's ditch effort to treat my phantom illness. I've been told it's in my head as well. By 2 different docs. I don't know how long I can go on trying to function like a regular human feeling like I do. I have tried everything you can imagine from cutting certain foods out, intermittent fasting, cutting out alcohol, you name it. There is no pattern. I'm miserable. It seems there's a space for people like you and I and the medical world doesn't recognize it. I am running out of options here. So sorry for your suffering. Know you're not alone.