Dealing with symptoms after Gallbladder surgery

Hello @roisemaire and welcome to Mayo Connect. We are pleased you have joined our online support group!

You mention problems after gallbladder surgery 4 weeks ago. As you know, everyone's recovery from surgery is different. You do not mention your age, nor the type of surgery you had (open or laparoscopy). These are important factors. As we age, recovery is a bit slower than that of a younger person. Here is some general information about gallbladder removal from Mayo Clinic's website, https://www.mayoclinic.org/tests-procedures/cholecystectomy/home/ovc-20229995

My first thought would be whether you have contacted your doctor's office (either by phone or through My Chart) to let them know of your symptoms? If not, I would certainly do that.

Perhaps some other Members will post about their experiences after gallbladder removal as well.

Will you keep in touch with us and let us know how you are doing?

Teresa

Thanku so much for your reply. Yes it was keyhole or laporoscopy. I’m almost 60 yrs old. I can only eat very small meals and often. This seems to keep pain away. Was t sure if it is normal to have nausea and discomfort at this stage.

@roisemaire

Thanks for your reply. If the smaller, frequent meals are helping you to feel better that is probably a good indication of what you need to do for now. According to the Mayo website, if there is also diarrhea then you should avoid fatty foods, caffeine, etc. however, you have not mentioned that symptom.

Do you have a follow up appointment with the surgeon soon? If not, you should probably call the office and make sure that you are on the right track for now.

Keep in touch and let us know how you are doing, we look forward to hearing from you.

Teresa

@roisemaire, My husband had laparoscopic gall bladder surgery in Nov. 2016. I have just asked him for the following information about his recovery times. - He was able to resume his normal diet at 6-8 weeks and not have the nausea. As general rule, I try to cook 'heart friendly' foods when here at home. He ate smaller servings and supplemented with small snacks. Since he liked the weight loss that he experienced, he continues to consume smaller portions even today.
He also remembers that his pain was pretty much gone within 2 weeks. He refused to fill the Rx for the pain meds before he came home from hospital. He wishes he would have had the Rx for the first 2 days at home. After that Regular Tylenol was all he needed.

I encourage you to call your surgeons office just to be sure everything is healing on schedule for your particular situation.

I really like your name!
Rosemary

Thank you Rosemarya for your reply. Yes I would have thought it should be a lot better by now. Iv appointment with surgeon tmro and hopefully I’ll get answers. And thanks again ur own name is a version of mine.

Thank you Teresa. I have an appointment with surgeon tomorrow and hope fully get some answers. This nausea and pain is very depressing and causing me a lot of distress as I cannot carry on my normal activities at work etc

@roisemaire, Since he has recovered, my husband has not had any problems with foods. He can eat anything he likes, with no digestive problems. I am aware of some people who need to modify diets as Teresa mentioned and avoid certain foods. And I nearly forgot to mention that I do not have a gallbladder (mine was removed when I got my liver transplant), and as far as I can tell, I don't have any food related digestive issues related to that either.
I hope all goes well for you. Let us know what you find out.
Rosemary

@roisemaire I understand, trying to work and carry on as usual is not easy when you don't feel well.

Teresa

@bertbiz I'm wondering if you might have some thoughts for Roisemaire. She recently had gallbladder surgery and is concerned about pain and nausea 4 weeks post operation. Bertbiz, can you tell us a bit about your recovery?

Hi Roisemaire. I am sorry you had to have gallbladder surgery. Was your surgery laparoscopic? I am about 8 weeks post surgery. I had some pain at 4 weeks. Some achy-type pains, some shooting pains. I called the doctor and was told that was expected. After the surgery, your nerves have to "wake up" as they are reattaching and rerouting themselves. It is certainly uncomfortable to say the least. I didn't experience nausea. I was very careful with what I chose to eat. I didn't eat anything high fat (cheese, ice cream, cream cheese, etc). I ate a lot of rice, potatoes, baked chicken or turkey. I ate a lot of eggs and introduced vegetables like spinach and other leafy greens at four weeks. I had four small incisions that took a while to heal. I had to be careful what kind of clothes I wore so that they wouldn't tear at the sutures. Getting up from laying down was tough, but finally got better around 4 weeks. I'm a pretty good patient, but not a patient patient. You know what I mean? Remember, you've had surgery, whether it was laparoscopic or otherwise. Your body goes into "shock" for lack of a better term. If you are having a lot of pain and a lot of nausea best advice I have for you is to call your doctor or surgeon's office. They can give you something for the nausea. I didn't use any narcotics during the surgery or for pain killers afterward. I don't metabolize narcotics very well. If you are taking pain killer (opioids) that may be contributing to your nausea. At 8 weeks post surgery I am feeling really great. I'm eating what I want (except for fried foods, fried chicken specifically, darn it!!). I am eating smaller portions. I find that eating to the point where I feel "full" makes me feel sick instead of sated.
I hope what I've written has helped you. I am here if you have any more questions. Thank you, Coleen, for connecting us.
Bertbiz