Dealing with symptoms after Gallbladder surgery

Posted by roisemaire @roisemaire, Nov 30, 2017

Hi is there anyone out there that suffers from nausea and pain almost 4 weeks after gallbladder operation. Every time I eat anything i get pain in site of operation. And tired all the time no energy

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@kozlo52

reglan is in the class of a promotility drug. It's intent is to help move food thru the stomach, if a person's motility is down. But the side effect of tardive dysconesia is very bad. I was on this drug years ago for about 2 months but i did not experience tardive dysconesia.
i have taken zofran for my nausea which i still get 2.25 years after fundoplication. it works for me, butit does give a small headache for some......good luck and i wish you well.....kozlo52

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Thanks. Wish you well too. Since I stopped the reglan even though it's been like a day, I actually felt a lot better. Still have some light nausea earlier this evening but i tool the zofran for it. But overall I felt like I ate better. I also started eating a Greek no fat yogurt every morning too since it seems a lot of people recommending it helps. I hope i will progressively get better and go back to a normal diet and not have nausea spells randomly

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I had someone mention something to me yesterday. They said their 18 year old special needs son had to have his gall bladder removed and he also had trouble afterwards. They found out his Vitamin B-6 was very low. Has anyone ever been told they were low on something other than Vitamin D or B-12? Has anyone been able to figure out why our bodies don’t seem to be absorbing the nutrients we are taking in? I’m able to eat now with no problems with digestion or bathroom issues, which is wonderful, however the fatigue and weakness makes me wonder if I’m getting the nutrients from foods bc I’m still losing weight and sometimes I eat “bad stuff” like the occasional cheeseburger and French fries. That’s what I had for supper last night and I’m down 2pounds this morning. Any advice or thoughts are appreciated

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As one of you has mentioned. "It is good to know that we are not alone!" This most definitely applies to this conversation, doesn't it. As a non medical person, I am always amazed at our differences and our similarities when we experience the same event. (gallbladder surgery).

Here's my story.
My husband had his gall bladder removed after an attack of pancreatitis. He had experienced no warning symptoms. He was in severe pain and was immediately admitted to the hospital via ER. He could not have the surgery until the pancreatitis was under control. On day 5 the labs showed he was ready, and he had laproscopic surgery. He was extremely weak and had lost considerable weight. He had nausea and could only sip clear liquids at first. After he returned home, he eventually was able to return to a more normal, but bland diet of soft foods. It was nearly 3 months until I was able to resume normal meal planning.
I don't have a gall bladder, either. It was removed along with my liver during my transplant surgery. As a result, we had already adopted a more healthy diet, and eat very little fried food. I do notice some discomfort, if I eat something fried or too much fat or spicy. He, on the otherhand, eats anything he wants.

@marierya, I hope that you and your doctor can decide what is best for you. Will you kep us posted.
@missdraggunn, I don't know anything about the meds that you are taking, but with your evening nausea and cramps, I am wondering if there is anything about your eating pattern that causes that. Have you tried eating that 'menu' midday with a light snack in evening? Or is it related to the timing of the meds?
@kozlo52, thanks for sharing your experience to open possibilities for others.
@micki733, That is interesting about the vitamin absorption. I know that we have to stay hydrated when we have vomitting, so it does make sense.
I, too, splurge on occasion. Is it possible that the weight loss is due to you becoming more active? Or have you possible decreased the amount of food that you are eating during a meal? That is something me and my husband have observed that we do.
@johnetteg, Have you talked to your surgeon about the rib cage pain? After my abdominal surgery, I was limited on lifting for a while. And when I started getting more active, I felt pain and if frightened me. My doctor told me about the scar tissue that was involved and how adhesions formed during the healing. He told me that is was okay to slowly return to my normal activites, but not to over do it. For me, around 9 months was involved.
@harliegirl, It is so rewarding to hear that you are doing well. What was it like for you to learn a new way to eat? Was it hard to do?
@billjn3, Hi, just checking in. How are you doing?

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@rosemarya

As one of you has mentioned. "It is good to know that we are not alone!" This most definitely applies to this conversation, doesn't it. As a non medical person, I am always amazed at our differences and our similarities when we experience the same event. (gallbladder surgery).

Here's my story.
My husband had his gall bladder removed after an attack of pancreatitis. He had experienced no warning symptoms. He was in severe pain and was immediately admitted to the hospital via ER. He could not have the surgery until the pancreatitis was under control. On day 5 the labs showed he was ready, and he had laproscopic surgery. He was extremely weak and had lost considerable weight. He had nausea and could only sip clear liquids at first. After he returned home, he eventually was able to return to a more normal, but bland diet of soft foods. It was nearly 3 months until I was able to resume normal meal planning.
I don't have a gall bladder, either. It was removed along with my liver during my transplant surgery. As a result, we had already adopted a more healthy diet, and eat very little fried food. I do notice some discomfort, if I eat something fried or too much fat or spicy. He, on the otherhand, eats anything he wants.

@marierya, I hope that you and your doctor can decide what is best for you. Will you kep us posted.
@missdraggunn, I don't know anything about the meds that you are taking, but with your evening nausea and cramps, I am wondering if there is anything about your eating pattern that causes that. Have you tried eating that 'menu' midday with a light snack in evening? Or is it related to the timing of the meds?
@kozlo52, thanks for sharing your experience to open possibilities for others.
@micki733, That is interesting about the vitamin absorption. I know that we have to stay hydrated when we have vomitting, so it does make sense.
I, too, splurge on occasion. Is it possible that the weight loss is due to you becoming more active? Or have you possible decreased the amount of food that you are eating during a meal? That is something me and my husband have observed that we do.
@johnetteg, Have you talked to your surgeon about the rib cage pain? After my abdominal surgery, I was limited on lifting for a while. And when I started getting more active, I felt pain and if frightened me. My doctor told me about the scar tissue that was involved and how adhesions formed during the healing. He told me that is was okay to slowly return to my normal activites, but not to over do it. For me, around 9 months was involved.
@harliegirl, It is so rewarding to hear that you are doing well. What was it like for you to learn a new way to eat? Was it hard to do?
@billjn3, Hi, just checking in. How are you doing?

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Thank you for checking on me and the others :). As for what I had mentioned that you replied to, I have been eating less at each meal since and probably before surgery as I had daily nausea and only ate to keep something in me out of necessity. I eat probably half of what I used to as far as portion and don’t eat as many vegetables as I used to. I just have very little appetite and when I do eat, I can’t eat much at one sitting, so I wondered if I’m getting less of needed vitamins. I am taking OTC Vitamin D3, Vitamin B-12, and Vitamin E in addition to other meds I now take for gastritis (which I hope are temporary meds). They say it may take while for me to get back up to par. I have joined a Gall Bladder support group on FB also and a lady had my same symptoms (nausea-which has gotten better, fatigue, weakness, and now tremors). She said I took her a few months, but once she could eat right, those symptoms disappeared. I’m praying for the same for me and for all of us. If you or anyone else has had my symptoms above, please share your experience bc most people don’t have those and I’ve been tested for autoimmune disorders using tests by my primary care physician, but have an appt with a neurologist (can’t get in until late April) to help rule those out.
Thank you !

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I actually ended up in the ER and got worse. Met with my surgeon and the ER AND they think something else could be wrong. They gave me new medications which I've been trying. I was fine after I left the hospital and this morning but now I'm starting with the nausea and stomach "stitch" like cramp again. It doesn't matter what I eat, when I eat. It's a come and go thing. With more come than go unfortunately. I meet with the gastro this week. They still think it's gastritis but with all the gastrisis meds I've been taking I'm not so sure.

Had an ultrasound done in the ER with no abnormalities. Liver count was down but not much. Had low blood pressure from not eating or drinking.

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@missdraggunn

I actually ended up in the ER and got worse. Met with my surgeon and the ER AND they think something else could be wrong. They gave me new medications which I've been trying. I was fine after I left the hospital and this morning but now I'm starting with the nausea and stomach "stitch" like cramp again. It doesn't matter what I eat, when I eat. It's a come and go thing. With more come than go unfortunately. I meet with the gastro this week. They still think it's gastritis but with all the gastrisis meds I've been taking I'm not so sure.

Had an ultrasound done in the ER with no abnormalities. Liver count was down but not much. Had low blood pressure from not eating or drinking.

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@missdraggunn, I am not a medical person, but I know that if I were in your situation I would be wanting answers, and relief from this. Please try to sip liquids, or try popsicles or suck on ice so you stay hydrated.

Since you mention gastritis, I found this link ot information about gastritis that I wouold like to share with you.
https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/gastritis/symptoms-causes/syc-20355807

In it, I read that treatment of gastritis depends on the specific cause. Another point that I like is that it provides a list of basic questions to ask your doctor, and questions that your doctor is likely to ask yoiu. Have you had an appointment with anyone (PCP) after your ER / surgeon experience?

There are also some suggested lifestyle and home remedies that you might want to look at.

Stay in touch, and let me when you learn anything or find relief.
Hugs.

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@rosemarya

@missdraggunn, I am not a medical person, but I know that if I were in your situation I would be wanting answers, and relief from this. Please try to sip liquids, or try popsicles or suck on ice so you stay hydrated.

Since you mention gastritis, I found this link ot information about gastritis that I wouold like to share with you.
https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/gastritis/symptoms-causes/syc-20355807

In it, I read that treatment of gastritis depends on the specific cause. Another point that I like is that it provides a list of basic questions to ask your doctor, and questions that your doctor is likely to ask yoiu. Have you had an appointment with anyone (PCP) after your ER / surgeon experience?

There are also some suggested lifestyle and home remedies that you might want to look at.

Stay in touch, and let me when you learn anything or find relief.
Hugs.

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I have an appointment Thursday with the GI though I'm going to call tomorrow to see if I can get in sooner. Thanks for the article I'm going to look it over.

It's just a constant tug of war with nausea and this cramp like pain in my stomach. The thing is I got a stomach biopsy and there's no bacterial infection or major cause of it and was expected to heal by now. I'm going to try to sip some herbal teas with raw ginger honey to see if that helps. I know I read that raw honey in teas help with gastritis. I hope to have answers this week cause it's affecting my day to day dramatically and my relationships with friends and family and my fiance. Tomorrow marks week 7 of the start of all these problems and I'm 16 days past the surgery.

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@micki733

Thank you for your response. I have been to a gastrointerologist. They did an endoscopy, a CT scan, and labwork to check CBC, liver enzymes, and checked fornrare liver disorders. They said liver enzymes are in the slightly elevated range and that I was negative for rare liver disorders. I do not have problems with constipation or diarrhea. It’s so weird. Mostly nausea, fatigue, loss of appetite, and weight loss. I’ve been to PCP, cardiologists (had a stress test and heart ultrasound and passed both), gastroenterologist, and I recently had an MRI of my head (checking for MS lesions due to fatigue). I see to be a mystery like many others here. I hope someone who had difficulty in the past could come back and give us “newer ones” an idea of how long this lasts or what the culprit was to cause this so we can all get better and help others that come after us.

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@micki733 I am personally out of ideas, but I see you have gotten other responses. I hope something works for you or that some one of the doctors you are seeing can figure out your problem. It's so frustrating when they cannot.

Different circumstances, but similar in that it was not a problem immediately. I had a liver transplant in September 2016. It was quite a while later that I started to have problems. I still am not totally sure what my problem is but from what my research has turned up it is probably IBS. I am still trying to eliminate different foods to see which may be causing it.

What I read is that surgeries can affect your system in such a way that it's possible for conditions like this to develop. So can the drugs that I need to take now, so it's one of those things, but it did not show up for quite a while after the surgery.

I hope your answer will prove to also be something that is not serious, but more of a nuisance. When I figure out what all of my triggers are I will be doing much better. As it is now, my stomach is upset more often than not.
JK

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when you say upset what exactly do you mean? Nausea? stomach pain? rumbling and noisey? i can tell you after my 360 degree fundoplication in nov. 2016 and gallbladder removal in july 2017 i have never been the same with stomach noise after eating; problems drinking water; i can drink boost , but my weight gain of 22 lbs has occurred after this. I still have "heartburn" but it is not acid burn, since the 48 hour bravo test showed no acid backleakage and there is no visible signs of bile in my stomach which could bea culprit. All my doctors and surgeons don't know so they say i have a "hypersensitive esophagus".... how are you bile movements? perhaps a stoll sample may help see if there is anything unusual. what helps my "fake heartburn" is atavan - 1mg-3times/day. but after the 2nd tablet( at least 4 hours apart) i get really sleepy and fall aleep at 4pm till 7 pm every day. sleep cycle is all messed up. keep trying to get answers from your doctors. When it cmes to digestive tract issues i find these doctors don't know a lot.....kozlo52

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have a completebloodwork fasting and se what your b12 leveks are. Low B12 levels can affect the nervous system. then go from there to see what you need. if you need B12 get the shots by your pcp. In one month getting 1 shot a week will bring you back into the 400-1100 range for B12.....kozlo52

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