Dealing with symptoms after Gallbladder surgery

What a roller-coaster right now, Annie! But slowing down as choices and options come into place. Almost hilarious...went to my GI surgeon appointment yesterday only to be told that there was no one there to see! A vague "maybe we tried to call you" and now re-shceduled for Thursday and told that the earliest next available surgery date is March 22nd! Probably a mistake at the central call center where my doctor's office called to make ths bogus appointment. It's such a blessing to see years of Alanon at work in my response...I don't feel any need to be upset or unkind, or get worked up...acceptance is a great place for the mind! So, now, car date is March 3rd and I will simply figure out how or what to do with that; oh, and there is a GI bug going around here -my sister has it, then my daugther, a woman at the bank - same vomiting symptoms, etc. I am doing really well with my altered diet and have been close to symptom free for a couple of days now. Annie, it was just lovely to wake up this morning, grab my almond milk iced coffee and find your message! Wishing you a lovely day, with sincere thanks, Theresa

Hi Theresa, the gift of Al-Anon. Remarkable that you were able to apply lessons you learned there to this very stressful situation. Reducing the stress reaction works in your favor.

How are you doing today? How's your sister?

Short version: I had my gallbladder removed. Diarrhea for a year now. I have tried a bunch of things to stop the diarrhea (some independently and some with my main doctor). I want to try a bile acid medication like cholestyramine. What kind of specialist should I be consulting? A gastroenterologist? Some other specialty?

Long version:
* I had always had the ability to digest anything. Almost never had an upset stomach.
* I started having a complete loss of appetite some evenings, occasional queasiness, and diarrhea a couple times a week. A scan showed I had gallstones.
* I had my gallbladder removed in March of 2021. So it's been a year since surgery.
* After the surgery things got worse and stayed worse. I’ve had daily diarrhea unless I was constantly taking loperamide and/or Pepto Bismol (and sometimes I’ve had diarrhea even though I was taking anti diarrhea medication).
* I found a daily level of loperamide that made me regular, but at that dosage the side effects were too much. I dropped the loperamide dosage to what I could tolerate, and it’s not enough but helps.
* Tried eating very low fat. Did not help.
* Tried smaller servings, did not help.
* Tried eliminating caffeine. That may have made a very tiny difference, but barely enough to notice.
* My doctor had me try citrucel fiber. Just made my daily diarrhea start earlier in the day with more urgency.
* My doctor had me try hyoscyamine ER 0.375 mg 2x a day. That was awful. Much worse diarrhea and lots of side effects.

I had my gallbladder removed about 12 years ago and still have daily diarrhea. I go about 3 times before noon and then I am fine the rest of the day. Doesn't matter what I eat for breakfast or even if I don't eat. I am so sick of this.

@doublej
There are many post on Connect with this subject that you can get an array of advice.

Diet . low fat, low sugar.. including sugar substitutes. You need to eat foods with soluble fiber such as bananas, oatmeal, and many more.. just look up soluble fiber foods. Psyllium powder or other forms of it should help bulk things up. Taking a probiotic helped me tremendously. I tried many cheap ones … giving each one two week chance. I tried Align and it is the one that helped me most. I still have “dump days”, but things are mostly firm now. Some people add prebiotics to the mix with good results… but I think it comes naturally with the soluble fiber foods.

You need to keep a food journal to help figure out what is on your “no list”. Everyone is different! I had to give up raw salad… now because of other stomach problems nothing raw .. fruit and veggies either canned or cooked soft and meat very juicy tender.
ZeeGee

This sounds very fa.miliar. I am offering my own experiences as info, not a solution.
I was offered two suggestions ; keep a journal and spread your eating over the day, not just three meals.
I started by eliminating animal fats, i.e., butter, youghurt, Ice cream, beef, pork, etc. I cut out chocolate, coffee, both regular and deaf,
I spread out my meds through the day rather than all in the morning. My diet was low fat everything, even some vegan dishes. After one of two days my b/m's came down to one per day. I then started to add some of the foods I had eliminated. I discovered that my digestive system reacted in two different ways. Sometimes the diarrhea started in two hours or less. Sometimes not until the next day depending on the food.
I started to make a list of the foods that affected my the most , like chocolate and yoghurt. The list is getting longer but I seem to me making progress. Basically it is a low fat diet. I know that chocolate and whole milk products are out. I will be addu things, one at a time, to see how they affect me.
It is going to take awhile but I won't give up.

Did you have any problems like this before Gallbladder removal? If not, how long after Gallbladder removal did they start?

My gallbladder was removed during a liver resection for metastatic colon cancer so I really can't say. I was pretty screwed up generally speaking. No telling what was what. After a few years dealing with the problem, I decided to try and narrow things down a bit. My GI doc was no help, he just said "try Imodium." The advice about the journal came from the Nurse Practitioner at my family doc's office. It has helped.

Thanks, good info. You have been through alot...you are a real trooper. I hope you continue to do well.

Good Morning, Everyone! I rather lost my place here and have just found my way back to all your kind and helpful suggestions. I had upper and lower GI tests with normal results; symptoms abated, but I still went ahead with the surgery for gall bladder removal on Tuesday, March 15. Doc said all went fine. Home now with some sharp pain around the belly-button, some normal bowel movements, some not...trying to be patient with the recovery process. I have a nasty time with depression following surgery and while I know it will pass with time it's a struggle for today. Thank you each one for taking the time to connect at this site - it's hearwarming, encouraging, and so appreciated. Sincerely, Theresa