Dealing with symptoms after Gallbladder surgery

I am coming up on a year since gallbladder removal and still have diarrhea on the daily. I tried cholestyramine (not really helpful) and now I'm trying colestipol pills - easier than the powder to take by far, but don't think it is helping much either. I've about decided to stop those pills and see what happens by just watching intake of fat content, greasy food, etc only.
I realize my message is not providing any news or help to those here, but mostly wanted to say that it's a weird kind of comfort to know I'm not a lone ranger out here! Thanks to everyone that posts on this topic!

I am coming up on a year since gallbladder removal and still have diarrhea on the daily. I tried cholestyramine (not really helpful) and now I'm trying colestipol pills - easier than the powder to take by far, but don't think it is helping much either. I've about decided to stop those pills and see what happens by just watching intake of fat content, greasy food, etc only.
I realize my message is not providing any news or help to those here, but mostly wanted to say that it's a weird kind of comfort to know I'm not a lone ranger out here! Thanks to everyone that posts on this topic!

I was wondering how long you have diarrhea after gallbladder removal. It has been 2 1/2 months since the surgery. My doctors just brush it off when asked.

I had my gallbladder out in January, 2024. It’s August, 2025 now and still have nasty diarrhea 4-5 times per day. I have tried cholestyramine and it just doesn’t work. When it gets really bad and I have to go somewhere, I take two Imodium tablets which isn’t the best solution but seems it’s the only thing that works. The cholestyramine is an expensive prescription too.

Gastro doc no help here either. She wouldn't get me two test that would verify if I have BAM. So got my regular doc to do it. Waiting for that to all take place. Gastro just gave me colestipol pills to try. Well I'm not one for meds so inquired about a natural way and doing those tests to prove that's what i got. not much help with any thing natural. aka extra fiber, low fat etc. just kinds shrugged her shoulders and said yeah try it but no guidance.
So am on my own. for one week now i've been taking 2 scoops of Sunfiber (a guar gum soluable fiber) with 6 grams of fiber in each scoop. on in morning with breakfast and one at lunch. plus working on getting more fiber with food in. so far I've been able to reduce the diarrhea down to only 35% coming from 50%. Will continue this and see if it maintains at least that reduction.
If I can't get it below this % i will then move into either increasing fiber intact even more and or reducing how much i eat that has gluten (gluten sensitive is suspected also). Also reducing sugar intake.
In all my research and personal journey it seems everyone is different there is no one solution for any of us. Some have said the meds work perfect others not at all. So I thinking finding what it is that triggers you and taking it from there is the best solution.
good luck everyone on your journeys!

I was wondering how long you have diarrhea after gallbladder removal. It has been 2 1/2 months since the surgery. My doctors just brush it off when asked.

I was taking cholestyramine also and it worked for about 8 mos. I decided to discontinue it because of that and also because I discovered that it could eventually cause damage to my liver. Now I drink 1 TBSP in the morning (first thing) of acacia fiber (senegal) and 1 TBSP at night. Although it helps a great deal I'm still suffering with loose stools. It's an endless battle that continues deciphering what foods I can tolerate and what I can't. It IS a puzzle that I have to figure out and I believe it will take a lot more time. Researching this issue is endless. I had the gallbladder out about 3-1/2 yrs ago due to gallstones and my health started deteriorating about 6 mos after. I have discovered I have food sensitivities due to being allergy patch tested and have also discovered some vitamin deficiencies. I suffer from SIBO, IBS-D, lactose and sucrose intolerance, fat malabsorption and BAM (bile acid malabsorption), hence the reason for cholestyramine (a binder). I have recently discovered that I'm suffering from ASID (acquired sucrase and isomaltase deficiency syndrome), although I haven't been officially diagnosed but I can't digest sugar. I believe it all stems from a leaky gut and small intestinal issues where many of the enzymes are produced. It's overwhelming to me just to get through a day - every single day - not knowing what to eat or rather what NOT to eat. AND there are so many programs out there with all different protocols that it's overwhelming. I don't know which one to follow. I feel like I'm running out of time. I'm 71 yrs old and lost 25 lbs in a short period of time. I'm maintaining my weight at about 105 lbs at 5'2-1/2. Oh yeah and I have osteoarthritis and osteoporosis and histamine issues so I'm having trouble with supplements. I believe I'm going to get tested for parasites etc through Thorne before I detox or repair gut so I have a better understanding of what I'm fighting. This thing is now going away anytime soon. I have about a year to figure this out before I go on vacation so that I can hopefully eat well. Good luck to you. Hopefully I've helped someone.

jeepgrl, , I very well understand how you feel,I had my gallbladder removed in April of 2024,after so many months went by, I have nothing but tummy problems. I also have IBD,Acid Reflux, God knows what else,I'm like you, You don't know what to eat because of food causing stomach issues. I have an appt with stomach specialist Sept 4th...I really hope you get better before your vacation 🙏

Hello, I am 28 year old female, I have been battling with a very strange case of chronic pain that the specialists at the hospital cannot seem to diagnose, I have had numerous tests, CAT and MRI scans and have been in intense chronic pain for the last year. The pain I have is a gallbladder pain, intense pain in the stomach and back, when the pains come I also have vomiting.

In October 2021 I had my gallbladder out as they suspected it could be that however since having it out the pains are worse and more frequent, the symptoms seem to appear when I miss a meal or am hungry, 70% of the time when I eat when the pains appear they seem to disappear however on occasions it doesn’t matter how much I eat the pains don’t go away and I end up vomiting, when I have vomited what seems like bile, the pains stop.

My doctors have run tests to see if I have stones lodged in the conduct, sphincter of Oddi, H pylori and they are all negative. Also, the pains appear regardless of what I eat, it’s the quantity that triggers the pains, if I eat a small quantity of food a few hours later if I don’t eat anything else the pains are triggered, since my surgery I have not slept a whole night without waking up with pains. My pains appear around 4 times a day. Does anybody have any suggestions? Thank you in advance

Thank you very much. I'm going to get tested to see what else I'm up against but I'm pretty sure it's my small intestine that's the issue. I'm thinking of trying Purium Biome Medic after that. From what I understand it repairs the villi at the border and detoxes the endotoxins that may be running through my system due to a leaky gut. I ran into issues with digestive enzymes (Intoleran) and I believe it's most likely because of the Aspergillus (mold) oryzae (or niger). Good luck to you as well. It's just awful that we can't rely on the medical industry to help us much. I can only utilize them for blood tests and diagnoses. Anyway, good luck to you as well and many thanks for the kind words.