Post-cholecystectomy or gallbladder removal surgery

@barbaraspainhour Good luck 🤞 Please do let us know how you go.

After a very painful event I had surgery to remove my gall bladder. Surgery took 2.5 hours. Follow up seems ok except I have uncontrolled diarrhea. I am living on imodium . I am weak as a baby with no aid in sight. The doctors offer no real help except telling me what to eat or not. Any similiar experience or advice.

I also am having back pain directly after eating any food, in addition to back pain when I am pretty much abstaining for almost a whole day. The pain is unusual as it's not from a sprain or injury, and radiates all across the upper back around my waist. On some nights, my back pain is worse. I have, no whole life been a very healthy person. In 1974 I was rendered unconscious and jaundiced, doctors had thought it was acid reflux and prescribed antacids - for weeks. I was found on the floor by a family member.
With emergency surgery, the gallbladder had literally rotted when they found it.

in 2025 now, I have been experiencing the pain daily. I try several things to ease it, not much success. Drinking alot of water, abstaining from food (of course no fatty foods) hot compresses, rubbing the area a bit. This condition did not appear until a few years ago I have since gained 20 lbs because of inactivity due to the pain, although I still eat lightly.

Hi, @dia45 - the back pain directly after eating sounds intense. It makes sense, but I'm sorry that you have gained weight because of inactivity due to the pain.

Glad you got the gallbladder removed and that is no longer an issue.

What does your doctor think is causing your back pain, dia45?

Hello. I am 30F, no history of pregnancy, normal BMI. Grandfather and Grandmother on each side has had their gallbladders removed due to issues.

About 4 years ago I first started having GI pain in the RUQ that was felt more in the back. Lots of burning when I would eat anything remotely acidic, spicy, or fatty. Had a endoscopy done and found mild gastritis and bile in my stomach. Had an ultrasound of my gallbladder and noticed no issues. Had a HIDA scan of my gallbladder that had it at 78% EF. Tested for H. Pylori, which was treated with antibiotics with no change in pain. Took a SIBO test, which I tested positive for, and treated with antibiotics, with no change. History of constipation. Had a colonoscopy done with no issues (other than some benign polyps). Tested negative for Celiacs and other GI related autoimmune diseases.

Tried treating symptoms PPIs with no success, including anti-spasmodics, sulcrafate, various TCA anti depressants (bounced off them due to them causing too much GI burning even when taking them with food).

Lived for years eating the most blandest of foods, such that I was only eating a number of foods you could count on one hand and was barely hovering above underweight. Ate mostly chicken soup and bread every day for every meal.

Went to see a sphincter of oddi expert, who did a ultrasound endoscopy of my bile ducts and found no issues. Over a year ago I also redid a HIDA scan and my EF% was 84. Got on Trulance to address my constipation issues, which did reduce some pain, and was having BMs every other day, pretty much, but did not resolve my GI pain.

After years of suffering I opted to try removal of my gallbladder to see if this would resolve the issues, particularly because I have heard word of hyperkinetic gallbladders above 80 EF% being a potential issue and it felt like I had tried literally everything else.

I felt 100% cured for a few weeks after surgery. I could eat acidic things no problem and wasn't having pain eating other things. Then the slow descent began back to pain, and now the issue of nausea about 3 months in. I could eat like 20g of fat per meal no issues, but now I can barely eat 5g, probably less. My meals consist of chicken breast, rice, and beans for the most part, with a bit of oatmeal mixed with a little brown sugar. I can't eat fruits without nausea, even in small portions, nor can I eat any acidic foods.

I was able to get on mirtazapine (tetracyclic anti depressant), which has helped with the strong onset of depression that has plagued me since the surgery. However, it has not resolved any of my GI issues. I have tried taking colestipol in the evenings to see if the nausea and pain was related to bile but it's a little uncertain if it even helps. I take Zofran on occasion to help with the nausea, but it's not quite the solution I'm looking for.

(Side note, I also take plaquenil for about a year now due to being diagnosed with Sjogrens.)

Wondering if anyone had similar GI issues and had found relief or answers for their nausea and GI pain.

Thanks!

Has anyone with BAM had any experience with Laraglutide?

Has anyone with BAM had any experience with Laraglutide?

Tagging a few members who've talked about bile acid malabsorption (BAM) to see if they are familiar with or taken liraglutide @barjar @sb4ca @yokio @darb @jeepgrl @dlc1953 @blackscarecrow @dbwhitted.

After a very painful event I had surgery to remove my gall bladder. Surgery took 2.5 hours. Follow up seems ok except I have uncontrolled diarrhea. I am living on imodium . I am weak as a baby with no aid in sight. The doctors offer no real help except telling me what to eat or not. Any similiar experience or advice.