Post-cholecystectomy or gallbladder removal surgery

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.

A couple of other members who may have input to share about liraglutide I'd like to invite into this conversation are @mcgrathj @shaylad90 @projfan.

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.

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.

This is sort of a last ditch effort to find some idea about what has been plaguing me for years. I had my gallbladder removed after a series of attacks in 2016. I did not have any stones, but my HIDA showed 6% EF and after removal, they said I had a very narrow sphincter.

Since then, I have been to the ER several times for debilitating severe upper abdominal pain. I mean SEVERE. I have a high pain tolerance, and did not experience this level of pain with child birth. Each time they do bloodwork and X-rays, but tell me they cannot find anything wrong. I started noticing that the attacks came on after eating a particularly rich or fatty meal with wine. I got better at avoiding the attacks after awhile.

A few years later, I was having severe GI issues. Pain, extreme bloating (looks 9 months pregnant after eating), severe diarrhea, and daily crippling nausea. This lasted for months. I have struggled with nausea most of my life, but this was impacting my quality of life. They did an ultrasound, emptying scan, and upper and lower GI. They essentially found nothing wrong and said the nausea might be "in my head". I kind of gave up on GI drs after that. I did go GF because that seemed to help some.

Fast forward to 2023. I went to the ER with some abdominal pain and it turned out I had a ruptured diverticula and had most of my colon removed.

I recently started zepbound, and had food/wine in an amount that would not have normally caused one of these attacks, but it caused one of the worst ones yet. They last anywhere from 30 min to 2 hours usually. I cannot express enough how severe the pain is. I didn't go to ER because it is the same thing every time.

If you read this far, thank you. I feel like I am losing my mind. I still live with daily GI issues such as pain and nausea, but I have learned to cope. I wish I knew of at least a direction to point a new doctor in, but I have zero idea what this could be. It is like a gallbladder attack on steroids, but I don't have a gallbladder or appendix anymore. PLEASE HELP!

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.

Sorry if this is long:
I am in the same boat as many on here. April 19, 2012 I had my gallbladder removed the same time they performed a tubal ligation. A few months later, I had my very first episode of pains and nausea. I was doing nothing but laying on the couch watching a movie with my husband. He had to carry me to the truck to drive me to the hospital, but we never made it as he had to pull over so I could throw up and the ambulance had to pick me up from there. I have had so many tests done and they could never find out what was wrong. I was put on bentyl and amitriptyline but none of it helped. I have tried to cut foods and drinks out but I would still go through it. It has happened in the middle of class/exams, at work, when I am sleeping, or just whenever it felt like hitting me. I wish there was an answer for us!

I had my gall bladder taken out as part of my bariatric surgery about 15 years ago. More recently, I've tried tirzepatide and semaglutide to get rid of the weight I've gained since, but I have not tried liraglutide.

I just dug into the literature a bit, and it's clear that liraglutide used for your purpose is getting a lot of attention right now. Here is a hot-off-the presses review paper: https://journals.lww.com/ctg/fulltext/2025/03000/treatment_of_bile_acid_diarrhea_with_glucagon_like.1.aspx.

Liraglutide is now only available in the brand form as Victoza, although independently, I've read that it's possible we will see it in a generic form by 2027 in the US. In the meantime, it's worth checking into whether your insurance plan will cover it, since it's otherwise quite expensive. Note that like all these GLP-1RA drugs, some people get side effects, primarily nausea, which is something most people can control by managing dosage level.

On the plus side, Victoza comes as a multi-pen -- that is, unlike single-use pens for Mounjaro or Zepbound intended for weight loss, you can adjust the dosage. In fact, now that I'm down to a low maintenance level dose of Ozempic (also a multi-pen), I'm able to use this technique (you'll see it called click-counting or microdosing) to cut the cost of the drug in half without resorting to sources of the drug that are not FDA-regulated. This is probably not something you want to do until you have some experience with how your body reacts to the drug, because it means using dose levels that were not studied in clinical trials.

Sorry, but to begin with I would have no reason to take Laraglutide as I am neither diabetic nor do I need to lose weight. I've been in a constant battle since I had my gallbladder removed to gain weight. I am currently at 5'3" and I only weigh 105 lbs. Another reason I would not ever take this medication is because I don't trust pharmaceuticals. I believe food and exercise and sometimes with the help of supplements we can find our way back to health. My body is imbalanced. It's going to take me time to figure out what is throwing it off. I do believe I just had a breakthrough. I found out through an allergy patch test that I'm somewhat allergic to corn. Although it's low to moderate, it's enough to throw my system off and I'm in the process of assisting it starting with multivitamins. I'm also vitamin deficient due to the BAM. What I've said here I feel strongly about and encourage you to take a deep breath and think again. We're not going to find miracles in any one single pill. Once you've taken those pills you can't undo it. Hope this helps.

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.