Post-cholecystectomy or gallbladder removal surgery

Hi , I am sorry you are experiencing these symptoms. I have the same symptoms and it is no fun! I had gallbladder removed August 2023 and my digestion has never been the same. I got a few viruses this winter which probably upended my gut bacteria and have had diarrhea for months. My abdominal cat scan last week was negative. I am going the holistic route(and also its impossible to get into a Dr!) I take Pure Encapsulations Digestive Enzymes with each meal. While everyone is different, it has greatly reduced my bloating. On the other hand it has increased nausea, so I take pepcid when that happens. Since I had gallstones, I also changed my diet to low fat. While it was hard at first, it has become easier. Plus it really helped me to lose 50 pounds in the last 2.5 years which is great for me. Another thing I started was taking Fiber everyday(with probiotics) which also helps. Someone recommended Tummy Fiber to me which I am about to start. It is a soluble fiber powder which helps people with irritable bowel syndrome but I figure it may help regulate my digestion. It has been /is overwhelming to me , however when I start thinking that way, I remember there are so many that have it a lot worse. I hope this helps some and good luck. Let me know if learn anything more on our journey without a gallbladder.

Thank you. I need to try the psyllium husk again. I felt like it just bulked up and increased the volume of my diarrhea episodes so i stopped taking it without really giving it a chance.

I've fought the explosive diarrhea as I call it for over 5 years and have learned to live with it. However, recently I have discovered eating a non sugar yogurt (60 cal) with blueberries after dinner has helped immensely. Some days it’s completely gone. A friend's wife had a similar problem and yogurt helped her also. I can only assume my gut bacteria is out of sync. I recently had a test conducted by Genova Diagnostics, (a GI Microbial Assay Plus) that proved that and revealed that I have leaky gut. My focus will be on fixing my gut bacteria from the damage caused from taking Omeprazole and other medication. Hope you find something that works for you.

How did you find out your doc damaged the vagus nerve?

Maybe try the cholestrymine first

I had the same issue after my gallbladder removal many years ago. I almost died because I lost so much weight and I couldn’t even drink water without getting diarrhea. I went back to the hospital and they put me on a medicine that removed the cholesterol from my stomach acid or whatever – sorry I can’t remember the details. I believe it was cholestyramine. I’m not positive about the name, but it started with CHOLE. I took it for nine weeks and it worked and I was able to eat and then I became allergic to it and had to stop it and was on a very limited diet for many years, but my stomach slowly got better. I hope that’s helpful. Good luck.. I see your post is from several years ago, so I hope you’re doing OK.

I am on cholestrymine and a low fat dairy free diet according to my last colonoscopy Crohn’s free but still suffered from diarrhea and that was prior to having gallbladder removed. Added the psyllium husk yesterday hoping for good results. Would love to off cholestrymine.

I'm so sorry you are struggling. My husband had his removed 6 weeks ago and the pain he had prior to his gallbladder removal has never gone away. We have been back and forth to the ER 3 times all the tests and scans come back negative. Our daughter works for HR thru a medical clinic she works for so she got my husband an appointment tomorrow for pain management. We will see how that goes and hopefully they can help him with his pain cause he can hardly get out of bed without hurting so bad. I pray you can get some answers on your situation as well. It's so crazy how many people are struggling after gallbladder removal. Makes me wonder what really goes on in surgery as to why so many are in worse shape after.

Sorry...I've never discussed nor do I have knowledge about bile acid malabsorption (BAM).

I had this issue after gall bladder removed. My surgeon prescribed Welchol and it's helped SO much. I hope you feel better soon!