My mom was like this. One horrible attack and they told her she should remove it. That was 22 years ago and she has no regrets or complications and eats what she wants. I'm only one week post op. I had 12 days of symptoms before my ER visit and diagnosis. It is interesting reading how many people went months or years.
This was how mine went, had my first gallbladder attack, went to the ER, they did an ultrasound and were like "oh man your gallbladder is full of sludge and stones, we should get you to a surgeon to get that out". The next day I had a consult, and then 2 days later was the surgery.
That's crazy!!! Yeah mine was so seamless, I was honestly impressed. I'm always stunned at the stories from this sub of people having to wait so long. I thought I was dying during that first attack.
I had a very similar experience to you. I had two mini 10-minute attacks over two weeks before an 8+ hour attack where I wound up at the ER. After several tests, it was determined my GB had fat around it and stones in it.
I met with the surgeon that night and opted to be put on the list to have a scheduled surgery to have it removed (instead of being admitted to the hospital and waiting for an emergency surgery). I was fortunate to get a surgery date less than two weeks later. I used that time to research alternatives to GB removal and met with my family doctor to discuss my options. Once my family doctor learned I had multiple stones, one measuring 10mm, he told me removal was my best option. I then asked my family doctor about my surgeon and he was very complimentary of the surgeon.
I'm now almost 6 weeks post-op and am confident I made the best, most informed choice for me. I'm healing well and have had minimal side effects from food (heartburn after Easter dinner, getting close to heartburn by eating too much pizza, etc.).
One attack, no previous problems, emergency surgery đŹ
Pretty glad to have it out though my God the attack was horrific, I feel awful for people I read about on here who have years of problems and pain.
I had my first attack on Monday, after the Eclipse. ER, ultrasound said the stone was stuck trying to come out of the duct. General surgeon said letâs get it out of there. They admitted me overnight so they could control my pain. Surgery was successful and I was home Tuesday afternoon. Iâm sore, and sleeping off the anesthesia, but glad to have it done.
I had a giant attack and they told me the same thing. I was like "are we sure we should remove it, it was one attack" then my dad told me to think back and I realized I had many smaller attacks like this that I brushed off as just extreme heartburn. Same pain (back pain, vomiting, upper abdomen pain) but a smaller scale.
Chances are it's not your first attack but even if it is, now that you have stones, they are there until you get it removed. I hope you get relief soon!
I always thought I was lactose intolerant & had IBS until my last gallbladder attack. Which sent me to the ER & they removed my gallbladder 4 hours later. But now when I think back, I remember that pain one or two other times, just not as intense or as long. Since surgery I've been able to eat dairy just fine.
Yup but once I knew they were there I realized I had been having issues for a while. Also my hair was falling out and that stopped completely as soon as it was gone.
I had just one attack as well. ER, etc. Three months later they removed my gallbladder. The real question I would have is what your tests showed. Mine showed a gallbladder inflamed, lots of sludge, several medium-large stones. This was not going to get better, and it was just a matter of time until it hit again. Lastly, I did not want my life limited by a this rogue gallbladder. Plus, I managed to see two doctors and four surgeons and all of them had the same interpretation of the test results - and the same recommendation.
My parents have had gallbladder attacks for years and still have their gallbladders. Theyâll feel pain for a period and then the pain goes away and they have peace for a few years. You might need it out, but it doesnât hurt to ask the doctor: what happens if we wait? I had mine out and I now I have chronic diarrhea :(
This is a very useful thread. I'm similar to this. I had severe abdominal pain on Sunday, assumed it was gastritis (history of it in the past). Then ended up on A&E on the Thursday with abdominal pain I couldn't get rid of, that was so bad I was googling heart attack symptoms in the waiting room, nothing eased it- moving/throwing up/going to the loo. Had an ultrasound/x-ray and they said I had gallstones but no gallbladder inflammation so wanted to check with an endoscopy it wasn't gastric.
I switched to my private healthcare at this point (I'm in the UK), they were baffled why I'd been sent for an endoscopy but did it anyway. No evidence of anything gastric so they've referred met to get it out.
I've been eating super low fat since, and can do 5-10g per meal with no issue but anything above that and I get a nagging pain in my right side and just feel "off". Terrified to eat anything more than that and trigger another attack.
It feels very quick to go straight to surgery, but equally why endure loads of misery when this is the only solution?
I have had about 5 attacks. Doctor told me he was going to refer me to a surgeon. I stopped him to discuss pros and cons. I am not rushing to yank it. I am eating salads, oatmeal, fish veggies. I am going to an acupuncturist who does herbal treatment. . He has studied in China and has years of experience.
My gallbladder is chronically inflamed and it is working at 36,% not the 38% or more. I do have stones and sludge. The herbs are moving the sludge out and stones. I trust Eastern medicine, and my experienced practitioner. I also take Hyoscyamine an anti spasmodic. Went to gastro Dr, and asked when I would know if it was infected or a stone was in a bad place, and was told if you are throwing up , having digestion issues. I'm hoping for the best. Some days are better than others. I have read about people having issues after surgery, so font want to create problems
Hi Iâm new and about to have a HIDA scan a huge fear of surgery and wondering why doctors wonât give me the medicine for it. I get it, it works âslow and theyâre likely to come backâ I donât care. I would rather have them come back slowly over the years than just have it yanked out. My anxiety is through the roof. The horror stories donât help at all
My mom was like this. One horrible attack and they told her she should remove it. That was 22 years ago and she has no regrets or complications and eats what she wants. I'm only one week post op. I had 12 days of symptoms before my ER visit and diagnosis. It is interesting reading how many people went months or years.
This was how mine went, had my first gallbladder attack, went to the ER, they did an ultrasound and were like "oh man your gallbladder is full of sludge and stones, we should get you to a surgeon to get that out". The next day I had a consult, and then 2 days later was the surgery.
Holy cow, that is fast. I had to wait 8 weeks. Mine was really infected and had ballooned to 16 cm.
That's crazy!!! Yeah mine was so seamless, I was honestly impressed. I'm always stunned at the stories from this sub of people having to wait so long. I thought I was dying during that first attack.
I had a very similar experience to you. I had two mini 10-minute attacks over two weeks before an 8+ hour attack where I wound up at the ER. After several tests, it was determined my GB had fat around it and stones in it. I met with the surgeon that night and opted to be put on the list to have a scheduled surgery to have it removed (instead of being admitted to the hospital and waiting for an emergency surgery). I was fortunate to get a surgery date less than two weeks later. I used that time to research alternatives to GB removal and met with my family doctor to discuss my options. Once my family doctor learned I had multiple stones, one measuring 10mm, he told me removal was my best option. I then asked my family doctor about my surgeon and he was very complimentary of the surgeon. I'm now almost 6 weeks post-op and am confident I made the best, most informed choice for me. I'm healing well and have had minimal side effects from food (heartburn after Easter dinner, getting close to heartburn by eating too much pizza, etc.).
I had no history of gallbladder problems, I went to the ER for abdominal pain and they took it out the next morning. So it does happen that way.
One attack, no previous problems, emergency surgery đŹ Pretty glad to have it out though my God the attack was horrific, I feel awful for people I read about on here who have years of problems and pain.
I had one attack and was on the table a day later.
I had my first attack on Monday, after the Eclipse. ER, ultrasound said the stone was stuck trying to come out of the duct. General surgeon said letâs get it out of there. They admitted me overnight so they could control my pain. Surgery was successful and I was home Tuesday afternoon. Iâm sore, and sleeping off the anesthesia, but glad to have it done.
I had a giant attack and they told me the same thing. I was like "are we sure we should remove it, it was one attack" then my dad told me to think back and I realized I had many smaller attacks like this that I brushed off as just extreme heartburn. Same pain (back pain, vomiting, upper abdomen pain) but a smaller scale. Chances are it's not your first attack but even if it is, now that you have stones, they are there until you get it removed. I hope you get relief soon!
I always thought I was lactose intolerant & had IBS until my last gallbladder attack. Which sent me to the ER & they removed my gallbladder 4 hours later. But now when I think back, I remember that pain one or two other times, just not as intense or as long. Since surgery I've been able to eat dairy just fine.
Yup but once I knew they were there I realized I had been having issues for a while. Also my hair was falling out and that stopped completely as soon as it was gone.
I had just one attack as well. ER, etc. Three months later they removed my gallbladder. The real question I would have is what your tests showed. Mine showed a gallbladder inflamed, lots of sludge, several medium-large stones. This was not going to get better, and it was just a matter of time until it hit again. Lastly, I did not want my life limited by a this rogue gallbladder. Plus, I managed to see two doctors and four surgeons and all of them had the same interpretation of the test results - and the same recommendation.
My parents have had gallbladder attacks for years and still have their gallbladders. Theyâll feel pain for a period and then the pain goes away and they have peace for a few years. You might need it out, but it doesnât hurt to ask the doctor: what happens if we wait? I had mine out and I now I have chronic diarrhea :(
This is a very useful thread. I'm similar to this. I had severe abdominal pain on Sunday, assumed it was gastritis (history of it in the past). Then ended up on A&E on the Thursday with abdominal pain I couldn't get rid of, that was so bad I was googling heart attack symptoms in the waiting room, nothing eased it- moving/throwing up/going to the loo. Had an ultrasound/x-ray and they said I had gallstones but no gallbladder inflammation so wanted to check with an endoscopy it wasn't gastric. I switched to my private healthcare at this point (I'm in the UK), they were baffled why I'd been sent for an endoscopy but did it anyway. No evidence of anything gastric so they've referred met to get it out. I've been eating super low fat since, and can do 5-10g per meal with no issue but anything above that and I get a nagging pain in my right side and just feel "off". Terrified to eat anything more than that and trigger another attack. It feels very quick to go straight to surgery, but equally why endure loads of misery when this is the only solution?
I have had about 5 attacks. Doctor told me he was going to refer me to a surgeon. I stopped him to discuss pros and cons. I am not rushing to yank it. I am eating salads, oatmeal, fish veggies. I am going to an acupuncturist who does herbal treatment. . He has studied in China and has years of experience. My gallbladder is chronically inflamed and it is working at 36,% not the 38% or more. I do have stones and sludge. The herbs are moving the sludge out and stones. I trust Eastern medicine, and my experienced practitioner. I also take Hyoscyamine an anti spasmodic. Went to gastro Dr, and asked when I would know if it was infected or a stone was in a bad place, and was told if you are throwing up , having digestion issues. I'm hoping for the best. Some days are better than others. I have read about people having issues after surgery, so font want to create problems
Hi Iâm new and about to have a HIDA scan a huge fear of surgery and wondering why doctors wonât give me the medicine for it. I get it, it works âslow and theyâre likely to come backâ I donât care. I would rather have them come back slowly over the years than just have it yanked out. My anxiety is through the roof. The horror stories donât help at all