Gall Bladder Pain

[mazzywoo]

Hi everyone
I woke at 2 am on Thurs with severe pain in my upper abdomen. I got an appt with my GP who examined me and said I may have gallstones. Lucky me! She has referred me for a scan and I am on 2 different antibiotics plus painkillers and is talking about a future cholecystectomy.
My tummy feels 'sore' (almost like a pulled muscle) but at least the god-awful pain has abated.
My question is, how long 'till this sore feeling goes away? I am really scared that the horrible pain will come back (although I know it may well do). I would like to hear other folk's experiences of gall bladder probs too.
Thanks
Maz x

[Sqad]

No, mazymoo, I cannot speak from personal experience as I , luckily, have never had gallstone colic.

Your GP has given you antibiotics to reduce the risk of acute cholecystitis ( infection of the gall bladder) and also pain killers which you can take to relieve the " pulled muscle" feeling.

I cannot say how long the pain will last as it may well depend upon the time it takes the antibiotics to " kick in."

Depending upon the results of the scan and the way you progress over the next 48 hours, you will need you gall bladder removing.

[cazzz1975]

Hi mazzy, you have my condolences, I had my gallbladder removed a couple of years ago after suffering with gallstones for about 5 years prior, the soreness and general "beaten up" feeling will persist for a few days, if you have attacks regularly then they will probably want to whip it out.

the downside of gallbladder removal for some is problems digesting fat, I have this issue, the positive spin on that is that you eat a much healthier diet ...and after so many attacks its a relief to get shot of it ;)

[anneasquith]

remove fatty foods from your diet until you have a diagnosis.

[mazzywoo]

Thank you Sqad and Cazzz. I feel better knowing that other peeps get that 'beat up' feeling too after an attack. I know I will probably need a cholesystectomy eventually but am going on a low fat diet to try and ameliorate it a bit. (bloomin' typical-easter eggs everywhere and I can't have one and not even a teaspoon of wine because I am on antibiotics LOL).
Thanks again
Best wishes, Maz x

[jno]

are you sure you can't have wine? Some antibiotics you can't but others are okay.

[DTCwordfan]

You may well get a pain in the upper right shoulder too, one of your autonomic nerves connecting to the gall-bladder playing up - my attacks of acute pain lasted about an hour, the uncomfortableness about a day.... as anna says, cut out all fatty food between now and your op - no chips!

[cazzz1975]

you did well DT, the acute pain attacks used to last for hours! I remember calling the doctor out at 4am for some strong pain relief, My attack started at 5pm.

I shudder still just thinking about it.

[Kathyan]

I had one huge gallstone which caused me more pain than childbirth! They kept telling me I was too young to have gallstones, I was 27 when the pains started and didn't have my gall bladder taken out until I was 31. Anyone suffering with gallstones has my sympathy!

[pusskin]

my Niece has just spent a week in hospital with same pain, and was on a lot of drugs, antibiotics. She is awaiting operation to take out her gall bladder now. She has been put on a diet and there are lots of things she cant eat or drink untill after her op. She is very slim and has no fat on her.

[mazzywoo]

Thanks guys! It seems to be a very common ailment! Juno-the pharmacist came out and spoke to me and warned me that if I had alcohol, I would be really ill. Not worth the risk I guess! When the acute pain came on, I was very frightened and maybe I should have gone to A&E but our med centre staff were brilliant and got me in as soon as they opened. I'm not too worried if I have to have an op if it means that I won't get that pain again!
Thank you all again-I appreciate your replies very much.

[Mick-the-Miller]

I had gallstones and used to get a lot of pain, I could almost predict when I would get the pain and eventually I had my gallbladder out via keyhole surgery.

I was sore for a few days but after a week I was perfectly fine. You find that fatty foods and red meat tend to go through your system rather quickly but this is not a problem.

I just remember the pain I used to have and the discomfort it was horrible, have your gallbladder out and get back to a normal life.

[ladyalex]

I too have had the dreaded gallstones and had my gallbladder removed.
The op was 'keyhole' and gave me no trouble at all. I was glad to be shot of my gall bladder and have had no ill effects at all since having it removed.
When I got the dreadful pain, I got to the surgery as soon as I could. I have to say that they were always sympathetic and 'got me in' asap. The GP gave me an injection of an NSAID, diclofenac I think ..and 40 minutes later hey presto no pain. So I would recommend that as soon as you get the pain you try to be seen. I did take oral diclofenac (or whichever anti inflammatory it was) but they were not effective.....or not effective for some hours by which time the attack might have been over anyway.
You have my sympathy as the pain is incapacitating.
Do not be afraid of the op and do not hesitate to have it done if they offer it.

[anneasquith]

who knows where I got this information............. but avoid cucumber ( I think it stimulates the common bile duct ) !!!!!!!!

[DTCwordfan]

65% of gall bladder problems are female, the five fs come into play, female, over-forty (or fifty), fair, freckled and fat. A lot of problems are caused by too much aggressive dieting and one shouldn't lose more than a kilo a week. In my case, I was already dieting, got served divorce papers and caught a virus, 30 pounds bingo gone in 5 weeks.....and I paid for it. Many folk (women) say that the pain with gallstones is worse than childbirth - however, with the latter, you do have something productive for it - well, most of the time.

[Eve]

I had a bad time with gallstones and had my gallbladder out just over three years ago and couldn't come soon enough. I got acute cholecystitis and was in hospital for the best part of a week, it was horrible. I found Buscopan and codeine phosphate helped with the spasms/pain and diclofenac with niggly referred pain.

Is it Flagyl you are on, a definite no for drinking. Co-Amociclav I think they had me on.

I had to go on a very low fat diet (quite eye opening when you start reading food labels, especially any ready meals!). I ate mostly wafer thin chicken wraps/sandwiches with salad for months and lost a fair bit of weight. I was 32 when I got them, Dr phoned on my birthday to tell me I had gallstones haha, in hospital a few days later), had the warning signs of darker wee and lighter number twos. I also had to avoid larger meals, especially harder to digest things, anything to stop setting it off.

Once of the ladies in hospital with me said she would rather go through childbirth again than the gallstones pain.

[Jackdaw33]

If it is Flagyl, then, yes, no drinking. If the bottle carries an alcohol warning then heed it but many antibiotics can be taken with alcohol.