My husband has suffered terrible attacks of abdominal pain for several years and we can't diagnose.
We assumed gallbladder trouble because:
.attacks began after he'd lost alot of weight quickly due to switching to an all raw, whole foods diet,
.pain is in upper right quadrant and is accompanied by belching and flatulence and nausea.
These are all typical GB symtoms. However he doesn't have pain radiating to back and shoulder.
His stools are light colored and on the soft side and contain undigested food sometimes.
During attacks he vomits alot and the pain ranges from mild discomfort to nearly unbearable (writhing on the floor, moaning and delerious). He describes the pain as being punched in gut. cramping as opposed to sharp. No fever.
Hot baths bring some relief, and tylenol when he can keep it down.
I put his symptoms in the remedy finder and it indicated Nux Vomica, but it doesn't help at all - not even w/ the nausea.
Originally the pain during attacks was isolated to upper right quadrant - GB area. But now it is sometimes in middle and a bit lower. Between attacks he has no discomfort and strangely enough is in very good health, rarely gets sick and has a very hearty constitution.
Also, he cannot digest greens - they pass right through him or he vomits them up during an attack. Food wise, it's hard to say what aggrivates because it can happen regardless of what he has or hasn't eaten. To be safe eats no sugar and for fats just coconut /oliveoil, fish, and eggs.
He takes fish oil. Eats very little flour or wheat.
Ultrasound showed no stones.
DOES THIS SOUND FARMILIAR TO ANYONE OUT THERE?
Also, what types of alternative medicine works best if it is gallbladder?
Any ideas? We are desperate!
Thanks so much

Do a search: Gallbladder Flush. It's worth investigating and trying. There's lots of information on the internet concerning this simple procedure.

Do a search: Gallbladder Flush. It's worth investigating and trying. There's lots of information on the internet concerning this simple procedure.

He's probably done a dozen of them by now! Another reason I'm wondering if it even is gallbladder.
Thanks!

Has he tried juice fasting?

Also, your gallbladder is on the left side right under the liver,or so I thought.That is why you do a liver and GB flush at the same time.
Maybe Im wrong, Im going to look up the anatomy, lol, and get back with you.

OK, it is on the right side, I stand corrected.
Sometimes the liver is full of stones.

I am assuming you have gone to a doctor and had a series of tests done ,if not do so.This sounds serious to me ,not something a cleanse or flush could remedy easily.Has your doctor thought of Chrones disease?Or a internal infection,sometimes it can take awhile for symtoms to become acute(fever,etc..).If your doctor is not doing anything about this ,and your husbands condition worsens,I might think about going to hospital.It can't hurt.I have a friend who had similar symptoms for 1-2 years,his doc. tried every test,nothing came up.Then his doc. went on sabatical,just when his condition started to flare up,really bad........the replacement doc. thought he was being a baby,told him to go home a stop bothering him,essentially.Thank god his wife is a nurse,when things were really bad one day she took him to emergency room,they found out he had a massive infection between the protective lining of his stomach and also, Chrones disease.He could have died,they almost sued...... this kind of negligence happens everyday.So get a few opinions.Good Luck

the symptoms sound similar to those i had when i had gallstones. how often does he have the pains?

between my diagnosis and the laproscopic gallbladder removal i had done, i was advised to avoid spicy foods and eat as little fat as humanly possible to avoid having more attacks. so i painstakingly cut out almost all fat (i was probably consuming less than 8 grams a day) and only had one attack (and thankfully, a much less violent one) in the 6 or 7 months intervening.

so i would say, test out a low fat vegan diet which is somewhat bland and cut out the flax oil, eggs, fish, poultry altogether for now and see if he still has pains. if so, it could be a different problem. obviously, i'm not a healthcare provider, and until he has an ultrasound and a consultation, i wouldn't bet the farm on anything...

fat and spice "activate" the stones and make the symptoms come on. that's how my doctor explained it to me.

i'm totally down with alternative medicine almost all of the time, and figure even if it doesn't help (which i believe it often does), it can't hurt. however (!), IF it is gallstones and you don't have it checked out (agaqin) by a medical professional, and either let it go or treat it unsuccessfully, your husband runs the risk of having a stone lodge in the bile duct which is VERY serious and can be fatal. So i would STRONGLY recommend that before you try to treat anything on your own, you get him in to see someone.

I have a friend who thought she'd been having stress-induced chest pains off and on and had been trying to meditate, etc. to make them lessen for a few months. finally last week she did get in to see a doctor, and it turns out it was gallstones and she had to have two emergency surgeries that very day. if she'd let it go much longer, she might not even be around. She's only 21 years old.
So it's serious stuff. I'm not trying to make you panic, I just want you to know how important it is to figure out exactly what is going on. It's possible that they somehow missed something with the last ultrasound. I think it would be worth it to order another.


best of luck.

Perhaps you should try some herbs that are good for the liver and see if they help at all. The best one I know of for the liver is Milk Thistle. Use one the is standardized for silymarin content. I would start by taking one capsule per day for a week and move up to whatever the maximum recommended dosage is on the label.

Perhaps you should try some herbs that are good for the liver and see if they help at all. The best one I know of for the liver is Milk Thistle. Use one the is standardized for silymarin content. I would start by taking one capsule per day for a week and move up to whatever the maximum recommended dosage is on the label.

I agree that Milk Thistle is good for the liver. Also, I've read several articles on Artichokes (a member of the milk thistle family) on how it benefits the liver, gallbladder, kidneys and reduces cholesterol. I'm now taking both milk thistle and artichoke extract (started a week ago). Also, I juice beets along with the leaves and stems with dandelion leaves both are excellent for the liver. I just started adding about 1 oz. of Italian parsely juice.

I want to thank you all for the replies and suggestions.
We're still not certain it's his gallblader, in fact, md is leaning toward IB/ and our naturopath swears up and down it's parasites.
Who knows?!
But we are stating him on a formula called Liver Guard just in case, and he can't eat ANY sugar. (He's a baker!) He's pretty desperate to end the attacks so he'll pretty much try anything. Of course he doesn't want to have surgery if he can help it.
Thanks again to all of you!

Has he had an ultra sound? If not, I highly recommend doing so as that would let you know if he has a stone. I had similar pain for a year before I asked for an ultra sound, which revealed a huge calcified stone. I think it best to know what you are dealing with before trying to treat. If you can nail down a diagnosis you will probably have better success with finding the right remedy, whether that is alternative or necessitates more extreme measures. GB symptoms can be very deceiving. I was diagnosed with 4 or 5 different incorrent ailments before I demanded to have the ultra sound.

All the best,

Peregrine

What ever you try, I would do it very carefully. The first thing I would try is Milk Thistle standardized to contain a good amount of Silymarin. This is very helpful to the liver. I would try only one capsule per day to start and see if it does not cause any problem. After a week I would add one more capsule per day for another week. Do this until you are taking the maximum amount as directed on the label. If you do that for a couple of months and it doesn't help, stop the Milk Thistle. You might try Turmeric standardized to 95% Curcumin. This can be obtained at Vitaminshoppe stores at a cheaper price than I have found anywhere else. You should follow the same instructions as with Milk Thistle, except work up to 5 capsules a day maximum. A good side affect of Turmeric is, if you have aches and pains from minor arthritis, it is a very good anti-inflamatory and will help greatly. It is as good or better than Ibuprofin. I have no relationship to Vitaminshoppes.

My husband has suffered terrible attacks of abdominal pain for several years and we can't diagnose.
We assumed gallbladder trouble because:
.attacks began after he'd lost alot of weight quickly due to switching to an all raw, whole foods diet,
.pain is in upper right quadrant and is accompanied by belching and flatulence and nausea.
These are all typical GB symtoms. However he doesn't have pain radiating to back and shoulder.
His stools are light colored and on the soft side and contain undigested food sometimes.
During attacks he vomits alot and the pain ranges from mild discomfort to nearly unbearable (writhing on the floor, moaning and delerious). He describes the pain as being punched in gut. cramping as opposed to sharp. No fever.
Hot baths bring some relief, and tylenol when he can keep it down.
I put his symptoms in the remedy finder and it indicated Nux Vomica, but it doesn't help at all - not even w/ the nausea.
Originally the pain during attacks was isolated to upper right quadrant - GB area. But now it is sometimes in middle and a bit lower. Between attacks he has no discomfort and strangely enough is in very good health, rarely gets sick and has a very hearty constitution.
Also, he cannot digest greens - they pass right through him or he vomits them up during an attack. Food wise, it's hard to say what aggrivates because it can happen regardless of what he has or hasn't eaten. To be safe eats no sugar and for fats just coconut /oliveoil, fish, and eggs.
He takes fish oil. Eats very little flour or wheat.
Ultrasound showed no stones.
DOES THIS SOUND FARMILIAR TO ANYONE OUT THERE?
Also, what types of alternative medicine works best if it is gallbladder?
Any ideas? We are desperate!
Thanks so much

Maybe it is the fish.... Alot of fish have Mercury in them. It sounds like he should see a naturopath or a regular doc. and explain his symptoms... Could be when is having attacks he is passing stones or he could have digestive problems (lack of enzymes)..... The naturopath will try different enzymes in the mouth to see how you react and you will know right away... at least that is what happened with me.

I would say you need a diagnosis first too. His gallbladder could be inflamed or not functioning properly. You don't have to have stones to have an attack.
I would seriously nail down this before moving on. The symptoms sound like gallbladder.

My husband has suffered terrible attacks of abdominal pain for several years and we can't diagnose.
We assumed gallbladder trouble because:
.attacks began after he'd lost alot of weight quickly due to switching to an all raw, whole foods diet,
.pain is in upper right quadrant and is accompanied by belching and flatulence and nausea.
These are all typical GB symtoms. However he doesn't have pain radiating to back and shoulder.
His stools are light colored and on the soft side and contain undigested food sometimes.
During attacks he vomits alot and the pain ranges from mild discomfort to nearly unbearable (writhing on the floor, moaning and delerious). He describes the pain as being punched in gut. cramping as opposed to sharp. No fever.
Hot baths bring some relief, and tylenol when he can keep it down.
I put his symptoms in the remedy finder and it indicated Nux Vomica, but it doesn't help at all - not even w/ the nausea.
Originally the pain during attacks was isolated to upper right quadrant - GB area. But now it is sometimes in middle and a bit lower. Between attacks he has no discomfort and strangely enough is in very good health, rarely gets sick and has a very hearty constitution.
Also, he cannot digest greens - they pass right through him or he vomits them up during an attack. Food wise, it's hard to say what aggrivates because it can happen regardless of what he has or hasn't eaten. To be safe eats no sugar and for fats just coconut /oliveoil, fish, and eggs.
He takes fish oil. Eats very little flour or wheat.
Ultrasound showed no stones.
DOES THIS SOUND FARMILIAR TO ANYONE OUT THERE?
Also, what types of alternative medicine works best if it is gallbladder?
Any ideas? We are desperate!
Thanks so much

Sounds like he is extrememly vitamin deficient.
Iron
Lecithin
B-12
and Vitamin E for starters.

His diet is certainly not helping.
If I had to guess, I would say he is low in red blood cell count as well.
His liver is so deranged now from improper eating that it is a struggle to ingest anything.

If it were me...
I would start by making up a broth of low Glycemic Index veggies and pre-cooked red meat in a chicken broth base.
Put the mixture in a food processor and blend into a baby food-like consistancy.
Add additional chicken broth to make it into a soup.
He can sip it over time.

This will bring some nutrition back to his system.

Also, your gallbladder is on the left side right under the liver,or so I thought.That is why you do a liver and GB flush at the same time.
Maybe Im wrong, Im going to look up the anatomy, lol, and get back with you.


Actually it's on the right side up under your rib cage. When therre is a gall bladder "attack" is it usually because a stone or stones have blocked the bile duct. Until the shift around, pain radiates. It can and often starts with the pain coming through the back under the ribs. It can progress to everywhere. Ihad a gallbladder attack come on out of the blue. The hospital ER said I wasn't "fat and forty", I was 21 at the time and probably the only time I wasn't at all overweight. They sent me home. I ended back there in the morning. Anyway, after a week in the hospital and all the various tests, it was determined that mine simply quit. It had become quite inflamed. They took it out after a week of antibiotics. Never had a problem since then. Good luck.

Is his skin relatively dry or does he have psoriasis? When he consumes eggs, oilive oil or cocconut does it bother him? Does he drink alot of milk or take calcium supplements? Of course you have to have a proper diagnosis before you can begin any therapeutic treatment, be it alternative or conventional. You could be treating for one thing and aggravating another. This can be dangerous and a waste of time and money.

Things that can help the gallbladder could upset other functions, but for starters, if it is the GB you couild try -

Lecithin - granulars are the best way to go. Helps the body to break down fats.

Evening Primrose Oil - contain properties that will (amongst other things) keep the body from overproducing inflammatory prostaglandins. Be sure to get one that says "Cold Pressed AND Hexane Free" as most of them that do not specify Hexane Free are processed using this solvent, which is a carcinogen. It can be Cold Pressed and still contain hexane unless it states it does not.

A well balanced Digestive Enzyme, one that contains OxBile as well as the full profile of other enzymes. Enzymatic Therapy makes one that can be bought over the counter called Progestade. A professional would probably get another brand not available OTC, but the aforementioned one works quite well also. It is important that it contain OxBile (as most do not) because this mimics the process of the gallbladder.

TMG, comes in capsule or crystals, (trimethylglycine) comes from the sugar beet and can also help with gallbladder disfunction.

If he is taking calcium or a multi-vitamin that contains calcium (calcium carbonate especially), I would say it would be best to stop taking it during this time, most important if he "may" have a situation by which he is not metabolizing calcium properly setting him up for stones. Most vitamins, in particular lower quality brands and retail chain health food store brands are not made properly, contain hidden fillers and ingredients and are made using the lowest quality & forms of nutrients available. A formula made to be taken in lower doses in split 3x/d amounts would probably be best suited for his situation, if it is the ballbladder.

A good probiotic would probably help him in any case. Contrary to popular (but dwindling opinion) the refrigerated ones are not better. A well-made shelf stable one will serve him better.

Best to have a clear diagnosis before one haphazzardly starts treating anything though. Peace, Marie