Hi!

I am about seven and half weeks out from lap chloe. I had my gallbladder removed because it was only functioning at 8% (diagnosed via Hida Scan).

I ALWAYS hear from others and read online that typical Post Chloe problems are diarrhea or pain related. I am not having a problem with diarrhea at all (which I find odd because a percentage of people usually do). I also have no pain where my gallbladder use to be.

I am having other problems. I was fine the first week out from surgery but starting day 7 I started having reflux, stomach fluttering, and nausea problems. My symptoms have ranged from having horrible taste in mouth, lots of belching, feeling sick to stomach from time to time that comes on real suddenly (almost like something is suddenly is swishing the wrong way making me feel that way) (some days it lasts for several hours and is more severe, others days it will last for 30 seconds and leave as soon as it comes on), nausea, and stomach fluttering (feels like my stomach is doing flips and is flipping my food upside down and this makes me feel like I am gonna get sick).

I am very concerned about this not because I think I have horrible disease or think there is something very, very wrong with me, but because it is an annoyance and I think that feeling nauseous and sick to your stomach is the worst feeling in the world. Plus pre surgery, my surgeron told me he was taking out my gallbladder to make me feel better.....well I do feel better (this stuff is as horrible as I felt when I had my gallbladder in)...but I don't feel normal or 100%.

Now I have seen three doctors for this (my surgeron, my general MD, and a Gastro doctor). They are ALL telling me the SAME thing. "Your body is adjusting to not having a gallbladder and so you are going to acid reflux/bile reflux for a while until your body adjusts. While I totally believe my dctrs, what I don't like is that they are all giving me different time frames ( one says six to eight weeks (well eight weeks is friday), one says it could be 4 to 6 months and another says he can't put a number on it. I am just frustrated because I didnt think I would ever have to deal with a condition for which I didn't know when it was gonna go away. The doctrs also tell me I have to give a PPI four weeks to work before they will test me further. I have all three dcts saying its nothing serious...just body adjusting...so try the medicine (or basically suffer for four weeks) and then we might put a camera down ur throat.

My dctrs have put me on Nexium 40mg ( i tried that for a 2 1/2 weeks and didnt seem to find my relief (do you think I should have stayed on it longer??)). Now I switched my medicine to Aciphex and also Carafate (supposeldly helps bind bile). I have been on the Aciphex now four days and seem to be feeling better either because the Aciphex is working or because whatever is causing the reflux (body adjusting) is actually not acting up.

So with all this detail here are my questions....

1) Have you experience acid reflux/nausea after lap chloe? How common is this? Did you have the same symptoms I was having (nausea, acid taste, burping....I have no heartburn or pain)
2) What causes reflux after post chloe surgery, ( I mean my dctr didnt damaged any nerves liek the Pyloric Sphincter....) so how could bile reflux back into my stomach if nothing is damaged?? Is the cause maybe bile refluxing into the stomach which fills the stomach, which in turn makes acid reflux up into the esphogus??
3). Do you think this is bile reflux or acid reflux or both?
4). How long will this last? Is it possible I could live with this the rest of my life?? Is it possible my body will never adjust to not having a gallbladder?
5). Why are my symptoms so intermittent? Why do I feel good for six days and then feel bad for five? Could my body just be working properly one day and not the next?
6). Are there any other medicines that coudl help with this? Isn't it true if its bile reflux that a PPI won't even help because it is for acid reflux???

Hi! I had my gall bladder removed over two years ago. I thought once this was done my problems would be over, but they really aren't. I can tell you it does take time to heal, and I have heard from some people that the healing can go on for up to a year. As for me, well, I have had some of the symptoms you talked about and this is what I have concluded. While I did have problems with my gall bladder and it had to be removed, that doesn't mean there weren't other digestive problems going on as well. A person can still have acid reflux, gas and other GI problems even once their gall bladder is removed. In fact, most people I know who have had gall bladder surgery still do have some type of problems present. My biggest complaint is I still have a lot of excess gas in my body, but maybe that has nothing to do with my gall bladder and that's just the way it is. It just may be something I have to learn to live with, although I am sure there are medications that can control this if I went to see a GI specialist. In your particular case, it is possible you still have some digestive problems going on, but at least you won't have to worry about any gall bladder attacks anymore.

Thanks for your response! I totally agree with you that taking out a gallbladder will not get rid of all of a person's GI problems. But, my concern is that I didn't have these problems/symptoms before I had the surgery. Its almost as though these things popped up as a result of the surgery. Does that make sense?

anyone else comments...please:)

Hi
I had mine taken out in '03 due to stones- peas in a pod I was told.
I had a awful recovery time- ended up with a hematoma- they stuck me in the area of a inscicion with a 8" needle to numb the pain- gad - I cried with MORE PAIN !!! It was a 10+++ on the scale -

after 2 months I ended up with IBS-- I have gone though many tests- with no clear answers as to why I have this now..

I am only 45 yrs old- I had 2 other surgery's, the 2nd one was 6 months later from the 1st one.. ( dr left my ovary- wasn't feeling good - had a cysts brust open with blood-I went in - he told me 1 day surgery- woke up- found out I had to stay 4 days- what a nitemare ! He had to do exploratory surgery- cut me open twice- thought there was so much inside it was going to be cancerous- thank the Good Lord - it wasn't !! )

I also have fibro- high blood pressure ( wonder why ? ) lol.. I take pills for that also hormone- paxcil for my anxiety/depression- and trazodone to sleep.

I applied for SSDI - 1st time around- Approved..
would much rather be working, than feel the way I do !!!!

I'm still looking for answers seems like dr after dr- clueless-- I really felt much better before the surgery's !!! This isn't right.........

I hope things go well for you all :angel:

Hi LesleyAnne. Sorry to say, but two years after my gall bladder removal, I still have occasional problems, but I have learned how to take care of myself and prevent most problems.

I have had many of the symptoms that you have described off and on for the last two years. This is how my doctors explained it: without the gall bladder there is no place to store the bile, so the excess may enter the upper GI tract and cause acid reflux, nausea, belching, etc. or it may enter the lower GI tract and cause diarrhea and gas. I think there is even a name for it -- post-cholecysectomy syndrome. They lead me to believe that, even though my body will adjust somewhat, it is something I may have to deal with forever since there is simply no place for my body to store the bile. The symptoms can be intermittent because your body does adjust to not having the gall bladder, but sometimes something (but no one can explain to me exactly what) just triggers the body to produce more bile than it needs, then it gets backed up and we suffer the consequences. I was put on Aciphex a while ago and it really seemed to help with the reflux.

I know this is probably obvious, but watch what you eat. My doc suggested keeping a food and symptom diary, and it has been better than any medicines! I have pinpointed a couple of things that really bother or help me. For example, I find that when I eat way too much (like at Thanksgiving) I feel bad for days, but snacking on crackers or lowfat chips between meals seems to help me (I presume that it helps absorb the excess bile). I am sure that everyone's triggers are different, so keep track of what you eat to find yours. But, you know, even with all this knowledge about how my body will react, sometimes I go get a nice big greasy burger and extra-large fries, just hoping that all my troubles are over, only to find that they are not. I think that I'll just always have to watch what I eat, and if I want those fries, I just have to get a small.

I hope that answers some of your questions and that you feel better soon.

I totally agree with MaryKay -- it's hit and miss with foods and everything else and we just have to try different things to see how we feel after the surgery. I'm nine months from surgery and still have very weird problems, including various types of pains throughout the abdominal area, and gas and belching and you name it.

Today it was intermittent and very annoying pain underneath or very close to where the largest lap chole incision is, in the mid-abdomen area and couple of inches higher than the belly button and about 1/2 inch to the right. How odd is that?!

My post surgical symptoms are rarely the same as the previous ones except for gas but even pains from that can vary a lot. I agree that eating small meals is best, and eating more frequently. That bile is just drip, drip, dripping into the small intestine all the time with nothing to sop it up, so there are bound to be problems.

Some people never fully adjust and others have no problems whatsoever from the get-go. Most of us DO seem to have some version of PSD, "post-cholecystectomy syndrome" and pain and indigestion, including diarrhea problems, are fairly frequent. But what can we do? We've had the surgery and there's no turning back now, not that we would really want to.

Everyone I've talked to about this says that while they are unhappy and don't feel good on occasion, in general they feel better than they did before the surgery. So far I have to agree, but I am getting really tired of these bizarre flare-ups of all types.

Most likely the stress of worrying about it and thinking about it doesn't help at all, and some people do develop full-fledged IBS if they didn't have it already. All of this keeps the gastroenterologists in business but at least the doc I've seen had his OWN GB removed years ago so to a degree he understands what we are going through. He said in his case he noticed odd pains for at least a year. Truth is the guy is SO busy running around to see patients at several offices and in hospitals that he probably doesn't have TIME to feel sick himself. He thinks the frequent small meals routine is the way to go, along with stress/anxiety reduction. I have to agree.

Good luck to all of us!

Hi,

I had problems with reflux after my surgery also. Also- just to let you know, I did not start having the diarrhea until 2 - 3 months after the surgery. It was absolutely horrible for that first year. It didn't seem like I could go out to eat without having to quickly find a bathroom and stop 2 - 3 times on the way home. It has been 10 years since I have had mine out and still occasionally I have this problem but thank God- not frequently as it was before.

I wish you the best and hope you feel better quickly!