Hello everyone!

I had my gallbladder removed on June 29. Everything went well with the surgery. What led to the removal was a severe gallstone attack, they did an ultrasound and found stones, had the surgery about 10 days later. (The waiting was brutal). I'm 31 yrs old, with no really major health problems, I have asthma but it only acts up a few times a year.

Anyway, so far my recovery has been so-so. Been dealing with diarrhea after meals, still have it but it seems to be getting better. I seem to have it more in the mornings though. I still have some pain, more like soreness, and in the evenings after I get home from work my back hurts.

I went to the doctor Friday and although I had been feeling fine, just dealing with the diarrhea, I went to my doc (general physician) because I started having a new thing happen. This weird spasm type thing around my pelvic area, it feels like a slight vibration or buzzing feeling. The feeling is very faint, and if I touch the area when the "buzzing" begins, it goes away. It happens if I'm sitting, standing, etc, but usually doesn't last long. My dr. was perplexed, wasn't sure what it could be, but said we'd keep an eye on it. He think it may be a nerve related thing. But that is the least of my worries, for now.

One thing the doctor did was take more blood work and a urine sample because since my surgery my liver enzymes have been elevated. When I told him about me still having some pain, I thought it was just soreness from my surgery, and bloating after eating, he said I may have some sludge or stones somewhere in my ducts.

That really scared me and I think it made me sick when I left his office. He said they may do a procedure where they put a scope down my throat and see what they find and remove anything if they have to, I forgot what he said it was called. Now I'm worried about that scope thing, will I be awake, what does it feel like?

I'm so nervous now, I was feeling ok before I found this out but now I seem to be nauseous all the time and my food feels like it is stuck in my throat after I eat. I don't even have an appetite anymore, and I was fine just a few days ago.

They did bloodwork on me Friday but never called me back with the results like they said they would, so we'll see what they say when I call them tomorrow.

Appreciate any advice, hopefully it will help me calm down. I dunno, maybe I'm making myself sick with worry.:(

first, relax.

the procedure is called ERCP. The pass a camera through your stomach and up the common duct to look for stones that may have left the gallbladder but not passed clear through the duct and were expelled. If they find stones, they blast them with laser to break them up so they can pass.

They sedate you. As a matter of fact, I fell asleep from the sedation. Woke up and didn;t even know what happened. They gave me pictures of what they found.

It does sound as if you are worrying yourself sick. STOP IT!!

Stones in the duct can block bile from entering the intestine which would cause diahrea since fats would not be digested due to lack of bile and they pass very quickly if this happens.

Even after everything is fixed, you will probably need to entertain a low fat diet for quite awhile. it took me a year or better to get back to normal as far as fat intake. It can cause extreme urgency (need to have a bowel movement) to the point of painful or even not making it to the restroom. Be forewarned. Always know where a restroom is. If you think you might have to have a bowel movement, start heading that direction, it will escalate very quickly.

Anyway, I am only a layperson but from what I understand (and from personal experience of stones in my common duct), the enzyme elevation is typical from a blocked duct. So can be a GREAT deal of pain.

The buzzing sensation sounds like nerves that are damaged and healing. I have had enough surgeries and basic cuts that have caused such damage and that sounds a lot like what I experienced as things healed.

So, relax. Wait for your appointment and just get this thing taken care of. It isn;t that big of a deal to go through. Doesn;t take long and as long as things go well (there is always a possiility of compications with just about ANY med procedure), you will not have any ill effects and should not even notice anything different other than you feel better if they do find stones and get rid of them.

gooby - Thanks so much for your response!

I think you are right, I am making myself sick.

Today was a better day, I cleaned up around the house to get my mind off of things, went to church, and being around people and not sitting at home and just worrying helped a lot. I was able to have some chicken with rice soup for dinner and didn't get any nausea after. Just felt my stomach churning a little after, but I am not in any pain or anything. Every now and then I get little pain spasms on my left and right side, but they are quick and go away.

I'm sticking to a low-fat diet and just hope the doc gets back to me quick with the results. Your description of the ERCP doesn't sound too scary, I think I can handle it. I'm just hoping that will take care of the problem. Hate to think that stones or sludge is inside of me. And I am even more terrified of having another stone attack, that is a horrible thing.

Thanks again, I am going to calm down and think positive thoughts for now.

cindyrose-
if you don't mind me asking.. do you get diarrhea ONLY after you eat, or do you have it consistently all day eating or not? The reason I ask is because I am 6 days post op and am getting diarrhea only after i eat. thanks.

cindyrose-
if you don't mind me asking.. do you get diarrhea ONLY after you eat, or do you have it consistently all day eating or not? The reason I ask is because I am 6 days post op and am getting diarrhea only after i eat. thanks.

Well my first week after the surgery I would get diarrhea after eating too, like clockwork after every meal.

Now I only get it in the morning and evening it seems.

Update:

Well today so far has been a good day. Almost no nausea at all today, and as usual had my morning rush to the bathroom a few times before I left for work. Still have that morning diarrhea, strange. However, I felt pretty normal today, just tired but that is probably because I didn't sleep much.

I worked about 7 hours today, then went shopping with my sis after work even though I really wanted to go home, and now my back is killing me, but I think the back pain may be related to it being that time of the month for me. I have some minor pain and soreness today, but then again, it may be because of the time of month.

Oh and no word yet on my bloodwork and exams from the doctor, when I checked this afternoon he had the results but his assistant said she would need him or a nurse to read the results. I guess I'll find out tomorrow.

Well the doctor called today and said my liver enzymes were still slightly elevated, so he ordered an MRCP (MRI?). I went and had the mri done this afternoon and should get the results tomorrow.

I hope all goes well.

I'm feeling ok today, just have some anxiety again and nervousness again.

did he say why your liver enzymes were elevated? Is that a "normal" thing to have happen after gb removal? Let us know what happens.

He said that the enzymes might be elevated due to some sludge or stones still in my bile duct.

However, I thought I had read about others who had their GB removed and had their liver enzymes elevated for some time though, it took a while for the levels to get back to normal. I dunno, maybe I just imagined reading that.

I'll update you as soon as I get word from the doc.

Well the results from my MRCP came back and the doc said all was normal. So he is thinking that I may have some sort of infection that has my liver enzymes elevated. He is going to run some more bloodwork on me tomorrow.

Today I felt a lot better, I even got my appetite back, especially after knowing the MRCP came out ok. I am going to just keep a positive attitude, not dwell too much on what may or may not be going on inside of me.

Sounds like a good plan. Just keep plugging away with the doc and make him keep looking if you do have problems.

Your body tells you a lot, all you have to do is get the doc to listen.

Best of luck to ya.

Hi Cindy,

I'm 32 years old now and my doctors tried to get me to take my gallbladder out 1 1/2 years ago.

Can you tell me about your symptoms and why you had it removed?

I want to see if they match mine or are different.

Were the stones large? Did you suffer with this for awhile?

I think alot of people get their gallbladders removed too quickly when that isn't the problem.

My doctors were sure that I had stones in my duct too that was causing the pain, but I'm 100% sure it was due to a food blockage somewhere in the colon/instestine (vomiting relieved my pain once I learned that trick).

My doctors were sure my pain was only going to get worse, not better, but here I am 1 1/2 year later, not completely healed (no severe pain in 9 months), but that is alot better than 1 in 3 days like I was having initially.

well I had been having small gallstone attacks for about a month, but didn't even know what it was related to. I would wake up in the middle of the night with this intense pain in my stomach that would last maybe 20 minutes before going away. Then one day I had a really bad attack that lasted over an hour, going to the bathroom or vomiting didn't help, the pain was so bad I was crying, on the floor because I couldn't even move or walk, and ended up in the ER that night. The next day I went to the doctor and they did an ultrasound and found stones in my gallbladder, plus my liver enzymes were high. Up until I had my gallbladder removed, which was 10 days later, I had terrible nausea, diarrhea, was running fever, and lost about 10 pounds and was just miserable.

I know some people try to find other alternatives, but at that point I was feeling so bad the best option for me was removal. I didn't even want to chance having another attack like that.

well I had been having small gallstone attacks for about a month, but didn't even know what it was related to. I would wake up in the middle of the night with this intense pain in my stomach that would last maybe 20 minutes before going away. Then one day I had a really bad attack that lasted over an hour, going to the bathroom or vomiting didn't help, the pain was so bad I was crying, on the floor because I couldn't even move or walk, and ended up in the ER that night. The next day I went to the doctor and they did an ultrasound and found stones in my gallbladder, plus my liver enzymes were high. Up until I had my gallbladder removed, which was 10 days later, I had terrible nausea, diarrhea, was running fever, and lost about 10 pounds and was just miserable.

I know some people try to find other alternatives, but at that point I was feeling so bad the best option for me was removal. I didn't even want to chance having another attack like that.

Well yours sounds much different than mine, yet the doctor was going to do the same thing. Throwing up does help mine. I never had diarrhea, and even though throwing up helped mine, I never felt naucious even once during the last year and a half. My attacks last about 4-5 hours and never had a "20 minute attack". My liver enzyme levels along with everything else are in the normal range too.

I read nausea was a key sign of gallstone problems and I never had that. I think you might have made the right decision. Women are much more likely to have gallstone problems than men. Especially young men (30) who don't drink or smoke and have no weight issues like myself.

Thanks for the reply. I'm trying to see what REAL gallstone attacks feel like because most people say mine don't jive yet the doctors want to take it out to be on the safe side. My idea of safe is keeping all your organs unless you have to. Sounds like you had to. :)

Yeah, I'm glad I had mine taken out...recovery wasn't as quick as others, but I'm doing pretty good now.

I am 3 days post op from a lap chole...I have a lot of abdominal swelling and wondered how long that will last....can't wear any of my clothes. I don't feel sick like I was. My bowels have moved ok twice....well, had to take smooth move. I wonder if my blood pressure was up because of all this too...I had to go on higher BP meds a week before surgery. I had no stones but no gallbladder showed up in my HIDA scan.

I just wore gym shorts, things with elastic waists for several days. That's from the fact that they inflated you to do the surgery. It should be pretty much gone in a week or so.

Not sure what your last ine means though...no stones and no gallbladder?

I just wore gym shorts, things with elastic waists for several days. That's from the fact that they inflated you to do the surgery. It should be pretty much gone in a week or so.

Not sure what your last ine means though...no stones and no gallbladder?

I had a HIDA scan since my ultrasound showed no stones. HIDA scan was to show how well the gallbladder worked....mine never showed up in the scan at all.