I've been having gallstone symptoms for about a week now. I had blood work taken and I just had an ultra sound with nothing conclusive showing up. My doctor now wants me to have a Hida scan. Does this really take 2 hours?
Has anyone had any negative reactions to the injectible? Is this the last diagnostic used to determine gallbladder problems?
The ultrasound is to detect any gallstones. The HIDA scan is for function...it will show your ejection rate. That is, at what percentage it is working. Anything below 35% and they recommend havingit out as it is considered disfunctional.
My test took 1 hour total. I could see the clock counting down. They gave me the medicine in two 30 minute intervals. They found that my gallbladder was barely functioning, and now I am scheduled for surgery. I had it done early last week. I did break out in a rash on my hand from something during that test, they just are not sure what yet. Other than that the test was completely painless aside from the IV of course. Because it is a fasting test, my veins went into hiding from lack of food and water so it was quite difficult to find one. Have no fear, the worst part is having to lay still, but I found if you close your eyes and let yourself doze off, it goes by quite quickly. Good luck!
Last edited by etbukatie; 03-24-2008 at 10:18 PM.
Reason: Left out a word.
I had cramping and nausea when they injected the CCK. The nausea was pretty intense but passed as soon as they flushed the IV line. My gallbladder was functioning at 0% - although I've heard of others with low ejection rates that had no side effects.
I'm a giant scardy cat and it was no big deal. They say that no one can be allergic to the radioactive stuff they give you. So that's a good things. It's just boring lying there. I felt sick and they said that my gallbladder was fine. You get such a high dose of that stuff that it can make you feel yucky for about 1-5 minutes. (They give you an injection in your iv that makes your digestive system start) It passes quickly though or at least it did for me. The worse part is the boredom.
Well, I had my HIDA scan and it looks like I will be having my gall bladder out as the test results showed negliable output.
As to the test itself. It took one hour and 45 minutes. Very boring. I couldn't read and the last 15 minutes was painful as they gave me a chemical that makes your gb contract. It did subside, but later that night I had a wicked gb attack.
Well, I had my HIDA scan and it looks like I will be having my gall bladder out as the test results showed negliable output.
As to the test itself. It took one hour and 45 minutes. Very boring. I couldn't read and the last 15 minutes was painful as they gave me a chemical that makes your gb contract. It did subside, but later that night I had a wicked gb attack.
Motrin is helping until the surgery.
Hi, I'm scheduled for a HIDA on the 14th. Just curious, What was the ejection #? Anybody who had gallbladder removed (who didn't have stones) because of the ejection #, did it help your (main) symptoms subside afterwards?
Mine was 0% and I had no stones. I had a rough recovery and I couldn't tell you if it was because of the removal or something in addition. I had more cramping and pain afterwards than I had before. I'm 5 months out now and finally feel pretty normal again. Fatty foods still make me cramp, so I continue to eat low fat. I've never had right sided pain, so finding out it was my gallbladder took a long time and was almost accidental.
Thanks, I haven't had pain either (but many other symptoms that could point this way). Since having it out, have they given you any meds (stuff to help with bile processing) to take or pretty much just watching your diet?
Hi, I'm scheduled for a HIDA on the 14th. Just curious, What was the ejection #? Anybody who had gallbladder removed (who didn't have stones) because of the ejection #, did it help your (main) symptoms subside afterwards?
They did not tell me an ejection #, just that it was negliable.
Oh I did have pain, but it was all lower left side. It was more cramping after eating and a constant gnawing feeling in my very lower/pelvic area. All is fine now, but it was much worse for the months following surgery.
They did not give me any medications or dietary instructions. They should have told me low fat! That's something I learned from experience and reading these boards. That appears to be the norm, they do not tell you the healing process is long and to eat low fat. So knowing that ahead of time might be helpful. I now know I may never be able to eat fatty foods.
So, I had my test this AM. Long story short, not enough dye showed up in the Gallbladder for them to do the CCK part to measure ejection. So, next steps is to wait for my doctor to get the results and talk to him. Not sure what we'll be doing from there.
