Hi everyone! I'm new to this board. I have read quite a bit about people on here having problems similar to mine. So let me share my story. Maybe some of you all can give me some insight.
I am a healthy 28 y/o female. I am not overweight, I eat a healthy diet. I have been having this RUQ abdominal pain for about a month now. It is right below my ribs on the right side and somewhat tender to the touch. It hurts worse after eating. Sometimes immediately, sometimes it takes about an hour. Greasy foods seem to hurt it worse. My first thought was that it could be gallstones. (I am an operating room nurse, by the way). The pain was dull at first with a feeling of fullness in that area. I gave it a week or so to see if it would go away on its own. It didn't go away, it only got worse. The pain/nausea became much worse and my right shoulder blade started hurting very badly as well.
I thought it for sure had to be my gallbladder, so I called my favorite general surgeon and told him how I was feeling. He told me to go the the ER in the morning and he would take my gallbladder out that day. Well, I went to the ER and had an ultrasound. No stones. I had blood work done. It was all normal. So he ordered a HIDA Scan. It was normal too. Next I had an EGD done, which showed mild gastritis. So they gave me some prescriptions for Nexium and Levsin and sent me on my way. I have had gastritis before, and it felt different than this (LUQ pain for starters).
Anyways, I was hopeful that the Nexium would do the trick. But it has not helped one bit. So I had a CT done last week. Guess what? Everything is NORMAL! But I don't feel normal! The surgeon has told me that he thinks it could still be my gallbladder even though the tests have all been normal. He thinks that based on the location of my pain and my other symptoms he thinks it is my gallbladder. He told me he will take it out, but it is up to me. I am not sure what to do. I don't want to take it out unnecessarily, but I also don't want to be in pain like this for years like some of the people on here I have read about. So I have to decide if it is worth the risk. The pain is interfering with my ability to work.
Does anyone have any advice or insight on this? I don't know what to do.
I have had the same for 2 years. Every test normal. I had my gallbladder out a year ago. It did not help. I was told I have IBS ( rubbish) but nothing shows up on anything. I was the same on one endoscopy I was told mild gastritis. I was put on Nexium that did not cure the problem either. I don't know what to tell you but having my gallbladder removed was no big deal. If there is a chance it will help I would have it taken out.
I hope you feel better.
Sisty
The Following User Says Thank You to Sisty For This Useful Post: pro211 (11-27-2011)
I have almost constant nausea. There are times I get a break and feel like eating but then I get sick again. I have occasional dull RUQ pain and pain along my ribcage near my sternum. I also belch a lot. I do not have any abdominal tenderness.
I have had ultrasound, HIDA scan, EGD and colonoscopy. The US showed what appears to be fatty liver. My liver enzymes (ALT, AST, alkaline phos.) were slightly elevated. The HIDA scan was normal except I had a very high ejection fraction. It was over 90% but neither my primary care Dr nor my surgeon were concerned.
I also have a hiatal hernia. However I was diagnosed with that in 1993.
I am perimenopausal and both Drs think the nausea is related to that and my IBS and GERD. I take. Pepcid AC for my GERD as PPIs do not agree with me. I'm also taking Bentyl for my IBS.
I am not convinced this is all hormonal. I see my primary care Dr next week and I'm going to talk more to her about it.
I am terrified to have my gallbladder out especially after reading on here about everyone's problems afterward. I feel I would most likely have more pain, nausea and horrible digestion. I'm totally "freaked out" by the incidence and possibility of sphincter of oddi dysfunction too. I definitely DO NOT want that.
So what do I do? Live the rest of my life nauseous with no appetite and a good deal of fatigue too OR take my chances and have my gallbladder out?
I'm also very depressed over all of this too. I want to feel well again.
Chantal
Edited to add: my stool is soft too and fried, greasy or spicy food makes everything worse.
Last edited by Chantal231; 03-16-2009 at 09:50 AM.
Thank you all for your replies. I forgot to mention I did have fatty stools when this first started, but not so much lately. I'm pretty sure I'm going to go ahead and have my gallbladder removed. And, yes, I agree, it is a process of elimination. I am hopeful that it will give me some relief. If it does not...at least I won't have to wonder if it was my gallbladder. And of course, I will let you all know how it goes.
I was also diagnosed with IBS about 2 years ago. I have not had any problems with that for some time. And the problems I am having now are nothing like my previous IBS flare ups. So I do not think that's what this is. I find it kind of strange how common this is, actually. I hope we can get some answers soon!
I had my gallbladder and appendix removed yesterday. I am in quite a bit of pain from the surgery, so I can't tell if the original pain is still there or not. The doc said there was sludge in my GB. And my appendix looked fine, but with abdominal pain of unsure origin, it wasn't a bad idea to take it out (I had asked him to remove it). So, hopefully I will know soon whether or not this has "fixed" me.
How did the surgery go? What did you feel like when you woke up? Were you nauseous? Was it a same day procedure? What kind of diet did your Dr. prescribe for you and for how long?
Sorry about all of the questions but since I may be facing this I want all the information I can get.
Thanks in advance.
I wish you a speedy recovery and complete healing.
Yes, it was fast. Working in the OR has its perks. I am happy to have gotten it overwith. I am still in a lot of pain. When I first woke up from the surgery I was not nauseous, but I was in a lot of pain. They gave me a lot of anti-nausea meds before and during the surgery so nausea wasn't a problem. I haven't had much nausea today. Still just a lot of pain from the surgery. My abdominal muscles are very sore. And I have been having a lot of chest/sternum/shoulder pain, most likely from the residual carbon dioxide. It was a same day procedure. I am on a low-fat diet. The doc didn't give me a specific time frame for the diet. I don't really have an appetite now. But with the small amounts of food I have eaten today, it has been painful. I will probably always have to stay on a relatively low fat diet, which is not a problem for me. It's healthier anyways, so why not? I have been taking digestive enzymes with my meals since all of my pain started and I will probably continue to take them now that I don't have a gallbladder. They seem to help with the pain immediately after eating. Please let me know if you have any other questions. I don't mind answering them. And I will let you know how my healing progresses.
Update: my daughter had her gallbladder removed although all of the tests were relatively normal. What they found when they went in was that her gallbladder had grown into her liver and that there was inflammation surrounding the gallbladder. The first surgeon did not want to do the surgery but I requested a second opinion and then pushed for the removal of the gallbladder knowing that we had a 20% chance of the surgery not resolving her pain. However, her abdominal pain is gone and she only has the surgical pain now. I am so glad that we pushed for the surgery.
I will be following this thread closely. I too have been having upper abdominal Liver/GB area pain for about 5 months now. All my tests (Endoscopy, Colonoscopy, HIDA Scan, etc. have come back normal) My HIDA Scan ejection was 50%. I do not have any loss of appetite. I do burp a lot, and feel pain, including spasms in this area daily.
An abdominal ultrasound found that I have a mild fatty liver. So, my post seems most similar to Chantal's thus far.
Jylget, it seems interesting that the gallbladder did have problems even though the HIDA scan didn't come up with anything.
Hequet, I envy your celebrity status (I'm joking, but what I mean is that alot of us struggle to get tests and procedures done, or have to wait long times, while ballplayers can get things done ASAP.). Your status in the ER had your back this time. Your lucky.
I thought that after the HIDA Scan test, I would've been able to put the GB threat behind me, but I guess not. I am 24, male, 5'10, 150 lbs.
Please let us know how you end up doing. We've read too many horror stories, but we still have room for hope.
I'm glad that things are going well for our surgical patients.
How is everyone feeling today?
I have been burping and have some back pain, not unbearable but I know it's there. I'm also tired even though I slept well.
Trymester, do you have nausea? Mine comes and goes. How about fatigue? I have a lot of that too.
I hope the healing process is going well for those who have had surgery. Anyone concerned about post cholecystectomy syndrome or sphincter of oddi dysfunction?
Chantal
Last edited by Chantal231; 03-21-2009 at 11:58 AM.
I had a "moment" yesterday where I realized I was finally starting to feel better. I'm still in a lot of surgical pain. But I am able to stand up straight now, which I hadn't been able to do since the surgery. The first few nights I could only sleep on my right side or I was in horrible pain. I am now able to sleep on my left side. (I am a side sleeper) So, things are looking up for me. I can go a full 4 hours without counting down the minutes until time to take my next dose of pain medicine. I have been taking food enzyme pills with all of my meals and haven't had any problems eating so far. I've been able to eat small low fat meals without any additional pain. I still have a little bit of the chest/sternum/shoulder pain from the residual CO2. But it is nothing like it was at the beginning. So things are definitely looking up!
I am worried that I could get SOD or post cholecystectomy syndrome, but I am hopeful that I will not. I hope that I will be able to control any possible problems with diet. Worrying about it won't do any good. So I will just wait and see how it goes and hope for the best!
I have been feeling worse the past couple of days. I have a lot of pain/nausea, but it's a different kind of pain than I felt before or immediately after the surgery. It's more of an all over internal pain. I hope it just means my insides are healing. I am trying to not take any pain medicine today. Because I had been taking it every day for almost a week now. And I want to make sure it's not the pain medicine that was making me feel worse. So I'm miserable and just dealing with it. I'm not constipated. I've been sure to take care of that, as I knew pain pills would cause it.
Let me answer your questions. What kinds of foods have I been able to eat? I have had a glass of Kefir every morning. It is a probiotic yogurt smoothie drink. It's something I drank daily before all of this started and I feel that it keeps my IBS under control. I've also heard good things about taking probiotics after gallbladder removal. I eat a lot of fresh fruit and vegetables, oatmeal, whole grain pasta, rice, organic apple juice, and Slimfast shakes with soymilk. None of those things have bothered me.
What enzymes do I take?
Nature's Sunshine Proactazyme Plus.
They are expensive, but worth it in my opinion. I buy enough from them, so I am able to pay the member cost, so it's not quite as bad. I take 1-2 with every and I can definitely tell if I forget to take it.
Yes, I had a HIDA scan done. They never told me what my EF was, just that it was normal. All of my tests were normal, but all of my symptoms were pointing towards gallbladder. My doctor was pretty confident that it was my gallbladder, so I took the chance and had it removed. I'm hoping I made the right choice.
So, my positive attitude has taken a bit of a hiatus. I can't stand up straight anymore because of the pain. I am supposed to check in with my job today and let them know if I feel up to coming back to work yet. Ha, that is a joke. I'm most likely going to be taking the rest of this week off. The doc had originally said to take about a week off work. So, I'm sure they are going to be disappointed to hear that they will have to do without me for a few more days. But I need to worry about me, and make sure I am healing. They will understand that. But I hate to let them down. I'm wondering if there is anything I can do to facilitate my healing. I know walking and moving around will help.
I hope everyone else is doing okay. At this point, I don't know if I would recommend that anyone run out and have the surgery like I did. I'm definitely more miserable now that I was before the surgery. But I'm hoping it is still just the pains of healing. I can't afford to take too much more time off of work so I hope it gets better soon.
Last edited by moderator2; 03-24-2009 at 01:48 PM.
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I have always been told that the laproscopic GB surgery is a short recovery. So much for that!!
I'm doing OK. I ate Chinese last night and didn't get sick. That's the weird thing; sometimes I can't eat anything as I get so nauseous and other times I'm fine.
You are in my thoughts and prayers.
Chantal
Last edited by Chantal231; 03-25-2009 at 11:36 AM.
I was/am the same way with one food causing problems one time I eat it and being fine the next time I eat it.
I was feeling pretty bad all morning and early afternoon. I started feeling better and went for a little walk around the block. It hurt at first, but I felt pretty good by the end. I need to build up some stamina to be able to return to work next week. My job is extremely physical. I plan to go for walks every day until then.
I am feeling pretty good right now. And I am starting to feel pretty confident that my original pain from before the surgery is no longer there!!!
Hi Heqet, hope you're feeling better still. You had responded to my post (Pain from gallstones or not) and I was getting braver about my possible surgery reading some of your responses there but then reading the thread here I began to get a bit worried. But it sounds a bit more encouraging now. I still don't really know what my problem is...I'll post more on my thread.
And I will let you know how my healing progresses.
