I have gone through all kinds of tests; two ultrasounds, a CT Scan, and just this week a HIDA scan... I just got the results of my HIDA scan and they say my gallbladder is functioning normally with an EF of 81%.
So WHY am I having so much pain, indigestion, horrible bloating, gas, awful acid reflux, a feeling of general unwell?
WHY?
My doctor agrees that all my symptoms FIT, they get WORSE at night, I am not sleeping well because of all of this and now I'm being told that nothing's wrong.
I have no idea where to go from here. The nurse says to make an appointment and follow up "because sometimes the tests don't tell the whole story."
Then why am I having all these tests? WHAT'S THE POINT OF ALL OF THIS?
I'm at work right now and I'm sitting here typing this, trying not to cry... I'm a single mother, I work full time and I'm just going to start school again. I can't be in this much pain all the time, I can't be going through all of this. I can't be in the ER every two weeks and going home with painkillers and instructions to follow up with my doctor.
I'm sorry to be so self pitying but I am at the very end of my rope. Please, someone, tell me what I do next?
I was told that between 35 and 75 was considered normal for gallbladder function. Have your tried seeing a specialist or are you seeing your primary physician?
As of right now, I'm seeing a GI doctor that also practices general medicine. I got the HIDA scan results from a nurse at the office, and then I called back and made an appointment to actually SEE the doctor and go over the results.
Forgive me if I sound silly, I feel like I should know the answer to this, but what specialist do I see for gallbladder? Would that be GI or is that a different specialty? I'm considering getting a second opinion anyway, because previous CT scans show mesenteric adenitis, which an ER doctor told me would go away on it's own, but that diagnosis was in february and a CT I had a month ago STILL shows adenitis. Nobody seems concerned with how long that's been hanging around, and I wonder if the gallbladder symptoms I am experiencing are causing the nodes to remain inflamed.
I know I need to talk to a doctor, I'm just thinking out loud. Thank you for your reply :-)
As Vachilly pointed out you can have and ejection fraction (EF) that is too high, outside the normal reference range. Which means that when the gallbladder contracts that too much bile is being pumped into your digestive system, causing lots of problems.
Some GI docs, especially "old school" ones do not think that there is such a thing as an EF being too high--they are wrong. So if your GI doc won't listen, fire him/her and find another.
Treatment for a gallbladder with an elevated EF is the same as treating for low EF. Surgical removal or drugs like Ursodiol/Actigall which can temporarily dissolve stones.
The Following User Says Thank You to Collector167 For This Useful Post: Ldeppect08 (11-29-2012)
I have an appointment with my GI's nurse practitioner on Monday. She has been a lot more understanding and sympathetic than my doctor has been, though he seems to be doing as I ask. I'm planning to go in there with this in mind and see what they say about the EF percentage. I don't know what I'm going to do in the event that they tell me that they're not going to refer me to a surgeon or they simply don't agree. I know I should find a new doctor in that event, but... I'm so tired of all of this that I almost think I should just shut up and deal with it. The only real symptoms that I have all the time are an ache under the right ribs, a spasming and swelling feeling, and gas and bloating that is so painful I can't even sleep sometimes. I also last week became so constipated that I had the worst sciatica of my life, even worse than when i was pregnant, and the constipation seems to be a new normal for me, too. If I don't have diarrhea, I'm constipated and on the very few occasions I do have a normal BM, the color is weird (like orangey kind of) and mucousy/ oily. I have sporadic episodes of nausea, and lots of pain in the back and shoulderblades regardless of acute pain or just the "normal" ache.
My instinct is telling me that this finding of 81-82% is the culprit, but part of me is so tired of being told that everything is normal that I wonder if all of this is the new normal? If it is, I'm not going to be able to handle that. I'm tired of going to the doctor and crying because I'm so frustrated, and having them treat me like I'm overreacting or "conjuring these things in my head." Even my mother said "When you have pain, just stop thinking about it until it goes away because you can make things happen simply by thinking of them." and I am just done, done, done with being treated like I'm a hysterical woman patient or a drug seeker.
Your symptoms sound just like me ! I thought I was having a muscle spazm or something and even to touch the outside of my rib was tender . I finally went in to walkin they sent me straight to untra sound and there they saw the stones , had surgery last Thursday and I am thinking I felt better with the crappy gallbladder . Everyone says give it time but I am misserable right now ... But they also said my gallbladder was very infected with the 6stones so good they took it .... I guess
Re: Okay, now I'm ******.... 
