Gallbladder Issue/High Fever

05-31-2018, 02:02 PM

Hey everyone, this is my first post here. I'm having potential gallbladder issues. Just a quick history, I had Ulcerative Colitis for 16 years, I've had my colon removed and now have a J Pouch. Here is what's been happening...I've had 3 "attacks", one last September, one about two months ago and the third about two weeks after that. I went to the hospital for the first attack and nothing was found at that time. I didn't make it to the hospital for the last two attacks. Each attack has been exactly the same in symptoms, length and order that the symptoms hit me. This is what happens... I start by getting a pain below my sternum along with horrible nausea. The pain feels like someone is standing on my abdomen, it's more of a pressure pain than a sharp pain and does not come and go, it's constant. The pain will last for about 6-8 hours then both the pain and nausea will fade away. After it goes away, I feel very weak, a little sore in the abdomen, a little light headed but ok. I'm able to eat a little. As the next few hours start to pass I start feeling bad and I end up developing a high fever, usually between 101-103. The fever lasts for about 6-8 hours with chills / sweats and eventually breaks. I'm run down the next day but by day 4 I'm fine again. Now my surgeon who removed my colon recently had blood, a CT scan and a HIDA scan done. The blood was fine, CT showed nothing but the HIDA scan showed that my gallbladder was functioning at 3% and no stones were seen. My surgeon has mentioned removing my gallbladder but he's a bit stumped on the high fever. He wants me to go back to my GI and pick his brain to see why I develop a high fever during all the attacks after the pain subsides. The attacks have all happened several hours after eating and there seems to be no rhyme or reason as to what causes them to come on. Have any of you experienced any type of gallbladder "attack" that has resulted in a high fever? I noticed that pancreatitis does have fever as a side effect so wondering if there is something going on there. The attacks are extremely uncomfortable and I don't know what triggers them. I'm scheduled to see my GI on June 11th to hopefully get some answers. Thanks for any insight you can offer.

05-31-2018, 03:02 PM

3% function and he doesn't think that's the cause? So he's sure there is no infected gb? Find a surgeon and have it out before it ruptures. This is insane.

05-31-2018, 03:50 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Titchou

3% function and he doesn't think that's the cause? So he's sure there is no infected gb? Find a surgeon and have it out before it ruptures. This is insane.

The surgeon is the one who sent me for the tests and the same who removed my colon and J Pouch surgery. He agrees that the attacks are gallbladder related but the fever stumps him as he said it's not normal to have the high fever. If there was an infection I'm sure there would be continued symptoms. Outside of the 3 attacks I've been completely symptom free with no issues at all and blood tests have been perfect. Nothing was found either when I took myself to the ER during the first attack. He just wants me to follow up with my GI, maybe do an endoscopy then make a joint decision

05-31-2018, 06:12 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by konablue561

Hey everyone, this is my first post here. I'm having potential gallbladder issues. Just a quick history, I had Ulcerative Colitis for 16 years, I've had my colon removed and now have a J Pouch. Here is what's been happening...I've had 3 "attacks", one last September, one about two months ago and the third about two weeks after that. I went to the hospital for the first attack and nothing was found at that time. I didn't make it to the hospital for the last two attacks. Each attack has been exactly the same in symptoms, length and order that the symptoms hit me. This is what happens... I start by getting a pain below my sternum along with horrible nausea. The pain feels like someone is standing on my abdomen, it's more of a pressure pain than a sharp pain and does not come and go, it's constant. The pain will last for about 6-8 hours then both the pain and nausea will fade away. After it goes away, I feel very weak, a little sore in the abdomen, a little light headed but ok. I'm able to eat a little. As the next few hours start to pass I start feeling bad and I end up developing a high fever, usually between 101-103. The fever lasts for about 6-8 hours with chills / sweats and eventually breaks. I'm run down the next day but by day 4 I'm fine again. Now my surgeon who removed my colon recently had blood, a CT scan and a HIDA scan done. The blood was fine, CT showed nothing but the HIDA scan showed that my gallbladder was functioning at 3% and no stones were seen. My surgeon has mentioned removing my gallbladder but he's a bit stumped on the high fever. He wants me to go back to my GI and pick his brain to see why I develop a high fever during all the attacks after the pain subsides. The attacks have all happened several hours after eating and there seems to be no rhyme or reason as to what causes them to come on. Have any of you experienced any type of gallbladder "attack" that has resulted in a high fever? I noticed that pancreatitis does have fever as a side effect so wondering if there is something going on there. The attacks are extremely uncomfortable and I don't know what triggers them. I'm scheduled to see my GI on June 11th to hopefully get some answers. Thanks for any insight you can offer.

To keep this short, my first major attack was in early April. I recovered just like you ,after 6 to 8 hours with identically the same symptoms, then 12 hours later started running a fever. It ran from 99 all the way up to 101.5 in2 days.It then subsided for three weeks and then came back with a vengeance up to 102 however, no other symptoms, like another attack. They went in and did a ultrasound the first time, and looked ok....three weeks later another and found the gallbladder severely infected. They took it out the next day, 5/1. Fever subsided within two days of antibiotics, and has not come back since. I run a consistent 97.9 .

05-31-2018, 06:22 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Glen e

To keep this short, my first major attack was in early April. I recovered just like you ,after 6 to 8 hours with identically the same symptoms, then 12 hours later started running a fever. It ran from 99 all the way up to 101.5 in2 days.It then subsided for three weeks and then came back with a vengeance up to 102 however, no other symptoms, like another attack. They went in and did a ultrasound the first time, and looked ok....three weeks later another and found the gallbladder severely infected. They took it out the next day, 5/1. Fever subsided within two days of antibiotics, and has not come back since. I run a consistent 97.9 .

The ultrasound was able to detect the infection? Did you have blood work, if so, did that show anything to indicate the infection?

05-31-2018, 07:23 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by konablue561

The ultrasound was able to detect the infection? Did you have blood work, if so, did that show anything to indicate the infection?

Bloodwork both times didn't yield any strange results.
The second ultrasound, and CT scan - CT scan showed sludge and the walls of the gallbladder to be thicker, the 2nd ultrasound was bigger and much darker than the first ultrasound. Then The surgeon the next day ordered a complete MRI of the area. The results showed that it looked malignant, however they knew that was impossible because the scan three weeks earlier did not show that, So it was deemed infection. They were correct , once they got inside, they saw it was infected along with a part of the liver. Pathology done on the entire area and removed gallbladder, showed that it was benign infection.

05-31-2018, 07:26 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Glen e

Bloodwork both times didn't yield any strange results.
The second ultrasound, and CT scan - CT scan showed sludge and the walls of the gallbladder to be thicker, the 2nd ultrasound was bigger and much darker than the first ultrasound. Then The surgeon the next day ordered a complete MRI of the area. The results showed that it looked malignant, however they knew that was impossible because the scan three weeks earlier did not show that, So it was deemed infection. They were correct , once they got inside, they saw it was infected along with a part of the liver. Pathology done on the entire area and removed gallbladder, showed that it was benign infection.

Thanks for your info, my CT scan came back clear, nothing showed up, I’ll ask my GI about an ultrasound and possible MRI and see what he says.

06-12-2018, 08:00 AM

Saw my GI yesterday and he also brought in another GI to go over my "attacks". He does feel it's a bile duct blockage of some sort. He was asking if I had liver enzymes checked at all which I haven't. He also asked if my urine had changed color during the attacks but I never really paid any attention. He feels there's another issue beyond my gallbladder ejection at 3% being the cause of the attacks as they are so far apart. The fever, he explained that he thinks bacteria is being pushed back into my bloodstream during the attacks and that's what my body is trying to fight. I did have salmonella issues many years back which was brought up. If you're a carrier for salmonella, the cells live in your gallbladder. At this point, there is no plan for removal. He gave me a prescription for a few tests that if I have another attack, I'm to bring that script to the ER for those specific tests to be run while I'm symptomatic and go from there.

06-12-2018, 08:54 AM

Konablue, can you get another opinion? Seriously...bile duct blockages are serious..and having your gallbladder out with a 3% rate is the norm.

You may need to find another GI group to consult with, but you are going to need this removed; both the GB and the bile duct. I had both of mine removed a year ago and I am feeling SO much better! No more infection, no more fevers or feeling like I was going to pass out from the pain.

Think about going to a completely new GI group and getting another opinion before your GB ruptures.

06-12-2018, 08:59 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MSNik

Konablue, can you get another opinion? Seriously...bile duct blockages are serious..and having your gallbladder out with a 3% rate is the norm.

You may need to find another GI group to consult with, but you are going to need this removed; both the GB and the bile duct. I had both of mine removed a year ago and I am feeling SO much better! No more infection, no more fevers or feeling like I was going to pass out from the pain.

Think about going to a completely new GI group and getting another opinion before your GB ruptures.

I trust my GI/Surgeon without question. I have been with my GI for 16 years battling Ulcerative Colitis and colon removal and he's never steered me wrong. He's gone above and beyond for me and uses me as a case study constantly. He also brought in another GI partner at the facility and he also agreed as well. There's no telling when another attack will happen but I will be going straight to the ER once I feel the onset of the pain. I don't feel bad in any way except for during the attacks, outside of that I feel absolutely normal with no issues at all.

06-12-2018, 06:28 PM

So all other issues aside, why did he not recommend removal on the 3% alone? I've never heard of that. Does he think there is some infection that will be set loose during surgery? I just don't get it. Know what I know about gallbladders, I would be having it out on that reason alone....no matter what other issues I might have. I know 2 people who died from ruptured gbs and one who almost did. I wouldn't be electing to be in line to be next.

06-12-2018, 06:44 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Titchou

So all other issues aside, why did he not recommend removal on the 3% alone? I've never heard of that. Does he think there is some infection that will be set loose during surgery? I just don't get it. Know what I know about gallbladders, I would be having it out on that reason alone....no matter what other issues I might have. I know 2 people who died from ruptured gbs and one who almost did. I wouldn't be electing to be in line to be next.

There's no telling how long my gallbladder has been functioning at 3% and it's not 100% that the low ejection rate is causing the attacks. If it was, there should be far more attacks. There are no gallstones. It was expected during the HIDA scan that the forced contractions should of duplicated the symptoms and it didn't. It's more than likely Biliary Dyskinesia, and removal doesn't always guarantee symptoms won't return, there are several other treatment methods. They would like to know for sure if it is a bile duct blockage. The doctors would like (as well as me) a definite answer instead of just going in and removing it. I've been through hell and back surgery wise battling UC with 3 major abdominal surgeries and they are taking that into consideration before putting me under the knife again.

Gallbladder Issue/High Fever

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