# Gallbladderless people of the Dope! **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [October 30, 2010, 3:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gallbladderless-people-of-the-dope/558850 "2010-10-30T03:27:52Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![vivalostwages](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/d07c76/32.png) [@vivalostwages](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vivalostwages)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2011, 4:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gallbladderless-people-of-the-dope/558850/61 "2011-08-05T04:13:39Z")
> [@Mama\_Zappa](#): > > Weird. Nobody asked me about being able to pee. Then again, I had to have help getting up to get to the bathroom first time so they knew I was at least trying. I do remember having a hard time peeing after my nasal surgery, many years back, but that was when they were trying to have me go on the bedpan. When they finally helped me to the toilet, no problem. > > vivalostwages: that sounds like they really screwed up in your neighbor’s case :(. Booting you early is all fine and dandy if you’re feeling AT ALL up to it, but not “a few hours”. I’d have MAYBE been ready to go home at 5ish PM (when I came out of surgery at noonish)… then again I bounced back fairly quickly, and I have a pathological, and well-earned, loathing of hospitals. The ride home wouldn’t have been fun though. (in hindsight, I should have gone home, the doc only wanted me to stay because of some monitoring he declared I needed, the monitoring wasn’t DONE, and they screwed up ALL my medication orders. The recovering patient bled through her bandages today. Probably from puking. I recall no blood loss at home at all. Sheesh! ---
**Author:** ![Mama\_Zappa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/71e660/32.png) [@Mama\_Zappa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mama_Zappa)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2011, 1:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gallbladderless-people-of-the-dope/558850/62 "2011-08-05T13:12:48Z")
> [@vivalostwages](#): > > The recovering patient bled through her bandages today. Probably from puking. > I recall no blood loss at home at all. Sheesh! :(. Have they called the doctor yet??? There should be orders for something for the nausea - and there should be virtually no bleeding this long afterward (i don’t think I even stained the steri-strips they put over the puncture spots). ---
**Author:** ![vivalostwages](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/d07c76/32.png) [@vivalostwages](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vivalostwages)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2011, 6:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gallbladderless-people-of-the-dope/558850/63 "2011-08-05T18:45:03Z")
> [@Mama\_Zappa](#): > > :(. > > Have they called the doctor yet??? There should be orders for something for the nausea - and there should be virtually no bleeding this long afterward (i don’t think I even stained the steri-strips they put over the puncture spots). I doubt they have. They probably think it’s normal, their doc isn’t so great IMO, and their HMO stinks. ---
**Author:** ![abbyrhoades](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/df705f/32.png) [@abbyrhoades](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/abbyrhoades)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2011, 8:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gallbladderless-people-of-the-dope/558850/64 "2011-08-05T20:07:12Z")
I have had problems ever since removal in 2008. It doesn’t matter what or how healthy I eat. I suspect I have what they call “bile acid diarrhea” which some people get as a complication from having it removed (luck of the draw???) . IT SUCKS but gallbladder attacks were worse (one was so bad I thought I was going to poop my pants and die in my driveway - this was shortly after giving birth to my daughter during which her pregnancy I was hospitalized for attacks but they didn’t know what they were at time). Coincidentally I am pregnant again and have chronic constipation - I cant win. The bile acid stuff makes it so I couldn’t eat out with people without having to leave mid meal with excruciating stomach cramps that was/were only “relieved” by 30-45 mins on the toilet. IT SUCKS but my gallbladder was so bad when they removed it they had to"peel" it off my other organs. :eek: You just never know how you will react or adapt till you go through it despite all the advice you get. ---
**Author:** ![jeepus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jeepus/32/3593_2.png) [@jeepus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jeepus)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2011, 5:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gallbladderless-people-of-the-dope/558850/65 "2011-08-06T17:38:25Z")
**Gallows Fodder** , I had the same symptoms. Not every night, but some nights. It felt like I had swallowed a pulsing pincushion or something. Felt like something that throwing up or having a bm would fix, but it never did. I mentioned it to my Physician’s Assistant and she said I should have it checked out immediately. Gall Bladder came to mind for her right away. I was checked, needed it removed, and had surgery two years ago. > [@gallows\_fodder](#): > > Forgive the hijack, but I figured this was a great thread in which to ask this question. > > I suspect I have gallbladder issues and was wondering if these symptoms sound like what any of you experienced that led you to get your gallbladder checked out. > > About 2-3 times a year, I will experience attacks of pain directly beneath my sternum (i.e., if you place your fingers on your breastbone and move downwards, right where you move off the bone and hit soft tissue). The pain is dull but comes in very regular waves, and when the pain is at its peak I would put it at a 7-8 on a 10-pt pain scale. Each wave lasts maybe 3-5 minutes, and are so regular I could graph them (just when I think the pain has subsided completely, it comes back, and just when I think I can’t handle any more of this, it starts fading…repeat cycle for 2-3 hours). These attacks almost always occur in the middle of the night, nothing relieves the pain (not trying to have a BM, not inducing vomiting, not taking any medicine of any kind, nothing), and they seem to have no relation to what I’ve eaten that day. The pain doesn’t radiate or travel to anywhere else. > > It looks like my gallbladder duct is right in the area of the pain, so I’m guessing this is gallbladder related, but when I described the above symptoms to my doctor, she seemed mystified and only said to notify her if they get worse or more frequent, that’s all. > > Does any of this sound familiar to you? ---
**Author:** ![AuntiePam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f19dbf/32.png) [@AuntiePam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AuntiePam)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2011, 5:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gallbladderless-people-of-the-dope/558850/66 "2011-08-06T17:53:42Z")
**Gallows Fodder** , another yes. My gall bladder was so swollen you could feel it, but neither the PA nor the doctor picked up that it was the gall bladder. The thing felt to me like it was big as a tennis ball and I couldn’t figure out why they didn’t recognize it. First diagnosis, constipation, second diagnosis, possible bowel cancer. When it was finally removed, the surgeon said it was the biggest he’d ever seen. ---
**Author:** ![vivalostwages](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/d07c76/32.png) [@vivalostwages](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vivalostwages)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2011, 11:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gallbladderless-people-of-the-dope/558850/67 "2011-08-06T23:37:17Z")
> [@AuntiePam](#): > > **Gallows Fodder** , another yes. > > My gall bladder was so swollen you could feel it, but neither the PA nor the doctor picked up that it was the gall bladder. The thing felt to me like it was big as a tennis ball and I couldn’t figure out why they didn’t recognize it. First diagnosis, constipation, second diagnosis, possible bowel cancer. > > When it was finally removed, the surgeon said it was the biggest he’d ever seen. :eek: They made those diagnoses before ordering an ultrasound? ---
**Author:** ![AuntiePam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f19dbf/32.png) [@AuntiePam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AuntiePam)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2011, 11:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gallbladderless-people-of-the-dope/558850/68 "2011-08-06T23:46:51Z")
> [@vivalostwages](#): > > :eek: They made those diagnoses before ordering an ultrasound? Yep. I think it was because I didn’t have insurance. “We could do a CT scan, but those are expensive.” That was early on. The bowel cancer was only a possible diagnosis, after a month of being sick as a dog and losing weight I couldn’t afford to lose. “Hmmm. There’s blood in your poop. With your other symptoms, bowel cancer is a possibility. I’ll schedule a CT scan.” So the CT scan confirms the cholecystitis, and even though they knew I didn’t have insurance, they scheduled a colonoscopy for the day before the cholecystectomy, “just to make sure.” I suppose I should be grateful – there might have been bowel cancer along with the inflamed gall bladder – but dang. The bill was over $16K. ---
**Author:** ![vivalostwages](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/d07c76/32.png) [@vivalostwages](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vivalostwages)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2011, 4:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gallbladderless-people-of-the-dope/558850/69 "2011-08-07T04:20:59Z")
> [@AuntiePam](#): > > Yep. I think it was because I didn’t have insurance. “We could do a CT scan, but those are expensive.” That was early on. > > The bowel cancer was only a possible diagnosis, after a month of being sick as a dog and losing weight I couldn’t afford to lose. “Hmmm. There’s blood in your poop. With your other symptoms, bowel cancer is a possibility. I’ll schedule a CT scan.” > > So the CT scan confirms the cholecystitis, and even though they knew I didn’t have insurance, they scheduled a colonoscopy for the day before the cholecystectomy, “just to make sure.” I suppose I should be grateful – there might have been bowel cancer along with the inflamed gall bladder – but dang. The bill was over $16K. I recall that my surgery was also around $16K, and I have insurance. It paid for some, but my copay was a big chunk. ---
**Author:** ![FrancisCastle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/b4bc9f/32.png) [@FrancisCastle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FrancisCastle)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2011, 3:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gallbladderless-people-of-the-dope/558850/70 "2011-08-31T03:38:59Z")
I was going to start a new thread, but this one is (mostly) on topic and not that old… I’m 20 weeks pregnant and losing weight like crazy. I had an ultrasound this morning and they discovered I’ll need to have my gallbladder removed. They would rather wait until after the baby comes because of possible complications from the anesthesia. Other than feeling sick after I try to eat anything, I haven’t had any other symptoms or attacks. Now I’m nervous that I’ll have an attack and I hear they are pretty painful. The doc recommended a low fat diet to prevent it from getting any worse. It’s still a scary thing to know I’ll have to try to wait it out for another 20 weeks! ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Strangelove](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr.strangelove/32/6613_2.png) [@Dr.Strangelove](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Strangelove)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2011, 4:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gallbladderless-people-of-the-dope/558850/71 "2011-08-31T04:04:28Z")
> [@FrancisCastle](#): > > I was going to start a new thread, but this one is (mostly) on topic and not that old… > > I’m 20 weeks pregnant and losing weight like crazy. I had an ultrasound this morning and they discovered I’ll need to have my gallbladder removed. They would rather wait until after the baby comes because of possible complications from the anesthesia. Other than feeling sick after I try to eat anything, I haven’t had any other symptoms or attacks. Now I’m nervous that I’ll have an attack and I hear they are pretty painful. The doc recommended a low fat diet to prevent it from getting any worse. It’s still a scary thing to know I’ll have to try to wait it out for another 20 weeks! Attacks can be pretty painful, but I’d expect that a low-fat diet would help greatly. Like some others here, I thought my early attacks were just severe indigestion–annoying but not debilitating. Only the last attack was severe enough for me to go to the ER (and that was after eating the better part of a part of a pack of bacon…). Probably wouldn’t have happened had I skipped the fatty meals. So I wouldn’t worry too much, especially if you haven’t had any severe attacks so far. And hopefully you’ll be one of the lucky ones that can return to a normal diet soon afterward (I was back to normal within 6 mos). ---
**Author:** ![a35362](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3da27b/32.png) [@a35362](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/a35362)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2011, 7:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gallbladderless-people-of-the-dope/558850/72 "2011-08-31T19:20:29Z")
I had mine out in 1992 – no problems since. Nobody ever told me about “eat this” or “don’t eat that”. ---
**Author:** ![Becky2844](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/91b2a8/32.png) [@Becky2844](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Becky2844)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2011, 7:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gallbladderless-people-of-the-dope/558850/73 "2011-08-31T19:59:20Z")
Having your gallbladder taken out is nothing, not even a fart in the wind. (Except that it stops unimaginable pain, for sure.) I never changed my diet or have ever even given it a thought. Then again, I’ve had so many things removed from my cavity we’re now using it for storage. Get well soon & enjoy. ---
**Author:** ![AuntiePam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f19dbf/32.png) [@AuntiePam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AuntiePam)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2011, 8:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gallbladderless-people-of-the-dope/558850/74 "2011-08-31T20:42:25Z")
> [@FrancisCastle](#): > > I was going to start a new thread, but this one is (mostly) on topic and not that old… > > I’m 20 weeks pregnant and losing weight like crazy. I had an ultrasound this morning and they discovered I’ll need to have my gallbladder removed. They would rather wait until after the baby comes because of possible complications from the anesthesia. Other than feeling sick after I try to eat anything, I haven’t had any other symptoms or attacks. Now I’m nervous that I’ll have an attack and I hear they are pretty painful. The doc recommended a low fat diet to prevent it from getting any worse. It’s still a scary thing to know I’ll have to try to wait it out for another 20 weeks! You have my sympathy! Fingers crossed you don’t have any attacks. Hopefully you’ll find that an attack (if you have one) is more annoying than painful. Mine started out as heartburn symptoms, and heartburn remedies helped. I’d be uncomfortable for awhile but that’s it. It was months (maybe years) before it got so bad that the GB had to come out. Maybe ask the doc about what’s safe to take if you do have an attack. Tums, Prilosec, Zantec, whatever. What did the doc say about anti-nausea remedies so that you can eat without getting sick? ---
**Author:** ![FrancisCastle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/b4bc9f/32.png) [@FrancisCastle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FrancisCastle)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2011, 5:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gallbladderless-people-of-the-dope/558850/75 "2011-09-02T17:07:15Z")
Just many small meals, try to stay away from fats. I meet with the surgeon next week so he can tell me how bad it is. Maybe he will have some ideas about my nausea. ---
**Author:** ![Caricci](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/85f322/32.png) [@Caricci](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Caricci)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2011, 5:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gallbladderless-people-of-the-dope/558850/76 "2011-09-02T17:18:51Z")
I had mine removed 12 years ago and am one of a smallish percentage who never recover. It was so diseased that the doctor bailed on the laporoscopy right in the middle and gave me a big 16 inch cut. I thank God for my sister and stepmother since I had a 3 mos. old at the time and I was not expecting five days in the hospital. Since then I rarely have a solid experience in the bathroom if you know what I mean and frequently have urgent, sudden and explosive episodes. I will never have normal digestion but I can sort of plan what, when and how much to eat if I don’t want to have to have a sudden and painful urge to crap right in the middle of something. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2011, 5:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gallbladderless-people-of-the-dope/558850/77 "2011-09-02T17:23:46Z")
> [@FrancisCastle](#): > > Just many small meals, try to stay away from fats. I meet with the surgeon next week so he can tell me how bad it is. Maybe he will have some ideas about my nausea. For what it’s worth, watching what I ate stopped my attacks completely. As long as I didn’t eat any fat, I was fine. ---
**Author:** ![Gedd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gedd/32/4938_2.png) [@Gedd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gedd)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2011, 7:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gallbladderless-people-of-the-dope/558850/78 "2011-09-02T19:34:09Z")
Just found out my wife has to get hers out. She meets with the doc on Thursday to schedule it. Matching several people here she is on a diet right now and has lost about 15 pounds. Another common factor I’m seeing is that we have a 2 month old at home. How many women here had gall bladder issues while pregnant or shortly after? ---
**Author:** ![Mama\_Zappa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/71e660/32.png) [@Mama\_Zappa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mama_Zappa)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2011, 7:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gallbladderless-people-of-the-dope/558850/79 "2011-09-02T19:52:06Z")
> [@Gedd](#): > > Just found out my wife has to get hers out. She meets with the doc on Thursday to schedule it. Matching several people here she is on a diet right now and has lost about 15 pounds. > > Another common factor I’m seeing is that we have a 2 month old at home. How many women here had gall bladder issues while pregnant or shortly after? Not me, but a friend had an emergency procedure a few months after her first child was born. “Fertile” is one of the 5 Fs (fat, fortyplus, female, fertile, fair). Fertile meaning “has had at least one child”. I guess for some folks it hits faster (like your wife), others it takes a while (me). ---
**Author:** ![FrancisCastle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/b4bc9f/32.png) [@FrancisCastle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FrancisCastle)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2011, 8:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gallbladderless-people-of-the-dope/558850/80 "2011-09-02T20:00:47Z")
My doc said pregnancy hormones have something to do with it, and the fact that I’m overweight. So I guess I meet 3 of the 5 qualifiers! **Little Nemo** , I’m glad to hear the diet helped. That makes me feel better! [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gallbladderless-people-of-the-dope/558850.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gallbladderless-people-of-the-dope/558850.md?page=5)