My doctor is telling me that unless I have my gall bladder out (she says it is a repository for infection), I will never completely get rid of the salmonella that has infected my system (I’m on Cipro and I don’t even know how long I would have to be on it instead). My gall bladder is healthy and no surgeon will touch it unless I throw a fit.
I’ve checked websites - even the CDC’s - and nothing seems to answer any questions. This makes no sense to me. Can this be true? (it sounds too weird to me)
Your doctor is advising you to remove your healthy gall bladder? Or is she telling you that salmonella will always be with you because the gall bladder is the only place the meds won’t get rid of it?
Never heard of such a thing. But I’m not a doctor.
Welcome to the SDMB, by the way.
Peace,
mangeorge
Do you have Salmonella Typhi? (Typhoid fever). The gall bladder is known to be a reservoir for the bacteria, and some people cannot be cleared of it unless the GB is removed.
I would think a competent surgeon would be willing to remove it laparoscopically if there is documentation of recurrent GI infection with Salmonella.
Thanks for the reply and warm welcome. My doctor is only strongly advising the removal of my gall bladder and won’t exactly say that antibiotics can’t reach there. That’s what is so confusing. I may just have to see an endocrinologist (my doctor is a rheumatologist - this whole thing started with sore joints) to get another opinion. Won’t that be a treat?
Well, ok lots more information and a website. Thanks folks. Yes, One of the strains (I have more than one) is salmonella typhi. So, it can reside in the gall bladder? Hmmm … oh well, I’ll wait it out for two more months on Cipro before I go under the laproscope.
Any antibiotic has a great deal of difficulty in reaching spaces where blood doesn’t flow. The GB is essentially a big bag for holding bile (or stones). The blood reaches the lining of the inner GB, but then has to diffuse into the big space, and it doesn’t go far. There is no mechanism to concentrate antibiotics in the gall bladder. Same thing happens in abscesses, which is why most have to be drained surgically. The Antibiotic doesn’t penetrate the infection.
And it’s a mistake to discuss antibiotic strength, at least for most laymen. Say instead it’s spectrum. Cipro is useful because it kills so many types of antibiotics. No antibiotic kills all types of bacteria. Even now tho, with wide use of cipro, resistance is increasing.
