Gallbladder Removal Problems?? Did you have any?

Hey Guys. I have been hearing that usually WLS patients have the most issues after their gallbladder has been removed. Is this true? What has been your experience with this?

I had mine removed with my WLS, so don't really know. But I have always wondered if some of my food intolerance issues were/are from the gall bladder removal, not the WLS. -Wanda

I had mine removed when I had GB, and I haven't noticed any difference.  I've been able to eat whatever I want (in moderation) Annette

I guess I will be seeing soon, as my gallbladder was removed this past Tuesday.  I will certainly post and let ya know. My daughter had her gallbladder removed when she was 8 because the ducts was so tiny that they wouldn't allow the bile to flow properly.  She gets an upset stomach from time to time if she eats anything really spicey or really fattening. Missy

I've not had a moment's trouble without mine. Indeed, I didn't realize how much the durned thing had been bothering me until it was gone.

Your doctor won't tell you this, but about 10 - 30% of people that have their gallbladder removed develop Bile Salt Diarrhea.  Diarrhea after gallbladder surgery (cholecystectomy) is common. The function of the gallbladder is to store bile, which contains digestive salts made by the liver. During meals, the gallbladder releases the stored bile salts into the intestine to help with digestion. After food is digested and absorbed in the intestine, the bile salts are also reabsorbed and recycled. Following a cholecystectomy, the liver must make more bile salts, and more are released between meals because there is no place to store them. The increased amount of bile salts can sometimes overwhelm the intestines' capacity to absorb them. In turn, the unabsorbed bile salts can prompt the colon to secrete fluids, leading to diarrhea. This scenario is benign, and it does not get worse, but in my experience it does not get any better either.

Those of us who are post-op RNY patients should probably rejoice after a cholecystectomy, because most of us are now constipated beyond belief!  I had my GB out 3 1/2 years before my RNY surgery; I must have been one of the 70-90% of those unaffected, because after a week or recovery, I was fine. Bile can be very irritating where ever it appears where it doesn't belong.  Wouldn't bile acid sequestrants such as cholestyramine (Questran) and colestipol (Colestid) help with this condition?  These are long, negatively charged polymeric plastic resins, ground to a sand-like powder and mixed with liquid, that bind bile salts in the intestine, causing them to be eliminated in the feces.  If bile salt diarrhea is due to the presence of free, unreabsorbed bile salts in the colon, anything that would lower them should help. Granted, these resin powders make Metamucil look good: swallowing a glass of juice with either of these mixed in is like drinking sand, and they usually cause constipation on their own. /Steve

Colestid now comes in a pill so there is no more drinking sand. 

I had the lap-band on the 6th and my gall bladder taken out as well.  I haven't noticed any issues at all, and so far, everything seems normal. steph

4 months after WLS I was back in having my gallbladder removed. Wish they would have taken it when they did my WLS!