What were the symptoms you experienced before having yours removed?

Haven't had mine removed but I teach gallbladder to med students. Typically - nausea after eating a fatty meal. Almost all symptoms occur after eating because that's when the gallbladder is doing it's work. Upper right quadrant pain which may wax and wane. You can do a manuever (called assessing the murphy's sign) on yourself when you think you might be symptomatic (palpate along the upper border of your liver (right side just under your rib cage).....take a deep breath in and push under your ribs.....if it hurts...you have a positive murphy's sign. You can be symptomatic for months.....before you have an acute episode. You can also develop an infection and develop fever/chills etc. in addition to the pain. If you're having chronic low level symptoms......be assessed and have an ultrasound. Don't wait until you're acute and need to go to the ER. Hope this helped. Susan

I had a gallbladder attack once, I thought I was dying.  The pain went right to left under my rib cage.  The only thing that help was a Popsicle.  My son was 8 years old and I thought he was going to come in my room and find me dead.  I had an upper GI (35 years ago) and they could my GB spasming, so Doctor said we where very lucky to have that happen, it was a positive diagnosis.  He gave me medicine, (had no health ins.) helped a great deal and I had the GB out 7 years ago with my rny.

I never had such a severe attack again, but I was very lucky.
Pat

I had mine taken out 15 years ago.  When I had attacks,  it felt like I was having a  really bad acid integestion or a  heart attack.

I had back ache and my side hurt and everything I ate made me sick felt like someone hit me right between my breast and it burned at times...Im almost 3 years out...get it checked it is one of the side effects for us with rapid wt loss...oh surgery is nothing

I felt very much like someone had soccer-kicked me right under my ribcage. It had me short of breath, sometimes to the point that I was rolling around on the floor. I had many of these. I typically got them right after eating fatty foods but had chalked it up to bad cramps. It was diagnosed by the first doctor I saw as heartburn and I was dismissed and told to take some tums. Needless to say I saw a second doctor who immediatley recognized the problem.

Hi Cinn, I had some troubles w/ nausea and occasional vomit ting for 9 months. No one in the medical field that I saw could figure out what was going on.  My severe problems started 3 weeks after my by-pass. All the things people have said above. Also my abdomen was always distended and sore. even though I was down over 40 pounds it hurt something fierce to wear underclothes. Thank God my surgeon knew what it was right away. He removed it shortly after that. I woke up from surgery w/ less pain than I had been having up to that point. He wanted to keep me a few days post-op, but I convinced him I was fine and went home.   Mag  

The only symptom I ever had was horrible pain in my back between my shoulders. I actually went a couple of weeks having attacks before I went to the ER because I thought it was just muscle strain from holding my (then newborn) daughter all the time. Finally it got so bad that no matter what I did, what position I was in I could not get any relief from the pain. So DH took me to the ER and I ended up having emergency surgery on Halloween 2008.

My surgeon (same surgeon *****cently did my WLS) said that my gallbladder was very very sick and as soon as he cut me open the smell of a diseased gallbladder permeated the OR (gross I know). He ended up keeping me in the hospital for 4 days on heavy duty antibiotics after the surgery just to make sure that I would not get sick.

Thanks everyone.

I experienced pain most like Helen. Pain in upper back/shoulder blade area. Last Saturday, I had what must have been an attack. I felt uncomfortable up under the right rib cage. It got worse & went through like I had a spear though me. It lasted a few hours and being very still, then having hot tea, helped.

I had a dull soreness all wee****il Thursday, but I had a doctor appt. already scheduled. She ordered blood work & I have an ultrasound scheduled for next Wednesday.

See, I feel like a hypochondriac if I go in for every little thing. I thought maybe it was just a gas bubble.   Guess we'll see after the ultrasound. Better to know for sure, right?