Gallbladder Question

Okay, so those of you who have had your gallbladders removed, how long after surgery did you start to have problems with it? I don't know that that's what I'm having problems with, but I thought I'd find out. When I eat I feel nauseous and I have this twinge on my left side. UGH What are you all's suggestions? Thanks.

I still have mine, but I was under the impression the pain would be on your right side if its your gallbladder. I could be off though.

Ya know, I think you're right...Hmmm...

Your appendix is on the right side. I got pain in my chest and back when I got my gall bladder problems. It really hurt when I would eat. Towards the end, just before I had it out I could only eat Burger King hamburgers, the the burger, nothing else, and the sugar free vanilla wafer cookies. The kind that come in vanilla, chocolate and strawberry. My girlfriend said hers was like she was having a heart attack. In fact my cardiologist had me wear a monitor for 24 hours because of the chest pain, when nothing showed he had me get a ultrasound of the gallbladder and I was the proud owner of gall stones as his nurse told me when she called me.   lol  I would get it checked just in case. I just heard from a doctor that post op WLS patients are prone to gall stones.

my DH said that many people around our area have their gallbladder out because of hard water (women that is) so i kinda thought the removal and WLS went hand in hand in most cases?!

I had mine out pre-WLS and my pain was all on my right side...just under my breast and radiated to the back. I have heard of some people having the pain more toward the center. I was told that there were 3 F's with gall bladder problems: Female Fat Forty I was all three.... and for those whose gall bladder has to come out post-op, it's mainly due to all the stress and abuse it endured when you were pre-op. It really is not because of the weight loss surgery. Sherri

I was under the impression (maybe false) that rapid weight loss could lead to gall bladder problems. That is why I thought gall bladder issues were common after any weight loss surgery.

From: http://www.webmd.com/digestive-disorders/tc/gallstones-topic -overview " People who are overweight or who are trying to lose weight quickly are more likely to get gallstones."

Gallstones - What Increases Your Risk

 

 

Your chances of forming gallstones that can cause symptoms may be higher if you:¹

• Are female. Females are twice as likely as males to have gallstones.
• Are older than 55.
• Are overweight.
• Lose weight rapidly. Gallstones develop in about one-fourth of very overweight men and women who are on strict diets and in about half of people who have gastric bypass surgery for obesity. Gastric bypass surgery reduces the size of the stomach and connects the smaller stomach to the middle section of the small intestine.
• Have low levels of "good" cholesterol (HDL or high-density lipoprotein) and elevated triglycerides, which are a type of fat found in the blood and in foods.
• Have a disease of the small or large intestine, such as Crohn's disease.
• Have a family history of gallstones.
• Are pregnant.
• Are taking estrogen (after menopause) or high-dose birth control pills.
• Are Native American or Hispanic.
• Have sickle cell disease.
• Are taking a medicine called octreotide (Sandostatin) or a cholesterol-lowering medicine, such as gemfibrozil (Lopid) or fenofibrate (Tricor, for example).
• Have cirrhosis (scarring of the liver).
• Get very little or no exercise.
• Do not eat for a period of time (fast).

Rapid weight loss is listed as a cause...but remember, you are generally overweight in order to need to lose weight. So..those who are never obese have a much better chance of never needing their gall bladder out. It's kinda like what came first...the chicken or the egg. To say that weight loss is why you need your gall bladder out is dismissing all the abuse on the gall bladder that the obesity did to it prior to having your WLS. In my opinion, too many times weight loss surgery is blamed for conditions such as gallstones when most of the time it was the unhealthy lifestyle that led up to the condition. An example..and I hope Linda Kay will forgive me for using her as an example... But Linda Kay had to have knee relacement surgery when she was ~a year or so post-op. Was it the RNY that caused it? No. It was the years of obesity prior to the RNY that caused the damage. She was healthy enough post-op however to be able to handle the replacement surgery. There are other conditions that also get fingerpointed as being a result from weight loss surgeries: Hypothyroidism and hypoglycemia (plus I'm sure many others). That's how my endocrinologist has it down for mine. BUT...I was borderline hypothyrodism every since I was 21 and it was totally unchecked for years in-between. I was also borderline diabetic but post-op, cut out starches and sugars to the point that my body became sensitive to ANY of either one. So...indirectly, yes, I suppose WLS brought on these for me...but more like the lifestyle changes post-op did (including all of my blood levels being checked more frequently and regularly), not the surgery itself. I guess I get tired of hearing WLS get blamed for everything including if a post-op turns to booze, men, or gambling. There's just some things that are in a person pre-op that may not rear it's ugly head until post-op. I'm not a doctor..and will never profess to be one. I only share what my doctor(s) have told me. When in doubt, ask your own doctor...but...they all have their own opinions too (however, educated ones). Now, had I had to have my gall bladder out post-op instead of ~2 years pre-op, MAYBE my doc would have told me something different. Who knows? But what he did say was: Female-Fat-Forty. Sherri

However, gall bladder problems are a problem after any rapid weight loss not just weight loss because of bariatric surgery.  I think it has something to do with how the body deals with the process of losing fat.  I know besides being overweight another risk factor is a high fat diet.  And, there is the fact that often overweight people are overweight b/c they eat a high fat diet.  Funny how it works that way.

You know...I think I already conceded to the fact that rapid weight loss can contribute to gall bladder issues. I even provided the site location which states it.  I also stated VERY clearly that I am not a doctor and to ask your OWN doctor. I DO NOT and WILL NOT use this forum as a debate location and I would appreciate it if you did not either. Someone asked a question and I answered them in the way my doctor had told ME. If a doctor has told you differently, that is fine and fine with me that you state it here. However, please quit trying to attack every word I say! Sherri