Gallbladder/Ursodiol question

I've been seeing a lot of posts by people having their gallbladders out, and I do know that gallbladder problems are common with WLS.  My question is, for people who are having their gallbladders out, did your surgeons prescribe you Ursodiol after your WLS to help prevent gallbladder problems?  Mine did and I have to be on it for 5 months... but I'm wondering if this is common and the gallbladder problems are happening to people in spite of taking the Ursodiol early on, or if it's not common to be on the Ursodiol after surgery.

My surgeon prescribes it to all of her patients who still have a gallbladder at the time of surgery, 2x a day for 6 months. It is meant to thin the bile and prevent gallstones from forming. At my 6 month checkup she decided to keep me on it for 3 more months as I was still losing weight very rapidly. That being said..... I still needed my gallbladder removed at 8 1/2 months post op. The medication DID do its job, I did NOT have any stones. My gallbladder was just not functioning properly anymore, as it could not keep up with the rate at which I was losing. Statistically, you have a much greater chance of keeping your gallbladder after surgery if you DO take the medication. I was just one of the unlucky ones. I hope this helps.
Good luck

Mine did not prescribe Ursidol and I didn't know about it at the time or I would have asked for a script.

Statistically, 32% of folks that don't take it end up with gall stones.  Only 2% of those that do take it end up with gall stones.

I just had my gallbladder out and I never even heard of Ursodiol, or like Kelly said, I would have asked for it !!

Why don't they just take them out during the WLS? Just wondering if they are such a problem, why not nip it in the bud. Just saying.

Many surgeons don't like to remove perfectly healthy organs.  I'm guessing many insurance companies don't want to pay to remove perfectly healthy organs, either.

Some people do have them removed during RNY in order to prevent future problems.  But I think it makes more sense to take a medication for six months and keep a healthy organ if possible.

I'm on Ursodiol. I have to take it for 2 months (which means, I'm pretty much done now). Does that seem like a normal length of time? I'm happy to stop taking it, though!

No.  It's usually prescribed for at least six months.  It should be taken as long as you're losing weight rapidly.  Unless your weight loss slowed way down at just two months out, which is not typical, you should probably keep taking it a few more months.

Mine is 2x a day for 6 months and I had to request it, but take it faithfully!

Thank you, that does help me a little bit, though I'm so sorry to hear that anybody would still have trouble even after taking it.  My surgeon prescribed it once a day for 5 months, so seeing that some of you take it twice a day for 6 months is slightly concerning, but I'm just going to go with what I have and hope for the best.  I trust my surgeon. He's a very good doctor with a lot of experience in RNY.