Gall bladder problems............

[Dawg52]

Anyone been able to head off gall bladder problems by a change in diet? I think I might have a problem here. Slight pain yesterday on right side just below rib cage and some pain between shoulder blades. Read on the net that these are 2 common symptoms. Plus gas problems, of course this is nothing new here. My mother had hers removed a few years ago and my nephew did about a month ago. He's just 30. Like anything else, genes are a factor.

I'm gonna try a lot more veggies and fruits and eliminate fried stuff but I'm afraid at this point, not much can be done to reverse the situation. Of course if the problem continues, I'll go see my doctor buddy. Just wondered if anyone has any tips or success stories?

 

[Rich_by_the_Bay]

Dawg,

Get it diagnosed. Probably a simple ultrasound for starters.

There are lots of causes for this kind of pain that don't require any major treatment, others that can wait a while with little risk, and a few that are much better handled when caught early.

None that I am aware of will respond to more veggies and fruits. Not that there's anything wrong with that...

New onset of abdominal pain deserves your attention if it's more than transitory, hopefully to reassure yourself that it's a false alarm.

 

[Dawg52]

Dawg,


New onset of abdominal pain deserves your attention if it's more than transitory, hopefully to reassure yourself that it's a false alarm.

Yesterday was my first sign of abdominal pain. I have had the shoulder blade problem before and just wrote it off to getting older. I'll keep close tabs on it for a few days. Haven't felt it this morning but I'll put it to the test on the golf course shortly. Thanks for the reply.

 

[Nords]

Yesterday was my first sign of abdominal pain. I have had the shoulder blade problem before and just wrote it off to getting older. I'll keep close tabs on it for a few days. Haven't felt it this morning but I'll put it to the test on the golf course shortly. Thanks for the reply.

A decade ago a shipmate went through a terrible three months of increasingly disruptive digestive problems. It started with a little queasiness and rapidly got to the point where he could hardly get through the day.

Over that time (and about 20 pounds) the doctors poked, prodded, tested gallons of blood, prescribed antibiotics of all types, scanned, and gradually eliminated (so to speak) all of the really scary issues like appendicitis, infections, and cancer. As the quest continued they started muttering about his gallbladder. Eventually they proposed surgery and he agreed because there didn't seem to be any other options.

When they got into him the gallbladder had become the wrong size, shape, color, and everything else... they took it out. A few days of recovery and he's been fine ever since.

Hopefully the diagnostic tools have improved since then.

 

[Sue J]

I was able to hold off surgery for about 9 years (age 19 to age 28 ) by avoiding fats, fried foods, onions, cabbage, etc. I had a bad attack at age 19 (dorm food diet) and the xrays showed that I had many stones.

I don't know why they didn't want to take it out right then but the diet changes worked well for quite a while. At age 28 I started having attacks again. I was working and had good insurance and sick time and I was planning on starting a family soon and they recommended that I have it out before a pregnancy complicated things.

This was in 1983, before laparoscopy so I had the regular surgery, 5 days in the hospital and 6 weeks of recovery. Now, they do this with laparoscopy and it's much simpler and a much shorter, easier recovery.

My sister (50's) had hers out a few years ago when it got infected and it became an emergency. She had one overnight in the hospital. My brother also had his removed in his late 30's or early 40's.

 

[happy2bretired]

I had mine out about a year and a half ago after just one gall bladder attack. My doctor recommended taking it out since it had more stones in it's stockpile. No complications that I know of. I don't think my pancreatitis bout was directly involved with my gall bladder but who knows.

 

[Dawg52]

This was in 1983, before laparoscopy so I had the regular surgery, 5 days in the hospital and 6 weeks of recovery. Now, they do this with laparoscopy and it's much simpler and a much shorter, easier recovery.

A good friend of mine had a bout with it a couple of years ago. His doc told him before surgery that less than 5% of cases(I think) couldn't be done by laparoscopy. I guess the thing could be so inflamed that it couldn't be removed though those little holes. Well they had to rip him open as he fell into that unlucky 5%. He came back to work too early(just 3 weeks) and he walked around like an old man. Bent over taking small steps. Knowing my luck, that will happen to me. But I didn't have a problem today on the golf course so maybe it's just a passing thing. Maybe I just need some Beano.

 

[murg]

Dawg, Had mine out in my mid 40's. I had same symtom as you, after a high fat meal some discomfort on the right side. I ignored it for a couple years then my wife made me some monkey bread for super bowl sunday. I was taking a nap when I woke up feeling nausea, went to the bathroom thinking I was going to throw up. All the sudden I had the worst pain of my life just below my ribcage center right and fell to the floor in a ball. It hurt so bad I had trouble breathing. I was able to call out enough for my wife to hear me. During the ambulance ride the pain subsided, at the ER they did a ultrasound and found a bunch of stones, one had went into a bile duct causing the pain. Blood tests were a little off so they waited a few weeks before surgery to make sure the duct was clear. I had the laproscopy and left the hospital the same day. I have been fine ever since and feel no after effects at all. Good Luck.