Gallstones...
Following a trip to A&E at 2am on Saturday morning and most of the following day under observation on a surgical ward in Poole General Hospital I have been diagnosed with gallstones. To be confirmed by an ultrasound later this week, although X-ray and blood tests suggest this is the cause of my discomfort.
A cursory search on here (first place I looked!) brought up very little. Apparently 1 in 10 people have gallstones, but are likely unaware of them unless they block a bile duct in the gall bladder, at which point you really know about it !
Virtually all the professional websites I have looked at (NHS, BUPA etc) state that the best course of action is removal of the gall bladder... a simple keyhole operation that should see me back on my feet within a couple of weeks. You can live without the gall bladder, although around 10% of patients subsequently have slight after effects.
The alternative to surgery is a very low fat diet (< 3%), no caffeine, no dairy products, no spicy foods, which is going to be a complete PITA to be frank. I have PMI with BUPA which will enable me to jump the queue and get it done within a couple of weeks... have to wait until after 1st Jan before I give them a call as my policy (and excess) renews then.
Anyway - just wondering if anyone else has had the pleasure, and what you did about them, if anything ?
Oh, and big up to the staff at Poole General who pumped my full of Morphine by IV - that stuff is awesome
Cheers,
Daniel.
Yes, suffered on and off over a few years before deciding to get to the bottom of it.
Whipped the bugger out, all's been great since.
No more hot baths at 3am, nor standing in contorted positions to get some relief.
The downside though, is you no longer get to watch Julia Roberts on QVC, uninterrupted.......so it's not all positive.
Careful with that stuff - it can make you constipatedOriginally Posted by amnesia
Oh, and big up to the staff at Poole General who pumped my full of Morphine by IV - that stuff is awesome
z
I've been told I have them but I'm not so sure, I have a feeling it's something else? so still deciding what to do as getting a 100% straight answer I'm happy with from the doctors has not happened yet.
I was told that once you have one stone then they always want to remove he gall bladder, no diet can correct the problem?
I had two ultra scans, both failed to pickup any stones, I then had an MRI scan which said I had a 5mm stone, I had an ERCP to remove the stone, but no stone was find, just swelling and a bit of gravel, I thought that was the end of it but they said I still need to have it removed and that the ERCP was because I was jaundice because of the stone/swelling...seemed it would have just been easier and cheaper to just remove the gall blabber there and then but there is a waiting list!!
I guess what I'm saying is, make sure it is your gall bladder before you jump to have it removed.
Yep will do. I will get referred to BUPA by my GP next week and the surgeon / hospital will want to squeeze every last penny out of my policy limits with various scans etc before they do anything else. Most annoying bit is time off work watching dull daytime TV :(
I was told it's normally done as a day patient, I don't think you will need two weeks to recover?
3 holes cut in you, gas blown in to make room, the gall bladder cut off and pulled out of one of the holes...saying that if you can get 2 weeks of sympathy you would be daft to turn it down!
Lets know how you get on.
Ahhhh, the good old laparoscopic cholecystectomy, Ive been in theatres and observed in dozens of these up and down the country, I sell the retrieval bags that the gall bladder is put into before it is removed via one of the holes ........
Cheers..
Jase
LOL small world.
Good luck mate. Watch out for that morphine though, it will give you the screaming adabs!
My doctor misdiagnosed my gallstone pain as heartburn. And believe me, the pain is incapacitating. Consequently I suffered for over a year before collapsing at home with pancreatitis.
My gallstones were the size of peppercorns and had migrated in to the pancreatic duct.
Spent 2 weeks in hospital 'nil by mouth'; I remember the back pain was particularly bad and needed morphine injections; had the gallbladder removed followed by 3 weeks recovering at home; I was as weak as a kitten having lost over a stone in weight.
My sister has also had gallstones and says the pain is worse than going through childbirth.
My Mum had a bad case of pancreatitis a few months back.
She was taken to hospital in an ambulance, Morphined up whereupon she started fighting everyone.
Anyway gallstones were diagnosed, she had her gall bladder and stones removed via four small holes and she was home the next day.
I think she has had to modify her diet because of the gall bladder removal but she is 83.
Cheers,
Neil.
had mine out via keyhold surgery over 10 yrs ago now , very painful , once it was taken out no problems at all :)
what's making me doubt my is gallstones is, the pain has not been that bad, it's enough to stop me sleeping but not anything like what you hear gallstone pain should be, yet they have jumped to the conclusion it needs to come out? not much pain, no stone found yet when I go to see the doctor he wants to book me in with the surgeon, I wouldn't mind a few tests first, before they start removing parts!
i had bad pains on and off for several months, then 1 day i ate all the crackling off a joint of pork and after 6 hrs of chronic pain went into hospital and got put on morphine , ive had some bad pain before including breaking my arm in 3 places but ive never felt anything like that before or since - and dont want too either.
eat something fatty and you will soon find out if its gallstones :)
*the pain will come when one of the stones blocks a bile duct , its excruciating (well mine was) , i had sweat running off me as fast as i could wipe it off.
Last edited by pugster; 30th December 2013 at 20:24.
Not had gallstones, but have had kidney stones which seem to present in a similar manner.
I thought it was back pain and didn't do much about it until I started piddling blood and had to go to A&E where it was discovered they had caused an infection as well... took 2 boring weeks to sort it.
Blokes are rubbish at seeking attention :)
Have had the op but not the stones. Straightforward, home the same day. The GB was pulled out through my belly button. It's a bit uncomfortable for the first few days because of the gas used to inflate the abdomen. I can't say I've had to make significant changes to my diet either.
One of my daughters was diagnosed with this after having to be rushed to A&E in agony. She was put on a low fat diet until they could remove her gall bladder. They said that they can do most via the key hole method but it depends on the individuals anatomy - sometimes they have to make a major incision - which of course make the op and recovery longer
Since the op my daughter has been as so much better - she certainly doesnt have to adhere to a diet - they told her that she can eat anything that she wants. They said that whilst her body adapts to not having the bladder it will not metabolise fat very well, still no problem with eating it though
I had extreme pain from mine, being a bloke of course when it passed off I just thought "it'll be reet" and got on with life. The wife nagged me to the doctors after another night pacing the floor and drinking gaviscon, to no effect. After all my procrastination I had to be rushed in with jaundice and the keyhole had to be made into a letterbox to get my avocado sized gall bladder out. So my advice is get on with it. I had 30 odd peppercorn sized gallstones which the surgeon gave me in a bottle for a souvenir. They get into the bile duct one at a time and their progress down there is the cause of the agonising pain.
I would always try and avoid surgery if possible.
Every surgery carries some risk and possible complications, even this which is relatively minor in the context of abdominal surgery (which in surgical terms is major surgery). My now ex wife had her gall bladder removed by keyhole procedure by a leading surgeon but suffered some complications and was out of action for weeks. She did recover completely fortunately.
The dietary changes you suggest will be an adjustment but are not really that significant: this could be an opportunity to get yourself into fantastic shape if you add some exercise to a healthy nutrition regime.
Ive been waiting for an op. for about 18 months now.
Then out of the blue in July, I got a letter telling me I was due to have an op (keyhole surgery) to remove the gallstone the following week.Only trouble was? The following week I was scheduled to have an operation to remove my prostrate (due to prostrate cancer!). So I will wait a while , until I have my gall bladder removed.! The pain when the gallstones "played up"! though was terrible!
On the plus side, the prostrate removal seems to have cleared the prostrate cancer though! On the downside? While I was off work for months..............I bought (and of course then flipped!) wayyyyy too many watches! lol! Im back in work now though (light duties!) so "hopefully|" it should curb any watch buying for a while! Then in the middle of January, Im off on my hols for a month for some sun and rest!
The pain though (when gall stones play up!) makes me want to have the operation to have the bloody thing removed!
Happy new year everybody...........I cant wait to see the back of this one! (hmmm saying that..........1 or 2 of the watches I ought were keepers! lol).
what trouble were you having for them to remove it without stones being found?
were you getting a lot of pain with it?
Yep - sounds about right. I had a yummy hot jalfrezi on Friday night that kicked it off
Went to the GP last night to get some decent pain killers as I still have abdominal pain (although nothing like Saturday morning when I was admitted). He has advised a ZERO fat diet until I can get into surgery which is going to be a pain. My winter bike training starts on Monday. Oh well, Turkey salad it is I guess. At least I should lose some body fat whilst training so will be good for the hills come spring.
Cheers for the advice chaps - will report back once I've had the ultrasound scan later this week.
Daniel.
I had the pleasure of an unexpected operation to remove my gallbladder the day after I arrived in Singapore on business. Arrived on Friday, fell ill on Saturday morning & was diagnosed with gallstones following an ultrasound scan (administered among the rather surprised expectant mothers). Operated on that afternoon & woke up with four little plasters over the punctures in my abdomen. Left hospital on Monday, back to work on Tuesday. No ill effects at all apart from a raging throat infection where the breathing tube had been rammed down my neck. The surgeon gave me the stones as a souvenir:
As you can see the surgeon had to break some of the stones apart to get them out.
I had no real prior symptoms to indicate I might have had an issue, when I fell ill it was extremely painful & when I started vomiting yellow fluid the doctors were rather concerned. Following the keyhole surgery everything was back to normal very quickly. I understand this is not the case if they have to open you up & it can easily take six weeks or more to recover. I was lucky to fall ill in a country with very advanced medical care & the keyhole option was available.
One other issue for those who have symptoms & haven't had the operation is that any travel insurance may well not cover a pre-existing condition so you might be travelling at your own risk. When I was admitted to hospital I handed over my company medical insurance card but the insurers wouldn't guarantee cover unless I could prove it wasn't a pre-existing condition. Given that it was Saturday in the UK I had no chance of contacting my doctor & the argument continued until I was discharged on the Monday - it still being Sunday in the UK. At that point I slapped down my company credit card, charged the £4,500 bill to them & left them to argue with their insurers.
My surgeon told me about 1/20 people cannot have keyhole for gallbladder due to their anatomical makeup, as mentioned the full op takes a lot longer to recover from.
My Dad had his gallbladder removed pre keyhole tech and while they were in there they removed the appendix as well.
Don't want to worry the OP, but the great England spinner Jim Laker, died in 1986 following a gallbladder operation.
He was just 64. We could do with him now.
Last edited by Tickeros; 31st December 2013 at 17:13.
I had my gallbladder removed a couple of years back. For me the pain was triggered by egg-based dishes, especially omelettes or bread and butter pudding as I recall. As previous posters have mentioned, when it came on the pain in the sternum was completely incapacitating, nothing would ease it despite the contorted positions mentioned in previous posts. In the end I had the 710 take me up to A&E as I thought I was having a heart attack. I was eventually diagnosed with gallstones (the biggest was about 25mm dia.) and had a keyhole removal of the gallbladder. All very straightforward, I was in and out same day and back at work within a fortnight and have been fine since, no special diet though I'm not a great one for spicy food.
I had mine removed 5 years ago. As others have stated had a major attack and wife took me to A&E who pumped me with drugs to stop the pain. At the time it was excruciating, booked in with BUPA and OP was within 7 days. Had a complication with the surgery so was in theatre for 4 or 5 hours, something to do with it being attached to wall of stomach which caused bleeding etc. recovery time was therefor increased and was off work for 3 weeks. It was uncomfortable for a week after but since then have had no issues and don't have to watch my diet either. Good luck hope it all goes well.
Bit of an update - I've got an appointment for an ultrasound tomorrow morning.
Fingers crossed that they find something.
I had 2, needed a MRI before they found anything.
Least it's the morning so you won't have to go hungry too long.
Good luck sir!
Back from the scan... my gall bladder looks like a bag of marbles !
At least I know where to go from here. BUPA are on the case already
Cheers,
Daniel.
A couple of my friends have had their gall bladder removed and they've both been fine afterwards, able to eat almost anything (within reason).
Paul
Good luck with it all Daniel.
Cheers,
Neil.
I had polyps. No serious symptoms but there is a risk that they can become malignant.
thanks for that, something else to ask my doctor about then.
Just to give a slightly different perspective on the removal op, I had mine done about 5 years ago, no choice due to major blockage and infection etc and was told nothing to worry about, will be fine afterwards etc. all seemed ok for a few weeks (keyhole surgery) then started getting some pretty bad post op pain, apparently due to scar tissue etc. eventually sorted through, of all things, acupuncture which I was a total cynic about but did solve that problem.
The one issue that unfortunately was the big problem was a constant and serious bout of the s***ts regularly, multiple times a day and usually without any notice ( seriously like minutes to avoid disaster!!!) turns out this problem is way more common than you would think, spend 5 mins on google looking for post cholysystectomy (May have spelt wrong) diarrhea or post gall bladder problems etc and there will be plenty of people discussing their nightmare life since it was removed!
Seriously for around 3 years life was pretty bloody awful and in all honesty gp and specialist etc were as useful as a chocolate teapot and in the end only doing a lot of digging around myself got me sorted (90% as still have the odd bad day) with some drugs that control the major issue of essentially no longer having a 'filter' on the acids the gallbladder used to control for me. No amount if dietary control made any difference by the way, fatty, non fatty, dairy, non dairy, gluten free etc. all tried without success.
Anyway, if it has to come out it has to come out so nothing said above really makes any difference but just wanted to give the flip side of the 'everything was fine after my gall bladder was removed' stories including my sister in law who never had a single issue after hers was done a few years back!
All the best when yours is done and I truly hope you never have a single issue afterwards, I wouldn't wish it on anyone, even my worst enemy.
I just had mine removed in September last year, no choice as stones has blocked my biliary ducts and bilirubin levels were at dangerous levels causing me to be jaundiced etc...since then my appetite has never returned to pre-removal levels, I feel bloated after meals, have zero tolerance for fried and fatty foods etc. So far no other side effects..
Thanks - I've read up about possible post-op issues... could make my 100 mile bike rides interesting.
That could help my 100 mile bike rides... losing 20lbs or so would make hills so much easier.
I am seeing the consultant this Friday (24th) - he's been skiing for the last two weeks (inconsiderate sod), with a view to surgery by the end of the month.
Fingers crossed all goes well.
Thanks for the support chaps !
Daniel.
I'm surprised so many on here has had the op...when I saw my GP he was surprised I was having problems, he said it was mainly an older woman's problem!
Didn't help me feel any better but that's doctors for you.
Female, forties, fair and fat tends to be the criteria, but since I had mine I was surprised how many men have had it done
Quick update
I am checking in to the Harbour Hospital tomorrow morning for my Laparoscopic Cholecystectomy.
Should be on-line again Wednesday morning (free WiFi FTW).
If something goes horribly wrong, feel free to auction my B1 & UTC for the TZ Fundraiser
Biggest question is how am I going to stay away from the SC with 2 weeks at home and nothing to entertain me except Netflix ?
Laters,
Daniel.
Good luck Daniel....
Cheers..
Jase
Eep. Good luck ;)
All the best Daniel.
Cheers,
Neil.
All done and back home now. A little sore and I look pregnant due to the gas used to inflate me, but I feel good in myself.
Thanks for all your support chaps... really looking forward to getting back on my bike in a couple of weeks :-)
Any update on how you are now and has anything changed? Reason of asking is that I'm currently in hospital with severe pain in abdomen after I eat. They think it maybe gallbladder related and am waiting for an ultrasound now. They may also do a CT scan. If it is gallstones then will have to have keyhole surgery too. :-(
exactly the same as myself mate,pain that i cant describe ,lost about 2 and a half stone in a year as the attacks got more frequent and i kept not eating things i believed hard bought it on,eventually got the right diagnosis after a scan ,now touchwood been good ever since
Hey chap !
I had my surgery in February. Was out the next day, and back to work after two weeks, totally healed. Got 4 very small scars that are barely noticeable 6 months later.
As for diet, I can eat anything I like except scrambled egg which doesn't hang around for long once I've eaten it if you know what I mean.
Hope you get it diagnosed soon... the pain really is indescribable if it is gallstones.
Fingers crossed & best wishes your way.
Daniel.
Thanks Daniel,
Just retuned home from a few days in the hospital, after Ultrasound it looks like it is gall bladder related - but no stones.
Sent home on a plain diet for a few weeks till the CT scan. Also antibiotics and pain killers.
Pain was awful whilst there, 5 days on oramorph or IV morphine.
Still feeling a lot better at the moment, so hope whatever it was has passed!
Good thing was, I got to have a decent shave today with my DE razor lol.
Awesome
IV morphine is the boss !!
Time to update the only thread on TZ-UK that contains the word cholecystectomy.
That really was a rather unpleasant 10 days or so. It began at about 11 pm, with symptoms that to begin with felt like very bad food poisoning. However, my partner ate the same as I did and had no symptoms, which puzzled me somewhat. Much vomiting and a sleepless night ensued, followed by my first day off work sick in years. In the morning I felt slightly better in some ways, but I was getting a lot of pain. Initially, this seemed to be all around the upper abdomen and, more so, in the mid and upper back. I was still hoping for the best at this stage, got through the day, and then had an extremely uncomfortable night. I then went to work, although it wasn’t great and I left early. Unable to eat; guts felt as if they were in lockdown. Pain started to ramp up further, so the next day it was off to A&E. Dealt with quickly, as my blood results showed that my inflammatory markers were through the roof. Abdo and chest X-rays and an abdominal CT en route to the ward. The pain was really excruciating at this stage - it was impossible to find a comfortable position. IV antibiotics commenced - I had terrible trouble with venous access and failed cannulas throughout. It was only after these IVs started that the runs began - the worst I have ever had, for about 48 hours or more.
Ultrasound showed a polyp and a 3mm stone in the gallbladder. It took ages and a change of IV antibiotics before my CRP etc. started to come down. My temperature was up to 38.8 - 38.9 at some points, along with low blood pressure, and I really was rather worried at times. No painkiller made much difference until the infection started to resolve.
A&E was great, but care on the ward less so. I had 2 nurses who seemed to think it was normal to connect IVs without gloves, which I found fairly shocking. A couple of the doctors were great, but I rarely saw the same doctors two days in a row and the only contact was a rushed doctors’ round each morning.
Anyway, home now, pain free for quite some time, eating a low-fat diet, and expecting to receive an invitation for a cholecystectomy in 6 weeks or so.
I must admit to having had my confidence knocked quite a bit. I’m 50, fit and well, not overweight, and was under the impression that my diet was fairly good. I don’t really fit into the usual high risk groups for gallstones.
Bah.
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