21 replies to this topic

[ljh]

Can anyone describe the symptons of gall stones please. I have never had an attack but the Dr said that my burping (constantly) and a heavy feeling in my chest while sleeping is caused by my gallstones but i have never had an attack.

Your help and information would be much appreciated as I am trying to work out if I should have mine out or not.

I have been banded since Sept 23rd 2011 and have lost 14kgs so far.

Looking forward to your help in this matter.

Regards

Lyn

[jan123]

Gallstone attacks are a result of eating a high fat meal, your gallbladder contracts to pump bile into you intestine to break down the fatty food. The gallbladder contracting moves the stones around and sometimes forces them into a small tube, blocking it and then causes the build up of bile in the gallbladder which then can't get out .... Equals pain.

Other symptoms can include burping, indigestion and chest tightness but are these also not side effects of the band?

Do you know you have gallstones, have you had an ultrasound?

Hard decision.

[ljh]

Hi jan

yes I have had an ultrasound before my banding and they said that i have 5 very small gallstones. I have never had symptons before so really don't know what to do.
Would appreciate other banders stories on gall stones if possible please.
The only high fat meals i have eaten in the past are chips and roast pork, though it was probably a different story when I was a child as my mother was not the best of cooks.
Many thanks

Lyn

[jan123]

I guess I would be surprised if five small gallstones were causing your problems but I'm not a dr just a sonographer, I do ultrasound scanning for a job so guess you have to be guided by your dr.

Will be interesting to see what other banisters say!

[grinningchook]

I have one big gall stone and the two times I had an attack I thought I was having a heart attack, even called for an ambulance they gave me massive doses of pain relief on the way to the hospital and I even went out to it briefly. I have not had another attack since but sometimes I feel a bit of a niggle on the right hand lower side esp if I have eaten something fatty.

From what I was told smaller stones can give you grief more than the larger stone as they can get caught in the wall of the gall bladder which will cause pain. My doctor wanted to take my gall bladder out but i didn;t want him to made a deal with him that if I had another attack I wold let him... so far so good. I asked Dolan about it and he said it shouldn't give me too much trouble as it is so large.

Apparently most people that show up with an attack have eaten fish and chips before hand LOL

[zimbakymba]

Massive Pain, worse than childbirth and equal to my Appendicitis!!! Pure hell I personally wouldn't wish on anyone Thank gosh I had my gallbladder out with my band.

[scarlet_artemis]

crushing pain right in the centre of your chest just below the breastbone, sometimes radiates to the right shoulder and through to your back between the shoulder blades - vomiting, nausea, a bit of breathlessness, - because the gallbladder is a muscular sac that contracts to push the bile out - a tiny stone rolling forward and blocking the duct can cause a lot of pain as the muscle contracts against an obstacle and goes into spasm. Having it out is a simple, common operation providing you get it early enough - larger stones or an infected or perforated gallbladder can result in major surgery and peritonitis if you have a bile leak. Do what your doctor says and you should be right - a lot of people are afraid of the surgery and put up with gallbladder attacks for years and still live well - they just watch their diet closely.

[ljh]

Thank you very much everyone for all your help with your description of the symptons of gall stones. I am in the process of making an appointment to see my doctor as you have all confirmd my fears of them starting to be a problem.

I will let you know of my progress but think that I will need to have the gall bladder out.

Thank you again for your help and advice. It is very much appreciated.

Lyn

[grinningchook]

ljh, on 28 January 2012 - 02:39 PM, said:

Thank you very much everyone for all your help with your description of the symptons of gall stones. I am in the process of making an appointment to see my doctor as you have all confirmd my fears of them starting to be a problem.

I will let you know of my progress but think that I will need to have the gall bladder out.

Thank you again for your help and advice. It is very much appreciated.

Lyn

Wait until I have another attack and we can go in together and share a room like old times

[Mum of 2 Merry Men]

Hi Lyn,

I have to agree with Zimbakyma, it is the worst pain ever, I had an attack whilst my the boyfriend(now hubby) was driving the car. I had to lay the seat right back out flat and could not move, because whenever I did it caused so much more pain. I was scamming like a crazy women.

If you can arrange to get your gallbladder removed, I think it would be for the best because honestly that was the worst pain in the world.

All the best
Jodie

[buckets3eyedfish]

ljh, on 27 January 2012 - 06:21 PM, said:

The only high fat meals i have eaten in the past are chips and roast pork, though it was probably a different story when I was a child as my mother was not the best of cooks.
Many thanks

Lyn

mmmmm roast pork *insert drool here*

[leevan]

Excrutiating pain in the chest and back. Sometimes the only relief I got was after a vomitting attack. I found Gaviscon gave a bit of relief but my gallstones were pretty bad and I lost 10kg in 3 weeks because I couldn't eat anything. In fact for me it was like severe morning sickness in between attacks. My gall bladder was very inflamed when I got it out so I probably had it a bit worse than others.

Just thinking about it brings back some bad memories and it was about 12 years ago when I got it out and the relief was instant. I have had no problems since.

Leanne

[ljh]

Had my excess fill out yesterday and now feel heaps better. I was getting dehydrated not being able to keep anything down. I am seeing Doc Wednesday afternoon about my gallstone. Time to do something about it I think.

Thank you for all your help. Will keep you posted.

Grinning Chook, whilst i don't wish you to have another gall stone attack you might have to have one soon if we are going to be in the same room in hospital again. Hope all is going well with you and Buckets of 3 Eyed Fish.

Lyn

[Suzyk]

My gall stone attacks put me on the floor in withering pain. It would start as stomach cramps and just gradually get worse. It was always at night and usually woke me from my sleep. No chest pain, just strong stomach aches. It pulsated and rocking was the only thing that kept me from screaming. My breathing got extremely heavy and most of the time I would hold my breath to control the pain.
If distracted I was able to ignore them, but they still continued. The pain varied often. When asked on a scale of 1 to 10 how bad was the pain, I would answer it was the worse I ever felt and it was true. I was in emergency rooms at 3 am all the time. It started off as once every three months and I often miskaten it for food poisoning or just overeating. By the end it was every second day. Morphine was the only thing that helped in the end. Codeine was useless. If they didn't give me morphine I would scream down the ER in the early hours and no one liked that.

It would start of with feeling like something was stuck, I would stick my fingers down and convulse but nothing would come up. And then the stomach aches came. If they pushed on my gall area I screamed from sharp pain.

Around midday the next day (every single time) I would be sick as a dog and empty my stomach to its complete emptiness. This would usually be 3 litres of foul smelling brown liquid (sorry if tmi). I would instantly feel better and back to normal afterwards - morphine usually made me sick. I had to admit I looked forward to being sick because I knew the pain relief that instantly followed. I had been with my husband eight years and this year was the first time he had ever seen me sick and said I was 'quite the lady' about it.

Hope that helps, my lap band surgeon removed my gall bladder free of charge and checked on my band too (since the extreme amounts of being sick could potentially damage it). My gall bladder was 8ml thick (normally 1-2ml) and I have over 40 small stones and lots of sludge.

Gall stones usually come from large consumption of calcium or rapid weight loss. Your gall bladder does not do anything but store bile. Without the storage you cant eat a lot of fatty foods with getting minor aches but thats about it. your pancreas and liver still produce normal amount of bile to break down normal foods. Rapid weight loss is processed through you lymphatic system. If you change your eating habits drastically your liver is still producing a lot of bile and it needs to go somewhere. It stores in your gall bladder for too long it turns to sludge and then calcifies into a solid ball. Or many solid balls. Very common (about 65%) of lap banded people will have gall stones. Not all will need to have them removed.

[ljh]

Thank you everybody for all your help. Saw the Doc yesterday and I will have my gall bladder out on Feb 16.

[buckets3eyedfish]

ljh, on 02 February 2012 - 09:52 AM, said:

Thank you everybody for all your help. Saw the Doc yesterday and I will have my gall bladder out on Feb 16.

good luck with the op.. hope to see you sunday

[Lizzy51]

Hi all. I have just been reading everyones updates and I notice so many end up having Gall Stones. I am a little concerned is it a result of the band or just unfortunate. Lizzy

[Lindy]

Hi Lizzy51, it is just one of those unfortunate things that happens - I had mine removed 8 years ago and I am only getting banded on the 16 Feb 12.

[*Elly*]

Mega pain! Had mine out about 18 months ago. Thought I was having a heart attack the first time and excruciating headache.

[leevan]

Mine was tken out about 10 years before being banded. For me it was purely my high fat diet that did it to me.
I'm glad you hve a date and I know it will all go well.

Leanne