Gallstones after surgery?

[BlackBerryJuice 349]

Just curious. I was taught that 25% of obese people experiencing fast weightloss (and 50% of gastric bypass patients) end up having gallbladder stones - and I've seen a few folks on here get their gallbladder out. I had gallbladder sludge as a child, so I'm a bit worried about this. I don't eat super low-fat though, so I hope I don't have an issue with bile getting stalled in there for days. Would be interesting to see the stats. I don't know whether at 2 months I'm in the clear, or if there's still a good chance of me having gallstones.

[chelsea 0]

Just curious. I was taught that 25% of obese people experiencing fast weightloss (and 50% of gastric bypass patients) end up having gallbladder stones - and I've seen a few folks on here get their gallbladder out. I had gallbladder sludge as a child, so I'm a bit worried about this. I don't eat super low-fat though, so I hope I don't have an issue with bile getting stalled in there for days. Would be interesting to see the stats. I don't know whether at 2 months I'm in the clear, or if there's still a good chance of me having gallstones.

I had my gallbladder out in 2002, when I was 21. This was because I lost 120 lbs in a short amount of time but mostly due to a sustained low-caloric intake over the course of a year.

It's possible you will still get them. After this surgery, you're probably never 'in the clear' because of how few calories you take in. Once you've gotten to your goal weight and you're consuming more calories, your risk is likely to decrease.

[Becca 108]

I read that there is a medicine you can take to prevent gallstones. Does anyone know about this? I plan to ask my surgeon when I see him next.

[Tiffykins 672]

Had my gb out at 8 months post-sleeve and after dropping 130ish pounds. I had been having symptoms for a couple of months before I realized what was really happening because the "attacks" and pain was pretty sporadic.

I chose to not take Actigall, or have my gb out during my revision. It's a personal choice. Actigall has some contraindications for liver issues, and due to the fact that during rapid weight loss, our livers are tasked double time, I wasn't willing to take something on top everything else my body was going through.

Once I did lose my gb, I had to revamp my eating for 2-3 months, and it was a pain in the ass. I had to cut fat, which increased my carb and sugar and sodium counts, I couldn't eat anything acidic like Tomato sauce or spaghetti sauce. I had residual shoulder pain for 4 months post-gb removal. It was a mess, and I honestly can't imagine going through the post-op diet, or healing process without my gb. I know some people do it without issue, but I didn't have fat guidelines I ate full fat foods through my entire losing stage except for the non-fat greek yogurt.

[chilo1 62]

I'm 9 weeks out, take Ursodeoycholic Acid 300 mg to prevent gallstones,my surgeon wants me to take it for 6 months, so far so good, fingers crossed!

[M2G 1,836]

I agree that you are probably never in the "clear". I lost 80 lbs over the course of a year on Medifast, about 12 years ago and about 6 months after being "done" losing, then the gall bladder stone attacks started.

I don't know anything about the new medicines though, as they wouldn't apply to me, since my gall bladder is already gone.

[Maddie 9]

I had my gb taken out 7 wks after VSG.

[BlackBerryJuice 349]

I'm 9 weeks out, take Ursodeoycholic Acid 300 mg to prevent gallstones,my surgeon wants me to take it for 6 months, so far so good, fingers crossed!

I asked mine about it and he said it's hard on the stomach and not to take until I'm 6 months out. My weightloss has already slowed down to a reasonable rate, and by 6 months, I should be pretty close to goal, so I'm not even really sure of the benefit at that point.

[Swiftflow 6]

I have not had them yet, and inadvertantly ended up on a half dosage of actigal--I remembered to take them only at night and then just stayed with that. I was supposed to take twice a day but I had to balance what I could take at certain times due to the pill size, Night times just worked out so I stuck with the half dosage and since my loss has slowed down I am not refilling it now.