Gall bladder issues after sleeve

[Staceymorrow 3]

Hello everyone. I'm new to this page but happened upon it doing research. I'm coming up on my year after surgery. My question is I still have my gall bladder and I'm wondering if some of my symptoms are due to this and not just life after the surgery. My Dr did a test prior to the surgery to test my gall bladder and everything was fine so he left it in. I'm having issues after eating like pain and nausea. I just assumed it was still an adjustment thing as I've heard this will happen for the first year but then i remembered him testing my gall bladder so wondering if others have some input. I have my year check up with dietician and surgeon next week so i will definitely be asking at that time but wondered what you guys thought.

[Losebig 508]

It could be, most of the issues come from the rapid weight loss. A lot of programs use Ursidol to help prevent gal stones. It can help with small ones if they formed too. They should be able to see if anything is going on fairly easily. You're definitely going to be at a higher risk of it given the large weight loss you're going through.

[Sonotech 3]

Definitely can be gallbladder. I've experienced it personally 2 months after being sleeved I developed gallstones. I've seen it often in my line of work as an ultrasound technologist.

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[Sullie06 1,013]

My gallbladder started acting up at around 6-7 months post op. I had a scan and they found no gall stones but the pain persisted. They followed up by ordering me a Hida Scan and that determined my gallbladder was not functioning properly. I'm currently 13 months post op and scheduled to have my gallbladder out 2/16

[Losebig 508]

For folks who had gallbladder issues what were your initial symptoms?

[mylighthouse 782]

Hello,

I had my gallbladder out 3 weeks ago. I am coming up on 14 months post op.

I started having pain about 6 months ago that sent me to the ER NUMEROUS times. They always said Constipation pain, which had been a SERIOUS daily problem for me for several months, until 3 weeks ago, when I had my gallbladder taken out. Now I have regular, daily bm's.

So, during every ER visit, they did ct scans and x rays which never showed anything pointing to gallbladder. They did a ultrasound a couple of months ago that showed a couple of gallstones or polyps, they weren't sure. Then last month was a HIDA scan. It was normal. The next week, I had to go to the ER, the pain was so bad. Those last few weeks, my pain was presenting itself as classic gallbladder pain, or so the docs said.

@Losebig

For me, symptoms were:

Pain above belly button, upper abdomen, sometimes all the way right under my right rib, sometimes pain on right side. Pain was constant, stabbing. And yes, it was worse after eating.

Chest pain.

Severe nausea and some occasional vomiting.

Pain sometimes in my back, mostly right shoulder blade area.

Symptoms can vary from person to person, as you will read. Apparently, a lot of people get diarrhea, for me, it was constipation.

Oh yes, after surgery, my surgeon told me my gallbladder was in bad shape. And that was with normal HIDA scan etc.

Edited January 11, 2018 by mylighthouse

[Sonotech 3]

Nausea and fullness initially, then progressed to full-on chest pain radiating to back. Pain lasted 15 minutes to start. Squeezing feeling, then lasted hrs months later.

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[Sonotech 3]

After gallbladder was removed I started having the same pain again, was in the ER 3 times in a week, with negative hida negative chest,abd,pelvis ct. Finally my gastro guy said he thinks it is my sphincter of odi. So they did an ERCP and the sphincter was sealed shut, so they did a sphincterotomy. They sliced it open and now it's opened permanently. No more pain!!!!

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[Down South Aussie 65]

I wonder how much of these gall bladder problems are a side effect of the WLS or how many of them are pre-existing and even perhaps exacerbated by the WLS.

[Sonotech 3]

They are a common side effect of rapid weight loss.

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[LittleLizzieLilliput 919]

Rapid weight loss causes the gallbladder to form gallstones. Happened to me after my liquid diet where I lost 150 lbs. 2 years later I was in ICU cause my gallbladder threw a stone, go caught in the duct between the stomach and pancreas, caused my pancreas to back-up, start digesting itself, caused me to permanently diabetic (type 1 now folks, on insulin 3 times a day. yay...) put me into Ketoacidosis and I almost died. And the STILL didn't know what was wrong. I had to have a cup in my car for when I just started puking while driving.

Finally had an endoscopy done and they found out my gallbladder was FUBAR'd. Doc said "Let me take out your gallbladder, give you the VGS and within a year your life will be 100% better and you'll be thin." She was correct on all accounts.

To me, from just your basic symptoms, I'd say you probably are having gallbladder issues. Good luck, I had a CT scan that confirmed the gallstones and my Endoscopy confirmed Gallbladder disease. After my surgery the doctor said "You were a VERY sick young lady. It took us 4 hours to separate your gallbladder from all the organs and tissues around it because it was so diseased." Part of why my recovery was so long was because my gallbladder had adhered to everything around it...including my ORGANS. I had part of my liver removed as it was connected to the gallbladder (when the gallbladder goes bad it secretes enzymes and Proteins much like a scab and then forms scar tissue connecting it to things around it. I didn't know how sick I was obviously, I'm glad you are getting on top of this now!!).

Good luck!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I know how horrible the constant nausea is, I was vomiting and sick for a year.

[mylighthouse 782]

5 hours ago, Sonotech said:

After gallbladder was removed I started having the same pain again, was in the ER 3 times in a week, with negative hida negative chest,abd,pelvis ct. Finally my gastro guy said he thinks it is my sphincter of odi. So they did an ERCP and the sphincter was sealed shut, so they did a sphincterotomy. They sliced it open and now it's opened permanently. No more pain!!!!

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Interesting. I have been having pain that mimics gallbladder pain (had mine removed 3 weeks ago). The pain has gotten pretty bad, but refusing to go to ER again. I thought maybe I was taking in too much fat. Possible? Trying to lower my fat even more to see if that helps. If it doesn't, then possibly sphincter of oddi.

Sorry to hear of your troubles, thanks for sharing. Glad your pain is gone.

[Staceymorrow 3]

8 hours ago, Sullie06 said:

My gallbladder started acting up at around 6-7 months post op. I had a scan and they found no gall stones but the pain persisted. They followed up by ordering me a Hida Scan and that determined my gallbladder was not functioning properly. I'm currently 13 months post op and scheduled to have my gallbladder out 2/16

My Dr did the hida scan and ultrasound prior to the surgery, everything was fine so he left the gall bladder, guessing I'll be having those done again. I'll just be glad when I'm not feeling sick every day. I know everyone said the first year is the hardest but i am literally approaching my year mark next week and sometimes it seems the symptoms are getting worse instead of better which is what got me to wondering if it was the gall bladder.

[mylighthouse 782]

@Staceymorrow hope you feel better soon, definitely get into the doc soon and find out what is going on.

[Sonotech 3]

They always check gallbladder before surgery, but if you are sick you should be checked again. You should see a gastroenterologist.

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