Gall bladder removal

[Cherié H 15]

This may seem like an odd question but I don’t know so I’m picking your brains... so I was talking to my brother and his wife’s sisters and mother had WLS but afterward, at some point they all had to have their gall bladders removed!!! I freaked out because of course I just had surgery and my doctor had never mentioned that side effect. But here’s the kicker, we all had the same surgeon by coincidence (Gasp!) There is one difference, they had gastric bypass and I had the sleeve...Should I worry????

[Creekimp13 5,841]

Gallstones are an extremely common side effect of rapid weightloss.

[RickM 1,753]

I wouldn't necessarily worry, but it is something that might happen; it is not associated with any particular procedure, but rather with the rapid weight loss that we get from it. It seems to happen to a small minority of patients - my guess based upon what I see on these various forums is maybe 10% - your surgeon can give a better guess as he is dealing with this every day.

Some surgeons prescribe medication to help with this, though from what I have seen, most do not. My surgeon routinely removes the gallbladder when he does the DS as he doesn't want some other surgeon getting lost in that altered anatomy in that region - this isn't a problem with the VSG or RNY and he only removes the gallbladder in those procedures if he feels any stones in there while he is working.

If you are concerned about it, ask your surgeon about whether it would be appropriate to medicate for it, and talk to your RD about things that you can do on the diet front to minimize the risk. I still have mine and never had any problem with it and didn't do anything special to avoid it. YMMV

[ashd13 26]

I had mine removed about 2 years after I had my lapband. It was basically non functioning at the point they took it out. I wouldn’t worry about it. It’s a common thing to happen but a simple procedure.

[STLoser 1,099]

It is definitely very common for your gallbladder to act up with rapid weight loss..
Having my gallbladder out is what actually led me to getting wls though, because the surgeon saw how bad my liver looked and suggested wls.
So hopefully, it won't happen to you, but there is a possibility. It's not too bad of an operation luckily.. I didn't even have to stay overnight for it.

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[Cherié H 15]

Thank you