Hi all,

I had my first gallbladder attack and ended up in ER. I have multiple stones and they are recommending removal. I’m reading a lot about weight gain post removal- has anyone experienced this? What was your experience like recovering from gallbladder removal post vsg?

Hi. One question. Your profile says you had sleeve on September of last year? Did they not prescribe you medication for gall stones after? I had my surgery 3 weeks ago and they put me on this medication called ursodiol which dissolves gall stones. I will be on this medication for 6 months to 1 year.

Not every one develops gall stones after weight loss surgery. Many actually had them already. They are caused by high cholesterol or high bilirubin levels & can develop during menopause. As you lose weight cholesterol, which is stored in your fat, is released as you lose weight & can cause stones to form. They found a stone at about my 6/7 month mark after a ultra sound to check my liver function. Don’t know when mine formed as I was menopausal before my sleeve, my cholesterol had gone from a steady for years 5 to 5.6 as I lost weight (it’s 4.1 now) & I have high bilirubin. I won the lottery of causes. Never had symptoms before my first attack 25 months after my sleeve surgery. I had my gall removed about two weeks later.

The gall removal surgery recovery was similar but different to my sleeve. After sleeve, I had no gas or pulled or strained abdominal muscles. I had a lot of gas pains & muscle strain affecting my movements for a good week after the gall surgery. But no restricted diet, constipation or diarrhoea, no swallowing issues of course so that was a plus. My surgeon used the same incision sites he’d made for my sleeve. I was home the next day. Same weight restrictions for lifting & same no driving for a week again. He sent me home with some opioid pain meds but I didn’t take them. Did take one nurofen, with his permission, on day 3 but no pain meds at all after that. Just put up with the gas & muscle pain.

Haven’t heard about a potential for weight gain. I have gained 2kgs in the last five months but continued to maintain my weight for 6 months after the gall was removed. I attribute the weight gain to starting a higher dose HRT & working on increasing my protein in that same five months. Plus I’m at the 3 year mark & there is always a potential for weight gain during that 2 or 3 year mark.

Since my gall removal I don’t absorb protein well anymore which was unexpected & is likely just me. We tried medication (creons) for 3 months which didn’t seem to help hence my increasing my protein intake. I’m back on creons to give them a longer go. I am noticing my hair is thinner (not shedding like after the sleeve) & my nails are weaker because of the protein issue. The other odd side effect of no gall is I have random diarrhoea attacks. Usually every 2 or 3 weeks. Almost like there’s a build up acid, which the gall used to regulate. It irritates the bowel & causes the diarrhoea. My sister in law is the same & she hasn’t had weight loss surgery. My aunt says if she eats anything fatty she gets nauseous.

3 hours ago, liveaboard15 said:

Did they not prescribe you medication for gall stones after? I had my surgery 3 weeks ago and they put me on this medication called ursodiol which dissolves gall stones. I will be on this medication for 6 months to 1 year.

Not everyone is prescribed meds for gall stones after surgery. Personally, it seems odd to prescribe meds to dissolve gall stones before you have them. I did ask my surgeon about dissolving the stone after my attack but he said: if you grow one stone you will grow another so it’s best to remove the gall. I have three friends who have had sleeve surgeries too within the last 4 years. None of us were prescribed urisidiol or similar & I’m the only one to form a stone. But your surgeon must have their reasons for doing so.

9 hours ago, liveaboard15 said:

Hi. One question. Your profile says you had sleeve on September of last year? Did they not prescribe you medication for gall stones after? I had my surgery 3 weeks ago and they put me on this medication called ursodiol which dissolves gall stones. I will be on this medication for 6 months to 1 year.

It doesn't completely prevent the gall stones, just minimalizes the risk of them. It still happens, nothing is a 100% guarantee.

16 minutes ago, kcuster83 said:

It doesn't completely prevent the gall stones, just minimalizes the risk of them. It still happens, nothing is a 100% guarantee.

Yes correct. The reasoning my surgeon prescribed it because he said its common for people to get gall stones during rapid weight loss so basically its a preventative thing.

Just now, liveaboard15 said:

Yes correct. The reasoning my surgeon prescribed it because he said its common for people to get gall stones during rapid weight loss so basically its a preventative thing.

Yea, I am on it too for about 6 months. I was only explaining there is still a chance people taking preventative medicine could still develop gall stones.

I had my gallbladder removed 12 weeks after having my Lap Band placed. It was already an issue before I even had my band placed tho. When it was removed we found out that it was porcelainized. It's rare for that to happen but it was precancerous, so I'm happy it was removed. No complications or issues afterwards. It was one of the easiest surgeries I've had tbh.

Being that it is so common for gall stones after WLS, I don't know why they don't just take it when they do surgery. I am sure it has to do with an insurance issue.

8 minutes ago, kcuster83 said:

Being that it is so common for gall stones after WLS, I don't know why they don't just take it when they do surgery. I am sure it has to do with an insurance issue.

Some do, most don't. And yeah I think it's money based. More surgeries, mean more money. My friend had her sleeve surgery in Mexico and she said it was an optional add on to her sleeve surgery. She said all she had to do was opt in for it and pay like idk an extra $500 to have it removed at the same time. She wasn't having issues with her gallbladder, but she wanted to nip it in the bud since she didn't have insurance at the time. So that's what she did.

2 minutes ago, BypassingMyPhatAss♡ said:

Some do, most don't. And yeah I think it's money based. More surgeries, mean more money. My friend had her sleeve surgery in Mexico and she said it was an optional add on to her sleeve surgery. She said all she had to do was opt in for it and pay like idk an extra $500 to have it removed at the same time. She wasn't having issues with her gallbladder, but she wanted to nip it in the bud since she didn't have insurance at the time. So that's what she did.

I asked my surgeon to take it, he said he can't unless I had a history of gall stones (which I don't). I just don't want to have another surgery! Hopefully I don't have any issues though.

It would have been worth the extra $500 to not have to worry about it, especially not having insurance. I would have made the same choice as your friend.

My surgeon will take the gallbladder of his VSG patients if he feels stones when he is in there; with his DS patients he takes it as a matter of routine as he feels the risk on another surgeon going in there and getting lost in the altered anatomy outweighs the benefits of leaving it there, That isn't an issue with VSG (and presumably the RNY, which he rarely does) as those are familiar to any general surgeon. He also doesn't routinely prescribe Urdusol, or at least didn't when I had mine done.

Lots of variations in this world.

Thank you everyone! I was prescribed ursidol but unfortunately that had some unpleasant side effects for me so stopped taking it after three months. I'm 7 months post op now. Thank you for your input!