Abdominal Pain after fatty foods-Post gallbladder removal

[olsonkl]

I am a 33 year old female, and I just had my second child 6 months ago.  I had my first painful attack of severe epigastric pain (presumed to be a gallbladder) attack about 2 months ago (which was 4 months after my birth of my second child). At the time of the attack, I went to the ER where I had sonogram and blood work taken.  However everything seemed normal.  Upon leaving ER, tentatively diagnosed with Gastritis, however GI cocktail did not stop the pain.  Since this time, I went to see a gasteroenterologist, he tentatively diagnosed me with gallbladder problems and ordered a CCK HIDA scan.  The HIDA scan an revealed a gallbladder ejection fraction of 22%.  Based on the ejection fraction, the Dr indicated my gallbladder was bad and instructed me to contact a surgeon to have it removed.  I had my gallbladder removed a couple of weeks later.  Prior to my surgery, I did not have any more episodes of pain.  However, I did note I was unable to properly digest fats, symptoms included:  Nausea, gurgling of stomach & diarrhea.  Therefore, remained on a minimal fat diet until surgery was performed.  Pathology from my cholecystectomy indicated my gallbladder had chronic inflammation of the gallbladder and think yellow-green bile. After the surgery my ability to digest fats properly seemed to get worse.  My symptoms included a more severe case of a gurgling of stomach and severe diarrhea after ingestion of fatty substances.  In order to get around this problem, I resorted to elimination of fats from my diet, although I still had a few problems with diarrhea and GI indigestion.  My doctor also prescribed Colestid and Metamucil, and this seemed to also help, but the problem did not go away if I ate very fatty foods.  I have had an MRI and an ERCP (where they were specifically looking for a choledochal cyst).  It turns out I do not have a choledochal cyst, but I am not sure they were looking for other problems that are related to my other GI issues.  Now, about 2 months post gallbladder surgery and 2 weeks after the ERCP, I had my second episode of severe epigastric pain after eating the chicken (not the skin) from fried chicken.  I again went to the ER where they ran blood tests and gave my the GI cocktail, again nothing worked (but pain meds) and did not see anything unusual in my bloodwork.  My question to you is, what else could be causing this epigastric pain?  Is it possible it could be pancreatitis or IBS?  Would this have been evident in the ERCP, even if they were not specifically looking for it?   (I think they may have only been focused on the bile duct)  What is causing this fat indigestion?  Is this normal post gallbladder surgery, what else could it be?  Can you suggest any addition tests I could have done to rule out other problems?  Thank you in advance for your help!!!

[Desperation]

My mother had her gallbladder removed on 7-19.  It was supposedly an easy removal. Her gallbladder was adhered to her liver which made the procedure a little more complicated with some extra cauderization of the liver necessary to stop the bleeding.  We were told this is not uncommon.  She spent 5 days in the hospital following the surgery complaining of "in my opinion" to much pain. I took her to her follow up appt. approximately one week later.  She was still complaining of pain, running a high fever (around 102)  and was completely uninterested in eating anything.  My concern led to insisting on her having a repeat CT scan to see what was going on.  That was done on 8-1.   It turns out she had a bile leak which thankfully had walled itself off so it was not leaking into her abdomen.  The leak had turned into an abcess and was extremely infected.  She was admitted to the hospital that night to have a drain put into the abcess.  This was an extremely painful procedure - she was given no sedation and the procedure took about an hour and a half.  I have never seen my mother in the kind of agony she was in.  Well here we are today 8-9, 3 weeks after her surgery and 8 days after having the drain put in, she is finally feeling some relief.  She is expected to be discharged tomorrow going home with the drain still in.  The bile leak is expected to heal itself but if not them she will undergo an ERCP to have a stint put in.  Her appetite is improving but who knows how she will feel once the drain is removed.  This has been a horrible experience for my entire family especially our mother.  I can't imagine anyone having to go through what she has been through.  I pray that she will continue to improve but you can imagine her anxiety about having the drain removed.  

Has anyone experienced anything like this?  If so, how painful is it to have the drain removed?

Thanks for any help.

Desperation

[KarenBthePrincess]

I had my gallbladder out a week ago and was told that I could go back to my regular diet....well I did and it ended up with me violently vomiiting and 10 boughts with diarriaha (sp??) and me going to the ER....Ok, granted, I should have had a steak (they did say I could eat what ever I felt like), but the reaction was insane...They did an Xray (to see if I had any obstructions, non found) another MRI to see if any stones migrated (none found), gave me IV fluids (I was dehydrated from the diarriaha), and did blood work..(elevated liver enzyemes).  The ER doctor told me that I had gastrointeritis and that the surgery left my immune system weakend and I got the stomach bug....

Funny thing is now, I don't wanna eat, PERIOD.  Since the week prior to my GB surgery to current I lost 14 lbs...I guess you can say that I am a non-intentional anorexic....Nothing feels ok when I eat..

Does anyone have suggestions on what to eat and how to control this attacks...I thought that if I got my GB out, I would go back to normal....I don't have the stabbing pain in my shoulders like I did, but the nausa and diarriaha is worse...

HELP!!!!

Karen

[noirnut]

I had my gall bladder out about three weeks ago.  I'm getting better since the surgery, but I'm getting frightened by getting side and back pain after eating a meal.  I have cramping as well, and the sense that I'm going to have diahrrea, but haven't had it for a week or so.  I'm just concerned about the discomfort and pain after eating.   I'm not vomitting or naseus, but I have this terrible bloated feeling and again, discomfort in my right side and back.  

Has anyone experienced this?

[barsh2]

what

[barsh2]

I, too, had my gallbladder removed.  It definitely has not been the most pleasant experience.  I didn't do much research before the removal and wish I had chickened out of the surgery.  I had one gallbladder attack that left me in so much pain that I could hardly breathe.  I went to the ER and they performed an ultrasound which showed my gallbladder was inflamed and gallstones were present.  They recommened that I have it removed.  I had a c-section 5 weeks prior to the gallbladder surgery.  Afterward, I had pressure in my sternum area and they thought I had acid reflux and prescribed me medication.  I suffered from diarrhea and didn't want to eat because of it.  

Someone recommended that I take acidopholus or multidopholus and since I started taking it, my diarrhea has subsided.  I eat pretty much whatever I want but in moderation.  I notice if I eat a lot at one time it upsets my stomach.  I also learned that the nerves in your spinal column can effect how your organs behave.  I found out that the vertebrae between my shoulder blades were out of whack and that I desperately needed an adjustment.  Well I also found out that it's the nerves in that part of your spine that controls your digestive system.  So, for those of you who have not had your gallbladder removed, and even those who have, you may want to start visiting a Chiropractor, and not just any chiropractor.  Try and find a chiropractor neurology office.  Also, if you still suffer from diarrhea, you might want to get your electrolytes checked.  They just draw blood.  My potassium was slightly low, but enough to effect me.  My neurology chiroprator also suggest bile salts.  It helps to break down the fat so your body can digest it more easily (according to him and what I've read about it).

As for whether or not I regret the surgery, it's hard to say.  I am now 6 1/2 weeks post-op and am still recoving from both the gallbladder surgery and the c-section.  I wish I would have done more research first, yet at the same time, it could have been much worse.  I could have passed a stone that would have gotten lodged in the bile duct and became extremely sick.  So there's always a plus and negative side to any decision one can make, especially when it comes to surgery.  

Best wishes to everyone.

[psygirl]

I had my gallbladder removed about 7 years ago. Like many of you, I've also had difficulties with my digestion after I eat since the surgery, specifically severe cramping and diarrhea. I also had problems (less frequently) with severe abdominal pain (burning knot of pain) and intense vomiting.

These symptoms have gotten worse over time. What I've noticed after observing my diet closely is that my digestive system acts up when I combine refined sugar and fats, especially high levels of sugar (e.g., 3 glasses of coke and a cheeseburger). When I suggested this to my doctor, she poohed-poohed me and said the cause was the levels of fat that I was ingesting. But I had carefully separated the two items in my diet, and fat by itself didn't cause the problem; sugar did.

About 18 months ago, I went on the Atkins diet (low carbohydrates, no sugar; higher fat) and no longer had any digestive problems after eating as long as I stayed on the diet. When I ingested sugar--too much, too fast--my digestive problems returned. Levels of fat don't seem to affect me--except in combination with sugar.