Gall Bladder Transplant

[hope4me791]

I have made the biggest mistake of my life. I had my gallbladder removed, which I felt rushed into by the surgeon, because I had polyps (very small). For some stupid reason I listenend to his bad advise and got it removed. I feel TERRIBLE!! I'm experiencing terrible digestion problems, which I never had before. I have taken enzymes, etc. all to no avail. All of this is a result of the gallbladder removal. Is there such a thing as a gall bladder transplant? I can't live like this...I would definitely have it done. I know this may sound drastic to you (but not to me)...live in my shoes for one day and tell me how drastic it really is.

[Sarsi]

No offense to you, but my gallbladder issues were NOT related to my diet! I had two back to back pregnancies and the gallstones were caused from that!

I do not eat fatty, or deep fried food, or drink soft drinks! I eat very sensibly with lots of vegetables and fruit!

I now have sphincter of oddi dysfunction and biliary issues......which may have been aggravated, again, by the pregnancies and been the pain issues all along......

I too have more digestive issues now than when I had my gallbladder and have bright yellow bile diarrhea most days......it has been 2 years since my surgery and it is not "going away", I agree that doctors do not seem to know how much removing a gallbladder can affect someone! Better ways of treating the stones is needed.......the fact that mine was very inflamed was indicative that it needed to come out, but a lot may be avoided.

[Smiley2000]

Hi there,

I just watched a documentary today on Gallbladder issues!  So this info comes from the Experts:

Gallstones are from to much CHOLESTOROL in the body!  Cholestorol can be familial or due to poor diet that consists of to much fat.

If the Gallbladder forms stones, it is not doing it's job and should be removed before the stones get stuck in the bile duct or a lifethreatening infection - Cholangitis - occurs!

I have been without my Gallbladder since 2006.  I ate very healthy, thus no fatty or fried food and lots of fish and veggies, but I have familial cholestorol and had Gallstones and almost died from Cholangitis and stones in bile duct.

I absolutely don't miss my Gallbladder.  My diet still consists of almost no fat and good choices.

Check your Cholestorol levels (Fasting Lipogram) and if you have stones in your Gallbladder, get it removed.

[Sarsi]

I am not arguing that the stones are made from cholesterol......just that it is not always just from diet......

I have had my gallbladder removed......and I have been diagnosed with sphincter of oddi dysfunction now, 2 years later, and I feel that the gallbladder and it's stones, for me, were only a symptom of the underlying condition.....

It's not always black and white,

[Smiley2000]

Some people do get Gallstones if they have a lot of fat in their diet.  But in the case where we eat healthy and still get stones, it is definitely not from a bad diet.  

The familial Cholestorol is not something that is caused by diet.  It is an enzyme in your blood that makes your liver produce low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL).  Which is the bad Cholestorol.

It is the function of the Liver and Gallbladder to excrete this protein from your body and thus form Gallstones if your Gallbladder does not function normally.

[Gallbummed]

Hey Hopef4Me791!
I agree with you. I was basically talked into having my gall bladder removed by my surgeon with the assurance that i would "return to normal" within a few weeks. I am miserable...it was truly a life altering mistake. I cannot travel, go out with friends or even work like i was able to before the surgery. And the 'dull ache' that i reported high on the right side of my back is still there. I had two doctors "consult" me to have the surgery based on the uptake test (Hida scan). I believe that many people have been influenced to have their Gall Bladders taken out based on the results of this test when in fact there was no real problem. My symptoms and experience is exactly like yours and wonder if you were also influenced by the results of this "test". I believe that there may be many people like us and perhaps there is a class action lawsuit that can be brought against the makers and supporters of this so-called definitive test for gall bladder disease. As best as i can figure, my ache was nothing more than a pulled muscle. I also have friends that have ignored the results of the Hipa tests and are fine.

[monkeychucker]

hi hopeforme791 - I also have had similar issues since having my gallbladder removed almost 10 months ago.  My doctor did prescribe cholestyramine for the diarrhea and that really helped.  However, I still constantly feel bloated.  Additionally, I have occasional periods of restlessness/sleeplessness (restless leg being a major player when I'm unable to sleep).  An added little gift was the tinnitus and dizziness that I started experiencing 1 week after the surgery.  The ENT I saw thinks it may have something to do with the anesthesia (but he really doesn't know).  I went to bed one night without tinnitus/dizziness and woke up with it the next day (and it hasn't gone away).  That all said, I do believe my gallbladder needed to come out (my liver function tests were not optimal and keeping a diseased/malfunctioning gallbladder most likely would have led to liver failure...a much worse condition).  When I reflect back on what my life was like with a crummy gallbladder, it also wasn't fun.  I was on increased dosages of pain meds for 1 1/2 years to deal with the pain (which my doctor thought was related to a completely different condition.  I kept getting stones stuck in the duct and that led to excruciating pain...but my doc thought it was related to a condition called Costochondritis...she is great; I don't blame her at all).  So getting off of the pain meds post-surgery also was no picnic.  I am learning to live with all of this - for me it doesn't help to long for the days when my gallbladder was a part of me (trust me...I've been there).  I am not saying that is my advice to you...I have no idea what you do/what your life is like, so for me to say "try and just deal with it" would not be compassionate at all.  My advice is to the degree you can, talk over all of the options you've read on this board with your doctor.  We all can talk about ways that we've dealt with our misery post-cholecystectomy (whether it be changes in diet, meds, or other ways of coping), but none of us really know how it precisely impacts you and your life.  Hopefully you can take some of this advice and present it to your doc and talk about a possible solution (or at least an improvement in your condition).  You haven't posted on this thread in awhile, so hopefully that means things have improved.  I certainly hope that is the case.