I had my gallbladder out about 3 1/2 years ago. Still having bile issues. Throwing up bile and bile diarrhea. I use Questran powder from my Gastro doc. This does help with the absorption of the bile. It is just a mask but it helps with some of the symptoms.My body is producing excessive bile. I do NOT eat fatty/greasy foods which trigger it. It is the worst feeling in the world when you are sweating so bad your going to pass out. Then in a moment you get so cold. Then the contractions come and spasms. It is the worst feeling in the world . Try doing this sitting in traffic and having to go to the bathroom NOW. This is a daily event. Its terrible. I have appt with specialist in a few weeks. Sure hope to find out whats going on. I have lost 50 pounds in the last 8 months.
I have all the same symptoms from bile yellow vommit to yellow diatreha and prefuse sweating to point my clothes are soaked. Doc doesnt know what to do ive lived in and out of e.r. since my gallbladder was removed early july. Id rather kill mtself than live like this
I see "sludge" mentioned a lot. I was hospitalized back in March for elevated liver enzymes and my GP kept saying it was probably sludge that caused the "liver" pain and the elevated enzymes, but yet my Gastro doctor said there is no such thing as sludge. How true is this? I mean can sludge really cause problems?
utahmomma - I hope you are feeling better and I really hope they get to the bottom of your problem.
Wow - lots of stuff the GI didn't even talk to me about. I'm going to call his office first thing Monday morning. Thanks!
Utahmoma, please make sure they do a manometry when they do the ERCP. And if the facility isn't equiped to do manomentry, please find a place that can. If the pressures are elevated then (and probably only then) should a sphincterotomy be done. If the pressures aren't high you should extract a promise from your doc that a sphincterotomy will NOT be done unless there's no other way of getting into the opening. It's very improtant. If it is cut without raised pressures the long term problems seem to be much higher than if it's cut BECAUSE of the pressures. No one knows why yet, but there's too many cases to discount the results.
In addition, talk about stenting. I know it's not a pleasant idea but it does decrease the chance of pancreatitis.
I am having the exact same symptoms as your sister - plus watery, yellow diarrhea and terrible pain. My ALP is also elevated. I'm going in for an ERCP next week - they think there is scarring and perhaps "sludge" in the bile ducts.
My gallbladder was removed about 5 years ago but I had heavy doses of radiation (oral) for cancer and most of that radiation settled in my liver. Since then (last year), massive problems.
So like CalGal said, it does sound like your sister may be suffering from problems with the bile ducts.
My best to her
I seen on the Discovery Health channel one night about a young girl that had the same symptoms your sister is experiencing and CalGal mentioned SOD and that is exactly what the girl had!
I really hope a doctor can figure this out for her! Best of luck!
Did she have her gallbladder out before this started? If she's vomiting bile, she's experiencing bile reflux. It could be due to a number of things including the presence of sludge or stone in the common bile duct that may have gotten lodged there during the GB surgery and are now causing problems. The diarrhea could also be due to the unregulated release of bile from the common bile duct which is unfortuantely seen in a number of people following GB surgery. Is she following a low fat diet? It's one thing she needs to consider.
Another is to find out whether or not stones/sludge are within the common bile duct/biliary system. She should talk to the doc about doing an MRCP which is a non-invasive test. It may give you some answers.
If she's having pain in the URQ such as is found in 'gallbladder attacks' (despite her not having a gallbladder), the possibility needs to be addressed that she could be experiencing SOD - sphincter of Oddi dysfunction. It's something that a lot of docs don't seem to realize exists - or they deny its existence. If the pain is there, along with the rest of the symptoms, please seen out a biliary specialist who knows something about SOD.