gallbladder pain, apparently no stones

[JL_C]

went to the hospital yesterday with severe nausea, vomiting, and gallbladder pain. i had gone to a different hospital about this about a month ago, and they said there were stones, but this one said there were none. they got the results from the ultrasound from the previous hospital, said there was nothing wrong with my gallbladder, that there's just sludge(which they say won't hurt me, but i'm sure it does) but that they would do another ultrasound just in case.

they gave me about a total of 7 shots of morphine, 2 shots of gravol, and 4 or 5 of T3's within the 27 hours i was there, and, for some strange reason, nothing worked. they did 4 blood tests on me, an x-ray, an ultrasound for the gallbladder, kidneys, and liver, and everything came back normal. so they gave up on me, because they couldn't figure out what was wrong, and they let me leave the hospital when i was just in as much pain as i was when i got there.

no doctors will really help me. my doctor won't do anything, and the hospitals can't figure it out so they won't try anymore. what's going on? none of them are going to refer me to a surgeon. what can i do now?

i also have a second question, does everyone have sludge in their gallbladder? my boyfriend seems to believe everyone has sludge, and that i'm crazy for worrying about sludge in my gallbladder and thinking that it's causing pain.

(if this is the wrong place to post this, sorry. i'm new here!)

[CalGal]

Sludge is a sign that something is not right. Sludge can cause pain and can be an indication that the gallbladder may need to be removed. In some cases, movement of the sludge out of the gallbladder and into the common bile duct can cause irritation to the duct and result in spasms. Further, if the irritation extended to where the common bile duct enters the small intestine, that muscular opening (sphincter of Oddi) can spasm and that can be extremely painful. In conditions such as those (spasms), administration of narcotic-based medication can cause pressure elevation in the duct and pain will be increased, not decreased.

You need to have your doc refer you to a surgeon. You may have to relay the information (above) to your doc in a calm manner to indicate you have an understanding of what is going on to get your doc to move on the situation. In addition, ask your doc to order a HIDA scan with CCK injection to check your ejection fraction. If that fraction is less than 30 or 35 percent, that number along with the sludge seen on the ultrasound would typically suggest to a doctor that your gallbladder should be taken out.

In the meantime, it may help to follow a low fat diet. Fats can make the situation worse in some cases.

[JL_C]

this is constant. i've been having constant pain and nausea for the past two months, from the moment i wake up to the moment i go to sleep. everything i eat seems to make me worse. yesterday was the first time i threw up because of this problem though.

[JeanClaude]

Have your physicians ruled out a Hiatal Hernia? Have you taken note of what you eat earlier in the day prior to these episodes? There could be some transient issues related to eating habits.
-JC-