undiagnosed chronic Abdominal Pain - Hyperkinetic Gallbladder?

[mattr11]

Hello,

I have been living with undiagnosed chronic abdominal pain for the last 3 1/2 years of my life. The pain is mostly in my upper right quadrant near my ribs and some times travels to near my belly button, to my left ribs. The pain also goes to my middle back and upper back quite often. The pain never seems to go away and always seems to just vary in intensity. I also cannot drink alcohol at all anymore, I have had to give it up. If i drink even a few drinks I will have pain in my abdomen and back and the next day I will have increased pain.

I have had every test that the doctors can throw at me, endoscopy, colonoscopy, Upper GI Series, 2 CT Scans, 3 MRIs, 2 ultrasounds, extensive blood work, Celiac Test, capsule endoscopy, nerve conductivity tests, Thoracic Spine MRI. All of these tests have come up normal. The only thing that has come up somewhat abnormal are my two Hida Scans.

My first one had an Ejection Fraction of 87% and my most recent one had an Ejection Fraction 86% with bile reflux. My doctors aren't convinced that my pain would be caused by this. They say since I don't have normal gallbladder attacks after eating fatty meals and my abdomen isn't tender.  My pain is pretty constant and I did notice a slight increase of pain throughout the Hida test and the rest of the day. It is literally the only thing that has shown up during my long over 3 year search. Can any of you please share your experience and knowledge about hyperkinetic gallbladder?

The pain is hard to live with and I can't help but think this could be it. I know surgery is risky, especially if my surgeon removes my gallbladder and I still have pain.  I can't aslo help to think that this bile reflux is being caused by hyperactive gallbladder literally spitting bile up back into my stomach and small intestine and constantly irritating my stomach lining.

[Briversteve]

Well for those of you who have wandered upon this thread, I too have a hyperkinetic gallbladder, rejection rate of 98% per Hilda scan, I too have a dull constant pain in my upper right abdomen just under last rib. It took several tests and finally  was told that they are to remove in a week. This all came on rather quickly, in beginning about a year ago, stools were pale colored, when this seems to have started, sometimes aggravated by drinking a beer, etc. I actually went on gluten free diet but found after a few weeks that wasn't the answer. Anyway, fast forward to a month ago, this thing got real bad after having a beer, severe diarrhea, weight loss of 18 pounds in 2 weeks, really bad headache probably due to dehydration, deathly afraid to eat anything thought I was dying, went to ER, doctors ran several tests to no avail and sent me home after administering pain pills, A day later pain returned as bad as last day, and then a 3rd time. Finally realized it was food related, eliminated all fatty foods completely, Hida scan showed this rejection rate of 98%. I will post again after a few months with living without the gallbladder to see if this is the culprit, which I am convinced it is.

[Briversteve]

Well a day after removal of that little beggar, the pain is gone, except for surgical pain of course, ate some normal food today for the first time in several weeks, all a.o.k. Still no bowel movement since surgery a day and a half ago, but I guess that is pain pills causing constipation, exactly opposite of what it was just a few days before, anyway, the gallbladder indeed was the cause of all that pain

[cmross1108]

How have you been feeling? I have 98% EJ tested 2 years ago and am having surgery next Thursday. Symptoms started up a few years ago, then went away until a few months ago. Weird feeling in URQ - sometimes gnawing, sometimes flutters, sometimes pressure. Nausea/loss of appetite and soft yellow stools.

[S. Kaul, MD]

Hi there!

Well, without a detailed clinical evaluation it would be difficult to determine the cause of your symptoms. Possible causes that may need to be considered include liver/ GB issues, causes related to the respiratory tract/ chest wall, neuro-muscular causes etc. An EF of 87% may not be considered abnormal in the absence of specific symptoms. A bile reflux is likely to have been picked up during an endoscopy. I would suggest discussing the situation in detail with your treating gastroenterologist and consider seeing an internist for a detailed evaluation. After a specific cause is identified, a management plan can be drafted accordingly.
Hope this information is helpful.

Take care!

[azman878]

I am having this problem as well.  Upper RQ pain, comes and goes for the last year and a half, but getting worse the last two months.  Sometimes it spreads around to the back, and my right shoulder hurts now too.  US was normal, other than a small polyp on the gallbladder.  ALT liver enzyme level was a bit high last month, but has come down to almost normal levels now (63).  HIDA scan showed 88% EF.  GI doc and surgeon both said this was fine, but reading a lot of anecdotal evidence on the internet that an EF this high, may be just as bad as having an EF too low.  This seems like new evidence, so a lot of docs aren't on board with this yet.  I don't know what to do at this point.  Scared of having my GB removed, only to have no change and then not have a gallbladder anymore.  Would like to keep all my internal organs where they are!  Any southern California docs know about hyperkinetic gallbladder?

[jenny4kids]

Has anyone had their fb removed after having had an abnormally high hida scan result?  If so, how are you faring?  I am having surgery Thursday to remove this sucker after chasing symptoms for nearly all my life.  I also have a very rapid digestive system.  Nervous as heck about this.  The pain has gotten so bad that just about anything I eat causes pain and nausea.  Ack.  Be done!

[omxsks]

How did everything go.  I to have a hyperactive gallbladder. 95 EF.

[Mountain1210]

I have similar symptoms as yours and curious if yours resolved with gb surgery.

[Kat0887]

Thor1298 as your doctor what your Hida scan results were or your infraction rate. Mine was 99%. My surgeon said he would take my GB out but he is only 75% sure it will fix my problem. Im worried it won't and I will get worse. My pain is everyday and just fluctuates with intensity. Let me know what you find out.

[Thor1298]

my hida scan was said to be normal but they never gave me the numbers

[Thor1298]

i have had right side pain for over a year now i have had many test ct scans normal blood test normal ultra sounds normal endoscope normal...last i seen my gastro dr she sent me away with antidepressents and a stool test my stool test came back with numbers of 338 that should be 50 showing inflammtion so now they are testing for chrons or colitis...i for some reason cannot help but still think its my gallbladder but they cant seem to tell me whats wrong.. i also have experience yellow loose stools that float... i have not been able to eat any fat foods hamburger steak etc i am tired of living this way and i cant help but feel like im another number to my gastro dr i also use to drink wine probably a glass a day with dinner but i cant drink it now or pop.

[Kat0887]

I am having the exact same symptoms only my Hidda scan showed my call bladder functioned at 99%. I saw a surgeon last week and I'm scheduled to have my GB removed in a week. My surgeon thinks that this will rescue my issues but he's only 75% sure. I've been living with this pain for 2 years now but have had it before when I was younger and it went away after years on its own. I'm kind if confused because can your gallbladder be overactive and then be normal again? Did you end up getting yours removed and if so how are you feeling?

[mattr11]

Thank you for your response doctor. I have had now had neuro workup and had a nerve conduction test with a ECG. The neuro stated my results were normal and my abdominal pain was unlikely caused by a neurological condition. In addition, I have also had my lungs looked at through CT Scan. I have been noticing that I sometimes have increased pain after eating certain foods and still even a glass of wine or a beer can make the pain worse.

I have had a full liver panel several times and all my imaging tests have cleared my liver. I have seen 6 gastroenterologists in total over the last 3.5 years and each of them have said my workup is normal. Still the only abnormality are my HIDA scans. I occasionally also have been having very light brown also yellow looking stools when my pain is really bad. My pain is usually there 90% of the time, but just fluctuates. At this point, do you think it is reasonable to persue gallbladder surgey to see if it will mitigate my symptoms? Just this morning I had terrible pain in my right side in conjunction to the pain under near my right rib.

Thank you.