Gallbladder problems

[Titian 10]

Mines niggling me this evening but am petrified the really bad pain will come. Think I should pack a hospital bag just in case.

 

 

Poor you, fingers crossed, it may subside and leave you alone. I suppose if it gets bad they can give you morphine for the pain if you go to hospital. Heres hoping it doesn't come to that though.

 

[Hels 10]

I had the same problem about 5-6 years back. The pain would start up at around 2am and last for an hour or so. Over time it got more painful and more frequent until one night I was rolling round in agony and was admitted to hospital.

 

Waited over 18 months for the operation, and eventually had the gall bladder removed via key-hole surgery in Bradford. Was in and out in less than 24hrs. Only trouble I had was the 'staples' used in Bradford were not like ones used in Sheffield and no-one had any staple removers. Eventually had to go to A&E and have them pulled out with tweezers - that was the worst bit!

 

The one thing I wish someone had warned me about was that my belly button would be sticking out after the 'op (that was the biggest 'cut' because that's the way in for the camera). I was worried it wouldn't go back to normal but it did after a couple of days

[nanrobbo 12]

Hels, you were pretty fortunate that your navel went back to normal (good phrase that). After my keyhole gall-bladder op my belly button came out like a chapel hat peg - umbilcal hernia it seemed. So I had to have another op. cut from waist to whatsit- now that was an OPERATION, the worst part was having the drain tubing pulled out OUCH!! Still alls well etc and I feel fine now.

[Titian 10]

At Sheffield after my op they were unsure what type of stitches I had, dissolvable or not. I was left to figure it out by myself. After a long time I decided they were probably not dissolvable and pulled them out myself with tweezers as they seemed to be getting infected.

[deelightful3 10]

yeah i had keyhole surgery to remove my gallbladder and i was so relieved to get rid of it,i now have one small scar under my belly button and three very small crosses on my belly

[LordChaverly 10]

Don't worry she did research it properly and as i mentioned her brother is a doctor and she did it under his supervision (at his home with him present). The doctor in the link you provided (to my surprise) was surprised that she says this "My sister Christine tried it first. "Fifty stones", she reported, "I passed fifty gallstones!". I was as surprised as she was, because Christine is in her early twenties and does not have typical gallstone symptoms such as pain under her right ribcage, right shoulder pain, nausea, fatty food intolerance, constipation and gas."I find it surprising mainly due to the fact that many people have gallstones and have no symptoms. It's something like 80% of the population in the UK that have them!

 

Anyway, there is plenty about it and its effectiveness on the internet, also by doctors. You do need to be scanned though to know what type you have (as I've mentioned).

 

Also, you can still form gallstones in the common bile duct even years after surgery, so I suppose no treatment is 100" and all is a little controversial. It depends on what you view as controversial, doing a liver flush (which is also beneficial for other ailments/diseases) or having surgery and removing an organ that you obviously need to perfom efficiently.

 

In the OP's case though it seems you have to choose the surgery route due to other ailment complications.

 

The NHS do like to whip them out so that they can eliminate the possibility of you being an expense to treat in the future, lets not pretend it's for your health that they do it, money is the motivator as with most things in the NHS.

 

I think a possible danger of advocating liver flush as a possible treatment for gallstones is that at least some people will view it as a home remedy for what is potentially a life-threatening condition. Your friend was fortunate to have a relative who was a doctor to supervise the treatment. But it seems to me that even this situation was very risky, since there is no way that any doctor can detect the presence of gall stones without a scan or something very similar. This treatment will probably only make sense if before and after scans are taken - and i can't see how the NHS would agree to this. At best, you would probably end up on a waiting list of weeks and more likely months for a scan. Moreover, I think that a flush could easily make matters worse by 'jogging' stones into a more dangerous position, perhaps even leading to a blockage in the bile ducts. You are quite right about the unpredictability of gallstone attacks. You could have one and never have another. But flushing could in fact precipitate rather than relieve an attack for the reasons you mention. I agree with you about the tendency of some surgeons to favour surgical solutions for medical problems (which is hardly surprising). But I think in this case their enthusiasm for surgery is usually well-justified in most cases.

[dynamicdebz 10]

Already recieved an appointment today to see surgeon in 4 weeks time. Hope he rushes it through.

BTW: My pain eventually went after a good nights sleep.

[Hels 10]

I got an appointment to see the surgeon pretty quickly, it was just the waiting for the op that took a while. You'll probably find there are certain foods/drinks that trigger the pain so you can pretty much avoid eating/drinking them which will help while you are waiting. I think I lost around a stone in weight so there was something positive about it!

 

I know someone who decided to not have the op' and managed by altering her diet. I guess that's fine until a stone gets 'stuck' or something then it can end up an emergency op' and peritenitus or something like that.

 

They gave me some really good painkillers to keep me going DF118's - worked a treat on the pain but gave me a migraine the next day so I avoided taking them if at all possible.

[dynamicdebz 10]

I've got the DF118's but they don't touch the pain at all, not even when its niggling.

I've already know quite a few foods that I can't eat but not sure if thats because of the gallbladder or inflamed tummy or hiatus hernia???

Can't touch foods that are hard to digest such as eggs, bannanas or cucumber.

[Purrball 10]

I feel your pain

 

I initially had a scan to confirm it was gall stones and it was decided to wait and see if they troubled me again. Naturally they did!

 

I had an appointment with a surgeon at the Hallamshire in January and can't speak highly enough of him! He was ever so nice and explained everything in great detail and at that time he said the waiting list was around 6 months but I'm not holding my breath

[dynamicdebz 10]

OMG, I can't wait that long, I was hoping it may be a month or 2 , I was told it would be pushed through.

Now you've depressed me, lol.

[Purrball 10]

If you get in me before me I'll cry!