Gall Bladder Issues Post Op

[musicgirl713 7]

so what happened to draw the drs attention to your gall bladder if you didnt have the pain?? im curious...

I had frequent upset stomachs and diarrhea and I was concerned that that might cause problems for the band. So he sent me for a gallbladder ultrasound and an endoscopy. I had gallstones and a hiatal hernia, which he repaired at the same time too.

[adorkbl 156]

..how awful. were they long in getting to the source of the problem? it sounds really painful. what sort of test did they do to find it? i dont recognise HIDA ...judy

It took about 4 months to diagnose. They thought it was my band at first because symptoms presented about a month post op. I had looooots more testing done than listed.. but those were to rule out band issues. I actually had to switch PCP's because mine wanted to "wait" and see before doing a ultrasound and HIDA scan. I was NOT cool with that.

Here is the info on a HIDA scan from Wiki:

A cholescintigraphy scan, also known as: Hepatobiliary Iminodiacetic Acid HIDA, Paraisopropyl Iminodiacetic Acid PIPIDA, or Diisopropyl Iminodiacetic Acid DISIDA scan is a nuclear imaging procedure to evaluate the health and function of the gallbladder. A radioactive tracer, usually a ⁹⁹Tc-iminodiacetic acid chelate complex, is injected through any accessible vein, then allowed to circulate to the liver, where it is excreted into the biliary system and stored by the gallbladder and biliary system.^[1]

In the absence of disease, the gallbladder is visualized within 1 hour of the injection of the radioactive tracer. If the gallbladder is not visualized within 4 hours after the injection, this indicates either cholecystitis or cystic duct obstruction. This investigation is usually conducted after an ultrasound examination of the abdominal right upper quadrant for pain. If the non-invasive ultrasound examination fails to demonstrate gall stones (or other obstruction to the gall bladder or biliary tree) in an attempt to establish a cause of right upper quadrant pain, this cholescintigraphy scan can be performed as a more sensitive and specific test. Cholescintigraphy scans are not generally done first line due to their increased cost and invasiveness.

[judych 225]

It took about 4 months to diagnose. They thought it was my band at first because symptoms presented about a month post op. I had looooots more testing done than listed.. but those were to rule out band issues. I actually had to switch PCP's because mine wanted to "wait" and see before doing a ultrasound and HIDA scan. I was NOT cool with that.

Here is the info on a HIDA scan from Wiki:

A cholescintigraphy scan, also known as: Hepatobiliary Iminodiacetic Acid HIDA, Paraisopropyl Iminodiacetic Acid PIPIDA, or Diisopropyl Iminodiacetic Acid DISIDA scan is a nuclear imaging procedure to evaluate the health and function of the gallbladder. A radioactive tracer, usually a ⁹⁹Tc-iminodiacetic acid chelate complex, is injected through any accessible vein, then allowed to circulate to the liver, where it is excreted into the biliary system and stored by the gallbladder and biliary system.^[1]

In the absence of disease, the gallbladder is visualized within 1 hour of the injection of the radioactive tracer. If the gallbladder is not visualized within 4 hours after the injection, this indicates either cholecystitis or cystic duct obstruction. This investigation is usually conducted after an ultrasound examination of the abdominal right upper quadrant for pain. If the non-invasive ultrasound examination fails to demonstrate gall stones (or other obstruction to the gall bladder or biliary tree) in an attempt to establish a cause of right upper quadrant pain, this cholescintigraphy scan can be performed as a more sensitive and specific test. Cholescintigraphy scans are not generally done first line due to their increased cost and invasiveness.

i can understand why they would want to do every other test first. At least they can find those elusive problems now. The gall bladder sounds like it is a tricky thing to diagnose sometimes. i hope i never have to deal with it.

[lapfrustrated 0]

so what happened to draw the drs attention to your gall bladder if you didnt have the pain?? im curious...

My pain in my upper abdomen...dull pain...cant really hold anything down...no even liquids...started sunday while lieing down a cough awoke me and felt as if i had phlem and cough was horrible, pain in my chest from the coughing..now i just have pain in the upper abdomen in the center....does this sound familiar?

[2012 359]

Hi texas-bandette, how did they rule out that it was not gas pains? I have had this pain on my left side under my ribs for 2 days and I can't get it to go away, even with Gas-X and my port is on the right, so I don't believe that's it.

[honk 780]

If you eat something high in fat like fried food, ice cream, donuts and a couple hours you have an attack that's the gall bladder.

[trisket 46]

Last night I woke up at 3:30 with problems breathing and a horrible pain in my chest and back. I woke my husband up and he called my LB Doc. While he was on the phone with him I was walking back from the bathroom (I thought I was going to be sick) and I ended up passing out face first into the carpet. I went to the ER were they took a chest xray and did a ct scan. They ruled out a blood clot and didn't give me any anwsers before sending me home. On the way home my lb doc called back and told me he wants me to get my gallbladder checked. I will be going in on Friday morning for that test.

It was scary. I passed out because my pulse and blood pressure were very low. They gave me morphine and oxygen so after a few hours I was feeling better. I haven't had any more problems all day but I am scared to go back to sleep. That as the wost pain I have ever felt and I don't want it to happen again.

[lapfrustrated 0]

I called the drs office they want me to go in and get the band un-filled and see if maybe something is stuck. I will be having other tests done also to rule out stones.

My sugar/blood pressure does go down also...hope all is well.

[MrsColeman 3]

Oh my word, I am going through all this pain at the moment. Started last Wednesday (I had put it down to the band as I was extremely stressed - I have a very sensitive band). I am on holiday at the moment and had to see a doctor this morning with the pain. The pain is in my right shoulder and down both sides of my ribs. The Doc felt my tummy and said everything seems ok but it's hard to explain the pain and band situation to people that don't understand a band to start with. He has given me strong indigestion tablets and see my regular GP next week when home (of which they won't understand either).

What do people here think i should I do please?

Thanks in advance for your replies.

[judych 225]

Oh my word, I am going through all this pain at the moment. Started last Wednesday (I had put it down to the band as I was extremely stressed - I have a very sensitive band). I am on holiday at the moment and had to see a doctor this morning with the pain. The pain is in my right shoulder and down both sides of my ribs. The Doc felt my tummy and said everything seems ok but it's hard to explain the pain and band situation to people that don't understand a band to start with. He has given me strong indigestion tablets and see my regular GP next week when home (of which they won't understand either).

What do people here think i should I do please?

Thanks in advance for your replies.

you say you are on holiday? have you eaten anything fattening or something that wouldnt go through the band?? just a thought.

[MrsColeman 3]

No, hardly been able to eat anything due to the pain. Got a defill booked for Sunday so will see if that helps to start with and if not then go to my gp on Monday for further tests or questions etc.

[ccsbulldog 59]

I am also having issues. I was banded 12/30/11. I have been having "attacks" of pain for a few months. Nothing consistant. One time after eating yogart, once after salad, once after cottage cheese and english muffin and other foods, nothing greasy, nothing fried.... I had a slip to have blood work done when I was having the pain from last dr. appointment. My bloodwork showed that my liver enzymes are elevated, also a sign of gall bladder (when I googled causes of raised liver enzymes). My pain starts in the middle of my body and travels straight through to my back. Pain lasts for about one to two hours from the start, sometimes longer (with my last "attack" it was abput 4 hours) I've also felt very sick to my stomach like I'm going to get sick, but haven't. I have an ultrasound scheduled for next week. I'm hoping it's my gall bladder. I hate the unpredictability of this.

[neener1970 39]

It starts small and very random. Chest tightness comes first like a pulling from my shoulders down then the radiating pain from my chest down around my ribs to my back. That's when I hide if I am at work or in public and quickly take my pain pill because next is the chills, sweats and nausea. The pain makes you rock back and forth and sometimes you almost pass out. The pills dull the pain but not the sweats and I think they upset my stomach even more. I thought I had a band slip, but then it went away and came back. I called my surgeon who sent me to the er for an ultrasound to check my gallbladder and it was toasted. The surgeon that is removing it seems to have a busy schedule so I suffer with the attacks that went from random to sometimes all day I have surgery August 20th and I cannot wait to be free of it. I lost over a 100 pounds and they said it was just too much for my gallbladder. Don't wait check it and get rid of it because it will get worse and the attacks at work and in public are humiliating

[clb239 1]

I started having stomach pain around July 26 or 27...It finally started to subside 4 or 5 days later...than started back on the 3rd...I went to work on the 5th and had to call my boss that I couldn't make it...I went straight to the ER at 5am...

After the blood tests it was determined that I had pancreatitis...my pancreas emzymes were off the chart...the ER staff couldn' believe I drove to the ER...

A cat scan was done but it didn't show any gallstones so they weren't sure what was causing the pancreatitis...

I was admitted to the hospital and an Ultrasound was done and that discovered the gallstones...On the afternoon of the 6th I had 5 gallstones removed that were blocking the duct from my pancreas...

On Wed my gallbladder was removed...The Dr. said my gallbladder had between 40 and 50 gallstones in it...

I don't know if my results would have been any different if I had gone in sooner but I wouldn't have had to go through almost 2 weeks of pain...

Talking with the medical staff at the hospital it appears that once someone starts having gallstones they will keep getting them until the gallbladder is removed...

[tnt21705 8]

i have the same pain under my left side under my ribs and breast area. I go for testing for gallbladder tomorrow. Yikes! it hurts almost ever time I eat. I thought maybe I stretched out my stomach above the band. DR is starting with gallbladder testing first.