Gall Bladder

[jojo234.5 0]

Hi, I had my surgery 6 months ago and have lost 70 lbs and am just about 10 lbs off of my goal weight. However, I have suffered with excrutiating pains behind my shoulder blades, and after

discussions with my surgeon, had an ultra sound scan and have just found out that I have gall stones and will need to have my gall bladder removed! Does anyone know if this is related to the gastric sleeve surgery? And are there any repercussions for not having a gall bladder? Looking forward to your responses.

[Lori228 60]

I had heard prior to having the surgery that it was a common procedure in (if I am not mistaken) any of the procedures, but other than that I do not know much so not much help. Sorry.

[AuntB 19]

Yes, if you lose weight quickly you can have gall bladder problems. My surgeon does an abdominal ultrasound before surgery & if you have gall stones they will remove your gall bladder when you have bariatric surgery.

[GoldyGirl 186]

Yes, it is because of the surgery, I had to have mine removed also. Good Luck

[Roserie 302]

It's possible to have had gallstones prior to surgery and just not known it. But I would suggest removing it if you are having attacks. Since you've had WLS you probably aren't eating high fat foods which usually cause problems for ppl that don't have their gallbladders so you should be ok. I do have a friend that had to go vegetarian bc pretty much everything she ate was making her sick after having it removed (though I know a ton of ppl who are fine with all foods afterwards).

[Lissa 2,631]

I had my gallbladder removed in February. Other than a slight intolerance for anything high fat and less ability to handle spicy foods (probably in my head), I've made few dietary changes. Granted, I've been lactose intolerant since my sleeve, that hasn't changed. Next to my VSG, having my gallbladder out was one of the best things I've done. I'm amazed at how many little aches and pains that I had accepted as "normal" are gone with the gallbladder. Good luck!

[makemyownluck 785]

I had my gall bladder removed 6 years ago. Honestly, it didn't affect me at all. I was able to eat anything I wanted afterward. Some people had issues with fatty foods when it's removed (similar to IBS symptoms) but I never had that reaction. Some people also get "phantom pains" where they feel like they are having a gall bladder attack after it's been removed, but I never had that either. I do believe both of these are rare.

Still pre-op for the sleeve, but I do know that the incision sites will be the same for gb. Probably similar as far as pain/recovery as well (at least that's what I'm hoping for, cuz that surgery wasn't a big deal for me).

You do form stones when you lose weight rapidly, but they can also form from a bad diet. The bad diet is what caused mine, hence here I am 6 years later getting a sleeve...

You'll feel better when it's out, right away (aside from surgery soreness). Also, there were no diet restrictions when I had mine out, so you should be able to resume your diet, which always makes surgical recovery easier when you can resume your eating habits. It won't be like with the sleeve on the staged diets (unless your surgeon says you need to for some reason, but I don't see why you would).

Good luck, I wish you a speedy recovery!

[Kansas1965 54]

Yes I had my gallbladder taken out the same day I had my Weight-loss surgery

[strouc 99]

I had my gallbladder removed 10 yrs ago and never looked back. I can still remember that pain of the stones. Honestly it's not much different to sleeve surgery and you will never look back. Good luck