Gallstones attack!! OMG.. so painful anyone elese delt with this?

[tyhelms 0]

Hello bandsters. I have found out I have gallstones. I had been having this terrible pain, unexplainable pain in my upper part of my stomach, radiating for like an 1hr to 2. I finally had, had enough and went to the ER.. I called my surgeon and he advised that I go. I didn't want to think it was anythign related to the band, and thankfully it wasn't. I had an x ray done of the abdomen and the dr said everything looked good with the band and port and all. Thank GOD. He then ordered an ultrasound of the gallbladder and there they found gallstones... I have been advised that I will have to have my gallbladder taken out.. Not to thrilled about having another surgery.. but I have no choice seems like.. Meet with the surgeon on Thursday to discuss.. I'm not sure if I already had this or if this occured since the surgery.. Anyone else have exeperienced this?

Surgery date 04/15/09

First fill 06/15/09

2nd fill 08/10/09

Edited September 8, 2009 by tyhelms

[Tish5632 0]

Hi tyhelms,

So sorry to hear about the gallstones. Yes, I have experienced this, and at young age. I was 32 (same age as my mother when she had it) and it went undiagnosed for several months. I would also have the intermittent "attacks" and would go to the ER. I understand that having another surgery is not fun, but, you will be much better in the long run if you go ahead and do it. I had not had LapBand surgery yet, but I know how horrible the gall bladder thing is. Besides, you don't want to end up with a blocked gall duct either, or have the GB get infected, because then you're in an emergency situation.

Hope this helps! :thumbup:

[cheri634 0]

Oh, yes, I'm so sorry you're having to go through this. I had terrible pain attacks for many months from the end of 2007 through the middle of 2008. My doctor finally sent me to another doctor and it just took him one visit and one sonogram (which my doctor had never done) to finally diagnose it. And thank God he did. I have never had any worse pain in my life. My attacks could last anywhere from 5 minutes to as long as 2 hours and I was completely incapacitated by the pain.

He asked me a couple of questions and then had a pretty good idea. He told me I fit into the category of the 5 'F's that are most likely to suffer GB problems (Female - Forties - Fertile - Flatulent - Overweight) I told him it's ok to say fat, but he preferred not to, LOL.

Get your surgery scheduled as soon as possible. You're doctor should give you some diet restrictions for between now and the surgery, and sitck with them!! My doc told me avoid fat and drink lots of Water (there was some other diet advice that I can't remember now). I had only one more attack between diagnosis and surgery date, and it was the one day that I decided some bacon wouldn't hurt me, and that happened to be by worst attack ever and seemed to go on forever. (this was long before I was banded)

You'll be amazed at how much better you'll feel after having the GB out. The recovery was no fun, I was feeling pretty bad for about a week afterward, but once that passed I felt like a whole new person.

[tyhelms 0]

Thank you guys for your response, it was very helpful.. So I have learned schedule surgery asap before more complications occur. So would you say the recovery time was about a week?

[Sue Magoo 71]

Hi:

I had my gallbladder removed in April 2008. It was 9 months after being banded and after I'd lost more than a hundred pounds. Quick weight loss seems to bring on gallstones for alot of people.

I had ten days off after my gallbladder was removed. I was in more discomfort than when I got banded because I had alot of jiggle on my belly because of the loose skin after loosing so much weight. The thing that helped best with this was to wear a tight spanx-like undergarment that went above my belly toward my ribcage. Other than that wasn't too bad.

Hope you feel better soon.

Sue

[BrentinLA 0]

I had my cursed gallbladder out last year, and am supposed to be banded in 6 days. Do yourself a favor and get it removed. The operation is quick, and relatively painless afterwards. I waited 6 months to have mine removed because I was terrified of having surgery. If I had known then what I know now I would have done it immediately. The pain only gets worse and more intense as the gallbladder gets more infected and filled with stones.

It's true that you feel like a new person about a week after having it removed..I did! I had mine out when I was 33, same age as my mother was when she had her's removed (genetics do play a part..lol). The best advice I can give is to avoid ALL fatty foods and high fat dairy. I went on a vegan (no meat, no dairy) diet until my surgery and had no attacks. Get back on shakes, and eat tons of fruits and veggies. Any fat you eat will cause your GB to constrict, and that will cause stones to try to pass, and create tons of pain. Hope this helps..and best of luck.

[tyhelms 0]

Thank you all so much this helps advice helps a lot.

[SteveNY 0]

Good luck...the above advice is great. I had my gallbladder out 6 weeks ago, and I'm still pre-op for band. I was out of the hospital 17 hours after the operation, the recovery was at most 48-72 hours. It hurt a bit at the incision site and I couldn't really sleep on my stomach, but some Tylenol PM was really all I needed. Considering it's an organ removal operation, it's relatively painless and routine -- and I'm sure you'll be ok.

[stacielynntate 88]

Hello bandsters. I have found out I have gallstones. I had been having this terrible pain, unexplainable pain in my upper part of my stomach, radiating for like an 1hr to 2. I finally had, had enough and went to the ER.. I called my surgeon and he advised that I go. I didn't want to think it was anythign related to the band, and thankfully it wasn't. I had an x ray done of the abdomen and the dr said everything looked good with the band and port and all. Thank GOD. He then ordered an ultrasound of the gallbladder and there they found gallstones... I have been advised that I will have to have my gallbladder taken out.. Not to thrilled about having another surgery.. but I have no choice seems like.. Meet with the surgeon on Thursday to discuss.. I'm not sure if I already had this or if this occured since the surgery.. Anyone else have exeperienced this?

Surgery date 04/15/09

First fill 06/15/09

2nd fill 08/10/09

I so know the pain you are talking about. I had mine out in 1999 when my son was 6 weeks old. They surgery was not bad but having a new born to care for was hard. I suggest get the surgery done as soon as you can because the pain will just get worse. Good luck

[owhynot 0]

Hello everyone,

I too have had trouble with my gall bladder- 6 months after being banded and without any advance warning.

Out of the blue one day I was in so much pain I went and had all my fill taken out in case something was up with the band, but it didn't help at all. The nurse sent me to the ER and three hours later they are telling me the gall bladder has to come out, now. "Getting the OR ready now!". Surgery was expected to take an hour and a half, but actually went on for three. Next morning my doctor (same great doc who did my band, thankfully) described it as having been "full of stones, falling apart and gangrenous", which is why it took so long to get it all out of there. Spent two nights in the hospital and went home with a drain that I had to keep for a week.

While I was stuck at home I took a brief look at a few websites that made it clear that gall bladder problems are associated with weight loss. I saw something like 'ten percent of lap band folks will have gall bladder problems show up at the 6 month mark' on one website (sorry I don't recall it) and understood that I was in that ten percent, lucky me.

Go ahead and enjoy having it taken out, because it will never bother you again!

Good luck!

o. :thumbup: