I was wondering if anyone would have any really great enlightenment from their own experience with gallstone attacks. I'm under a doctor's care and have looked up info on the net. It seems to be "wait and see how bad they get."
However, I had a wicked attack last night and it seemed to be brought on by a larger type meal, but without much fat. I know that fatty foods can bring on an attack, but don't know much else.
So, has anyone had this disorder and know any great solutions (short of surgery, which doesn't seem called for yet in my case) for avoiding these (ouch!) pesky attacks? I did see some herbal type cleansing cures (cures misspelled is curse), but am not interested in much in the alternative care. Just requesting some personal experience in avoiding attacks and/or surgery.
I had gallstones for years (was mis-diagnosed as Spastic Colon).....lol you haven't lived till you have been pregnant with gallstones! Anyway...stay away from fatty foods....I used to take valiaran root (herb and probably misspelled) when I felt an attack coming on, it seemed to help, along with hot baths and a heating pad...I tried the herbal route getting rid of them, you know the olive oil and whatnot, didn't work for me either...oh well...
Tell you what best day of my life was when I was admitted to the emergency room after one horrendous bout and had the suckers taken out!
I suffered with gall stones for years. When I finally ended up in the emergency room I had a gall bladder packed tight with stones and all infected.. I was a most nasty experience. That was before laproscopic surgery, too. If I had it to do over again, I would tell the doctor to take the damn thing out because it is inevitable anyhow, especially now that it is done laproscopically. Why wait until it is infected and you are really sick? You haven't lived (or died!) until you have one of those damn stones try to pass and get stuck and you have the infection going and then the stone decides to pass whether it fits through the duct or not. Get it taken care of, you have to sooner or later anyhow.
Thanks for the reply. Pregnant AND gallstone attacks. My sympathies! I was all set to go to the ER last night but the pain eased a bit and then the pain pills helped a little. Lol, the ER said to come in and they could give me something stronger than the pain pills I had here. I would have been really loopy, but out of pain!
Hi Dr. Millie,
That sounds like good advice. The doctor did say if the attacks were too painful and frequent, he'd refer me to a surgeon. Apparently, there's no infection yet or other criteria to indicate surgery (except PAIN ). Thanks for the advice to get it out before it gets worser and worser.
I think what most people who've had their gallbladders removed fail to disclose is that most of them continue to experience gastric discomfort even after the removal of the gallbladder. A coworker still cannot eat fatty foods without also experiencing discomfort and enzymes and Tums have become her new best friends. Gallstones form in the liver and the gallbladder appears to be merely a receptacle for those stones that come from the liver. After you gallbladder is removed, the stones continue to form and get expelled by the liver.
I think you should do some more research into alternative cures especially if you are able to stave off the pains by eating a less fatty diet. Perhaps some of the alternative cures can be more successful if done over a longer period. However, if you have reached the point where your problem is life-threatening, by all means have the surgery.
Thanks for the perspective and giving me pause to really consider it. The doctor says nothing's infected yet so there's no need to operate. I eat a very low-fat diet already and my last attack wasn't caused by that, which was distressing because if I don't know what brought it on, I can't avoid it. But today and this week I'm trying to divide my meals in half at a time.
But GI distress (which I've had anyway for years because of colon cancer) is less painful than the gallstone attacks. Many more attacks like last nite will have me begging the doc for surgery though!
Hey Pat just for the record, nothing I did prevented the attacks...lol sorry to be a downer....but it didn't matter what I did or didn't eat...they just came on....
Also for the record I have had no more problems with that type of thing since the removal of my gallbladder, I know everyone is different, but I wanted to let you know that it does help some people quite a bit....plus it was nice to lay around in the hospital for a few days with people waiting on me hand and foot and the scars are really really small...
I had my gallbladder out after 2 put me on the floor attacks. I was not made to suffer until I "really" needed an operation. I had a laparoscopy (?) surgery, in and out the same day. 3 small holes by the gallbladder and liver area and the camera through a hole by my navel. It was look, snip, grab, and pull it out one of the holes. The holes were stitched up. I healed up quite quickly and did not require a hospital stay.
Of course, on going in, the surgeon may find a situation that requires being switched over to more serious surgery.
Every person is different. 5 people in my family have had the little bugger yanked and it was different every time.
Thanks Xena, that's how I felt with yesterday's attack, because I'd been avoiding most fat except small amounts for health. Actually I had bean soup with no fat added before the attack. Ick! I hate them!
You're not a downer and I'm glad to hear that you had no residual problems afterwards.
