How long can you go with a bad gallbladder?

[BMW]

Mine has been acting up for a coule months. It's been getting worse. I saw a Dr. and had an ultrasound, but the Dr. hasn't called back (being the weekend, probably). I'm getting fairly uncomfortable at times....

 

Any recs for easing it? And super wonderful cures that will turn it around so that I don't have surgery? Any testimonies of someone having surgery and it ending up great???

 

I am getting really tired of pain and discomfort, but the Dr. doesn't seem to making any move on it.... probably because I am not throwing up and running a fever.... hmph....

[Lawana]

I've had my gallbladder removed with zero ill effects. There are some in my immediate family that can't afford surgery, and manage with a very low fat diet. So far it seems to work.

Good luck. IMO, a gallbladder attack is more painful than childbirth.

[Starr]

My doctor told me I could eat bread until the surgery and I would be okay. I got progressively worse and the last while before I broke down and found out what was wrong with me I was eating very little. Homemade chicken soup, cooked carrots, and rice. I tried to be sure what I was eating was healthy but I couldn't eat much. My surgery went well but did have a pulmonary embolism. Once recovered from that I was good too go. Other friends have made it with a low fat diet.

[rdolphingirl]

Although I've never had trouble with this myself I've heard of people who did... most did not have surgery ... but rather were able to rid themselves of the problems by flushing ...

 

Here is a site that explains some options :

http://www.sensiblehealth.com/Journey-03.xhtml

 

HTH,

[Jean in Newcastle]

Bee -

 

I'm taking the Gallbladder Nano Detox mentioned in this site for my gallbladder. I am taking it on the advice of a naturopath but my MIL (who has gallbladder problems) is just taking it on her own. My dh took it a few months ago and felt like it helped him tremendously. I haven't taken more than one dose so I can't tell you how it works for me.

 

http://totalhealthsecrets.com/ENGLISH/catalog/collection_display.php?product_collections_id=78

[fairfarmhand]

My mil went for years, but was miserable. Eventually it had to come out when she could barely eat.

[Mejane]

I use these on recommendation of my naturopath. They help metabolize fat in the liver and gallbladder. http://www.vitacost.com/Standard-Process-AF-Betafood-0825?csrc=NTDC-812122010061

[Lara in Colo]

You can live with a bad gallbladder, but why? I thought I was having a heart attack. One it was gone....nothing. I hope you have the means to get rid of it.

 

Lara

 

I'm adding this part because I think its important to mention that like anything "bad" it can (and probably will) lead to infection--thus some SERIOUS issues can occur--Just a (negative) thought.

 

L

Edited April 11, 2010 by Lara in Colo

[jld]

Quiver went through this a few years back. Maybe you could pm her and see what she suggests.

[Ruby]

For me I had to drink a lot more water. Dropped my total fat intake to 10 grams per meal. (you want some fat but not a lot). I cut my portion sizes in half. I couldl time my eating. If I ate something with fat and made it about 4 hours without any pain I was fine and I could eat my next small meal. My naturopath gave me some supplements to nourish the gall bladder. I took it as a sign that I was seriously mistreating my body. I was shoving large portions, sugary and fatty and just not good for me. I never drank enough water or exercised. I got a second opinion from the naturopath who did a full hair and saliva analysis. It was very helpful. I did not agree that I should take it out. Especially when the doc couldn't tell me why it was doing what it was doing. It worked for me to not have surgery and it took about a year to finally feel like I could eat what I wanted. I do get alittle achy now and then if I haven't been eating right. I do know that if you can't get a handle on it you might want it out. A stone could get stuck and you could end up in serious trouble. I took the risk. But that is something you will have to decide. I did lose about 22 pounds though from changing my eating habits. That was nice. Hope you feel better soon. Whatever you choose. I agree with the other poster....an attack is worse than childbirth. Ruby

[NanceXToo]

Don't eat anything fried, fatty, greasy, spicy etc while waiting for the surgery and then hopefully you won't have an attack between now and then. The attacks are AWFUL, worst pain I ever felt in my life, I think, and I felt like I couldn't even breathe.

 

Be aware that after you have the surgery, you might experience a couple of times what feels almost like another mini gall bladder attack here and there while healing, it's actually trapped gas which you will have quite a lot of at first.

 

But once you are through the recovery period- you should be fine; I had mine out over four years ago now. (Oh, it was fun, my first attack was while I was pregnant with my now four year old son, so they couldn't do anything for me other than tell me to watch what I ate. I had an appointment scheduled to meet with a surgeon after the baby was born but when my son was 10 days old I had another gall bladder attack, a bad one, and I ended up in the hospital for 5 days. Starting the day after we moved to a new apartment. With a ten day old newborn. Who was breastfeeding. And it was right before Thanksgiving. Fun, fun!) But anyway it was a relief never having an attack like that again so I'm glad I had it removed!

[JFSinIL]

My 16-yr-old dd had hers out end of January - after over a year of what we thought was tummy pain, perhaps from forgetting her Lactaid (also have lactose intolerance here). Turns out her gall bladder was malformed - long and skinny like a pencil, instead of correct "blob" shape - so whenever it needed to squeeze out bile it was having spasms instead (ouch!). Plus full of small stones. In retrospect, one stone was stuck once - in the summer she had a monster of a belly ache (we were checking for appendicitis symptoms, it was that bad!).

 

She feels much, MUCH better now - only side effect is if she has too much fat everything just comes right out the other end. Since she is overweight (obese) and needs to diet anyway she sees this as a plus ;)

 

The surgery was done laproscopic (spell check won't help me here) with three teeny incisions. She could have gone home same day but they kept her over night for observation since she was a kid.

[Quiver0f10]

Mine has been acting up for a coule months. It's been getting worse. I saw a Dr. and had an ultrasound, but the Dr. hasn't called back (being the weekend, probably). I'm getting fairly uncomfortable at times....

 

Any recs for easing it? And super wonderful cures that will turn it around so that I don't have surgery? Any testimonies of someone having surgery and it ending up great???

 

I am getting really tired of pain and discomfort, but the Dr. doesn't seem to making any move on it.... probably because I am not throwing up and running a fever.... hmph....

 

I lasted 15 months by eating a very low fat, high fiber plant based diet. By the time I had it removed I was in daily pain and the Dr told me afterwards that my GB was hardened and shrunk. My liver test(whatever that means) was highly abnormal and it took almost 6 months afterwards for the tenderness/pain in my liver area to go away. The surgery was a breeze and I highly recommend not waiting like I did.

[jazzyfizzle]

Not trying to frighten here.. but I had the most serious complications- a stone lodged in the pancreatic opening and basically ruined my pancreas- I went into a DKA coma with gall bladder disease & pancreatitis. I became a Type 1 diabetic (in my 30s) as a result.

Shortly after coming out of Icu and recovering from many complications- they took it out.

I am an extreme case- and probably something to do with it was that I was pregnant at the time- the fetus pushing up on the whole digestive system and it sitting out of wack. But just something to think about.

[Laurie4b]

On the other side of the issue, I had a friend who was diagnosed as having gallbladder troubles (after numerous tests), they took it out, and the problems continued. Misdiagnosis. So before you lose a body part, just be extra sure. They did eventually fix whatever it was and I don't think the effects of having it removed are too bad.

[Brooketopia]

There are no awards for putting up with unnecessary pain in this life. Get the darn thing taken out.

 

I had one attack in the middle of the night, could not breathe because it was so painful to inflate my rib cage...got it taken out the next day. No problems since.

[cubfan]

I had mine out about a year ago. I hate hospitals and was terrified of "going under." The recovery was EASY and fast- it seriously couldn't have been any easier. Mine got progressively worse because I kept putting surgery off until my dh wouldn't let me anymore. He is a doctor and didn't want me going into emergency surgery. I've not read any of the replies, but my main point in posting is to tell you not to wait. Dh has seen too many emergency surgeries w/complications(including death)- the controlled situation is so much to your advantage. You will be surprised at how easy it is and how much better you feel!

[KatieJ]

I started having attacks when my two youngest were born. I did teh flush and was pretty good for about 5 years..then I had it out. Not one problem since.