Gallbladder problems after pregnancy

[4kiddies]

For those of you who had gallbladder issues after having a baby, can you please describe to me what your pain felt like? Thanks!

[BMW]

I've had two kinds.... initially, I was wakened with extreme sharp pain. Really, it made me scream a bit and I have a fairly good pain tolerance. I had to go to the Er at 4am. I had to take pain killers and had to go back for a scope to look around and also do another test that determined my gallbladder was at 30% functioning rate. During those weeks, I learned to detect gallbladder discomfort.

 

I never did have it removed, I just changed my diet, focused on health and didn't have recurring problems.

 

However, every few years, I do get some discomfort and I know exactly what it is. I get a great deal of pressure right under my right ribs and I feel queasy after eating something with fat content.

[zookeeper]

My GB problems were actually during pregnancy. I had a lot of pressure under my right rib and between my BooKs. The worst symptom was the non stop burping! I ended up having it removed at 20wks pg. It was causing too much weight loss and the OB was concerned for the rest of the pg.

[Scarymelon]

It wasn't after pregnancy, but I had my gallbladder taken out last week after my first attack ever. It started out of the blue one day about two hours after I ate. It was a really bad sharp pain (bad enough I couldn't speak in full sentences) and it went away after about an hour. At first it was more epigastric, then became more localized over my right side. I was really tender over my right upper abdomen. I was also nauseated. After the first episode, it repeated three more times before i finally went in to the E.R. and I couldn't handle it anymore. It was stones in my case, and I had surgery about 12 hours after going into the E.R.

[AStableBeginning]

I had sharp pain right above my belly button when my 3rd daughter was 8 months. I lived with it for a few months and treated it with Tums and diet change until the frequency became too much. Interestingly enough, my 3rd daughter had her gallbladder removed when she was 5 years old.

[gardenmom5]

initially, very hard cramping in my side. nausea.

 

eventually the very hard cramping became far worse, and the nausea progressed to constant vomiting, and crying in pain. I couldn't speak from pain. nothing made it better, and it went on for hours.

 

I had pitocin with my first labor. I'll take the pitocin thanks, (without the epidural - it wouldn't be as painful.)

[ChristusG]

I had NEVER had any gallbladder issues until exactly 7 weeks after my 3rd child was born (which was back in December...Christmas night to be exact). It began in the evening, and I thought it was gas pain. I'm prone to having gas pains so I figured this was what it was. It was in that area way up high, right between your ribs, right below breast level.

 

As the next hour or two went by, the pain got increasingly worse. And worse. And worse. It felt like horribly bad gas pain. I kept thinking if I could just go to the bathroom, then I'd feel better. Well, I went to the bathroom and didn't feel better. The pain became so bad that I even threw up. After that, I felt better for about 15 minutes. Not good, but better. Then the intensity came back.

 

The pain wrapped around my entire body, around the area right at the bottom of my ribs. It made my back hurt horribly.

 

I could not find a comfortable position. Nothing eased the pain. I rolled around, got in the fetal position, stood up, hunched over, punched the pillow, curled up, etc. Over and over again. After about 3 hours of pain, I finally went to the ER.

 

They did an ultrasound and diagnosed me with gallstones.

 

All in all, the attack lasted around 8 hours and only went away after I took a bit of IV Fentanyl and then 2 Vicodin.

 

Yeah, it was pretty horrible. I know that some people's pain does not come on that strongly at first. They might have a few small "episodes" or "attacks" that last 30 minutes to an hour. But I had never had any pain before that. It was crazy.

 

And I did have my gallbladder removed about a month after that attack. The doctor told me that since I have stones, then I'd just be waiting for another attack. It could occur in ten years or the next day. I didn't want that to be constantly hanging over my head. Plus, it can start affecting your pancreas and then you are risking having a wide open surgery instead of a laparoscopic one.

[Hypatia.]

I had gallbladder pain early in my fourth pregnancy but then it didn't bother me again for years. Early this year it started again (coinciding with another pregnancy that unfortunately ended in miscarriage). Each time it was a severe pain directly under my ribcage in the center, it never localized on the right side. It was the worst pain that I've ever felt, far worse than my natural childbirths.

 

I ended up going to the ER in the middle of the night during one attack and the next morning an ultrasound showed gallstones. I had my gallbladder removed at the end of February and have felt much better.

[LostSurprise]

Intense abdominal pain directly below my stomach/belly button area. Sometimes felt as if it waves. Nausea. Sometimes I felt heat/chills.

 

The first time I woke up with it and thought I had a stomach ache/food poisoning. I ate a piece of bread and drank some water and tried to go back to bed.

 

Over time attacks progressively worsened. They could be set off with what I was eating (fatty) or when I was eating (late). Eventually anything at all could set it off. By that point I was lying in bed all day with my baby trying to sleep through them.

 

It took 2 ER visits and 2 doctor's visits to be diagnosed with gallbladder problems. From diagnosis to surgery took about 6 months. I couldn't control it with diet.

[AdventureMoms]

An intense cramping/nausea type pain in my belly, especially on the right side, but not exclusively on the right side. It HURT. Far worse than childbirth. It did feel a little like really severe gas.

 

One all-day attack sent me to the ER. Once diagnosed I had it out the following weekend. The surgeon said he'd rarely seen one that bad (and this is an older surgeon who does a LOT of gallbladders). I felt much better within a day of surgery.

[FromA2Z]

Feels like a trunk of a tree rammed through your middle from the front and back.

I got gallstones w/ my 1st pregnancy, though at the time I thought it was preg. Related gas pain. When it came back 4 months after giving birth, I knew it wasn't. I had a few more attacks then they went away for about 10 months didn't have them when I was pregnant w/my 2nd. Then came 2months of attacks at a rate of 1-2 a week. Sometimes 3 vicadin would hardly help. (it was worse than child birth w/ no epidural/pain medicine). I tried changing diet, etc. The attacks stopped again for awhile, came back again, stopped and came back. I couldn't eat many types of veggies (broccoli, cauliflower, cabbage, etc) and citrus.

I finally threw in the towel and got it removed roughly 4 years after my 1st attack. The surgeon said I was lucky to have finally done it. My gallbladder was severely diseased from the attacks and had built up scar tissue and was close to infecting my pancreas.

A big reason I finally had it removed (besides the tremendous pain & diet restrictions) was that a friend's dad died from pancreatitis brought on by gallstones. If you have them, I highly recommend getting your gallbladder out and avoid the misery and possibly dire health consequences.

Btw the most common way for women to get gallstones is pregnancy. Another one of those lovely body changes.