Hi everyone, I have ms, I just wondered if anyone has had there gallbladder removed I have had pain in my stomach where my gallbladder is it is worst at night,I feel sick my stomach feels bloated.The doctor has said where the pain is coming from is where your gallbladder is she has arranged a scan.I am just worried about it as my mum had stones in her gallbladder.I am wondering if it is left if it can be dangerous.I know this has nothing to do with ms but just wanted any advise please. Thankyou
Hi Anon, yep had mine removed about 10 years ago. Easy. Went into hospital in the morning, had the key-hole surgery, and home in the evening. About 2 weeks to recover.
I don’t think it’s particularly dangerous not to have the surgery but why wouldn’t you have it? Living with gallstones is no fun. Every time I ate any fat at all I was in dreadful pain, bloated, felt sick (sometimes was sick)… was awful. Was such a relief to have the surgery and not have to suffer any more.
It used to be a big op’ but is now key-hole and doesn’t even leave scar.
Hope this helps,
Pat x
I had gallstones and had my gallbladder removed 3 years ago. I had a bad flare and was admitted to hospital, but then had to wait 3 weeks so the gallbladder could calm down before they could operate. Unfortunately I had another flare whilst I was waiting which then caused pancreatitis and had to have an emergency operation. If they offer you the operation I wouldn’t wait. Deb
Actually I have to wholeheartedly agree with Deb.
After I posted that I didn’t think it was dangerous to leave it, I remembered that mine in fact had been left for some time (due to a misdiagnosis in the American private health system!!!) and ended up with obstructive jaundice… was very ill for weeks and bright yellow!
I then still had to wait for surgery for about 6 months and the only way I could stop getting the agonising pain was to eat a NO fat diet. I lost well over a stone which was the only positive of the whole experience.
When I went to have the post-surgery check I was told that my gall bladder had been ‘chronically deseased’.
Don’t ask me how I had managed to forget about it… … but I had!
Pat x
I had my gallbladder removed last year after having had 15 attacks before it was diagnosed. It took them so long to diagnose the problem that it ended up affecting my pancreas and I ended up with acute pancreatitis, and I wouldn’t wish that on anyone! I had to wait from the January until the March for my gallbladder and pancreas to settle down enough so that they could operate, then it took me 3 weeks to recover. As a result of everything I ended up with a pancreatic cyst which took 6 months to heal itself. They told me after that they never thought it could be pancreatitis because I didn’t drink or smoke and was fairly healthy otherwise.
I was like you Pat, I lost over a stone in weight through the whole experience. No fat was the way to go for me too, and to this day I still follow a low fat diet just so nothing else can flare up.
If anyone gets those sort of painful attacks the first thing I would say is get it checked out before it gets out of hand. It’s the worst pain I’ve ever experienced in my life and I was pretty ill as a result.
One thing I have found throughout my experience with both gallstones and now ms is that a lot of ms sufferers seem to have gallbladder problems. Don’t know if they are connected or not.