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Gallbladder Issue?

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Crohn's Disease
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Posted 12/22/2009 12:03 AM (GMT 0)
I've been in the hospital three times in the past six months, each time with extreme pain.  It is above my belly button, in the center of abdomen.  Because I have Ccrohn's they have been treating it as a "flare-up" with prednisone and antibiotics.  The first "visit" they did CtT scan and ultrasound, to check my gallbladder, everything looked fine they said.  Second time, did CT scan, saw some swelling in small bowel.  Third time, did CT scan and small bowel follow through (barium drink, ugh). Anyway, pain is not going away! Saw Dr. today and told him how bad pain is, he seems to think it is my gallbladder and the ultrasound didn't show anything.  I now go wednesday for a HIDA scan with injection. 

I was wondering how many peeps here have/ had issues with gallbladder? If so, was surgery the only option?

Posted 12/22/2009 12:29 AM (GMT 0)
The surgeon had his doubts about my gallbladder. No stones, low ejection rate. Still normal, but on the absolute lowest of normal. He thought it had more to do with ulcers (I hadn't been diagnosed with Crohn's yet), so he gave me the option of doing a course of PPIs or surgery. I basically said, "GET THIS @#$%ING THING @#$%ING OUT OF MEEEEEEEEE!"

Good thing they did, because the whole thing was just a mass of scar tissue. The tube was too small for anything to pass through, and obviously hadn't worked in a long time. The surgeon said it had probably been deformed from birth, so it's a very big mystery how the HIDA scan showed any ejection at all.

From what I've read, a lot of people with Crohn's have gallbladder problems. If you're to the point where you're having frequent gallbladder attacks, you may just want to get it taken out. If it gets bad enough, it can rupture, just like an appendix.
Posted 12/22/2009 12:34 AM (GMT 0)
Thanks for your response, I am totally feeling like "get this thing out of me" right now!
Posted 12/22/2009 12:39 AM (GMT 0)
I thought I was flaring, and it turned out to be my gallbladder. I had it removed when I was 17. It's a pretty simple surgery, it was done lapro, and I was out of the hospital within 2 days.  The only scars I have from it were 3 tiny holes.
Posted 12/22/2009 3:44 AM (GMT 0)
Ugggh...that wasn't directed at any of you, but to my gallbladder. I have been having issues with nausea, vomiting, and diarrhea for almost a year, and my GI has ruled pretty much everything out, but refuses to send me to the surgeon to take my gallbladder out because there's nothing evident to suggest it is my gallbladder. Ultrasound was normal, HIDA scan was normal, Small bowel series-normal, and she won't do any other tests because she doesn't want to expose me to more radiation. I have right upper abdomen pain, nausea after eating, and constant diarrhea. I would like to have my gallbladder removed...if that isn't it, then I'll never have to consider that and can assume it's a crohn's flare, and if it is, then problem will be fixed. My mom had her's removed in her 30s so I'm likely to have problems with it at some point.

BTW Mag, I like that your signature says "next surgery: none" I like!
Posted 12/22/2009 4:38 AM (GMT 0)
I had a zombie gall bladder. Real bad shape after years of ignoring the pains. Surgeon said it had become adhered to my abdomen wall. I am glad it is gone. Unfortunately I was hit with pancreatitis a couple of years later which is a similar type of pain. Curse words Curse words. Any way I quit imuran and beer and the pancreas seems to be happier.
Posted 12/22/2009 3:03 PM (GMT 0)
I'm also struggling with this gallbladder issue. I had my first "attack" in Nov...thought I had perforated...by the time the dr. saw me in ER it had stoppped. ultrasound showed small gravel like stones and bile is sludge. Apparently this is common with Crohn's since the terminal ileum can not reabsorb the bile salts. Bile turns sluggy. The interesting thing is I had D 5+ X/day (I'm on Cimzia) until that "attack" ... that day started being severely constipated and have been ever since that Nov attack. I had another attack in Dec that lasted 10 hrs, the first attack lasted 4 hrs. I met with a surgeon who said "it feels like you're going to die from the pain, but it won't kill you". My problem with having the surgery is that it will probably have to be done with an open incision since I have fistulized and adhered to abdominal wall, plus being on Cimzia, the risk of secondary infection and unable to heal as effectively scares me. I just don't know what to do. The nausea is pretty well controlled with Zofran, but the constipation is new to me. I've tried everything, it's miserable.
Posted 12/22/2009 8:15 PM (GMT 0)
Before I was diagnosed with Crohn's, my doctors gave me an endoscopy and didn't find anything. They said the only other possibility was gallbladder. So I agreed to have them remove it. After the surgery, the doctors (and former patients) told me I'd feel fantastic; one patient told me I'd feel like I "could run a marathon." I continued to feel absolutely awful. When I very carefully told the surgeon at my post-op appointment that I still felt really terrible, he brushed me off. None of my symptoms improved much, if at all. Two years later, I got up the nerve to return to the doctor to tell him I still had the same symptoms. He told me it was all in my head and that I was "killing myself with stress." I finally wound up with an emergency resection for what my new surgeon called "a really horrible piece of intestine" and a definitive diagnosis of Crohn's.

If they can take your gallbladder out laparoscopically, it's probably worth doing--just to eliminate the possible source of your problems and of future problems. It may help you. Or it may not. You never know. I hope that your symptoms really ARE gallbladder-related and that the surgery makes a huge difference for you. I wish you the very best of luck.
Posted 12/22/2009 8:32 PM (GMT 0)
Yep had to have mine out too.  Like some of the others, it wasn't removed becuz I had stones, I had some kind of film separating my gb in two, so it had to come out.  Good luck with yours!

Posted 12/23/2009 12:57 AM (GMT 0)
Thanks everyone for your input. It really helps to know that other people know exactly how I feel. The pain is terrible - I don't even want to function. Unfortunately my insurance requires authorization for test, so they had to push it back to next week. I'm really annoyed because I wanted this done to speed things along if I do require surgery.
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