crohns and gallstones

Has anyone with crohns had gallstones? Please email me and tell me your symptoms

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Linda,

I took your email out of your post because it is against the rules, but it is in your profile.

 

Post Edited By Moderator (MMMNAVY) : 11/4/2007 2:31:57 PM (GMT-7)

I had gallstones and had my gallbladder removed in 1997 -- before I was diagnosed with CD, but looking back I was certainly having some CD symptoms back then and just didn't know what it was. With the gallstones, what I felt was intense, sharp pain in the middle of my chest -- not near my stomach. The pain was like an 8 or 9 out of 10. Very painful. Required morphine. Everyone thought I was having a heart attack. The first episode sort of went away on its own with no diagnosis. The next time (about a week later) I went back to the ER and they found the gallstones by ultrasound at the suggestion of a nurse (hurray for nurses)!

Haven't had any problems with that particular area since. My doctor told me that I was wrong (!) about where the pain was --gallstones are usually (according to him) felt more on the right side, which is what threw them off. I think he was trying to deflect attention from the fact that he had missed the diagnosis, resulting in emergency surgery (I was 5 months pregnant at the time). Not my doctor anymore.

When I have CD symptoms, they are very different in severity and location from the gallstones. Hope that's helpful.

Hi Linda,

Yes, I had my gall bladder taken out 4 years ago because I was having very frequent, severe attacks.  The surgeon said I had one giant gallstone.  I read somewhere after I was diagnosed with CD that gall bladder disease is sometimes associated with CD, but I don't remember where I saw it. 

I had occasional mild nausea but otherwise the only real symptom was the pain -- very severe referred pain in between my shoulder blades that could strike at any time but was most common at night.  Nighttime pain is actually a big indicator of gall bladder disease.  So is pain shortly after eating a fatty meal.  The pain was bad enough that even Vicodin wouldn't cut it and I would sit up for hours at night rocking and pacing to try to deal with it.  Hot baths helped some. 

The pain can also radiate into the chest.  I called the hospital once because I was sure I was having a heart attack.  The nurse assured me it was my gall bladder but it was very scary.

An ultrasound will show the stones but most people do have some stones without any symptoms so the diagnosis is made on your description of the pain and the lack of any other apparent cause.

I hope you get it figured out soon. 

Kitty

Thank you all for your replies, i think it maybe gallstones.

Yes, I lost my gallbladder in 2001. I had pain in my upper right hand side of my stomach. Especially after eating a heavy or fatty meal (pizza for example!). Nausea and D also came with the attacks. When they took mine out it was full of stones, and VERY swollen (it had attached itself to other ograns and tissue it was so swollen).

Thanks for you reply. They now think that my bowel has dropped and is leaning on my pelvis. I had an ileostomy a couple of months ago and was doing really well, now this !!!

Not sure what it is now, they say that my bowel is inflatted and has dropped and is leaning on my pelvis. I had ileostomy a couple of months ago and was doing really well, now this. Going to have barium tomorrow to see if they can see more. Tried to put a tube up my nose to deflate the bowel but was too painfull had to make them stop.
Thanks for replying. XXX