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The Definitive Guide to Gall Bladder Disease

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Posted 1/22/2008 3:21 AM (GMT 0)
I went to the doctor today..he seems to think it is my gallbladder, but says that proving it is going to be difficult, and that
most docs won't operate without solid proof that it's dysfunctional. I am scheduled for a HIDA Scan next monday, the 28th.
Posted 1/28/2008 9:37 AM (GMT 0)
I have been lurking on these boards for quite a while, and I have gained a lot of useful information here. I guess I finally decided to register and share my story!

I had several years of GI problems with diarrhea shortly after meals and lots of undigested vegetables which enabled me to determine that my transit time, from eating to excreting, was only about 12 hours. I tried taking enzymes but that really didn't seem to help with the inability to digest. In March 2005 I had a very severe attack of diarrhea with pain in the upper right quadrant and feeling like my liver was swollen. I went on clear liquids to try to control the diarrhea, but it only got worse. I went to the doctor who ordered a few blood tests and stool cultures and pescribed Lomotil for the diarrhea. All the tests came back ok and the Lomotil helped with the diarrhea, so I went about my business.

Over the next year I had a few attacks that eventually made me think I had a gallbladder probem. I am a nurse, and I was also fair, fat and forty (although I had lost a size after a week on clear liquids with the first attack). The attacks involved pain in the upper right quadrant radiating to my middle spine and were relieved by pacing and belching for a few hours. They always cleared up fairly quickly, so being a busy mom with a job I did not go to the doctor. I still had the diarrhea, but I also still had the Lomotil when it got bad.

In March 2006 I had another severe attack. I have a daughter who is a ballerina, and I am heavily involved in her dance studio as an assistant costume mistress and stage hand at shows. We were in the middle of Midsummer Nights Dream, and there was about a week where I did not cook at home and we ate out. This culminated in a night where I ate a hamburger, fries and a totally excellent sweet roll soaked in butter. By the next morning I was sick as a dog. I made it through Saturday and Sunday in a lot of pain and then went to the ER on Monday. They prescribed hyoscyamine and Tylenol #3 and suggested a HIDA scan which I had Wednesday. Well, I was still in major pain during the scan, and the results were so obviously conclusive that my gallbaldder was not functioning that the tech suggested that rather than making an appointment with my Primary Care Provider in 2 weeks as I had been told, I might want to just go back to the ER immediately for them to review the results.

I waited almost 8 hours in the ER and when I finally saw the surgeon he said my gallbladder was so inflamed it would certainly have to come out - but I needed 2 days of IV antibiotics before he would do the surgery! Morphine did nothing to relieve the pain, but Toradol was quite effective. I had my husband bring in my heating pad which was also quite helpful. I insisted on wearing my own clothes rather than hospital gowns, which caused a bit of confusion since I did not look like a "patient." I had the surgery on Friday, and it took a lot longer than they had predicted but they were able to do it with the laparascope and not with a major incision, although it was apparently touch and go due to the size of my gallbladder (about the size of a navel orange). They had to put in a drain, but it was out on Monday and I went home that day, and was back to work in about 2 weeks.

Unfortunately, I did continue to have diarrhea and a very short transit time between eating and excreting, along with the undigested vegetables. I have managed to control a lot of this by taking calcium, and the 2 weeks on clear liquids resulted in my losing 2 sizes which was quite welcome. My stomach was quite shrunken by the experience so my appetite is not near what it was before, and I do have to be careful about spicy foods, which I love. I have found that if I take Metamucil after a spicy meal, along with the calcium, the results are not nearly so awful.

There is a lot of good advice on this forum and I can't tell you how much it has helped me.

 

Posted 2/7/2008 11:12 PM (GMT 0)
So, the results of my HIDA scan were 58% which the doctor described as "within normal range." While he acknowledged that the number
fluctuate, he said he wouldn't feel comfortable doing surgery to remove it until it was at the very least in the 30 percentile. So, I guess i'm
going to have to go back to the GI doctor. It's like i'm reliving 2 years ago all over again. Funny enough, this week I've been feeling better.
I still have pain, but it's not nearly as severe as it was a few weeks ago. My body is weird. Oh well, maybe one of these days I will wake up
and not have to worry about eating and being in pain.
Posted 2/8/2008 8:30 PM (GMT 0)
I had three HIDA scans, two of which were done when I was not feeling so bad; one was inconclusive and one was normal. It was when I was at my worst that I had a third and it showed up bad. I am convinced that you have to catch you gall bladder when it's being really bad for it to show up.

It took 5 years to find my bad gall bladder with a test. I know it was bad the entire time because I got better after having it taken out.
Posted 2/14/2008 10:42 PM (GMT 0)
After reading this I have loads of questions for my new GI specialist. I've had IBS for a little over five years now and no one has ever mentioned my gall bladder. First guy just gave me a flex scope thingy, and told me to take fiber pills and that there was little I could do but get used to it mad . But because of that my regular doctors just went along with what he said. Second one admitted that he didn't know what to do for me but I found out that he had recently misdiagnosed my cousin( who had referred me to him). Said she had Crohn's when she had Diverticu- something. I'm hoping third time's the charm. I still remember a few years ago when I went to the doctor because I had a lump under my right ribcage and it was said that something was swollen. I had been so sick that my doc said that my entire digestive tract was just that irritated so it swelled up. But what Keriamon has said sounds alot like what I am going through. But instead of walking around I hunch on the balls of my feet on the floor. The pain is usually so bad that I can't stand up straight. It would also explain why my meds only work sometimes instead of all the time.
Posted 2/14/2008 10:57 PM (GMT 0)
Yep, lump under the right rib cage is a sign of a gall bladder problem; there is little to nothing else that makes that sign. Gas can make you ache in general places, and even in your shoulders (as can a gall bladder), and ulcers or acid reflux can make similar feelings of indigestion, upset stomach, even vomiting. And, of course, diarrhea and constipation can be written off as IBS or bad bacteria problems. But I can't think of a thing other than a bad gall bladder that makes you feel a lump under your right rib-cage (if someone knows something, please enlighten me so I don't pass bad info on).

I was just talking to a lady at work who is having this problem. She was actually in the hospital from it. At first they said it was her GB. Then no, her pancreas was infected. Then no, it's not the pancreas. They're not sure what's infected in there. She had a HIDA scan, but apparently it was okay. But she's already talked to her husband and a s-i-l who both had they GBs out (and me) and she's matching up with all the symptoms. And something in there was infected, even if they can't figure out where it started.
Posted 2/14/2008 11:11 PM (GMT 0)
I'm just glad to know I'm not any crazier then I started out. Thing is is did the lump come and go when you felt it? I can always feel one when I have a bad attack, and for several hours later. But it goes away on it's on after awhile. One of the first signs that it's going to flair up is the lump. I get the lump, I slap on the heating pad and pray. I think this is the first time I have been looking forwards to going to see the doctor. If it turns out that this is my problem, when they "fix" it the first thing I am doing is going bowling.
Posted 2/15/2008 4:02 PM (GMT 0)
I didn't get a lump until a couple of weeks before I finally got my GB taken out. Then it was there more or less all the time (I was sick more or less all the time too). In fact, the appearance, if you will, of the lump is what made me go back to the doctor. I figured it was the sign I had been looking for all those long years, and sure enough it finally showed up as bad.

Here's the tricky thing for you: getting a scan while the lump is there. I have been known to advise people to eat everything they know will make them sick the day before the hida scan. If you get yourself in a terrible state and it still doesn't show up, then it's probably not your GB.
Posted 2/19/2008 7:56 PM (GMT 0)
So, I finally made it back to my GI doc for my followup appointment.  Because I was feeling better before and after the endoscopy, we agreed I'd continue doing what I'd been doing and he'd see me in a month.  Well, I had to reschedule a couple of times due to various work conflicts but I wasn't in a rush since I'd still been feeling pretty good.  I was actually calling in yesterday to reschedule once again next week but they had an opening for today. 

I accepted the appt and went in because I wanted to talk to the doc about my yellow (not quite "pale") / softer stool since this all started.  Otherwise I've been feeling mostly fine and didn't think I needed to do anything other than to continue my current diet, etc.  He was concerned enough to want to do a colonoscopy but suggested it was probably nothing to worry about.  I'm not against or afraid of that but, and here's where I get upset, he didn't want to hear anything I had to ask him about any of this possibly being Gallbladder related. 

Honestly, I'm not sure that it is that (could be other things, like Celiacs or I guess a polyp), I just wanted him to listen for a moment and hear what I had to say, but, as soon as I brought GB up he started with how it couldn't possibly be it because my symptoms didn't match, the blood tests came back fine, and the ultrasound showed no stones.  I agreed that the tests were ok, and asked what if my GB is just malfunctioning and was ok at that time when he cut me off again, said that there were no stones and that the polyps wouldn't cause my symptoms.  I explained I wasn't arguing or looking to get it taken out, etc, just explaining why I was concerned about it (the family history).  I mentioned that I read about the yellow stool issues and he just said "come with me".  He mentioned that I was fixated on the gallbladder and didn't know why.  It's not that I'm fixated, it's just that I had a few questions I'd like to talk about.  Anyway, I followed him as I thought he was going to bring me to another room, perhaps to check something out, but, nope, just up to the front desk to schedule the Colonoscopy.  mad   

I'm probably about as easy going a person as there is, and needless to say I was really upset at that dismissal.  Can't say I was surprised, just really annoyed.  Now, being 35 and having various symptoms I'm OK with getting the test done, but, my insurance will hit me with a new deductible this year if it's billed as surgical instead of diagnostic (and they can't tell me until they do it).  So, while I'd like to know that the stool issue is, I also have to wonder if it's really something I need to worry about and/or get done right now.  I'm tired of trying to figure this out and want to go with the doc's advice but (like most folks) I'm also not wealthy enough to keep paying for expensive guesses. 

I suppose I can try cutting out gluten again.  Other than the stool, everything else seems fine so I didn't think it was an allergy (I did go without it for a couple weeks last time and didn't seem to make a difference either way, but perhaps I need to try longer). 

 

Posted 2/19/2008 10:04 PM (GMT 0)
I'd be mad too if a doctor dismissed my questions like that. I mean, you're not an idiot; you can read a list of symptoms for yourself. I think the burden of proof that it's NOT your gall bladder would then fall on him.

I never trust a doctor or have any test done unless that doctor can convince me that the diagnosis or test is logically necessary. Can't be bothered talking to me like I am an educated human being? Goodbye. One GI doctor performed an occult blood test on me and never told me she was doing it (I thought she was checking hemroids or something); I didn't find out about it until I called to see why there was a charge for a test on there that I didn't know had been performed. Needless to say I did not go back to see her and did not let her do a colonoscopy on me (I already thought the colonoscopy was unnecessary).

Something else you can do--besides find a new doctor--is see if someone will order a stool culture for you so that when you have one of these yellowish stools, you can sample it and then send it in and they can figure out if you have too much bile in your stool. Some people have too much bile without having an out-and-out gall bladder problem. The drugs used to help people post-gall bladder for bile diarrhea also help people who have their GBs still, but have too much bile anyways.
Posted 2/20/2008 12:18 AM (GMT 0)
Honestly, I didn't expect him to prove that it's not GB, or even to take the time to explain why not. I know that to him I'm just another patient who maybe read too much information and otherwise has no clue, and am wasting his time with my 'theories'. Given that, I really just wanted him to listen for a few minutes to why I thought it might be (I had prepared a list so it wouldn't take long). After that he could simply make a note about it (if warranted). If he had done that, listened, and then explained that it was very rare to see such and such and that we should focus on "this" or "that" because it's much more likely, I'd have been quite happy instead of annoyed. No, he just wanted me to shut up and follow his lead.

Thank you for the good advice on the test. I will check with my regular doc and see if he can order a culture kit or whatever, if not I have a family member who's a nurse and may be able to get that done through their office. I've read that too little bile can cause the pale / yellow stool problem and I suspected that too much could as well (but wasn't able to find any good info on that one). Personally, I think it's on the former side, if at all, as some of the stool has had undigested food in it. If I had too much I'd think I'd have diarrhea (which I've had none to speak of), but, no idea just guessing.

Lastly, I spoke with my insurance company and IFF this can be considered a screening colonoscopy then it'd be covered 100%, so,now I need to see if there's a legitimate (and hopefully legal/ethical) way of classifying it that way for when it's eventually billed. If so, I guess I'd go ahead and do it just to be on the safe side and since I'd likely get it in a couple years anyway. Will be asking around for another GI Doc reference too. Will see, will probably be a few weeks or longer before I have any updates, hope everyone else is doing better!

[Fri 2/22 Edit] So, I got the name of some other GI Docs in the area from my Aunts office.  Wouldn't you know the names I got ended up being other docs in the same practice (big practice, multiple offices apparently).  So, I'm not sure if I'll inquire about using a different doctor in their group or what.  Joy.

Also, shouldn't I know, once I think I'm starting to do well again, and post something here to that effect, I have an episode.  This time I pretty much know it's because I changed a couple things in my routine/diet the last few days (trying to work on the stool issue myself).  I was also running low on Licorice pills and switched back to Mastic Gum.  That led to some hearburn yesterday off/on and again this AM.  I also ate out (takeout) again.  That and a few other small things, but, the combination was bad for me.  Back to hearburn/nausea and a little (very little) pressure (but no pain) in the chest.  I exercised a little, ate some beets and apples and my safe foods again and was feeling like I was on the right track.  Until around 3pm today, while out and about, I also had a very bad almost-passed out moment. After that passed I got back into things and tonight I'm feeling a bit better. 

I only mention because this latest experience tells me that 1) My routine/diet was apparently working to prevent the worst symptoms but 2) I'm not recovered from whatever it is I have (because it comes back). 

Sorry I just have issues today, hopefully I'll learn a bit more in the next couple months and when I share that info all these posts will help others.  Until then...[/edit]

[Sun 3/23 Edit]  Last week I had a piece of French Toast @ home and later that day had extra started up with nausea again.  Been dealing with issues over the last week and slowly getting back to normal.  I'm now sure that eggs are a trigger, but, not sure in what forms.  It seems I can tolerate them in some foods using them as an ingredient, but, things like salad dressings or direct certainly bring it on.  Otherwise doing ok and have appt to see a new doc in 3rd week of april.[/edit]

Post Edited (eihcet) : 3/23/2008 6:04:41 AM (GMT-6)

Posted 3/6/2008 2:32 PM (GMT 0)
Can anyone help me , don't know where to turn anymore. For the last year I had been to my primary doctor with stomach discomfort. I've had many tests, scope,ultrasound,etc.. all negative. This past winter I started having urgent diarrhea after eating a normally usual meal for me along with other GB symptoms. Went back to my doctor and he suspected gall bladder and said If it was bad it would be a simple thing to have it removed. Hida scan showed a 0% functioning GB. He referred me to a surgeon. I get to the surgeon who then proceeds puts me on generic prilosec for Ulcers. He states he won't ti ake out GB because I do not have enough pain but my life is starting to turn upside down. I've changed my whole diet and the medicine seems to work but Everyone else I know who had GB issues has had theirs taken out. I called another Doctor and he stated the same thing the first surgeon said. No pain = No gallbladder. Any pointers for getting it out besides just lying to the surgeon.
Posted 3/24/2008 5:12 PM (GMT 0)
Originally, the only symptom I had was major burping all of the time from morning until night for the last year. I tried Tums, Pepsid, etc. and it had no impact at all. Also tried baking soda and water.

The doctor finally sent me to a GI and I had an ultrasound done. The ultrasound showed an egg size gallstone. At the same time, I found out my grandmother, my great grandmother, and my great aunt had their gallbladders removed. The same day, my aunt told me she was scheduling surgery to have hers removed. I had my gallbladder removed three weeks ago.

Now, my problem is I am having the yellow D all the time which actually doesn't really bother me but I'm still having the uncontrollable burping. It's not even a belching or a burping that seems to help to relieve gas. It's just a serious of little bubble burps that don't seem to give any relief at all (actually, I don't even feel gassy or bloated either when I get them). There doesn't seem to be any change in the burping no matter what I eat, drink, or do. After one year of this happening every day without relief, I thought the GB removal was finally going to help but it hasn't done anything. Anyone have any ideas??? Please help!
Posted 3/24/2008 7:43 PM (GMT 0)
Paulleo, here's the thing about taking out a GB: you're not likely to be "normal" afterwards. A few people are lucky enough to be practically normal again, but most of us who have it taken out continue to have diarrhea and/or acid reflux problems. So taking out your gall bladder is not likely to make your bowel problems any better. If you can control your problems now, then I agree that it should be left in... for the time being. Getting it taken out may make your problems worse/make the medicine you take now not effective.

That being said, if it's not functioning at all, it probably won't be long before it starts hurting. DO get it out when it starts hurting because the hurting will get worse and I've not known of anyone that's managed to get rid of it short of getting their GB taken out.

Teep, ask your GI for Welchol. It's what I take and it stops the yellow, bile D. It may or may not help with the burping, depending on what's causing it. If it doesn't work, try chewable anti-gas relief tablets or probiotics.

In fact, Paulleo, you can try the Welchol too if you are still having problems with D; it's not just for people w/o GBs (in fact, it's a cholesterol medicine, but it works by soaking up bile, which is why it helps people like me with too much bile; they're starting to give it to people like you with some bile D problems, but who still have a GB for one reason or another).
Posted 4/9/2008 8:19 PM (GMT 0)
Hello to all. I've been reading over posts and would like to share my story regarding GB problems. I found this forum while searching for effects of caffeine on GB. I had my first of many GB attacks the end of July, 2007. Looking back, I realize I had been having issues for quite some time but had never had what I would consider a serious problem. I ate a meal and about an hour late began feeling bad and having pains in my upper abdomen. I had just eaten a sandwich that had beef, cheese, jalapeños and other indigestion-causing things so I thought that's what it was. I left my friends and went home to find the pain only getting more intense by the minute until I couldn't stand still, couldn't sit, couldn't lie down... could only pace back and forth in extreme pain. And I'll interject that I have a new respect for women going through labor. At this point I had no idea what was going on, whether something major had ruptured, heart problem or whatever else might be happening. I called a friend who immediately took me to the E.R. and I was to the point that I couldn't even stand then. After several tests and too many hours of pain, the ultrasound showed gallstones and sludge. The E.R. doc told me that I had no choice but to have it removed very soon as was the diagnosis from my general practitioner a few days later. Well.... I set out looking for alternative methods of "fixing" this thing gone bad. My 23 year old son has been on a very healthy diet for several years and was home from college for the summer when this happened. He also studies TCM (Traditional Chinese Medicine) and alternative healing. He immediately went shopping and brought home a fortune in foods that I had no idea I would EVER eat. Well.... I did. It only took a couple weeks to realize this new diet was great. I had more energy and felt better than before - except that I was still having GB attacks but milder than the first fortunately. He had continued to study the issue and insisted that I order an herbal mixture called Gold Coin Grass that came in a liquid tincture form. This stuff tastes horrible!!! But, I took 2 bottles of it EXACTLY as prescribed since I really want the problem to go away without surgery. That was in late October after having pretty severe attacks for 5 days in a row. I had what I consider a minor attack in January but nothing else since... nada. I feel great and have ordered and began taking 2 more bottles just to be sure. By the way, this herbal mixture is known to dissolve gallstones which seems to have worked.
So, this may be something anyone with gall stones may want to consider before giving up an organ. So no one feels as if I'm trying to sell something, I won't post a link to the site where I purchased my GCG but will encourage you to do research. If you do decide to try this, the tincture form (in a tiny amount of alcohol) seems to be the best - and tastes the worst. If anyone would like the site I purchased from I'll be happy to pass that along.
Good luck and I hope my information might help someone to have less pain. Mine started to subside after only a few days of taking GCG.
Posted 4/9/2008 9:24 PM (GMT 0)
Music Dude, that's great that something worked. Of course, once you make stones, you seem to continue to make them, so be prepared to dose yourself again if you start getting the signs of an attack.

Unfortunately for me, my gall bladder was just inflamed, so I don't know that there was much to do about it--although I have wondered if an anti-inflammatory would have helped.

It took me several years to figure out caffeine was precipating many of my attacks. Like you, I blamed my food, even though it wasn't always consistant. When I dropped the colas, I was attack-free for many months. Then, for whatever reason, I got to where I hurt all the time, with the tell-tale lump under the ribs. Even with it out, I still can't handle caffeine in an amount equal to a coke or coffee; gives me bile D.
Posted 4/10/2008 7:08 PM (GMT 0)
Just so people know- you can also have an OVERactive GB. When I had my HIDA scan, my ejection rate was 78%.  After the HIDA, I had the bile D all day. The GI doc said my GB was overactive and spastic, which was why I had pain that lasted for a month straight and nt matter what I ate sent me to the bathroom....

Had the GB out a week ago today.  Still have some D problems, but am taking calcium.  I am going to follow up with my GI and ask for the Welchol too.

Amy

Posted 4/16/2008 1:38 PM (GMT 0)
Ok I am a 30 year old healthy female.  4 weeks ago today I had my appendix out.  I felt great.  1 week and 2 days after my surgery I started having bad pain in the middle of my chest and running a lowgrade temp and was extremely nauseas.  I went back to my surgeon who though I might just have an infection.  He put me on 2 anitbiotics adn ran blood work and ordered an ulrasound to check out my gall bladder.  Al those tests came back normal, but I was still having pain huring on the right side under my ribs, but also hurting under my ribs on the left side with pain radiating to my back.  He said the majority of my pain was not on the correct side for gall bladder, but ran a HIDA scan anyway.  It came back within normal limits.  He recommended I go back to my GP and see waht he thought.  (On a side note if I eat anything more than poptarts adn jello I start having bad pains and have extreme diahrea immediately or within 6 hours of eating.)  I have lost about 10 lbs in 10 days.  My GP aksed my symptoms and said he thought it was my GB until he saw my test results.  I go in tomorrow for an upper endscopy.  They have put me on Protonix thinking it might be an ulcer and I am having bad heartburn, but my GP said if it was an ulcer I should feel better when I eat not worse.  I am in constant pain unless I just skipp eating all together and I am scared that the endoscopy is not going to show anything.  There is a history of GB disease in my family.  But since my pain is more on the left side could that be it?  Any feed back would be greatly appreciated.

Posted 4/16/2008 2:27 PM (GMT 0)
My pain was across my diaphram for five years; it was neither on the left side or the right side. I was also told that wasn't a sign of a bad gall bladder. It took three HIDA scans before mine showed up, however, the first two scans were done when I could come home from school and were not done when I was in the middle of a bad spell. The final one was done when I was having a lot of problems daily with it.

That your test came back normal while you are having these problems would seem that your problem is elsewhere. Has anyone followed up on that infection problem? That would be what would concern me, as staph infections are rampant in hospitals. It would be very easy to get one post surgery. My mother had an infected gall bladder and they thought they had cleared up the infection before taking it out, but they didn't and it spread after they removed the gall bladder and she was on antibiotics for a month. Her laproscopic incisions got infected and she had an internal infection to boot. So, number one, make sure you do not still have any signs of infection. My mother said her infection made her hurt, made her sick, and drained her of all energy.

Secondly, antibiotics wreak havoc on the intestines; that you were on two can cause major disruptions to your guts, including radiating gas pains. Have you taken a probiotic? These are things with good bacteria in them to replace the bacteria that the antibiotics kill off (the guts can't function right without bacteria). Most people know probiotics from acidophillus milk and yogurt, but because you were on such a large dose of antibiotics (and because eating makes you sick), I would suggest that you find some Digestive Advantage or Culturelle at your local pharmacy (they're in the bowel products section) and take that. Personally, I'd take twice the recommended dosage (I think Culturelle even advises you to take two for the first week, before dropping down to one to maintain). Probiotics are not medicine, so you can't overdose on them. You can get worse gas problems, but your body will adjust in a week or two and you shouldn't have a problem with them. In fact, any time I'm on antibiotics, I take Culturelle while on them and then for a week or two after stopping them; keeps me from getting antibiotic-associated diarrhea. I take the Culturelle at night, before bed, so I end up sleeping through most gas that it gives me.

The last thing to check is your stool and make sure you don't have a bad bacteria like c. difficile in there. That is easy to catch in a hospital.
Posted 4/16/2008 4:15 PM (GMT 0)
Blondie,
When I had my first GB attack last July, the pain was extremely intense for several hours and I felt like it was mostly on the left side, even though at times it was difficult to tell where it hurt the most. That confused the ER staff somewhat but an ultrasound proved it to be gallstones. I guess if the pain is bad enough, it can feel like it's most anywhere in your abdomen. Since then, I've had quite a few attacks, but none recently thank goodness, and almost every time the pain has been mostly across the middle of my abdomen. Also, each time I have had problems my lower abdomen has been very painful to touch during the attack. I have found great relief, as many others have, in the form of an herbal tincture. If it turns out that you have gallstones you might want to consider alternative treatments to surgery for a while. Personally, I'd rather take herbs from now on than face removal of an organ if I can get around it. Sometimes though there is no choice but to have the GB removed and that's OK too if it's in fact necessary. If you'd like to know more about the herbs I use read my post above or contact me. Best wishes to you.
Posted 4/16/2008 4:54 PM (GMT 0)
Thanks for the info.  I just want to feel good again.
Posted 4/16/2008 9:53 PM (GMT 0)
Blondie, go to www.sensiblehealth.com and look around. Keep in mind that herbal or home remedies can't or don't help in some instances. However, I was told by an ER physician and my family doctor in very certain terms that my gall bladder had to be removed immediately. That was last July. I have taken 3 and started on the 4th bottle of GCG and I feel pretty darn good and have been attack-free for some time now. I hope you feel better soon!
Posted 4/25/2008 8:53 PM (GMT 0)
Hi all,  Just posting a quick update.  It took a while but today was my appt. with my new GI Doc and I must say I'm very pleased this time around.  (See previous post from 2/19 for comparison).  This time when I discussed my symptoms and history the new doctor was actually interested in what I had to say.  He also reviewed everything prior to seeing me (not skimming through it on the fly) and suggested the HIDA scan, without my prompting.  That's not to say it's the only thing he's looking to do but he thinks it's the next thing we should check out (that and a followup blood test).  We discussed a lot of items, he was very patient with me, and friendly, etc, the way everyone should be treated I think! 

Now I have to decide what 'trigger' foods (like French Toast or something with eggs) I'm going to eat the day or so before the procedure (to be scheduled) so I can get my symptoms acting up before hand.  Not looking forward to that, but, I am definitely interested in the results and I'll post back when I know more.  [Edit] My HIDA is scheduled for 5/14, so will post an update shortly thereafter [/edit].

 

Post Edited (eihcet) : 5/2/2008 1:58:20 PM (GMT-6)

Posted 5/14/2008 5:23 PM (GMT 0)
So, Today was HIDA scan day. Interestingly my Gallbladder did not fill with enough of the dye for them to do the CCK injection part. After 1.5hrs of watching they were getting frustrated. They checked with their doctor, came back and said I should go walk around for a while and they'd do one more picture to see if any more dye entered the GB. It did not.

I learned / saw that the Dye was coming out of the liver and showing up in my digestive tract but mostly bypassing the GB. So, I don't know exactly how much entered it but the tech's said it wasn't enough to get a measurement for the CCK part. So, I guess I got lucky today in that I didn't get to experience the nausea and pain for the CCK part, but I still have to schedule a followup with my doctor to see what this means in terms of diagnosis. My doctor will get the test results in a couple days and I'm not sure how much longer before I'll get to talk to him after that.

I have read some other folks have had similar experiences in their tests so I will go back and search to see what they ended up doing/learning.

[edit] Found a pretty good article about various conclusions based on the HIDAScan.  I found it searching, "Cholecysitis scintigraphy discussion".  The part I found interesting is:

"The majority of patients with chronic cholecystitis exhibit normal visualization of the gallbladder (85-90%). Delayed visualization of the gallbladder (Between 1 to 4 hours of the exam) is considered fairly characteristic for chronic cholecystitis when seen, but delayed visualization can also be seen in a very small number of patients with acute cholecystitis (3.5%). The longer the delay in visualization, the higher the correlation with chronic cholecystitis. Visualization of bowel activity prior to visualization of the gallbladder is a non-sensitive, but rather specific finding in patients with chronic cholecystitis (In most normals, the gallbladder is seen before bowel activity). This sign indicates chronic cholecystitis about 75% of the time."

In my case I'm pretty certain that the scan showed the dye in the intestines before the GB showed up, but I will have to verify with the doc.  They did wait 2hrs but we didn't go beyond that and 4hrs may be an option.  I've been searching on accuracy but so far it's hard to get to the details.  If anyone else is interested in this, the other keyword search that was useful was "hepatobiliary nonvisualization".  I did add gallbladder to the search terms but it doesn't seem to narrow much. 

Another link search for "Nonvisualization of the Gallbladder at 1 Hour: Imaging Options", section on Morphine Sulfate used to help get the GB to visualize):

... False positive studies are usually due to chronic cholecystitis with fluid and / or stones in the gallbladder which prevent adequate filling. False negative studies are even rarer, although they have been reported in cases of 1) gallbladder perforation (in which the decrease in gallbladder luminal pressure allowed the obstructing cystic duct stone to dislodge, and tracer refluxed into a contained perforation)(10) and 2) acute gangrenous cholecystitis (the cystic duct was thickened and inflamed, although not enough to occlude its lumen)(11). Clues to a false negative exam would include a strange configuration to the 'gallbladder' in the former case, and a 'rim sign' in the latter case.

 

Post Edited (eihcet) : 5/14/2008 1:58:20 PM (GMT-6)

Posted 5/15/2008 2:30 PM (GMT 0)
Hmm... wouldn't the fact that your gall bladder is not filling up be a sign that it's not working? Or rather, that your bile duct is not working because it's not letting the bile in?
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