14 weeks post gallbladder surgery and still have nausea--please help

I have a nephew who had his GB out a year ago. He has experienced severe GERD and nausea as well. His doctor has put him on the Cholestyramine powder. He said it has greatly helped him but he also avoid certain foods, such as cheese or foods high in fat.

I have the other end of this post GB spectrum, repeated bm's and occasional all out dumping episodes. Leaving me depleted of all stool (very similar to a bowel prep). I tried the powder after my nephew said it really helps him (he's only 23 and wanted his life back as well). It only helped me for a week and then stopped. I have now gone off of it.

I would ask your doctor for an Rx for it. Can't hurt to try it, mine was only $10.00. If you do try the powder, make sure you brush your teeth well after ingesting it, it can damage tooth enamel.

No, not a year only a few months. His doctor explained how many people w/o their GB's experience a full range of symptoms, because the bile either gets dumped into the small intestine or it backs up into the stomach, hence his GERD symptoms. I think he lost weight too and has found that if he skips the powder, his symptoms return.

I had my gallbladder removed in Sept. 2011. I usually do not have nausea anymore. However, I will get lower stomach pains, bloating, and discomfort. It usually starts after I eat. I had CT scans done in sept. I had an upper endoscope done in Aug. The endoscope showed a ring in my lower esophagus. The GI wants to do a Colonoscopy. I take Protonix. I too am tired of feeling sick. I am not as sick as I was and having the gallbladder removed did help my symptoms.

Lilye- I am sorry you are not feeling better. Did you look into Sphincter of Oddi dysfunction to see if that is a possibility for your symptoms?

My sister said Ginger pills help her with nausea.

Hi Lilly,

Sorry to hear you are not feeling better. Have you gotten the results from your gastric emptying test yet? Gasteoparesis can definitely cause nausea. Did you have the Endoscopy before or after your gallbladder surgery? If it was after the surgery, did the Gastroenterologist actually see bile in your stomach or is he just guessing Bile Reflux? I understand your fear of the ERCP, however, it may be the only way to determine if you have the Sphincter of Oddi Dysfunction, however, I was reading that SOD causes a tremendous amount of pain not nausea? Has your GI considered an MRCP? Ask your doctor about taking something called Domperidome, you will have to get it in Canada, but it may help with your nausea, this has gone on for such a long time!

Take care, Ruth

You know when you first described your problem with nausea, gasteoparesis was the first thing I thought of! Before the doctors figured out my gallbladder was non-functioning, they thought I had it also, that and many other things... Without testing me, I was told to try taking Reglan, but I never got the gastric emptying test done and I never took the medication because my HIDA scan came back with an ef of 10%. Have you gotten the Domperidome yet? As I understand it, you have to order it from Canada and it isn't covered by insurance so it could be costly? But it supposedly helps the motility and nausea. I am so sorry you couldn't enjoy your Thanksgiving and hope you feel better soon!

My gallbladder surgery helped me immensely, once I got over the initial post surgery problems! Sure I have to continue to eat no fat or I am running to the restroom, and I still do stick to that. I still have trouble eating raw salads and veggies, tomato sauce, red meat, citrus fruits, coffee, tea, chocolate, spicy food and of course no fried or greasy foods. Thanksgiving was okay because I only ate turkey breast meat, plus I cooked the meal so I made my own baked potato where everyone else had mashed potatoes. Things like that are annoying but I am getting used to it. At the moment, my problems with the internal rectal prolapse have been under control, but the last few weeks I had some abdominal pains and when I had blood work done, my liver enzymes were elevated. The third set of bloodwork was back to normal, so that was a relief!

Please let us know how you're doing with the new medication and I hope you get some relief from the nausea! Ruth