Posted 3/15/2013 7:40 PM (GMT 0)
First, I'd like to thank everyone for their previous posts and anyone that takes the time to read this and provide any helpful thoughts or experience. I have already learned about but feel I can get some additional information by starting a new thread.
So here is my story...
I'm a 26 yr old Male. I exercise regularly, less so since discomfort has started but still very health conscious. I eat very well, a large mix of whole grains, fruits, vegetables, and only lean meat (chicken n fish). After not eating very well as a child, I have made it my habit to be aware of what goes into my body for the last few years, including medicine (don't take anything).
For most of my life I have had an uneasy stomach, gassy and occasional softer bowel movements/diarrhea. I never really mentioned it because of embarrassment reasons and it did not effect most of my social life, so why bother?
Anyway, for the last few or so, I have had a few Health issues that have been bothersome and concerning to me. After not going to the doctor for about 5-6 yrs, except for a small case of the flu and mono during college, I decided it was time for a physical.
As expected, the doctor said I was in great condition based on my physical exam. It was when my blood work came back that changed everything and the anxiety kicked in. My cholesterol was over 300, and I'm only 5' 11 and 160 lbs with 20% BMI, my liver numbers were almost 4 times the normal, and had occasional high BP.
To be honest, it was not a surprise my liver numbers were up, I drank a decent amount during college and had the occasional bing weekend with 2/3 a night after I started my career. The cholesterol was the alarming number to me.
I quickly had other tests run and changed my diet for the better and started working out regularly to get into better physical shape, P90x. I had great success with this and everything came back to normal. This year my cholesterol was 140 n liver numbers have been perfect continually. Was still drinking lightly for social reasons.
I still had the anxiety though.... And then these issues arose about 4-5 months ago. One night, I got a little too drunk and ended up falling. The next day I was the worst hungover I have ever been... Even considered going to the hospital. I had horrible headaches that wouldn't go away and a rib pain that was persistent for over a week. I finally decided to go to the doctor to see what he thought. We did more bloodworm, a head CT, chest x ray, and stress test; all came back perfect. My doctor told me everything was fine and it was anxiety/stress.
I finally accepted that and went on with my normal routine, just dealing its the stomach pain and right rib discomfort for about 2 months until it got really bad. One night at work, I'm a restaurant manager, I was having extremely bad upper right abdominal pain, bloating, gas, constipation feeling, and nausea. I tried to fight it off and even finished up my shift and was home by 3 am. At 5:30 AM I was up throwing up like crazy and having horrible abdominal pain. I went to the ER, they ran a stomach X-ray, Abdominal CT, ultrasound, and bloodwork. They were concerned about gallstones, primarily but Everything came back normal so they discharged me.
2 days later I was still in horrible pain so I returned to my doctor, he sent me back to the ER to do another CT w/ contrast to rule out appendix issues. That came back negative and all they saw was fluid in my pelvis, scattered/inflamed lymph nodes in my stomach, and a mild fatty liver. Again, they were not concerned about anything so they sent me home.
I started seeing a psychologist to help with the anxiety, and it has, but the pain remained. I was sent to a general surgeon to explore a gallbladder issue or internal hernia. He suggested a HIDA scan so we proceeded. No gallstones were found, but the results suggested my gallbladder does not squeeze very well. My surgeon specialists did not suggest surgery, but to see if it just goes away and that it could still be stress/anxiety.
At that point I was so tired of doctors appointments that I agreed and tried to move on. I stopped drinking completely, even though I didn't much since it all started, (11 weeks now), stopped exercising, and even switched positions at work to see If that would help, since I worked in a high volume stressful position. I gave this about a month of no doctors and these changes,but it was getting worst and worst.
Finally, I recently went to a gastro specialists to get his opinion. His immediate suggestion was to remove my gallbladder, based on my story and the HIDA scan results. I was reluctant and asked to run some more tests, so i have s colonoscopy scheduled to make sure it is nothing else and some more bloodwork to check for celiac disease. And that's what bring me here........
As stated above, I have read a lot online and these forums. I just want to get a better idea of what I'm getting into it.
My symptoms are:
Headache/pressure above my right eye lid/forehead
Tender right rib cage
Back right shoulder blade pain
Sensitive elbow joints
Lump/tender feeling under my right rib/upper right Ab area
Lower right groin pain
Gassy, bloated after eating
Small pellet like bowel movements
Occasional diarrhea
Slight nausea (no throwing up since ER visit)
If anyone could give me some insight or thoughts of what else it could be... Before I leap to have my gallbladder removed, I would appreciate it. Also, what is the overall opinion of life after it is gone? Will I have worst side effects, will I be able to drink at all??
Thank you again everyone for all the help (and for reading this "book" of info. I just want to make sure I know as much as possible before making a decision and if its better to live with these things or take a chance without it.