Bile Salts Diarrhea After Gall Bladder Removed Try This

OK I tried the Calcium. Lets just say that I am going back to my medicine 'Cholestyramine'. I felt like I had to go to the bathroom all the time. Now I think you should try my medicine. Its been a life saver. Good luck to you all bacause I have found what works for me.

(I also found out that too much Calcium does bad things to your kidneys - Dr. Oz).....

Sounds good. I will be going for my check-up end of April and I think I might try your solution. I am in Canada, where are you.

I'm asking because I wonder if I can get Colestipol in Canada..
I quess we'll see.....

Does lettuce have a reaction to the medicine? I have been gluten free for about a year now. Gluten can sneak into your diet without you knowing. My doctor had a standing blood test done for me every 3 months for a year. That way you can see if your gluten levels are low.If they seem to be a bit high then you know you are eating something that isn't gluten free. I'm coming up on my last test. So far the levels went from 18 (at the start) very high. to 5.8 then 4.8 and the last one was 2.8. That level is sooooo good. I'm not a celiac that reacts to a crumb of bread. I have learned that if I eat regular ketchup for example I don't react. I know there are some celiacs that can not come near gluten or they react.

Hi Everyone - Just found this board today and wanted to stop by to share my story.

I had my Gallbladder out in September, 2005 followed by two more surgeries in October 2005 - one for removal of adhesions around my small intestine and the second for a bowel resection due to a partial obstruction. The third surgery, the bowel resection, caused my bile salts diarrhea and I spent 17 days in the hospital following surgery.

Since that time I have lost 90 lbs, been unable to go one day without between 10-30 diarrhea - water, sediment and foam. I have tried every medication out there, tried the calcium that Linda talks about, changed my diet, and nothing worked. I had allergic reactions to some like Immodium and Tincture of Opium (this one stopped the D but my throat swelled shut), others made me vomit Cholestrymine and Colestid.

My days are filled with pain, bloating and diarrhea. Although I no longer have the "drop everything and run" urgency I still cannot be without a bathroom. The pain is often unbearable.

Every three weeks or so I will have a week where I will vomit up bile and generally feel really ill. I take Compazine to help with this - otherwise I dehydrate.

I have had numerous colonoscopies (the prep is cruel & unusual punishment for us with this condition) and nothing has been found. I finally told the Dr to stop with the testing and help me find a solution - so far no luck.

My surgeon didn't want anything to do with this when it began, never told me that this could happen and basically kicked me off his service once I was out of the hospital. My primary who is a godsend recently changed practices so I am seeing someone new for awhile until he is set up in his new practice and I learned yesterday that my GI who was great and went through the worst of it with me has recently left for another state.

Greatest challenges are dropping weight really quickly and I dehydrate frequently, losing my potassium levels. The vomiting and pain are also crazy intense and am wondering if you all suffer from this as well?

My food is low residue/low fiber and I don't eat often - small in the morning and one meal in the evening. Lately the bloating and gas pain are off the charts. Yesterday I made the mistake of having some milk and I am paying for it now.

I am on some medications for pain (broken neck/cervical nerve entrapment) which you would think would constipate me. I shudder to think what my d would be like without them.

My new primary wants me to start vitamin d supplementation with calcium (although calcium made me go to the bathroom more often, not less - probiotics do the same thing). I am wondering if I will be able to tolerate this at all.

I am happy that many have found relief but there are some of us out there that are stuck with this for a lifetime. I'd love to hear from any of you dealing with this as I feel alone sometimes.

Meg

Thanks for your reply. It is what it is for me. After 6 years there is nothing that the Drs can do. My GI told me when I passed the 1 year anniversary with no reduction that this was what I would have for the rest of my life.

I have learned to deal with it somewhat but it definitely limits my life in ways that people without this never understand.

Being chronically ill is not for the weak.

Glad you have found relief!

Meg

If you had D. before the operation then something else could be wrong. Have your Gluten levels checked the next time you see the doctor. You could be allergic to wheat or mention milk allergies to your doctor. Its a very simple blood test and it will put your mind as ease.

People don't all of sudden have a Gluten allergy. It took 5 years before they figured out I was Celiac. I used to have D. every so often and didn't think much about it and then it got worse and worse, because I quess my stomach was getting damaged. It took me 14 months of gluten free diet to feel 99%. So all of this takes time.

I'm so sorry to hear your story. It sounds like mine.

This is what to do....Go to your doctor and ask for a perscription for 'Olestyr'

or 'Colestid'. This will save your life. I tinkered with many other things including calcium but this is what really works. I have Bile salts D. and it totally sounds like you have the same thing.  This medicine starts working immediately.

Hi Wanting Me Back,

Sorry to hear you are having troubles after your gallbladder surgery. I had mine out February 1st of this year and I was lucky I had a super surgeon who knew about Bile Salt Diarrhea; he advised me to eat bland foods and low fat for at least a month after the surgery, then start adding things back gradually. I am now 5 months Post-Op and still pretty much Low Fat, fatty food just doesn't agree with me, neither does coffee, chocolate, greasy food, red meats, oranges and juice, I have to be careful with lettuce and many fresh veggies(which I miss dearly) It does get better with time if you just stick to low fat for a bit longer.

Another thing that helped me was eating oatmeal every morning, with flaxseed; Citrucel or Metamucil(the soluable fiber actually helps bulk up the stools believe it or not) and eating yogurt(I liked Activia at first but then switched to organic Stonyfield) Try also taking a Probiotic and drinking lots of water and walking for exercize. Eat slowly and chew your food throughly. I suffered from excessive belching and bloating before my surgery and to some extent after the surgery but it is a lot better now. I eat 6 small meals throughout the day and never late at night. And those little twinges and pains you're feeling, I think that's normal, it's just your body's been through the shock of surgery and it will take some time to recuperate. It is no fun to be stuck at home because you're afraid of having to run to the bathroom, I feel for anybody with this problem.

My gastroenterologist and my regular PCP wanted me to wait until at least 8 weeks Post Op to start meds for the diarrhea and my drug was called Welchol. I don't even need it anymore but it does work well for the diarrhea. I would recommend seeing a gastroenterologist rather than an internist for this sort of problem, many doctors are not aware of Post-Cholecystectomy Syndrome, I was lucky my surgeon and GI were knowledgable. I encourage you to find a good GI doctor who should be able to address your concerns; keep us posted and I hope you feel better soon. Ruth

hi,

new to this forum, not sure i've posted this right, i posted new topic earlier instead, whoops   

I am so glad i've come across this site as i too have experienced many problems members speak about on this site after gall bladder romoval, since reading this thread i can see that i share a familiar story in some ways to Macha - and wanted to share my story 

my problem started when i was 7 months pregnant, feb 2010, 1 day all of a sudden i experienced a sharp stabbing pain just below my rib cage, my first fear was the health of my baby so i called the midwife and she reassured me i was ok as the pain wasn't where the baby was, this continued for a few weeks every so often lasting 20mins each time. doctors told me it was heart burn, but it really did not feel this was right.

it was not until after i had the baby things got worse, 2 weeks after birth i was admitted into hospital in excruciating pain, again i was told it was heart burn and sent home with gaviscon. for almost a year after beeing admitted to hospital on 5 occasions and seeing 3 different docs and even suggesting to my G.P. in the early stages ''could i have gallstones''? as i found out this was possible of developing during pregnancy (she completely dismissed my suggestion and said there was no way i could have gallstones because i was too young (i'm 30) and i would be in extereme pain if i did??? well now i know you can have it any age!) i finally found my problem.

This made me loose confidence in docs and specialists as i also went to see a gastroenterologist and he just touched my stomach and said i could have a hiatial hernia without even doing a scan of thorough check. so basically i was told i had heart burn and a hernia. my condition worsened the pain started to last longer up to 3 - 10 hours every day for up to a week whilst trying to look after a baby, pain in shoulder blades, vomitting, all typical symptoms of gall stones, was still told this wasn't the case by the hospital doc who made me feel i was exaggerating my pain, he said i was 'worrying' too much and that it wasn't anything as 'sinister' as i suspected and some lanzoprazole should calm it down, well it didn't! it was not until my husband begged me to see a different G.P. (after losing all confidence and bearing with my pain) that he referred me to get a scan and sure enough i had loads of small gallstones.

i was relieved to find the root of my problem and started to gain some confidence, the pain started to ease and eventually whilst still waiting to have surgery i no longer experienced any attacks, last one being dec 2010, 5 months later i had my gall bladder removed, was told they didn't find any stones but they were definitely present at the time of the scan and they could have passed or dissolved, this then made me think whether i had made the right decision as i never really wanted to have it removed in the first place but could not see any other way out of experiencing this pain. Another reason for wanting it removed was that my husband and i wanted to plan for another baby but seeing as the pregnancy was what caused it in the first place i didn't want to risk being in pain for another year whilst pregnant and caring for a young child,as like another member on the forum pointed out, we were given this organ for a reason in the first place and this made me wonder what would happen to me without it?  The surgeon told me, everthing should be normal, i can eat what i want shouldn't have any problems etc, everything that other people on the forum was told by their G.P./surgeon, like some of them i was was not warned about possible side effects, they almost paint this picture that your life returns to normal the way it was before having gallstones and that no problems are experienced, i thought this was great but too good to be true as surely there must be some effects to the body when it is missing an organ?

well sure enough i started to experience stomach cramps and diarrhea, although not as severe as some people have experienced it, i get it every other day or sometimes at its worse up to 5 times a day, at first i just put it down to my body adjusting but it has been 4 weeks now and every time i dont get an episode i think, yes it's getting better, then all of a sudden i'll get the familiar pain in my stomach after eating then end up running to the toilet. i went to see my G.P. and he said he'd never heard of people getting diarrhea after gall bladder reomoval and that it should settle on its own. Although i am thankful that he got to the root problem of my gallstones i don't have the same confidence with my diarrhea problem, as he said he knows lots of people who have surgery and not had diarrhea afterwards, although i can appreciate this, it does not mean that it is not possible. i feel as though i have get more help and understanding from google then my G.P. and it is sad that this is the case as it has made me loose confidence in professionals, after reading other people's experiences i think i will now try taking calcium to help with my problem before resorting to seeing the doc if all else fails,as i have to face the fact that this may be a long term problem, like others i have lost my apetite, only eat for the sake of eating, scared that eating will result in diarrhea, scared to go out to eat with friends, lost a lot of weight due to this, sick of people saying 'you don't look like you've had a baby, you're so slim'! i'm slim for all the wrong reasons and this doesn't make me feel good. on top of this i have returned to work and have not told anyone of my embarrasing problem so i want to try and get it under control.

i really hope that some of the medication people have recommended will too work for me as i really want to get back on with my life as much as i can, i know that it may never be the same again but i can't dwell on it and i can't have regrets, thank you to others for sharing their invaluable advice and experiences.

My short story:

Have had "IBS-D" for about 25 yrs (since I was ~17). Had to just play everything really safe if I wanted to go outside or anything like that. Nothing every really helped - foods that would sometimes hurt me would at other times be fine. I found no rhyme or reason to any of it.

about a yr and a half ago I had my gallbladder removed. This basically intensified what I was already dealing with, although my (now new) doctor said this is what perhaps was my problem all along - the whole lack of bile/water absorption.

He gave me the Chloestyramine and it certainly helps - I now can eat throughout the day without the fear I used to have. The problem is that when it does come time to go to the bathroom, 90% of the time it is just not solid enough (sorry for graphic). A mess, and I am developing hemorrhoids that are very hard to get rid of when this is constantly happening. I am to the point that I need to go 3 times in the morning before leaving just so I feel comfortable that nothing major is going to happen.

I am definitely going to try this calcium and see what happens. I've read about calcium in the past, but saw some people wondering if it led to more heart attacks or whatever, so I was scared off a bit.

I'm past the point of caring any more and need something that will at least slow this down somewhat.

Will keep you posted. Thanks for all the info!

Hi Notahappycamper,

Just curious to know, was your gallbladder non-functioning or did you have gallstones as the reason for surgery? Are you still taking Chloestryamine? I had my surgery 7 months ago and took Welchol (colesevelam HCL) for about a week, but it helped the diarrhea but eventually caused constipation, which led to hemmorhoids and an anal fissure from the straining, which led to an Internal Rectal Prolapse! Since you are suffering from Hemmorhoids already, I would highly recommend you see a Colon/Rectal Specialist, sometimes called a Proctologist. Regular doctors are not specially trained to deal with these sort of problems, so I went to see a Colon/Rectal Specialist and he knew exactly what the problem was and how to treat it, my regular doctor, Gastroenterologist, walk in clinic doctor and my surgeon could not see or diagnose the prolapse. Keep us posted as to how the calcium worked for you. Ruth