Strange problem following GB surgery?

iVillage Member
Registered: 09-23-2004
Strange problem following GB surgery?
3
Thu, 09-23-2004 - 10:31am
I had my GB removed 8/2/04 and two weeks later I had reoccurring problem. If I don't eat something, anything in a 4 hour time span, I get a hunger pain which immediately progresses to a severe adominal pain. I find if I eat anything the pain is gone within five minutes. It also can occur if I don't eat anything before I go to bed, I am rudely awoken in the early am clammering for something to eat. This has never happened prior to the surgery and the surgeon says it is not related. Has anyone else experienced this?
iVillage Member
Registered: 10-14-2003
Thu, 09-23-2004 - 6:48pm

Hi and Welcome to iVillage and to this board..

thflowers-hahd23222.gif picture by Wren53B

iVillage Member
Registered: 09-01-2004
Fri, 09-24-2004 - 11:14am
That's the problem with having the gallbladder removed. The gallbladder stores bile that comes from the liver and retains it until we eat, then contracts and releases bile to help digest food. When the gallbladder is removed, bile continuously flows from the liver into the first part of the small intestine, whether we are eating or not. I would venture to guess that the hunger pangs you are feeling are probably irritation to the small intestine from the constant bile. Therefore, when you eat, it reduces the irritation as the bile can then be used by the food. Just a thought. Sometimes the liver will adjust and release less bile, sometimes not. This is one of the reasons why I am trying to avoid gallbladder surgery. The surgeons tell you that you can do without it, but it is an organ, with a function, and taking it out has its own problems. I hope you see your doctor for this and that he can help you. I know how bad it sucks to be sick and do something to try to get better, only to have other problems surface. Been there. Good luck.
iVillage Member
Registered: 04-13-2004
Fri, 09-24-2004 - 5:03pm
hmdoyle00, I had my gallbladder removed last Feb. I continue to have the very same symptoms I had before the surgery, burning across upper ab that begins in a spot right under my right rib cage next to the center of my ab. It also goes up to my right shoulder blade. The dignosis was made on the basis of an ultrasound that showed a distended gallbladder with thick bile, but not stones. No stones were found in the organ after removal. If I had it to do again, I would try diet first. Cheers, Ruth