Bloating/Gerd post-Gallbladder removal

iVillage Member
Registered: 11-18-2004
Bloating/Gerd post-Gallbladder removal
10
Tue, 01-11-2005 - 6:12pm
I've been poking around this forum and there seem to be quite a few of you out there with Gallbladder issues. Mine was removed Oct 18th due to gallstones. Since then I have been having lots of stomach gas, bloating, pressure in my throat, heartburn, sensations that are like flutters in my throat and chest. I will also sometimes have dull pain or a slight burning where my gallbladder used to be. My heart has been checked out by a cardiologist in the past and recently (occasional benign PVCs and PACs). My PCP thought it might be a hiatal hernia, but had a baruim swallow test and nothing turned up. She also did another abdominal ultrasound recently, and it was fine. PCP is refering me to a GI doc. I was wondering if anyone had any advice or insight. Have you had/or heard of similar symptoms either with a gallbladder or after its removal? Any suggestions for good questions to ask the GI specialist when I see him/her?
Thanks!
iVillage Member
Registered: 10-14-2003
Tue, 01-11-2005 - 7:54pm

Hi and Welcome to iVillage and to this board..

thflowers-hahd23222.gif picture by Wren53B

iVillage Member
Registered: 01-10-2005
Wed, 01-12-2005 - 9:05am

Hi,

As Wren said, you are definitely not alone in this one. I have an earlier post about some of my post-surgery issues.

After my surgery I felt wonderful, with only two small bouts of gas I can think of. Then, on Dec. 9th, I felt like I was having another gallstone attack and ended up in the emergency room. Since then, it's been a roller coaster of symptoms, although the duration between symptoms is getting longer and overall I am feeling better. My symptoms since the "attack day" have been on and off gas, bloating, soft but not loose stools, extreme cramping during stool passage and an extreme urgency when it's time to go. Sometimes the urge is so severe, I don't think I have enough time to get from my kitchen to the bathroom! I have had a CT scan (day after the emergency room) because they thought a stone was left someplace. This was negative, but they found a slight "thickening" in a small area in the wall of my intestines. They suspect colitis, but this is only a suspicion. My new GI doctor doesn't think this is the case, but I am having a colonoscopy on Tuesday to check this. More likely, he said that my digestive muscles might not be working properly or that my body is not adjusting properly to the bile that my liver is producing, and not having a gallbladder to store it in. So, that's where I am at. I will update my post after I get the results of my colonoscopy.

I am interested in your comment about what to ask your GI doctor. After my appointment last week I realized that he didn't even ask my family history, which is colorectal cancer (my maternal grandfather) and liver cancer (not due to alcohol, but believed to be due to excess iron in the body) which my mother died from. Is this common for him not to ask on a first appointment? His approach was colonoscopy first, and we will deal with issues and details after the results are known.

Thanks for your post,

Regina

iVillage Member
Registered: 10-14-2003
Wed, 01-12-2005 - 9:30am

Question you said in your post Regina,

thflowers-hahd23222.gif picture by Wren53B

iVillage Member
Registered: 01-10-2005
Wed, 01-12-2005 - 10:05am

Hi Wren,

I will tell you all I know. This was back in 1992 when she died, age 69. For about two years prior, and what started with a fainting at the food store, her doctor determined that she was severely anemic and recommended a blood transfusion. Her anemia still continued and transfusions were required about every 6 to 8 weeks. Soon, the transfusions became every 6 weeks, then every 4. During this entire time she was told to take two caplets of Feosol every day, which I thought was excessive, but her doctor was concerned that her iron was too low. At the point where the transfusions were every 4 weeks, they thought she might have a bleeding ulcer (why they didn't investigate this earlier, I don't know) and gave her a CT scan. They then found a tumor in the liver, which was malignant. This was September 1992, within two months she died. My questions later on were vaguely answered, I don't think her doctor fully understood what had happened. He speculated that it could have been caused by her liver improperly absorbing the iron. None of this made sense to me at the time. It was several years later that I learned about hemochromotosis. By that time, her doctor had retired and there wasn't much information on it. I know that it's genetic, and there is a test for this. But at the time my mother was sick, I don't believe this knowledge existing fully. In any event, at the time this was all speculation as they could never really pinpoint the cause of the cancer. I'm sure that had they done earlier testing they would have found the cancer sooner. What her chances would have been, who knows? Even now, I don't see much press about linking iron overdose with liver cancer, but this was the only possibility given to me as a cause.

Regina

iVillage Member
Registered: 10-14-2003
Wed, 01-12-2005 - 3:38pm

Regina,

thflowers-hahd23222.gif picture by Wren53B

iVillage Member
Registered: 04-13-2004
Thu, 01-13-2005 - 3:50pm
Dear Library Mom, Your story sounds very familiar. My gallbladder was removed on Feb. 3, 2004 almost a year ago. I had some of those symptoms beforehand, but if anything, they have been worse since the surgery. Now I wish I had tried my celiac diet before having surgery, but unfortunately I didn't find out about it until too late. Neither did anyone tell me that the constant flow of bile directly into the small intestine seems to cause some people to develop cancer in the small intestine. I decided to try a celiac diet, once I learned of this disease. Have had digestive trouble since early childhood, mainly constipation. Have not been diagnosed with celiac, but felt that the SCD diet I am on, stands for Selected Carbohydrates diet, would be a good startin gplace to relieve my digestive problems. I am also lactose intolerant and don't get on well with many fruits and tomatoes. I am trying to explore the effects of the foods that remain on my diet. Incidentally, this diet isn't designed onlyfor celiacs, but also for ibs people diagnesed with that catchall, ibs and a number of other digestive problems. I have experienced some relief from the sharp pain I had under my right center rib cage . It is reduced mostly toa burning sensation that gets worse when I make changes in my diet. I do have better sleep patterns for the most part and more energy. These improvements maybe from eliminating flours, cereals, sugar, sweeteners from my diet, I eat mostly veggies, unprocessed meats, bananas, peanut butter, olive oil. I eat only fresh or frozen veggies. I have been on the diet for 5 + months now. I don't know if all that helps any, Ruth
iVillage Member
Registered: 03-23-2003
Thu, 01-13-2005 - 6:31pm

HI Regina and Wren,


Excess iron in the liver will cause cirrhosis of the liver, I just read an article on it this week.

 
iVillage Member
Registered: 10-14-2003
Sat, 01-15-2005 - 6:32pm

Hello Lynn,

thflowers-hahd23222.gif picture by Wren53B

iVillage Member
Registered: 03-23-2003
Sun, 01-16-2005 - 12:46pm

Hey Wren,


Do your doctors monitor your kidney functions??

 
iVillage Member
Registered: 10-14-2003
Sun, 01-16-2005 - 7:42pm

Lynn, Never think you or anyone

thflowers-hahd23222.gif picture by Wren53B