New with concerns of bile duct stones
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| Fri, 01-28-2005 - 7:27pm |
Several years ago, I had my gallbladder removed. Exactly one year ago, I had stones removed from my bile duct. I spent four long months undiagnosed. Severe pain, severe jaundice... I had been in and out of the ER more times than I care to remember. Had every test done and they kept saying it was all normal. Turned out the results were NOT normal. It took four months to get to that point and find a doctor who knew what was going on. She is no longer here though. :(
Anyway, The pain is back. Not quite as sharp but still extremely uncomfortable. And as of right now, I am getting all itchy. I hope the jaundice isn't returning too now! I am under military insurance so I did get a referral to a new specialist but the soonest they can see me is the middle of February. In the mean time, my regular doctor prescribed Hydrocodone for the pain... which I THOUGHT was hard on the liver but I have to take something.
Has anyone else here gone through this kind of thing? How long does it take for stones to develop and cause problems again? Other than diet, is there anything that can be done to prevent this?
I am over-weight and have had horrible eating habits so I know that has to be a contributor if not the sole cause but the weird thing is, the first time this happened, I was in the progress of losing weight. I lost about 20 pounds and then was hit with this problem. And now, the same thing is happening. I started dieting and losing weight. Lost 12 pounds and here I am with the pain again.
Can anyone give me more insight on this mess I am in?
Thanks!
Jill


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Jill
Hi Jill and welcome to iVillage and this board,
I am so sorry for making you wait
Thanks Wren. No... no back aches. I have been to the doctor and they referred me to a specialist but that appt isn't until the middle of Feb. The hydrocodone helps but I don't like taking it if it is going to do more harm to my liver you know?
In addition to all this, my urine is now dark on many occasions. I have increased my water intake.
I think my biggest worry now is, when is it bad enough that I need to be seen NOW instead of waiting til the 15th? My doctor refuses to answer this question. All I know is I do not want to go through what I went through last year. Four months of sheer agony. I can't handle going through that again.
And I keep wondering... is it stones again? Is it something caused by the trauma to my liver last year? My mind is racing and I just want answers but won't get any for a few weeks. The doctor I had last year felt it was an emergency and MADE room for me in her schedule. I wish she was still practicing here. These other doctors don't seem to take it as a big deal... even given my history. Some doctors wouldn't even see me for months!
Thanks,
Jill
Mom to Erin (19) and Haley (10yo Asp
Morning Jill, Sorry to hear your
Thanks Wren. I will try the lemon in the water. A little flavor never hurts. :) I'm actually feeling ok right now... a little achy in the upper right area but not sharp pain.
No specific orders after I had my gallbladder removed. That was about 7 years ago though. They removed stones from my bile duct just last year and no orders after that either. The doctor just said that some people have recurring problems with stones sometimes. Didn't say anything else. She wasn't much of a talker.
As for right now, until my appt on the 16th, I am just to go on as normal I guess. My regular on base doctor said that if it gets really bad or if I become jaundiced, to go to the ER.
The drug they gave me was hydrocodone. I know that is bad for the liver though which is what concerns me. :( That is all they would prescribe last year as well. They gave me 7.5mg tablets and said to take 1 or 2 every 6-8 hours. I refuse to take more than one a day. It just makes me nervous.
I am definitely trying to stay relaxed and optimistic. A part of me wants to freak out that this seems to be happening all over again but I keep reminding myself that I have already been through it once so I shouldn't have to suffer for months like I did before. I took the day off of work today too so that I will have 3 days to rest up before going back. I hold a desk job but it can be rather stressful. I barely made it through half a day the past two days so I decided it was ridiculous to try and push it.
Thanks so much for the info and support.
Jill
Mom to Erin (19) and Haley (10yo Asp
Jill,
Sorry I'm so late in joining in. Have you gone to a nutritionist? With this problem you should be able to get a referral from any military GP. Military insurance used to pay for them. If you are near a military hospital they usually have one on staff because of the food prep. They usually take appt. too.
Just some thoughts.
Love,
Jamie
Love,
Hi Tearose!
Welcome to the board.
Hi Jill - I don't have any words of wisdom for you.
I had my GB removed Feb/04 and continued to have discomfort in the GB area. After 10 months of 'waiting for my body to adjust' (doctor's words) he finally decided to order an ultra sound (Dec 23/04. I'm awaiting results - my phone calls have not been returned so I'm hoping it was fine - I have an apt with him Feb 8 so will find out for sure then.
I track my food intake at www.fitday.com - takes a while to get used to it - but well worth it when I can give the Doctor specifics about my diet. (ie. the term 'low fat' is very subjective - but if you tell the doctor you are eating X# calories today and only 15% from fat - then they know that you are eating a diet that is way to low in fat for anyone to be on long term and stay healthy)
I don't know how long it takes to grow new stones - that was my question all along and finally one doctor told me a it can take as little as year for some people - depends on the individual.
Jamie, thanks. I will have to see if I can find out about the nutritionist. I know they had one at the last base I was at but not sure about this one.
Lynn, thanks for the hydrocodone info. I haven't taken it today at all and hopefully won't have to. That kind of drug just makes me nervous. Don't like pain killers. As for the ERCP, it wasn't the biggest thrill but it wasn't as bad as i thought though. They had to give me a serious dose of anesthesia though because they said I kept waking up. I do remember waking up once when they inserted the tube into my esophagus. I remember the doctor asking me to lay my head back down and I was out after that as far as I remember. LOL
Jo, thank you so much for all the info and for the Fitday link! I remember seeing that site awhile back but had forgotten about it. Will definitely make use of that. Wow on the wait times for medical care!! Guess my 2 week wait isn't so bad huh? Yikes! No, they haven't done a urinalisys yet. I imagine the specialist will though. The military doctor just did a liver panel but I haven't heard about the results. I think I will call tomorrow. It was taken before this started to get worse though so no telling how accurate it is.
So I guess it is possible that this could be more stones but not necessarily of course. Whatever it turns out to be, I hope it is something that is easily curable and not some sort of a permanent damage. Not going to worry about that just yet though.
Thank you all so much for the information and advice. If things continue to go down hill, I will definitely go to the ER. Hopefully all will be ok until my appt and that I will have some kind of hope from the doctor. I will let you know! :)
Thanks again,
Jill
Mom to Erin (19) and Haley (10yo Asp
Jill Just
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