Gall Stones and Diet

I was released from the hospital today after having been there for four days and have been told I have pancreatitis and gall stones.  The inflammation of the pancrea is reduced but my doctor wants to wait until it is back to normal before any other steps are taken.  The gall stones are still causing me a lot of pain but I need to wait for surgery to have my gall bladder removed.  For the next few days I am on a clear liquid diet and after that I will be able to eat solids again.

My question is, does anyone have any experience with having their gall bladder removed?  How was the surgery?  How did your dietary needs change after surgery? 

Thanks

Hi. I am sorry you are facing this. Is there a way you can ask your doctor if he can set you up with a nutritionist? I have heard that some insurance will cover it if you get an rx written because of a condition. This is just what I hear. In any regards I would ask your doctor if he has a list of what to have and avoid especially. I am sorry I don't have more to offer. I would think if you google it there may be sample diets and info on recovery. Of course everyone is different

Hi

I totally know what you are going through. I suffered through attacks not knowing what they were for years until I had one that was bad enough to send me to the hospital

When you eat something extra fatty, the gallbladder works extra hard to get out and help break down the the fatty food. If there is a gallstone in the way blocking it that is where the pain comes from.

After I clued in I realized that fries and nuts did it for me as they are extra hard to break down but other highly fatty foods would trigger smaller attacks. While I was waiting for surgery, (took about 6 months) I stopped eating those things no more attacks. Occasionally, I would have a fatty meal and I would get twinges to remind me not to eat that stuff!

The surgery itself was fine, no complications, done as a laparoscopy so only  4 small incisions, home the same day and back to work in 3 days.  It was tight and sore but not unbearable.

Good Luck! You will be just fine!

I had no problems and no diet changes after recovery from surgery!  The only effect I had was sweet relief that I wasn't having attacks any more!  Just have your surgery and all will be better.  I had the more radical surgery because the laproscopic was not yet available, but from what I've heard, the recovery time is very short and you are up and around before you know it, and the best part is that you will never ever miss your gall bladder!

Yes I had gallstone surgery last year. I had my gall badder removed via laproscopic, I was in admitted in the hospital on monday and I came home tuesday afternoon. It was removed thru my belly button, I have 3 small scares.  The surgery was not bad at all and I was only out of work for 10 days.  Until you have your surgery try apple juice mixed with apple cider vinger together(maybe half and half) when you start to feel the pain coming on or before if you know before it starts. I know this sounds stupib but I was doubled over in pain the last time from 5:00pm to 10:00am the follow day with no relief. My daughter looked this up on the internet and lots of people was saying it works and I can attest it REALLY REALLY WORKs.  I wish you much luck and God speed.    I hope this helps

I want to start out by saying thanks for the reassurances about how easy to get through surgery was... I have to admit I've never had a surgery under general anaesthetic and am pretty scared (but not scared enough to think I'd prefer the pain), just that waiting-to- fall- asleep- and- scared kind of anxious.

I have REALLY lowered my fat intake, most days now around 5g of fat but always under 12g and if I keep it that low the pain seems to be pretty manageable.  I'm eating lots of fat free soups and drinking diluted juice. This week I talk to my doctor about scheduling a surgery consultation and will also ask for how long this kind of diet is sustainable.

Skeverette:  I'm going to try the apple juice and apple cider mix... neither one seems to be a food I need to avoid so I don't see any harm in trying.  Thanks in advance, I'll pick up some apple cider vinegar tomorrow and try it right away.

I just wanted to say that I went through nearly a year with intense gallstone pain. I went to the emergency room, but they wouldn't remove it due to the fact I didn't have insurance. After some time, I finally forked over the money to see a doctor. He prescribed me a medication that reduced the size of the gallstones so they could pass through my system. It has a 50% success rate. Ask your doc about it. Not many docs prescribe it because the side effects are sometimes worse than going through an attack, but I'm glad I gave it a chance. No surgery for me, I'm gallstone free. I did go through months of really bad gas, diarrhea, and heart burn, but I'm good to go now :)

Yep.  I have had three major attacks since July 5th lasting anywhere from 10 minutes to 2 days.  The last one lasted only 10 minutes but was the most intense and sent me to the emergency room where they did a ultra sound and found the gall stones.  I am looking to get my surgery in about 2 weeks if insurance clears.  Everyone I have talked to has said the gallstones formed because of the weight loss.  Before I started losing weight everyone said I would be healthier, not having loose skin and gall bladder attacks!  I guess these are more manageable than complications from obesity though!