gall bladder attack

Can anyone tell me what a gall bladder attack feels like. I was in awful pain for hours yesterday and am not sure what the cause. Sine today is a holiday i will probably not be able to get an appointment with my Dr. until maybe tomorrow. I have not been on the forum in some time, been relocating to FL and starting new business of my own so have not had much time to post. I am 2 years and 5 mos post RNY gastric surgery and have had no problems and have not lost anymore weight in about a year. Still have about 25 more I would like to loose but am down to size 12 from 30-32 so If I never loose another pound I will be fine with that. I do not drink caffiene or carbonated drinks in fact I still just drink water almost all of the time, an occasional small cup of milk or sugar free hot chocolate. I eat pretty sensible still, and still small meals. I do remember I had some mixed nutts yesterday and we had Olive Garden salad, soup and breadsticks for lunch and I ate two breadsticks and usually only eat one. About two hours later after I ate a WW ice cream the pain began, I had had a hint of it a couple of times last week but since it did not last long and went away when I would eat something I paid it not much attention. Yesterday the pain was so severe and radiated around to my back and eating made it subside but then 30 min later it would come back and then finally just stayed for a couple of hours and there was nothing I could do to get releif. Such awful pain!! In the stomach area under the left ribs and more in the middle but not low kinda of between the breast but a large area. Cramping pain not burning. I have been eating alot of that WW ice cream lately and wonder if the fat in them is causing me a problem. I do really like them and hate to have to give them up, they are the only treat I allow myself outside of sugar free hot chocolate now and then. I know people on this forum have had a gall bladder attack but have not read about one in ahwile and am not sure if this is what they describe or not. Help! Judy E formally in Stockbridge, GA now in Orlando, FL

Judy, I had major problems with my gall bladder back years ago and It does sound like that maybe what is going on with you..I usually dont like to give advice on something of the medical nature but you wouldnt even believe how long I dealt with that problem and what I went through because my insurance said it was a "preexisting condition" and wouldnt pay..because of them I almost died from this,SO..I really do know what Im talking bout on this one! BUT with that said, does the pain seem to radiate around to like your back and ribs or is it staying in one place?? When I would have them,they would start out with me getting very sick at my stomach, then I would get into a clammy cold sweat, and then I would hurt so bad that it felt like there was another person inside me trying to rip me apart from the inside out. (no exaggeration) When I first started having them they would start like having gas pains in your middle of your chest, and they would radiate around to my back in in my ribs....then as time went by they got much more violent. Im gonna give you some advice and If you take it, you will save yourself alot of physical hurt and trauma..First of all,go to the doc' tell him you think youre having gall bladder attacks,and let them run some tests. Generally they arent painful or anything, they just do an ultrasound to see if you have any stones, they may do blood work to see if you have gall bladder disease and IF you do have any of these, save yourself alot of trouble and schedule surgery and get it over with it. Now they can do it laproscopically and it usually is out patient and not too bad. Compared to the attacks, they especially arent bad! lol If you are having them and dont get treated you can develop Pancreatitis which can kill you,and may prolong the surgery and everything and make you stay in the hospital a long time. THis is what happened to me. My insurance at my work wouldnt pay for it because they said it was preexisting, I had attacks for about 3 yrs,I was really young, a single mom,and could in no way afford to pay for it,and had noone to help me. I had been carried into the ER unconcience like 3 times to be kept for a few days and sent back home. Sometimes I was sent home that same day. Finally,the last attack I had I knew I was dying,Id given up,I was in bed for like 3 days,my dad found me lying in my bathroom floor almost dead,carried me to the car and got me to the ER,and I had to stay there for 30 days with an IV in each arm,and a pump in my stomach pumping out gane green before they could even perform the surgery. Then they only did it because at this point it was a matter of life or death. I dont mean to scare you,but its just if it is what it is, then you need to just take care of it and get it over with. Other wise, it can turn into a scary situation like I had. And once you have it done, you will feel like a new person!! I promise! Take care. I wish you well. Oh,and if it isnt that, then keep going til you find out what it is. Just an FYI, this is very common for people who have lost alot of weight,yo yo diet, and / or have had babies recently. Those are just some things that can bring this on. Best wishes. Ann

Ann, Wow, you really went through it!! Glad you are here and fine now!! You are right it is my gall bladder, I have spent all day at the Dr and then having the ultrasound and sure enough it is gall stones. I will have to have surgery but she is doing another ultrasound tomorrow to be sure all is well in the pelvic area, I guess since I have had the bypass surgery she wants to be sure there are no issues there before I have the gall bladder surgery. I hate having surgery but I am so afraid of having another one of those attacks that I will get it scheduled as soon as I can get it done. I already eat a pretty low fat diet but I am so afraid of having another attack I may live on protein drinks until the surgery! I do like salads alot and my eat alot of salads too, the veggies are sooooo great here in Florida! Thanks so much for responding, Now does anyone out there know of a good gastroentologist in the area? Judy E.

Glad youre getting taken care of ASAP,you wont be sorry you did! Unfortunately,theres no other solution.I couldnt eat anything when I was like that,matter a fact, I lost 97 lbs because I was so sick! Everybody thought I was dieting or dying lol,sometimes I wondered myself on the second one. Wish I knew how good those veggies were from there! (rub it in! lol) Your welcome for the response,good luck on everything! Ann H.

Judy, This seems a little high up to be a gall bladder attack. I had one a few years ago and it was more middle area than up near my breast area. But whatever it may be that kind of pain should be addressed immediately. I would go to the emergency room or an urgent care clinic. I know some emergency rooms are worse than the pain itself, so you may want to ask your WLS Dr. or your PCP if there is a clinic or some place like that where you could go instead for more urgent needs than waiting until the next day. Mine was so severe they gave me morphine for the pain. I birthed 2 children with no spinal or other meds and this felt 10 times worse. But I am sure everyone is different. Also, this kind of sounds a little like diverticulitis....infection in the lower stomach or intestines.....this is becoming more and more common....though it is still a little high up for that as well. Also as another note I would be very careful of allthe WW foods. They tend to still be high in sugar/carbs and if you read the labels there are usually better items out there nutritionally. I spent about 20 mins reading he backs of numerous ice creams the other day and the Breyers Slow Churned, No Sugar Added Vanilla seemed to have the lowest fat and sugar combination. My husband picked the Edy's No Sugar Added, Slow Churned Butter Pecan. Hope you fell better

thanks Seila, i have another ultrasound of just the pelvic area next week just to be sure there is nothing elso going on. I am going to try a regimen of Olive oil and unsweetened grapefruit juice to see if I can dissolve the gall stones. It might not work but is worth the try. Since I have found that I do have stones but the gall bladder is not yet inflamed I might have some time. You are right about the pain though, I think I would have 5 babies without meds before i would like to go through that again. So I am concentrating on low fat foods for now. I usually eat pretty low fat meals anyway and I only drink water in 2 1/2 years since my surgery (an occasionaly SF hot chocolate that I make the mix myself). So I do not drink caffeine drinks etc. I really think the stones formed during my rapid weight loss and not sure just what could have triggered the attack. The WW ice cream I eat is sweetened with splenda and has 6g of fat per bar, that adds up. I have switched to honeynut cherrios for my sweet snack, it has low sugar and only 1 fat is high in carbs but I am going to monitor my weight and see how this happens. I also am oging back to the Quacker Oat Bran cereal, I eat it just dry no milk it was prescribed by my internist after the surgery to help with the constipation and is high in fiber (she told me not to count the carbs in this cereal toward my daily max of carbs) and really taste better and good as a snack. Thanks so much for the info. Judy