:-) anyone hear of this before????

Hi May friends, I was wondering if any of you heard of Gallbladder Sludge before? To make a long story short, I have been having alot of pain in my abdomn and in my back...(on both sides, not just the right) So, my surgeon set me up for an abdominal ultrasound this morning and the Technician lady said.....and I quote "your gallbladder looks sickly and you have a lot of sludge". I looked up "sludge" and I guess its a thickening of the bile that could form into stones. I haven't heard anything yet about what is going to happen next, but I was wondering if any of you had gallbladder problems? I know some doctors take out the gallbladder during WLS, but mine didn't. The last thing I want to do is have another surgery. Any info on this subject would be GREAT. Thank, Depsy

It's pretty common for the gall bladder to go south from rapid weight loss. That's why so many doctors go ahead and take it out. I was hoping mine would, too, but my gull bladder was healthy as all get out... You could probably hold off for a while having it out, but eventually, you'll probably need to have it out. Meanwhile, you can minimize the pain somewhat by being careful of what you're eating (which you're probably already doing... )

Were you prescribed any meds for your gallbladder after your surgery? I was prescribed some medicine that I take. The name begins with Urso. It is to ease the effects of the rapid weight loss on your gallbladder. Kathy

I actually had my gall bladder out 12 years ago (July 1993) and of ALL of the abd surgeries I've had (GBS, gall bladder, 2 C-sections) that one was by FAR the easiest. I had it lap and I (honest to God) was sleeping on my stomach that night. Mine had a few stones and sludge in it and I got a stone caught in the bile duct, so I had it out emergency. When I first starting having problems with it I was 7 months pregnant with my now 12-year-old daughter. They (obviously) couldn't do the surgery while I was so pg so we planned on doing it a few months after she was born. I was put on a VERY low-fat diet (I ate nothing that had more than 5 grams/fat in it) and I lost a LOT of weight! The last 2 months of my pregnancy I went from about 300 to around 280. When I went in for my 6 week check-up after the baby I was about 255. In fact, that was the lowest weight I've been since 1988 (when I put on 100 pounds and went over 300 - have only been below 300 with the whole gall bladder thing and now) and I'm about 25 pounds from that now. I say all that to say to watch your fats. When I was eating very low fat I had almost no problems at all with my gall bladder. BUT, losing weight as quickly as we are does tend to aggrivate it, but you can do your best to fight it by eating low fat. Best of luck to you, I know how much it can hurt to have those pains. It sucks! Michelle 340/279/175