For those whohad the gallbladder out- a few questions

Hi,

I had my gallbladder out on 12/22. I get that for some people it can take a couple weeks for the digestive process to adjust- but sheesh. Any tiny amount of fat triggers bathroom chaos. It is severe enough that I can't eat anything at work- just Isopure (clear liquid type****il I get home at night. Due to the hernia repair I am also stuck on very soft food still so between that and the gallbladder thing I am looking for suggestions on how to hopefully easy my system back.  I really need to get this managed or work is going to be problematic, and at this point I am at the lowest level of weight recommended by my surgeon. (Recall that for me this is 180- not a crazy low bmi or anything, but he wants the weight here due to other health issues.)  Any suggestions are appreciated!

I don't have gall bladder problems and I hope I never will. So I can't offer any advice at all. But I do extend my sincere wish that you start feeling better soon. That InstantPot pressure cooker wants to make something good just for you!

psychoticparrot

I do love my Instantpot! Made coconut rice pudding. My, that is a mistake I am still paying for!

Had mine out a year or two before VSG. My recovery was not as involved as yours, but I understand what you are talking about. The deal is that the gallbladder used to be the reservoir for the bile acid and it would release the bile acid into your gut as needed. Now the liver dumps the bile acid directly into your gut. The higher the fat content in the food you eat, the more bile acid gets dumped. 

While this may not be what you want to hear, the post gallbladder removal diet is very low fat, bland and generally high carb. Think over cooked Cream of Wheat, Rolled Oats, banana, rice, plain cereal like Cheerio's and the like. Proteins should be very lean - chicken breast, white tuna, pork loin, turkey breast, very lean beef.

Some people can never manage high fat foods, but I think they are the minority. It took me about 8 months before I felt back to normal. I had gastric issues for quite sometime after GB removal. After the explosive period (which for me was only about 2 or 3 weeks) the bile leakage stage came and lasted for months. All the doctors deny this side effect, but you will find it's very common during the first year if you google it! 

There are also holistic supplements that are supposed to help. I have a friend who takes them, but I really don't know anything about them.

Anyhow, I hope you end up getting back to normal sooner rather than later! 

First time I heard the high carb thing. That makes soooooo much sense- the one meal that actually makes me feel half way decent is steel cut oats. I don't usually want to eat much bread, but yep- been on the list too. It is good to know too that initially you had problems, but eventually everything adjusted. Thanks-

My surgeon warned that what you described was a post surgery complication experienced my very few, so that sucks that you got "lucky". 

He didn't specify treatment beyond saying that there was medication to control it. So I'd start there. 

Hopefully your body will get with the program soon!

Thank you everyone for your input. The surgeon basically had a wait it out type attitude, but that is causing havoc at work. Today I had a follow-up with my gastric doc, and he prescribed something to bind up the bile and switched my acid reducer to one that is less likely to contribute. Fingers crossed that will help. I had to sub for kindergarten today (totally not my normal gig) and daaaannnng! Rough day!