Is it My Gall Bladder...Please HELP...Sorry Lenghty

Hi My name is Kyra,

Short History: I had Lap RNY 7/29/10 and a revision in late 2013 because the opening of my pouch was widened and some how was causing acid reflux. I have never had issue with dumping and could pretty much eat anything in small portions.

However, March 15th I woke up with terrible abdominal pain, nausea and diarrhea (sorry for tmi)...so I figured it was probably something I ate or drank the day before plus I had a few alcoholic beverages the night before as well. So I had hubby get some pepto mismo and ginger ale, I stayed in bed the whole day aside from bathroom and vomiting and it was gross because my stomach was empty so it was a lot gagging and dry heaving or throwing up yellow bile Yuck!! By the next day the pain was so severe I was hunched over & could barely walk, felt extremely bloated although I ate nothing since that Friday besides a little water. So that evening my husband rushed me too the ER. To my surprise I was admitted, had to get 2 units of blood because of severe anemia (I assume that was my fault b/c I wasn't taking my iron pills because they caused severe constipation), they also did a CT scan and ultrasound & discovered I had about 6 fibroids (1 the size of a plum & 2 cyst on my ovaries 1 they think that ruptured because of fluids seen.

So after 3 days of being hospitalized not eating while there I just assumed it was because I was in severe pain even w/pain meds they were giving that didn't provide relief for longer then 2 hours .

Anyways, I get home & hubby brought me a small chicken pot pie soup (my fav) from Quick Chek & I ate 1/3 of the soup with maybe 2 saltine crackers and shortly after I felt the WORST EXCRUCIATING pain ever, my stomach felt like a bowling ball was in it, I was in tears crying out to Jesus to provide some relief it lasted for a few hours. The following day I followed-up w/my ob-gyn  doc  and he adv'd I would need C-section surgery to remove fibroids but stated they would not affect my eating and recommended I see my RNY surgeon. So I go see my nut the following day and he goes based on your symptoms I "think" it's an Ulcer and prescribed meds for an Ulcer and told me to do liquids and protein shakes for a week or so and then try lite foods like a piece of toast and see how that goes.

The whole wkend I thought about his verbiage & didn't feel comfortable taking meds with him not sounding certain so that Monday I called his office and request to be sent to have an EGD, had scope on 3/26/15 and he also ordered an Ultrasound for abdomen, liver & gall bladder. The Dr. that performed EGD stated there were no signs of an Ulcer and my pouch is in perfect shape and adv'd me to try and start eating lite such as a half a turkey, tuna or egg salad sandwich slowly... I was so excited and thought I was all good until the following day at work I had 3 teaspoons of homemade egg salad & 2 saltine crackers and about 10 mins later I started to feel pain, 15 mins later it was the most horrible pain I ever felt I was reduced to tears, couldn't drive home and was picked up....got home the pain lasted for hours not even my prescription pain meds worked I tried every position but the pain was like a stabbing feeling, stomach felt heavy and bloated yet again and I immediately had to remove my bra at work because that made the pain worst. Then a few days later I was so hungry I had a few pieces of chips (BAD IDEA) pain attack came back while I was out at my sister's house, diarrhea, throwing up bile and dry heaving pain was so bad I was crying and doubled over. 

Long story short, RNY surgeon got ultrasound results back today and had his nurse call me I had already given her the ok to leave a message b/c I was at work and on the VM she stated the ultrasound showed no signs of gall stones and my surgeon wants me to have a test called HIDA SCAN to check the function of my gall bladder.

Please has anyone experienced this?? What was the issue? Have you taken the HIDA SCAN, if so how was it? I just want to know what's going on in my body..... I am only drinking water atkins & special K protein shakes & have really bad gas & it smells atrocious. I'm so wanting to eat, I'm losing weight and my work clothes are looking messy on me. Could it be my Gall Bladder?? This is horrible to be terrified to eat  I can barely sleep at night wondering what's going on with my body....especially knowing I already have to schedule surgery to remove fibroids in the near future.

I know the post is extremely long, but I really just need answers and advice to calm myself, doc really isn't telling me anything. Any response would be greatly appreciated.

God bless you all & thanks in advance for any feedback!!

-Kyra 

SN: wouldn't wish this on a worst enemy!! 

I had gallbladder issues, but not as severe as you are experiencing (if it is your gallbladder). 

The HIDA scan takes a bit over an hour, but it is really a simple procedure.  You get to lay on a nice hard table while a machine scans your abdomen as a nuclear substance is injected in your arm.  It will show up on the screen and you can see it go through your liver, bile duct, gallbladder, etc.  Once that part is done they will inject another substance and that is what will react with your gallbladder if there is anything wrong.  Mine showed a very sluggish gallbladder and that was what was causing the pain I would get off an on. 

On a side note had you been having regular bowel movements prior to the pain?  I've heard of some having an obstruction or twist in their bowels that was only found by exploratory surgery.  Not every single thing shows up on a CT, X-ray, etc.

Thanks for the feed back, honestly I didn't have regular bowel movements at before this.... sometimes maybe twice a week and by the time I'd go my stomach would be so hard and I'd feel 5lbs light afterwards literally lol sorry tmi but most times the size and amount would clog the toilet....YUCK I know!! But I go for the HIDA scan this coming Friday....... I truly just want to know. After your HIDA scan, how long did u have to wait for results and did u have to have the gallbladder  removed. I tried a handful of honey nut cheerios last night when I finished posting here and was up until 5 am with that horrible pain... just sucks to be terrified to eat!

I got the results in less than a week.  I did have my gallbladder out when I have my revision from band to bypass a nice three in one surgery.  It is great not to have the aching on my right side. 

I wonder if you don't have a slight blockage or something going on causing you to not have regular bowel movements.  That also would cause pain and discomfort when you ate. 

I had some severe pains... I did not have stones, but my GB had sludge and was inflamed...nausea was horrible... 

I had a surgery to remove the GB and at the same time they found and fixed hernia.  

Thanks for sharing, I just hope the HIDA scan determines what's wrong!

It certainly sounds like gallbladder symptoms however if they say it's not have them check for Chrons disease.  Hope you feel better soon!

Ok thanks, I'll look into that!

where is your pain? with GB, will usually start center upper stomach just below bra line and radiate around to the right and up between shoulder blades. I have had GB attacks, 1st less than a year after RNY. GB ultrasound was fine and also the hida scan.

pancreatitis can also cause severe pain, worsened with eating

Thanks pain definitely under bra line where I have to yank it off but my pain attack get so severe it's like my whole stomach and radiates to the sides of my back. So u had the pain attacks but it turned out not to be your gall bladder? What was it if u don't mind me asking and how did they diagnosis it.... how did they fix your issue? I'm so scared to eat anything other than protein shake, ensures and water due to the after pain... I'm afraid it'll kick it. I'm losing weight drastically and we all know fast weight loss mean when I can eat that or more will proally come back !!

Thanks for sharing!