Gallbladder issues or just intolerance to food pain??

This weekend I had an episode of awful pain in my right upper abdomin. Was sharp and stabbing and generally miserable. I was nauseous and throwing up. Went to the hospital and they ran tests. Eveything looked ok but they suspect gallstones and instructed me to follow up with my surgeon on Monday. Sunday and Monday I felt sore in my side and nauseous but much much better than I had felt on Saturday. Monday my surgeon ordered an ultrasound and said it could be my gallbladder needs to come out but that it might not. Currently still waiting on those results.

Is it possible that I just wasn't tolerating my food intake? I am at the 'add food variety as tolerated' stage of things so I know I have added some semi soft foods like some various cheeses and a little pasta. I just have no idea what folks mean when they say foods cause them to hurt.

What kind of hurt? How do I know if a food is causing the issues or if it is unrelated? I have not had any immediate pain following eating except when I tried to eat hamburger meat. I have avoided any beef products since then and had not had any prior to this episode of pain.

Thanks for the help!

~Elizabeth

I have had pouch pain and I've gallbladder pain. That sounds like gallbladder to me. My pouch issues have always been in my left side.

I hope that whatever the cause they figure it out quickly.

Was it hard to breath too? I've experienced the not so much fun of a gallbladder attack and I feel grateful it is gone. To me a gallbladder attack is a pretty unique experience. Although when I started I thought it was just really bad gas or something but it became scary real fast when it became hard to breath. I hope you don't have another one waiting for the results. When I have issues with food it is more intestinal and it is in the lower abdomen area. Gallbladder is a higher pain and can go around your back as well. Anyways hope you find out soon and I wish you the best.

I'm sorry you are in pain. It does sound like the GB. I had mine removed several years prior to WLS. The pain from the attacks was horrible. They kept saying it was only a small stone. Turns out it was the size of a golf ball.

It was a pretty easy surgery for me.

On another note, I see you are very early out and you mention trying pasta. Please don't. Give it at least 6 months. Better if you give it a year. I was able to walk away from it but I know that's not for everyone. At least try to avoid it during your honeymoon phase.

Feel better!

Nice... Ok to add to this for even more perspective. I waited... really waited to almost 2 years before trying pasta, eggs, and dairy products. I kept to the Bariatric list of foods and rushed nothing, since this is for the rest of my life RNY.

I still have my gall bladder, and I switched from margarines to butter, olive oil , and other seed oils for cooking. My cholesterol, HDL, and LDL, triglycerides, and sugars are all in the good range as found in full blood chemistry analysis... a post op Bariatric annual check up.

Relax during the honeymoon phase, since it can be long or short... the longer the better.

Dairy and eggs are on the list of foods my surgeon recommends for this stage. Pasta is listed as 'ok but limit'

Im confused. :( Eggs and dairy seem to be the only things that stay down.

~e

Eggs and Dairy staying down is not totally unheard of really. I never had issues with dairy pre or post op. Thankfully because I eat a lot of greek yogurt and cheese. Eggs are difficult for a number of us but if I kept the servings smaller and chewed well I was ok for the most part. Sometimes I think the chewing part might be a bit of the issue since it's easy to swallow them without a lot of chewing.

Pasta turns up on a lot of approved food lists. Along with mashed potatoes, oatmeal, cream of wheat, crackers and a lot of other things that aren't going to be the best for you in the long haul. I feel I got a lot of good information and direction from my surgeon but cream of wheat was on their list.

You are obviously grown and capable of making your own informed choices. But I tell everyone that I honestly believe one of the reasons I have been able to keep most of my weight off is I never went back to pasta or bread. I didn't look for substitutes, either.   And believe me if anyone had told me 5 years ago that I would not eat pizza anymore I would have laughed and laughed. But if you keep at it long enough it becomes a habit. And then it just becomes how it is in your world.

And if you are keeping dairy down have you tried cottage cheese? Lots of protein for your calorie buck there. Look for 1gram of protein per 10 calories for anything that you are considering a main protein source.

I am 26 months out. I had to go to the ER 3 times with pain. The first time they checked my heart carefully because I have had 2 heart attacks.

My gallbladder pain was in the middle. Came on slow at first. Got real bad and then slowly went away over a period of 2 - 3 hours.

I did not think it was gastro related because burping of sipping cold water or sipping warm tea affected the pain at all.

The 3rd time the lady doctor ordered an ultrasound. Gall stones were found. My bariatric doctor said the gall bladder needs to come out. He did the operation. No more pain. The operation was simple. I did not need any pain meds at home. My eating and bowel habits are the same as before.

I am fixed now since March 2015. Hope you are soon.

Classic gall bladder pain begins in the middle region under where the rib change meets under the breasts. The pain starts there and then travels around the right side of the body to the back opposite to where it began and stays there. There is not much one can do but ride it out and it will pass. I know because I had it for 18 months before I found help. Do not go the route I went and developed pancreatitis and ended up in the hospital for 117 days (one hundred seventeen days - not a typo). This happened to me in 1991. The internet was not there for me to research and I was too stupid to go to a doctor. It almost cost me my life. AND I could not connect ANY food that caused a problem as it wa**** or miss.

Sounds like it could be gall bladder. If the ultrasound shows nothing, ask for a HIDA scan. My ultrasound was negative, but the HIDA scan showed my gallbladder was a useless lump of flesh. Could also be a stone trapped in the common duct...

And on an unrelated note, what idiot MD, DO, RN or RD is telling you to eat pasta a month after surgery?

Audrey