Question:
Where would gallbladder pain appear?

I got a pain last night that resembled gas, but much more severe. It was late at night while I was in bed. I took two phayzymes and finally fell asleep. I woke up this morning and it was gone (thank God). My question is, what are the signs of gallbladder problems? At what point post op does the gallbladder begin to give trouble, if any?    — Jeannet (posted on January 3, 2001)

January 2, 2001
My gallbladder pain would begin somewhat like heartburn but would radiate from the front of my body between by breasts straight back and to the upper right quadrant of my back. What helped me most was a Zantac prescription. Finally I had surgery, thank heaven. By the way, it would mostly hurt at night rather than during the day. --Libby
   — Libby B.

January 3, 2001
I have yet to ahve my operation for WLS but I did about 6 yrs ago have an operation for gall bladder stones. The pain.. my goodness I recall that pain vividly. I was pregnant and no dr in the ER would test me. My pain was always most intense on the left side of my stomach/upper abdomen. But the pain would go throughout my back and stomach. It felt as if something was squeezing me inside. It never felt like heartburn for me. It felt like an intense ache inside my stomach. It would start off mildy uncomfortable then progress to being so painfull I'd be curled up (as much as I could being overweight) and after a couple of hours it would die down. I had to wait till after I had my baby before I could get an operation for it and by that time I was in an "attack" for over 24hrs. When they put a scope down me to look inside my gallbladder and remove any stones that were caught before the actual operation the tech said there were over 100 stones inside my gallbladder. I highly suggest getting checked out. The operation was done for me at 8am and I was home by 3pm that day. Dont put off getting it checked out. It's not life or death but it can save you months of needless pain.
   — Renee V.

January 3, 2001
I had my gallbladder out about 13 or 14 years ago. The pain was in the middle of my chest, and I went to the emergency room more than once thinking I was having a heart attack. They didn't find the gallstones for 2 years of bad attacks. I was wrongly diagnosed several times until they finally found that my gallbladder was "loaded with stones." They told me I was having panic attacks! Man!
   — Cindy H.

January 3, 2001
I developed gallstones when I was pregnant almost 3 years ago. Of course, they couldn't remove my gallbladder then, so I had to struggle thru the last 4 months with them. And gallstone attacks are HORRIBLE. In the beginning, I thought I was having a heart attack, I would have shooting pains in my left arm, a gigantic ball of pain in the middle of my chest and what is best described as the feeling of someone sawing through my spinal cord in the middle of my back. The attacks last for 4 hours and are usually brought on by eating fatty foods, altho I had them from dry toast too. Good luck, I hope you don't have this, it is truly awful.
   — Beth B.

January 3, 2001
I had my gallbladder removed in July, 1988. The attacks ALWAYS happened in the middle of the night waking me up suddenly out of a sound sleep. I would throw up and it felt like someone had cut me in two from right under my breats all the way around. When I wasn't having a full-blown gallbladder attack, I had pains between my shoulder blades in my back. My son was born in June, 1988, and was three weeks old when I started having the full-blown attacks. I was going to the ER every other night with these attacks and no one did any blood work or x-rays. They kept treating me for gastroenteritis. Fortunately, for me, I used to be a nurse. The last attack I had at home was in the middle of the night, but was the most severe pain that I had ever experienced in my entire life! It felt exactly like a labor pain, but one that goes on for hours and doesn't let up!!! I had to stay down on my hands and knees and rock myself frontwards and backwards in order to help myself to breathe. I was throwing up in a bucket that my mother placed on the floor in front of me and I was throwing up bile. My hair was so drenched with sweat that it was dripping off the tips of my bangs. My mother asked me if I wanted her to wake the kids up so we could go back to the ER again. I told her not to bother and to let them sleep because I wasn't coming back this time. I had her call an ambulance. When the ambulance got there, I told the EMT that I thought I was having a gallbladder attack. They took me to the hospital and I told the ER physician the same thing. He sent me to x-ray and ordered blood work. When he came back in, he said he had called in a surgeon who I knew well and announced to me that they believed I had gallstones!!! Duh!!! After I was admitted to the hospital and the attack eased off, I called my mother and told her I was going to have surgery. She called me back awhile later, after calling her mother, and told me that my great-grandmother had died from a ruptured gallbladder because she was afraid of having surgery and checked herself out of the hospital and went home where she died. This is an extremely serious condition, and if you think it's a possibility that you have gallstones, get it checked out immediately. And believe me, if that's what it is, you will feel sooooo much better after the surgery. I haven't had pain like that since and am so grateful to my surgeon for removing it. Good luck to you!!! :-)
   — SnowWhiteDove459

January 3, 2001
I had gallbladder pain in the upper right part of my back, under my shoulder blade. It was horrendous. I suffered for a couple of years with intermittent attacks, always brought on by cream-stuffed canolis and other goodies. but by the end, the attacks were unprovoked. I had lost 100 lbs in Overeaters Anonymous (weight loss will almost always wreck your gallbladder, ironically)when I couldn't stand it anymore and saw a gastroenterologist. He did a dye test of my digestive system and the technician was shocked at how bad my gallbladder was. Totally not working - he yelled out, "we have a negative gallbladder here! Negative gallbladder!" While i was waiting for my surgry date, which was about a week later, I had a KILLER attack. It hurt so bad that I had my partner sit on top of me and pound my back as hard as she could, just to overpower the gallbladder pain. weird, but it helped get me through the night til I went to the ER in the morning. As others have said, do not ignore this pain - it is soooo much better to have the darn thing taken out.
   — Veronica D.

January 19, 2001
4 days after delivering my 2nd child I was awakened by the most horrific pain I had ever experienced in my entire life. I'd just undergone a c-section for the delivery so I thought for sure something was wrong. The pain was so intense I could not pinpoint where it started or ended or exactly where it was. My entire torso was engulfed in pain. I lived in a three flat my parents owned. It was the middle of the night and My husband was at work. I literally crawled up the stairs clawing at my parents door. When my mother opened the door, I passed out from the pain. When I got to the hospital the doctors looked for everything outside of gallbladdar since I was post natal. They looked for a ruptured uterus, did cardiac enzymes to ensure I wasn't having a heart attack, checked the appendix, everything finally my OB doctor was called and she asked them to do an ultrasound to rule out gallbladdar disease. That was it! I had an emergency gallbladdar surgery. The stones were huge and were stuck in the common bile duct. MAJOR problem which can be fatal! My GOD was with me, their was no time for a glamourous lap, my incision is about 18 inches long. My husband tells me I look as though I was in a knife fight unarmed. I'm just glad that I did not let this pass. I had never had gallbladdar problems before--never, so I never suspected it. If you are having gallbladdar problems SEEK MEDICAL ATTNETION! You could die if it ruptures or those stones make their way into foreign territory. I was lucky and returned home in 4 days to continue caring for my 10 day old baby.
   — corpdiva2006

January 19, 2001
I had my first and only bout with Gall Bladder pain a few years ago resulting in surgery. I apparantly had congenital gall bladder disease unbeknownst to me. Typical gall bladder pain is best described as "feeling like being stabbed with a pitch-fork in the upper abdominal area, under the breasts. The pain is felt both in the front and in the back, and usually comes in "waves" much like contractions during labor. I hope this helps .... but sounds like gas in you case.
   — Rachael R.