Question:
Need suggestions on how to tolerate pain from gallstones

Need suggestions on how to tolerate pain from gallstones. I'm pre-op and just had my sonagram done today. It will take a day or two to make it to my surgeon and you know it could be several days before they call me or have me come in. I want to try to have WLS and GB removal at same time. Any suggestions on tolerating the pain while I wait which could be 2 months or so (unless the surgeon moves up the date)? Thanks! (I'll be back when this pain pill wears off --- LOL.....) Nelly    — Nell C. (posted on July 2, 2002)

July 2, 2002
Nelly, You have my sympathy... I had gallstones that went untreated for 8 months back in '92 & I can honestly say that it was the second most painfull experience of my life, right after childbirth... Anyhow, the best treatment for the pain is to avoid an attack. Stay away from red meats & ANYTHING fried!!! If you do feel an attack coming on, take whatever painkiller you have & go lie down... Not much else you can do besides cry & pray for it to end! Good luck honey & I hope that time passes quickly for you!
   — Robbin T.

July 2, 2002
I agree with what Robin said. Extremely painfull. You have my sympathy too. The only other thing I can suggest (because this worked for me) is when you go to lie down try this: Crawl on you bed (floor, whichever), grab a pillow and while still on your hands and knees take the pillow and kind of push it up into your ribs. Don't hurt yourself, but just hold it there firmly and then lower you head and upper body to the bed (or floor, whichever) so your kind of in the fetal position but upright. Anyway, for some reason, holding that pillow pushed into my stomach in the area that hurts, plus the Percocet I was taking helped with the pain. Maybe it's just a "me thing", but give it a try. Couldn't hurt, right? And keep away from the fatty, fried foods is right, although at the time I was already on a low-fat diet and had lost a lot of weight, which is what gave me gallstones in the first place. Good luck!
   — KelBurt

July 2, 2002
Here we go: Gall Bladder attacks are still the WORST pain I have EVER had. And I have had some serious pain. I would lay on the bathroom floor in college and just cry and puke until it passed enough that I could get to the hospital. The hospital near Penn State is, well, challenged. I was still in excruciating pain when I got there, so they gave me a pain killer the size you would imagine they would give a horse. And they drew blood. They waited about a half an hour and came back to the room, where they found me no longer in severe pain and very mellow. They told me I had the flu. Uh, my mom thinks it might be my gall bladder, I told them. Answer: No that would show up on a blood test. Go home. We all know that you CAN have gall stones with out it showing up in a blood test, right? The sonogram I had later that week proved it. In the meantime, I took a lot of percocet and demerol whenever I had an attack. Fat content did not cause an attack per se. But french fries did -- something fierce. If you are able to identify the trigger foods, that will help minimize the frequency of the attacks. Also, do not eat anything that MIGHT instigate an attack after 6 pm and never lay down after you eat. Regarding treatment: Insist on prescription pain killers tomorrow. If they are concerned about waiting to see your sonogram, ask for ten to tide you over. Score your pain for them -- 1 being mild discomfort and 10 being the worst you can imagine. I think mine was 11. This scoring is part of the universal approach to compassionate pain management. It will get your point across effectively. By the way, I say that is the worst pain I have ever had -- and I have had 3 c-sections, including one where they didn't have time to wait for the spinal to take and they cut me anyway. These pain killers are not indulgent, they are appropriate! Good luck...
   — Karen F.

July 3, 2002
YUCK.. gallbladder pains. Absolutely miserable, no other words for it. I had it for years until finally a doctor decided to do an ultrasound. And lo and behold, gallstones. The only relief I could get was to stand in a HOT shower with the water hitting my chest/abdomen, after I ran all the hot water out ;) I would take pillows and prop them way up on the kitchen table, sit in front of the pillows there and lean/stretch myself out and would finally get a couple hours of sleep. I would also take as many Zantac and Advil that a person could stand! Hope you get to have your surgery **soon**. Next to an epidural ;), a gallbladder removal is the next best thing in the world!!
   — elainabolser

July 3, 2002
From the point where the pain became unbearable and surgery was 3 weeks....oh god it was the most painful thing ever!!! I tried everything to lessen the pain. nothing worked. I would just take 2 or 3 lortab, vicodin or whatever i had in the house and wait to pass out. That was the only thing that helped. Sorry i cant give you a magical answer...but my advice is to get it out now....it does get worse.
   — RebeccaP