Question:
How do you know if your gallbladder is bad after WLS.

I had my surgery a little over a year ago and now I have been having this bad pain in between my shoulder blades and had a co-worker tell me my galbladder is going bad. I feel fine otherwise. Any input will be helpful Thanks Angie    — Angie B. (posted on July 28, 2002)

July 28, 2002
Angie, pain between the shoulderblades does not sound like gallbladder pain. I am not 100% sure though. All I know is when MY gallbladder was hurting me, I had a sharp pain in my right rib area. It ached and hurt when I would breathe. Pain between your shoulderblades is probably something else .
   — Kim B.

July 28, 2002
I had my gallbladder removed with my RNY and they found gallstones. I had no clue I was even having problems. Now that I look back, there were times when I got really really sick in the middle of the night and I now suspect they were gallbladder attacks. I would wake up with a sharp pain in the middle of my back and feel really sick to my stomach. After I would finally throw up... I would keep throwing up bile and dry heaving. I dunno. I guess everyone could be different but those were my symptoms.
   — Tanya B.

July 28, 2002
My pain was in the V (rib cage) and sometimes off to the right of it. But to be sure you should see a doctor. Pain is telling you something is wrong. LISTEN TO IT AND SEE A DOCTOR!
   — Danmark

July 28, 2002
My gb went bad after my wls...my attacks were pain above my belly button, at the bottom of the rib cage...sometimes a little to the right...it felt like gas pain, but way too far up to be gas. I would literally double over in pain sometimes...othertimes it would be like I was kicked in the gut and was all bruised up. Good luck...get thee to a doctor ASAP!! ~CAE~
   — Mustang

July 28, 2002
Hi, to answer your question about pain between your shoulder blades, I had the same thing, the pain was so intense at times that one time I ended up in the E.R. any way I have it under control for now, my surgen said it could be an ulser attached to the lining of my new stomach( I'm 7 monthes post-op)so Ihave been taking Prevacid for over a month now and have had no more pain, good luck, check with your Doctor,...... Rose :)
   — Rho

July 28, 2002
I had my gallbladder removed before my WLS. The pain started under the breast and hurt all the way through to my back. Sounds like you have a bad gallbladder.:(
   — lablady_29

July 28, 2002
Angie, THis is something that you can discuss with your doc. When the gallbladder goes bad, it can have a miriad of symptoms. Some of them make sense, some of them do not. I even know of one person that had numbness down her right arm with an attack. My husband thought he was having a heart attack, and my sister just had nausea with hers, no other pain. Being a nurse, I have seen lots of other symptoms of a gallbladder that is blocked. And yes, the pain between your should blades could be a symptom. So, bottom line is, talk it over with your doc, the way they diagnose gall stones is with an ultra sound. Not that big of a deal to have done. Good Luck!!
   — Vicki L.