Question:
How do you know if you have gallstones?

What happens when you get them. or if your gallbladder is giving you problems?    — Beverly S. (posted on September 3, 2003)

September 3, 2003
Hi Beverly, Gallstones are VERY Painful. You will keel over in pain and not be able to move. IF this is the case you should contact your Dr. Immediately. There is test and X-rays that can be done to see the stones. Also, I be interested if people who had their gallbladder removed before having Gastric Bypass surgery has a different experience then with people who do have their gallbladder. I went on the liquid Diet through the hospital program 13 years ago, and after I loss the weight I lost my Gallbladder. I didn't care. I was so happy to be thin. My Doctor told me that if you have gallstones, it doesn't make a difference, if you go on a diet or not. You will have gallstones no matter what. I just pushed the outcome to be sooner then later. Good Luck Siobhan
   — Siobhan J.

September 3, 2003
I just had my gall bladder removed because of gall stones 2 weeks ago. Let me describe my last gall bladder attack. I was at work and I suddenly began to get intestinal cramps and broke out into a cold sweat. By the time I got to the bathroom, I had severe pain on my right side under my ribcage, further down in my intestines and a very sharp pain in my right shoulder. Part of me said "This is a heart attack and part of me said I must have a blockage". About that time....then I got a rush of horrible diarrhea to go with the cramps, so I knew I didn't have a blockage. Then I threw up. The whole time I felt like I was going to pass out at times. The bad side of it lasted for about 45 minutes, but it didn't totally go away for about 6 hours. If you think that's your problem, go to your doc and get an ultrasound. You don't want to have too many of those. The surgery to remove the gall bladder is relatively simple. I had the surgery at 8:30 one night and was home by 3 the next day.
   — Cathy S.

September 3, 2003

   — Jazzy

September 3, 2003
I didn't even know I had gall stones until my ultrasound for WLS. I would have maybe 1 or 2 cramps and then diarrhea about once a week. (I always thought it was something I ate). They found stones, So the doctor removed it when I had my WLS surgery three weeks ago. Im glad he did it at the same time. It saves me from another surgery down the road. Good luck!
   — maridon B.

September 3, 2003
The only way to know for sure is to have a scan. Ultrasound is the first way to go but if it shows clear and you continue to have problems, request a Hid-a-scan to see if you have "sludge" instead of stones that is compromising the performance of your gall bladder. Hope this helps!
   — ctyst

September 3, 2003
I knew something was wrong when I woke up during the night and was throwing my guts up. Every time I ate something with too much fat I would throw up (severely). I finally went to the doc and had an ultra scan and sure enough I had gall stones.
   — Betty Todd

September 3, 2003
I had my gall bladder removed long before my WLS. I had the same kind of pain everyone else has described. I would get severe pain in the top stomach area and break out in a cold sweat and then have to go to the bathroom, sometimes I would throw up so bad it would bust the bloodvessels in my eyes. It is a pain like no other. It starts off being mild in the begining and gets worse as time goes by if you do not get it taken care of.
   — Valerie M.

September 8, 2003
I currently have gallstones. I started getting pain on the right side of my upper body (top of the ribcage to the bottom). They did an ultrasound and found I had stones. Since I haven't had a gallbladder attack yet, I'm putting off surgery but might have it done around Thanksgiving. I figure if it's not bothering me, I'm going to wait to bother it. However, my surgeon said that if I had an attack and went to the emergency room, he would remove it then.
   — Patty H.