Pros/cons of gall bladder removal?
Discussion
My wife had her gallbladder out during the summer school holidays. She had a bad gallstone attack last xmas and following that diagnosis she had to be really careful of what she ate until the operation. This for her was the hardest part. It took 7 to 8 months for the operation date to come through.
She had the op using keyhole surgery and was then laid up for about a week or so on Dr's orders from recovery. I needed to be off work to do the fetching/carrying and looking after 2 kids.
She can now eat anything she wants....and indeed did for a month afterwards in vast quantities!.
The Dr went through the info and said if they needed to switch from keyhole to full on surgery she would be laid up for a few more weeks afterwards and not able to drive etc.
Even with the keyhole surgery there had been times after the recovery period where she has felt discomfort from the muscle damage. She is now back swimming and running without a problem though, and can still eat what she wants...just does it with nmore moderation now.
She would recommend it overall though, it is much better than watching what she eats, being scared of pizza takeaway and just general worry she could have an attack at any point.
She had the op using keyhole surgery and was then laid up for about a week or so on Dr's orders from recovery. I needed to be off work to do the fetching/carrying and looking after 2 kids.
She can now eat anything she wants....and indeed did for a month afterwards in vast quantities!.
The Dr went through the info and said if they needed to switch from keyhole to full on surgery she would be laid up for a few more weeks afterwards and not able to drive etc.
Even with the keyhole surgery there had been times after the recovery period where she has felt discomfort from the muscle damage. She is now back swimming and running without a problem though, and can still eat what she wants...just does it with nmore moderation now.
She would recommend it overall though, it is much better than watching what she eats, being scared of pizza takeaway and just general worry she could have an attack at any point.
I thought I was going to have mine out, was getting horrendous pain for hours after eating anything fatty, happened four times then it, er, cleared itself, spectacularly 
Had cameras up and down, MRI and was in good condition apparently, my problem was not eating enough fat so the bile slowed down and went all lumpy and thus I couldnt process fats and then started to turn yellow, that whole area is pretty complex and needs to be looked after.
Point being, when it was all going on, I spoke to a few people who either had it done and knew someone who had and they all seemed to live normal lives and more or less ate what they did before.
Had cameras up and down, MRI and was in good condition apparently, my problem was not eating enough fat so the bile slowed down and went all lumpy and thus I couldnt process fats and then started to turn yellow, that whole area is pretty complex and needs to be looked after.
Point being, when it was all going on, I spoke to a few people who either had it done and knew someone who had and they all seemed to live normal lives and more or less ate what they did before.
I had mine out 4 years ago.
It's essential to have it done, or so I was told. I believe peritonitis can set in and kill you.
I eat anything now BUT if I don't take my medication twice a day (colestyramine) backed up with loperamide the effect on my bowels within MINUTES of eating is catastrophic. I can't venture far from a toilet. It also led to weepage and soreness that led my doctor, on examination, to say " Oh God , you poor man".
A gastro-enterologist friend said a number of patients end up with diarrhoea for the rest of their lives
However, as I said, on the medication I'm absolutely fine.
Get it done.
It's essential to have it done, or so I was told. I believe peritonitis can set in and kill you.
I eat anything now BUT if I don't take my medication twice a day (colestyramine) backed up with loperamide the effect on my bowels within MINUTES of eating is catastrophic. I can't venture far from a toilet. It also led to weepage and soreness that led my doctor, on examination, to say " Oh God , you poor man".
A gastro-enterologist friend said a number of patients end up with diarrhoea for the rest of their lives
However, as I said, on the medication I'm absolutely fine.
Get it done.
My other half had hers removed last October, eventually, after suffering through most of the prior months of 2015. She has since suffered no ill effects relating to this, apart from occasional soreness due to being cut open, and can eat what she likes. In fact, when I picked her up from the hospital and took her to her dad's house, we sat down for dinner - at this point about 5 hours after the operation - where she proceeded to demolish a great big chicken casserole and chips with veritable aplomb 
Edited by Howard- on Friday 28th October 12:31
I had mine out 12 years ago on the NHS using keyhole with no lasting effects (other than no pain)
The only thing that no one told me would happen after the surgery is if you eat fatty food it will race through you very quickly i.e. I might as well have eaten a KFC on the toilet it shot through that quick, it was like I have a tube from my mouth into a magma-hot liquidiser which lined up each atom it turn and shot it through my ring at close to the speed of light into the cold night air.
Other than that, all good here
HTH
The only thing that no one told me would happen after the surgery is if you eat fatty food it will race through you very quickly i.e. I might as well have eaten a KFC on the toilet it shot through that quick, it was like I have a tube from my mouth into a magma-hot liquidiser which lined up each atom it turn and shot it through my ring at close to the speed of light into the cold night air.
Other than that, all good here
HTH
My Mrs had hers out earlier in the year. The doctor told her to be careful after the op as she'd be able to eat any food she wants so could put on weight. She didn't tell him that she hadn't changed her diet at all before the op, as there was no particular food that triggered the pain.
Her tests before were all a bit inconclusive, with no massive stones showing up - but what they cut out was inflamed with sludgy grit... eww. The op was pretty straightforward - the worst pain was in her shoulders from the trapped air they use to inflate you. Six months on now and she is much happier and really glad that it is gone.
Her tests before were all a bit inconclusive, with no massive stones showing up - but what they cut out was inflamed with sludgy grit... eww. The op was pretty straightforward - the worst pain was in her shoulders from the trapped air they use to inflate you. Six months on now and she is much happier and really glad that it is gone.
crofty1984 said:
Well, I have gallstones. I know you can get the gall bladder out and that cures them, but that it affects what you can eat in the future.
If you have gallstones now (crystals of calcified bilirubin or cholesterol), the chances are you will get them again in future.I had my gall bladder removed 16 years ago and suffered no ill effect (aside from some short-term post-operative pain in the muscles of the abdominal wall).
If you think about it, bile (which contains bilirubin, a breakdown product of haemoglobin) is used to emulsify any fats in the small intestine and thereby increase the digestive action of lipases (fat digesting enzymes) by increasing the surface area to volume ratio of the fat droplets. Bile is stored in the gall bladder (having been made in the liver) and is released into the bile duct whenever fats are sensed in the intestine.
If you lack a gall bladder, then bile is constantly released into the bile duct (and therefore at a lower overall concentration than would otherwise be the case). Ergo you become less efficient at digesting fats. As long as you have enough roughage in the diet to promote good gut transfer times, this shhould not be a cause for concern.
The worry comes in that, if gall stones are allowed to block the bile duct, then this can ultimately cause necrosis of the pancreas because this organ shares the bile duct with the gall bladder (to release digestive enzymes).
13 months into having it out and I'm generally fine. Not found anything I can't eat. Less tolerant at coping with over eating but that's no bad thing. Took a while to get back to the level of fitness I was about before. Still a little uncomfortable in that area regarding abdominal exercises such as sit-ups, crunches, leg lifts, .etc. Probably should ask the GP about that.
My partner had it removed 3 years before me and lives with it more in line with what johnspex describes.
My partner had it removed 3 years before me and lives with it more in line with what johnspex describes.
Tony427 said:
My Mrs had it done 15 years ago and it hasn't affected her at all.
She had it done laprascopically so there's not even any scars.
Cheers,
Tony
My wife had hers removed 2 years ago, my brother, this year. Same method.She had it done laprascopically so there's not even any scars.
Cheers,
Tony
My wife was told to "give it a while" before entertaining spicy food, now eats anything.
I got an e-mail from my brother the other day, so he must still be OK.
I'm not sure you will get realistic pros and cons as for most it's not an option.
I don't think people have operations for fun.
I have 1 big one apparantly went through a faze about a year ago with stomach problems that was when it was discovered. Was put on meds for IBS as they weren't concerned about the stone, stomach atm is fine but do get some pain around the gallbladder area when I eat a lot of crap.
Stopped taking the meds after a few weeks as they gave me amitriptyline which knocked me out!
Stopped taking the meds after a few weeks as they gave me amitriptyline which knocked me out!
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