Gallbladder Problems - Long Beach,CA

Severe right upper back and belly pain, nausea, vomiting. Common after
childbirth. Usually diagnosed quickly.

I had INTENSE pain under my right front breast..the kind of pain that you just know "isn't right"! I had 4 of these 'attacks' (that lasted anywhere from 5-20 mins) before my sister found me hunched over on the bathroom floor and took me to the ER...they did an ultra sound and told me I needed surgery!

~I am still sick almost every time I eat...but no more WRETCHED pain!

Had mine removed on April 11th. I was sick everytime I ate. I would eat and literally an hour after I ate and digestion had started I would be doubled over in pain and then have the runs. It got to the point even narcotic pain meds taken every 4 hours would not stop the pain. It would just make me goofy and not care.

It was finally an avocado that sent me to the ER. The ultrasound picked up the fact I had major sludge. Sludge: microscopic gallstones that if not cleared out can lead to bigger gallstones. Or a massive build up of sludge that blocks the ducted and then the gallbladder can not function the way it needs to. My Gb had just stopped working the sludge was stuck in the duct making digestion to through the liver on not possible.

We are starting to think that I have had this for a long time and it was never picked up. You need to go in and be very specific to your doctor. Telling them you want to have your gallbladder checked. It is not the first thing in the ER the tests for. Mine was just so bad they couldnt not pick it up anymore.

You may also have some of these issues:
1. Unable to eat greasy of high fat foods without having the runs or horrible pain in upper right side under rib cage. It can also go into your back and kidneys.
2.vomiting/upset stomach
3. rapid weight loss or unexplained weight gain
4. pain in chest from breathing

The pain with breathing is a sign GB is very very bad. It usually at this point has to come out. The GB is inflamed and very sick. If you are having any of this you should be seen by your doctor!

If i can be anymore help let me know. I know a few of us on the board have had this issue come up very recently:) I am glad to help. Mine was an all of a sudden holy cow it has to come out situation...very stressful. better to stay ahead of it. the pain is worse then anything i have sat through. Morphine didnt even cut it, Happy to say though now i am feeling so amazing.

It can take awhile to figure out. The symptoms can mimic GERD, ulcers or (in my case) a hiaytal (sp) hernia. The first test for ulcers is usually a blood test for the h.pylori bacteria, for gall bladder it's usually an ultrasound, and if those are negative then they move on to an endoscopy. So, if you are having symptoms, many of them described by the other moms responding, you should go see your doctor. While waiting to get in, you might want to keep a symptom diary -- write down what the pain is, when, what you are doing and what you ate in the hour or two before the symptoms occured. It will help identify any patterns and help with diagnosis.

As mentioned in other posts, I had severe pain in between my rib cage at the top of my stomach and back pain; had trouble eating anything fried or greasy; would immediately end up in the bathroom. Really didn't want to have surgery, but my doctor convinced me that it's way better to have a surgery scheduled than to have it done on an emergency basis. Had my GB taken out 18 months ago and felt better almost immediately. Recovery is pretty quick. I had mine out on a Friday and was back to work the following Tuesday. My surgeon was great...Dr. Kim Charney in Orange. Good luck to you and hope you're feeling better soon!

I did. It was awful. I thought I might be really sick, like with cancer. I had severe reflux, vomitting, diarriah, pain in my upper abdomen. It took a while for them to discover this. I suffered from October till June. Found out with an ultrasound. I had surgery and I have been much better! I also had a swollen stomach and could not lose weight. After the surgery, I lost weight and lost that pregnant look.

This question was just asked a couple weeks ago. You may want to do a search & read the responses she was given.

I couldn't sit. If I laid down or stood up, the pain got much better. Abdomen pain generalized, was not by the gallbladder. Milk products made me worse. I am not someone who usually throws up - even when it is a symptom of something, I don't. So, it took over 2 months and 8 doctors to diagnosis me. Thought it was a burst ovarian cyst but really couldn't find proof of that (liquid in abdomen seen in ultrasound). Thought I could have an STD, though I was an unmarried virgin. Gave me a shot for it and then the tests of course came back negative. Gallbladder scan 2 months in showed a blip, and the ultrasound caused me quite a bit of pain in the gallbladder area. And then they told me it was "nothing" because I didn't have gallstones. I knew they were crazy but I was so weak that I was having trouble even taking the garbage to the chute down the hall or loading groceries in my car, so I couldn't even fight anymore. A close co-worker reminded me that 3 or 4 doctors earlier, a doctor had told me if I had any more clues, to call him. He had done a colonoscopy that came back negative but really believed me that something was wrong. So I called him and he had me go in for an outpatient test where they injected me with a dye and examined the functioning of my gallbladder. It was working at 14% its capacity. He asked if a female relative had hers out, and I told him my grandmother. He said I had a "genetically bad gallbladder, no gallstones." I think I had the sludge. My primary doctor (who I was stuck with when my primary left as this all started) had to do a pre-surgery exam and didn't believe I had a bad gallbladder. He pressed down on it so hard and I screamed so loud, the whole office block had to have heard me. He left the room and came back with his signed form. Last time I bothered with him.