Horrible Pain

[musicdiva]

I have not posted anything in quite awhile. However I am in major need of some assistance. My journey post surgery has been hard. About 2 months after surgery I developed horrible nausea that induced vomiting every time I ate and absolutely no appetite. It was so bad that I went back to a liquid diet for three weeks. I was so exhausted and had very little energy. I couldn't take my vitamins, because they would always come right back up. So at my 3 month labs I had deficiencies in almost everything. My doctor performed an endoscopy and everything was fine. (he was concerned about scar tissue) So we went back to the soft food stage, and gradually went up the ladder again. I was told that occasionally some peoples "new parts" have a harder time adjusting to their new roles, and I was one of the lucky ones. So I have been pushing thru and am now able to eat almost regularly (my new regular).

We thought I was on the mend when I started having horrible pain in my abdomen. The pain lasted for about 2 hours and then was gone. I have a VERY high pain tolerance so when I even think about having someone take me to the ER, you know it's bad. Luckily I had some pain meds left from surgery I was able to take, and then I called my doctor. They had me come in immediately. They were concerned that it could be bowel obstruction, a possible slip of the intestine, and a few other things. So we scheduled a CT Scan for the next day. The CT Scan was normal. So they had me do an Ultra Sound. They wanted to specifically look at my Gall Bladder. The Ultra Sound showed that it was not inflamed, infected and non stones. I have a little of something they called "Sludge" but it didn't warrant removal. We thought the pain may have been a couple of isolated cases.

Four days later I had another attack, this time the pain was in my mid back and around my sides. I called the Doctor immediately and they had me come in. They told me that even though the pain was in the back it was still my abdomen just the pain "shifting". We discussed taking out my gall bladder, but since I only have "sludge" the removal won't guarantee to fix the pain issue. It could be something completely different. But until the gall bladder is removed, they won't know for sure. I chose to try to manage the pain. They gave me meds for my attacks to try and manage.

Since then my attacks are more frequent, but no more than 1 a day. Some are very short 30 min I don't even take anything for them. And some are really long lasting 4 hours, and the meds barely touch the pain. I am at a loss and need advice. Has anyone else experience anything like this or know someone who has?

[newyorkbitch]

You need a diagnosis! Have you had a CT with contrast? Have they ruled out kidney issues? Have you seen a gastroenterologist? What about issues in the ducts? What about pancreatitis?

Why didn't your gall bladder come out when you had your DS ?

[illinids2]

I had sludge in gallbladder but no stones, but my Dr recommended it coming out so we did it. The gallbladder was definitely bad. Bilary sludge is just a softer form of sludge.

In my opinion you need the gallbladder out and while in there the surgeon can check everything else out to see if there are other issuess. A lot of surgeons take the gb out as part of the DS so it makes sense to me that your Gb is the source of some if not all of your pain.

Gallbladder pain can be referred to othet areas, especially flank and back..

[Deleted]

Go get a HIDASCAN for your GB. I just had mine out a month ago for the same symptoms. No eat, No pain.. I had the ultrasound, and the CT w/ Contrast, and those picked up nothing. My surgeon scheduled a exploratory lap surgery prior to the Hidascan (same day) and said if the hidascan comes back bad, he would just remove the GB while he was in there.

Hidascan came back bad. Scored a fracture injecture score of 20, (normal is 32 or higher). Hidascan is nearly painless. (an IV to add some contrast that goes right to the liver, and into the bile and to the GB. Then they give you a drink of a solution that has some fat in it. (no taste really, kinda tastes like paper a little) that stimulates the GB to function.

Mine did not do anything in a WHOLE HOUR after drinking the mixture.

While in for the exploratory (really, a GB removal at that point), he found an open void in my mesentary ( called a petersen's hernia) I was not herniated, but the potential was there, so he stitched that up too.

My GB was full of Non-calcuim stones, (bag of soft rocks, as my surgeon put it), ones that cannot be detected by a CT, or a xray, or an ultrasound. Only a hidascan showed a functional issue.

The pain before surgery was SO bad, like nothing I had ever felt before ( and hopefully NEVER again), but only when i ate food. Like Scott said, it is a deferred pain to the upper abdomen and all the way around the back. Think worst abdominal cramps you have ever had, and times by 10! Well, I'm male, not going to try and compare to child birth or anything. The point is that it was excruciating. I had to get on the floor on my knees completely folded over to get any relief. There was no comfortable position to lay or sit, or nothin'. On a scale of 1 to 10. lets say i have a NEW 10.. So much so, that after a iguanal hernia repair two days before the GB surgery, I was back to work in 4 days.. I was still in discomfort, but compared to the GB pain, It was a nothing.


GO GET A HIDASCAN!! Takes 2 hours. easy peasy, you can even sleep while it is going on.

[musicdiva]

Thanks for the advice! We have ruled out Kidney issues and my CT was with contrast and barium both. Last time I was at the Doctor we did discuss the Hideascan as an option. I will push for that.

[illinids2]

Jul 15, 2014 11:50:21 GMT -5 musicdiva said:

Thanks for the advice! We have ruled out Kidney issues and my CT was with contrast and barium both. Last time I was at the Doctor we did discuss the Hideascan as an option. I will push for that.

If you have sludge I don't think they will do the scan...but I would push your doc on the gallbladder needing to potentially come out.

[newyorkbitch]

What about the ducts and the pancreas?

[goodkel]

It is beyond me why the gallbladder isn't ALWAYS removed during the DS.

Rapid weight loss is a well known cause of gallbladder problems. This isn't news.

[bboop]

I think it's probably your gall bladder. I had a gall bladder attach one night way before the DS...they thought I was having a heart attack...it radiated to my back where the bra strap is...hurt like hell well worse than hell. Had it out - no problems since.

Get the HIDIScan and go forward...don't wait...this stuff is painful as hell. Hope you get the right info and fast.

[Melinda]

I'm certainly not a doctor but I can tell you it sounds like the gallbladder attacks I had before I had my gallbladder out in 1991. I was actually pregnant at the time and had to live with these attacks until I was able to deliver my daughter. They were horrible. Labor was heaven compared to these attacks. Three weeks after having her by emergency C-section, a gallstone fell into my liver bile duct and I ended up hospitalized, in horrible pain, and jaundiced. My surgery was three 3 days after that (they had to get the infection down first before they could open me back up). I wouldn't wish the pain of those attacks on anyone. I can remember them being in my chest, my back, my upper stomach, it didn't matter. I couldn't get comfortable until they were over. They'd last anywhere from minutes to hours. I had my DS in 2002 so the gallbladder was already gone.

[teachermomolp]

I specifically asked for my GB to be taken out during my DS and the doc said no. Dammit! I hope you feel better!

[newyorkbitch]

What was his reason for saying no?

[musicdiva]

I wanted to say thanks for all of the advice from everyone on here!

Before I could get back in to the Doctor, I had another really bad attack- so rather than pushing thru the pain I went to the ER. They ran blood tests, and redid both the CT Scan and the Ultra Sound. This time there was the appearance of some small stones. As well as blood work that showed horribly increased levels in both the pancreas and the liver.

Needless to say I was admitted to the hospital for antibiotics, and they transferred my care to my DS surgeon. Best course of action was going to be to remove the gallbladder. But we couldn't do that until the infection in my liver and pancreas went down. So I was in the hospital for 3 days before I had surgery.

My surgery went flawlessly and I was able to go home that afternoon. It's now been about 2 weeks since I had surgery, and I feel AMAZING! I have not felt this good since before I had my initial DS Surgery.

Now I am focusing on eating and drinking like I should be.

Again- thanks for everything. With out the advice of some of you I would not have gone to the ER and that could have been catastrophic.

[west4thavenue]

WOW! I am SO glad you are doing well after what you went through. The vets here are amazing.

[Girlrocker]

Aug 5, 2014 13:57:08 GMT -5 musicdiva said:

I wanted to say thanks for all of the advice from everyone on here!

Before I could get back in to the Doctor, I had another really bad attack- so rather than pushing thru the pain I went to the ER. They ran blood tests, and redid both the CT Scan and the Ultra Sound. This time there was the appearance of some small stones. As well as blood work that showed horribly increased levels in both the pancreas and the liver.

Needless to say I was admitted to the hospital for antibiotics, and they transferred my care to my DS surgeon. Best course of action was going to be to remove the gallbladder. But we couldn't do that until the infection in my liver and pancreas went down. So I was in the hospital for 3 days before I had surgery.

My surgery went flawlessly and I was able to go home that afternoon. It's now been about 2 weeks since I had surgery, and I feel AMAZING! I have not felt this good since before I had my initial DS Surgery.

Now I am focusing on eating and drinking like I should be.

Again- thanks for everything. With out the advice of some of you I would not have gone to the ER and that could have been catastrophic.

WOW and wow, so glad to hear from you and that you are doing great. I'm so sorry they didn't take your gallbladder in the first place and that you had to go through this. But just happy to know you're ok, and you checked in to let us know. Keep us posted on how you are!

[Deleted]

I know that self-diagnosis can be bad, but what about consensus or group diagnosis? LOL. It's amazing that this board, thru thoughtful discussion, can act like a panel of expert doctors and help our members here.

Hats off to all of us.

Musicdiva, I'm glad you got that dispicable GB out.. glad you feel tons better, I know I did!

[newyorkbitch]

I hope your DS surgeon learned a lesson and considers removing people's gall bladders along with the DS in the future.

[Melinda]

I'm so glad you're feeling better and I almost hate to say I am not in the least surprised about your diagnosis. :/ Sounded JUST like my godawful attacks I had. I, too, had such a raging infection they couldn't even touch my gallbladder until my 4th day in the hospital to remove it. All this while I was recovering from an emergency C-section, too. Boy, those were the days. lol!