u/TECHI14

Hello everyone.

Posting because I promised myself I would, once I got to the other side of it. I spent quite a bit of time reading people’s stories to get through my own.

Started as your common RUQ pain back in April of 2024.

Initial thoughts from my general physician was gall stones, and an ultrasound was scheduled.

Had a couple of attacks in the coming weeks right before the ultrasound which forced visits to the ER. Dizziness, pain, and brain fog were some of the biggest symptoms and were fairly pronounced. I’m not one to go to the ER unless I feel to be in grave danger. They performed the ultrasound there along with some cat scans also plus blood tests.

To my dismay, they both came back clear and showed no indications of any abnormality. Super frustrating. They found some slight signs of fatty liver disease but that didn’t explain the pain.

They essentially stated that I needed to change my diet and sent me on my way. I never ate poorly and have always been decently active but I modified my eating habits and started avoiding spicy foods and things that were “fatty” or “greasy”

The pain continued and so did the symptoms. I tried for about four months to manage it to no avail.

Went back to doctor and asked to be seen by a GI specialist. Got an appointment and then discussed the symptoms. This doc sent me to get a HIDA scan right away.

During the scan, the symptoms were replicated. The results showed that I had a hyperactive gallbladder with an 88% ejection fraction. Bingo we had the smoking gun finally. The relief of having pinpointed the source was a win in itself.

We then scheduled removal.

That was done within weeks of the diagnosis.

Surgery wasn’t bad, standard run of the mill. Surgeon was great and I was out of the hospital in about 5hrs- start to finish. Doctor mentioned the gallbladder was highly inflamed.

Took me about 2-3 weeks to get back to general normality. Stomach was doing some weird stuff for the first couple of months with irregular bowel movements, bloating, and things of that nature. But happy to report that around month 3 things have settled down quite a bit and I am feeling very good.

Wanted to share my story. For anyone going through this, stick it out and keep after it. You will get better!