r/gallbladders

Hi! I'm hoping to hear from you guys about what your post-op experiences were (from literally anyone, please). But I am especially interested to see if there is anyone out there with a situation similar to mine because I

1. Have only had one attack
2. Had very borderline HIDA results (35.6% EF)
3. Have IBS already and thus worried about current GI issues being exacerbated

So, the longer version:

I had an attack on July 19. Went to the ER, CT + contrast confirmed stones, but I felt better by then and no blockages or inflammation were shown. Blood work was fine. Got referrals. Had HIDA scan last week and had a 35.6% EF. No pain during the scan. I have barely modified my diet--no fried foods, no ice cream, no red meat. But I've still eaten butter, mayo, salad dressing, and haven't had another attack.

Yesterday was my consult with the general surgeon. He said that my symptoms were textbook and that it couldn't hurt to get it out and prevent future attack uncertainty, but "no one is going to make you remove it at this point." Still, after talking to him I decided to put a surgery on the books for after this semester (I'm a professor). He told me that 80% of patients have no digestive issues post-op, and for those that do, only like 1% have those issues long-term. I was comforted by that and it was a factor in my decision to schedule.

Since then, I've read a ton of posts here and talked to friends on social media and seen soooo many testimonials from people who, even years later, can't eat almost anything they like. People who can't eat when they'll have to leave the house. I'm now terrified. As a professor, I can't be running to the bathroom. I love going out to eat--it's probably my favorite social activity. My diet is quite unhealthy, and honestly, I know I could use the excuse to eat better. But hearing that I'd poop myself if I ever have eggs, or pizza, or mayo on a sandwich again, is terrifying me. I also absolutely live on caffeine and have seen many horror stories regarding coffee. I just don't know what to think.

Hearing all this, I'm second-guessing things, because while my attack was frightening, and I've had nausea and bloating since the attack, I have still only had one, true attack. With my IBS I already have to watch what I do regarding drinking my coffee on an empty stomach, limiting spicy food (which I hate, because I LOVE it), dealing with traveler's diarrhea or entirely stopping pooping when I travel because it's like my stomach gets anxious haha. I'm worried that by having the surgery, I might be creating more problems than I'm solving if I get the surgery.

What do you guys think? Can I hear what your life is like now? Can you have an ice cream sundae as a treat with your kid? Can you order a pizza for movie night? Eat buttered popcorn at the movies? Have a bowl of pasta and a glass of wine at your favorite restaurant? Splurge on a huge iced latte? I don't want to lose all these things.

Hi! After an abdominal ultrasound around a week ago, I found out I had gallstones. I was having some abdominal discomfort especially after eating, but nothing severe or unbearable, so this diagnosis made sense. I was also experience weird sharp back pain occasionally. My PCP said since I’m not in any pain/gallbladder was not inflamed/ never had an attack, I should not be too worried and surgery right away wasn’t necessary.

My concern is that I don’t want to let things get worse just because I’m not in any severe pain. Unfortunately I will be back in school until December, but I would like to get the surgery asap while on winter break. Is it safe to wait 4ish months to have the removal surgery? How long did you wait to get yours removed? Thanks!

Already sick of fish and chicken, can I have waffles or pancakes?

I'm a custodian, and I just had my gallbladder removed. I had a 3cm gallstone, and the top of my belly has a big cut 😢. They gave me 2 weeks off with no restrictions, but my cuts still hurt. I move around and walk, but when I start washing dishes or vacuuming, I begin feeling dizzy, and my cuts start hurting! Can I ask for more time off since my job is physical?

The only time my gallbladder bothers me is when I haven't eaten for more than 12 hours, (which I know is a bad habit) and when I'm ovulating, should I even bother removing it?. Should I look towards other methods before resulting to removing it?

I think I've been eating too much fat. I make 14 lbs of ground beef in batches in pots on stove. I then mov the meat to metal strainers for a few minutes. I then put into freezer containers and freeze and then thaw when needed. But I have had a fluctuating thyroid it started out at 0.300 tsh and recently was at 9.400tsh. Ive read that a missed up thyroid will slow the bile flow and mess up your gallbladder also my gallbladder has been hurting everyday since I switched from carnivore diet to just Lion diet, I had an egg intolerance I didn't know about, but fixed it when I stopped eating eggs, but then the thyroid was already messed up and my gallbladder started hurting everyday. I have been adding 5-10 grams of the strained tallow to my meat every meal 3x a day for since December 2025 when I started Lion diet and the gallbladder pain started. Soo between th mesd up thyroid that I'm trying to fix and the extra fat my gallbladder has been in pain and causes me floating stools and diarrhea. Im thinking fixing my thyroid levelscand cutting out the added fat will eventually make th gallbladder stop hurting. What do you all think???

So I had to have it done emergency, had a consult with a surgery center coming up but finally gave in and let them do it at the hospital. I think it went good and I genuinely feel better, haven’t had any of the diarrhea or anything they said I’d be having.

It would have all been fine if I’d felt properly medicated. Before surgery they gave me 3 rounds of morphine. Recovering, when I NEEDED it, truly needed it to make all the difference in the entire experience, they gave me like a little bit of dilaudid right after, and then 5mg oxycodone a few times. It hurt like hell not even gonna lie. I just wanted to be out of it just a TINY bit and it would have been like night and day. Idk… just felt so torturous for literally no reason when they could have kept me juiced up. I don’t use these kinda meds so it’s not like I have a tolerance or anything. Am I overreacting? I’m looking back on it upset because the pain felt unnecessary.

If I were at the surgery center, would it have been better?

I have had a wonderful recovery as far as food goes. I ate pizza, chicken, all the things I love. But I've avoided raw veggies for the whole parasite thing going on in the US.

Yesterday I finally had some salad I made. I had a small salad at lunch and a bigger salad in the evening.

I wake up a few hours after eating - nauseous and having the not so great toilet time twice so far in the past evening and morning. I feel bloated and yucky.

I've seen the talk of raw vegetables in this subreddit before - has anyone successfully implemented raw leafy greens back into their diets?

Also did anyone have any issues with Apples. I had an apple yesterday too and I'm wondering if that contributed. I haven't had many raw fruits and vegetables in a minute, so that could also be it.

Thank you!

EDIT: worth mentioning that I think I just overdid it on what I ate. My entire meals yesterday were cucumbers, carrots, tomatoes, lettuce, apple slices, and a few pieces of chicken with wild rice. I think I just genuinely overdid it on the fresh veggies, which I haven't had much of since surgery, except with other foods like in a sandwich or cooked down in soup.

1 week post surgery and I'm still feeling light headed, nauseous after every meal, and always feel like I need to breathe deeper to get more air (this happened even before surgery but not often). Anyone feeling the same?

So 8 days post op and my period started today and my god. It's so uncomfortable Id class as painful! I haven't had one this bad for ages!

Has anyone else found their first post op period was agonising or is it just me? Part of me wonders if its the poking about with the core muscles and belly button that's making it hurt so bad.

Rapid weight loss causes gallstones. Are you guys here yet or is it too soon?

Started of with sharp burning sensation on my abdomen ,on my right side right underneath my rib. Fast forward a week and a half later I’m suffering from indigestion, constapation,pressure in chest, nasty metallic taste in my mouth that scared me because I thought it was blood when i drank a coca cola-cola at first, mild cramps in different spots of my abdomen, burning sensation on my lower right abdomen next to naval, nausea after eating, getting full fast. The pain where my gallbladder is still where I feel the stabbing and burning sensation but I just feel like it’s all spiraling out of control. I’m still awaiting blood test results and appointment with a specialist, but the physician told me it was gall bladder stones. Did anyone else feel like this?

I had my gallbladder taken out 8/14. And to my surprise, I had a “double bubble gallbladder.” Basically it’s a congenital disorder where I had two gallbladders. From what I gather, one of them was fine and the other one had a stone so large I was near - total blockage. I’d originally put it off for months dealing with painful attacks no matter what I would eat. I even went to the emergency room once (where I got my referral to surgery) and they said I had some sludge and some stones but no blockage at all, nothing too concerning. They sent me home and gave me a referral to get it taken out. Fast forward months later to the day of surgery, I wake up to a really fun drawing on the board from my surgeon depicting what I just described. Lmao I’m 4 days post up and feel pretty good! The most pain I have is mainly from the incisions. Thanks for reading and I wish you all the best!! Has this ever happened to anyone else?

Been told no food or drink other than sips of water, I get quite a dry mouth, wondering if anyone knows is there a maximum of water before it's an issue? Like, if I have 375ml water over the six hours is that likely to be okay?

Unhelped by period starting today so resultant extra fluid loss and pain (which worsens the dry mouth). Trying to minimise painkillers as the ones I'm on can cause constipation which I gather wouldn't be helpful...

Right at the start of the six hour fasting time and not drinking water for that long feels insurmountable with the pain - dry mouth on its own I might tolerate but whilst this uncomfortable...

Hi all, in one week 08/25 I’m getting my gallbladder removed. While I have someone to drive me to and from the hospital, no one will be coming home with me to help me recover. My family is telling me not to worry because they’ve heard gallbladder surgeries aren’t as bad as some surgeries, but I’m not convinced. I’m still recovering from a total thyroidectomy and neck dissection from 05/29 and i wouldn’t have survived that without assistance, so even if gallbladder removal isn’t as bad I’m still worried. My friend is also worried and is ready to come over and help me as needed, especially since i have pets, but I’m just wondering if anyone else has had to recover from surgery alone and help me know what I’m walking into next week. Thanks!

I'm 25 afab. I started having attacks around 1 year ago. This all ordeal happened in South Italy.
My mental state is not exactly flourishing so my mother takes care of me as things are now. She's extremely anti vax and against surgeries so last year when our doctor told her I needed my gallbladder removed she immediately decided she didn't want to indulge.
She tried to get me a second opinion and it was all the same so we ended up ignoring the issue entirely.

Some months ago I went to the ER because of some attacks (I was passing stones) and she got quite a scare and decided it was time to do the surgery. We did the pre-hospitalisation iter but I ended up at the ER 2 days after it and they hospitalised me.

I've been hospitalised for 15 days, nothing occurred. I was in constant pain after eating, they told me they couldn't do anything but give me paracetamol which more often than not did absolutely nothing to me. My mom complained with the stuff and got me a RMI, thy ignored it until I went into the operation room, when they realised I had stones inside my ducts they sent me home because they couldn't do the surgery anymore. My surgeon #1 plan was to get me to come back in a week to get me transferred to another hospital to do the ERCP and then do the surgery two days after, useless to say it didn't go this way.

I came back at the hospital as told, got transferred to the other hospital, got the ERCP and... it went bad. The line they used broke inside my liver and they managed to get out of me 15 stones. I had to get permanently transferred to this new hospital, where I stayed for a day with a naso-biliary tube and got repeatedly scolded for throwing up with it. I had to get another ERCP to remove the little line that got stuck but they couldn't do it and my surgeon #1 called out the surgery all together after it, lying about my condition. He said I had pancreatitis, but it wasn't true and the doctors at the hospital told me I didn't, he said it was because of anaesthesia, but the doctors also said it wasn't true. I got sent home because no one wanted to do the cholecystectomy.

I've been told I had to wait a full month "just to be sure" but I was scared and the fact he wasn't being honest sent me in a panic spiral so we went for a second opinion. Surgeon #2 said he wouldn't have done the surgery until October, which obviously was a no no, but he also said surgeon #1 did good not to do the surgery so I calmed down for around 10 days.

My mom's however wanted to get another opinion, so we went to surgeon #3. He checked what happened with the ERCPs, he saw that they prescribed me 5 units of ursodeoxycholic acid 300 mg a day and got worried. He visited me, everything was fine, he told me to get a RMI and blood tests which we scheduled immediately and he also told us Surgeon #1 was going on a calling spree to avoid ANYONE to operate on me. He was also confused on why I didn't get immediate cholecystectomy after the ERCPs.

When I got home I ate (Turkey) and I god a horrible attack that got me to the ER, they didn't want to do blood tests and only gave me Toradol and sent us away, the pain didn't stop, it got just slightly better to the point I could sleep until 4 am, when I woke up in pain again, I didn't want to wake up my mom so I took Paracetamol 1000 mg, it went a little better and I went to sleep just to wake up again in pain. I went to the ER again and they again just gave me Toradol and sent me away without any kind of assessment. As things are now, after two days (so three days now) I still have an active gallbladder attack to the point where I cannot stand, walk or even slightly touch my abdomen, I'm not jaundice nor I have a fever.

I'm sorry if I'm writing in a messy and confused way but the pain is unbearable and I genuinely have no idea what to do at this point.

TL;DR: I have an ongoing gallbladder attack since three days, no amount of painkiller or paracetamol is making it stop and the ER is not an option.

I don’t know if I can take another ‘everything looks normal’. I’m scheduling an HIDA test, a stool test, and a pancreatic enzyme test.

So my question, half serious, should I eat something triggering before the tests so the doctors can see with their own eyes what’s going on?

Or is that a bridge too far?

(It’s also a chance to eat onion soup again.)

Hello!
My mother is having emergency removal surgery today and I was just wondering about real life recovery times.
I was supposed to move out of state tomorrow, and obviously that’s not happening now that I’ll be staying with her after to help her recover.
I was just wondering what’s a good timeframe I can expect. She has 2 senior frenchies that I’ll be taking care of while with her.

I had my laparoscopic gallbladder removal one week ago, so here’s my short day 0–7 recovery diary. I know when I was anxious for surgery stories like this really helps so here you go. For context, I’m 34 female, no children, this is my first experience with anything medical whatsoever.

Day 0: Surgery day
Checked in at 7 a.m., went into the operating room around 11:45 a.m. and was out of recovery around 2 p.m. It was my first experience with general anesthesia.

I had four incisions and went home the same day. I vomited after discharge and had some nausea, throat hoarseness and burning around the belly-button incision.

I took my prescribed pain medication every four to six hours as needed.

Day 1
Quite sore around my belly button, especially when moving, but I could walk around independently.

Mostly had liquids and small amounts of soft food. Sleep came in short bursts.

I only needed two doses of my prescribed pain medication.

Day 2
Pain improved quickly, and I switched to regular Tylenol, only needing one dose that morning.

Had my first small bowel movement and was able to eat a little more normally.

Day 3
Completely stopped taking pain medication. I was still tired, but the remaining pain was mild.

I could get up and down on my own, but I still had to support myself and avoid using my abdominal muscles so I wouldn’t trigger pain.

Returned to my own apartment and was able to sleep on my side.

Day 4
Removed the larger dressings, showered and left the Steri-Strips in place. The shower was very energy consuming and I had to lay down afterwards, but it felt great.

Started having some episodes of watery diarrhea, mainly after coffee, tea or soup.

Went for a very short walk outside, but got tired after walking for five minutes.

Day 5
Still had diarrhea, but solid foods like a bagel seemed to digest much better.

Swelling and bloating were still noticeable, but my mobility continued improving.

I was able to do a load of laundry with no issues.

Day 6
Had my first more normal/solid bowel movement after the diarrhea started.

Sleeping comfortably on my side and stomach, with very little incision pain.

Went for a short walk outside was able to walk about five minutes longer than day four. Walked to the corner store to pick up some toiletries.

Day 7: Today
This has been my best day so far. Energy, sleep and abdominal swelling are all gradually improving. I drove my car for the first time and was able to do so with no issues. I only drove for 15 minutes, but I felt no discomfort.

I’m still feeling mild pain in two places: around my belly-button incision and an occasional short, sharp pain where my gallbladder used to be. It comes and goes throughout the day and is only around a 2–3 out of 10.

Had a completely normal bowel movement. Eating something solid before drinking coffee or water seems to prevent the digestive urgency I was having.

My surgeon gave me four weeks off of work (and this is fully paid by my company) so I think I’m really gonna enjoy the downtime over the next three weeks. My concern going forward is whether the diarrhea is gonna remain consistent or if this is just my body relearning how to digest. I’m gonna keep track of what I am eating and how my body responds. The steri-strips should come off this week naturally so I’m going see what the scars look like underneath as well.

I love tea and find myself brewing/drinking 30 to 60 oz a day of black or green tea. I am finally getting my gallbladder removed next week. For those that have had their's removed, how soon were you able to start drinking tea again? A couple of days? A couple of weeks?