Celiac Disease Forum - Gallbaldder Removal

I am a 30yr old female who started having stomach problems about 5 years ago.

Often, after a meal, I'd have to run to the bathroom 3 or 4 times in about an hour. It was like my entire system would empty out in that time. In between episodes, I was "normal", but sometimes nauseous for no reason.

Back then, I thought it was because I was eating so much. I weighed probably 190 for my 5'6" height, didn't eat very well and excercised little.

So, I started to exercise some and got better control of my eating habits.

A couple of years later, I noticed that these episodes were increasing in frequency. Maybe once every 2 weeks. Sometimes, they would be after I ate, sometimes they would be whenever. It got to be incredibly embarrassing and started to affect my work.

I finally went to the doctor and we thought it was IBS, but I was referred to a gastro specialist to rule out anything else.

Postponed and postponed the gastro appointment because I thought it probably was just IBS and he couldn't do anything for me. After a few more episodes, I finally went.

Had a short discussion with the doc and he immediately jumped to the gallbladder diagnosis. I hardly knew what a gallbladder was! He scheduled me for an ultrasound and I went home to do some research. I had more risk factors than I realized. I had experienced upper right quadrant pain in my back for awhile, but I chalked it up to costochondritis. I have been on birth control for years. I was overweight. And, my mother, her sister and their mother all had their gallbladders removed.

I read about the relationship between fats and the gallbladder and, after another rough episode, I made a drastic change in my diet by cutting back to approx. 30-40g of fat per day.

Since I started that, the episodes have decreased in frequency, but, occasionally will sneak up on me. I've also developed a nagging ache in the gallbladder area. There have only been 2 times that this pain was really serious and they both only lasted about a half hour. The rest of the time, it's just uncomfortable.

I went ahead with all of the tests that the Gastro doc ordered....

Ultrasound - No stones found
HIDA Scan - Ejection fraction >70%
I was fine during the scan and for the rest of the day, but the next day and for 2 weeks after it felt like I pulled a muscle in the area of my lower right rib. Not the same as this other nagging pain in that area. It was so bad that I went back to my primary care doc, but they said it must just be my costochondritis acting up.

Upper & Lower Endoscopy - Small hiatal hernia found, but everything else was normal.

Finally, the doctor said he would refer me to a surgeon to see what they said. He said he still thought it must be the gallbladder and that 80% of the time he'd seen them removed without the test results to support it, the patients symptoms had gone away.

I postponed making the appt with the surgeon because I was doing ok.

Then, one night, I had a small piece of very fatty steak for dinner. I didn't realize how bad it was going to be...thought I could cut the fat off, but it was a marbly piece. I didn't like it at all and maybe only ate a 2 inch by 2 inch, thin piece.

I woke up at 3am with very sharp pain for the first time ever. I tossed and turned until it went away. Around 5am, I was awake and my tummy was gurgling so I got up and took some pepto and tried to go back to sleep. At 7am, I got up and started to get ready for work.....then, what seemed like one of my usual episodes was starting, but it kept going. I was sick, including vomiting, until around noon. Had to stay home from work the entire day, couldn't eat anything until around 6pm that night. It was like I had the stomach flu - and it very well could have been, but I blamed it on the fat. The next day I made my appt with the surgeon.

The surgeon read my test results and talked with me about my symptoms and family history and the pain I had after the HIDA scan and said everything I told her was textbook gallbladder. Said I could have the surgery if I would like to or I could wait and have more tests in a couple of years and see if anything shows up then. She had a couple of good points....if it's not my gallbladder, at least I will have eliminated the one thing that 2 doctors are thinking it is. With my family history, there's a good chance that I will need it out in the next 10 years anyway and, if it is starting to go bad, the surgery could be worse if I wait.

I'm having a really hard time deciding, but all of my family and friends think I should go ahead with it. Their main concern is that I travel a lot and am considering traveling overseas in the next few months...what if I don't get it taken out and I have a serious attack when I'm out of the country? What if I wait and I end up needing emergency surgery?

I've been training for a half marathon so I am pretty active nowadays. It's been a challenge for me to make sure I eat enough of the right stuff to maintain my training because sometimes I would prefer to eat very little so I don't have to worry about having a bad reaction.

And, it's gotten very irritating to explain why I can't eat this or that...I had no idea how much fat we eat!

So, why not get it removed?? I keep reading how some people have worse symptoms after surgery. I certainly don't want to be dealing with those overseas either. And, what if it isn't my gallbladder? I would feel awful for having a surgery that I didn't need.

I know that noone can make this decision but me, but I'm curious to hear any advice you can offer. Thanks!

Gallbaldder Removal - Help Me Decide