Gall bladder attack

Anyone ever have one? They keep saying thats what they thought my problem was (6hrs in the ER last night) but every time they'd ask me something and I'd say no, they'd act puzzled. No, I haven't had a change in this or that, no I didn't eat a big or greasy meal, no I'm not running a fever, no I haven't felt anything like this before, no it didn't start there and spread, no I haven't had any heartburn like issues, etc etc. And worst thing was the pain was gone after about an hr, til the doc came in and gave me a very aggressive liver exam. Heck, that's always hurt since before I had any issues. Maybe that's why a good liver punch can bring an MMA fighter right to his knees, right?

I know some of it is based on my history, but all my labs and levels are perfectly normal now. And then they want me to see a surgeon...who of course will want to take it out...he's a SURGEON. And it doesn't match with any of the descriptions on WEBMD or similar either.

So, if anyone has had an attack, could you sort of describe why it happened if you know and where the pain was located and how severe? I have never felt anything that bad in my life...I was literally doubled over from it and gave it a 9! I've broken bones, been burned, sprained ankles, tried to cut off my thumb, run a drill through a finger, torn tendons and ligaments, etc...but nothing hurt like this.

Thanks

 

I'm not sure there is anything worse than gut pain. Almost 18 yrs ago I was hospitalized with gut pain, they ran all kinds of tests and sent me home after a few day - 2 days later I was back. Then they decided my gallbladder needed to be removed. After the surgery they told me they removed my appendicitis too - would have been nice to know before and been able to say yay or nay!

I'm not convinced my gallbladder was the issue but do believe the antibiotic they gave me helped. Yrs later I had a similar episode and they removed kidney stones that they originally said weren't that bad. When the antibiotic ran out I got sick again but another round got me better.

They say I have acid reflux although I almost never get heartburn, however the results of several endoscopies shows the damage from acid reflux.

Wish I had a good suggestion as to why you are in pain but ultimately all I can do is give you sympathy and wish you well!

 

I had a gall bladder attack & had mine removed. I can assure you, the pain is almost intolerable . Its the worse pain I have ever been in, in my life. This was when I was in my mid 40's.
It happened after I had eaten a Frito Pie. Its greasy which is what triggers gall bladder attacks. I put up with the pain for about an hour, then went to the state hospital because I didnt have any insurance. Once at the hospital, I vomited green stuff.... bile. Thats a sure sign of gall bladder attack. They gave me a shot for pain & I was still doubled over. Since they are used to dealing with drug heads etc, they thought thats why I was there & faking the pain for more drugs. Eventually they gave me more. They set me up to come back to run tests but I never went back. A year later, I had insurance & had another so I went to a real hospital where their primary concern is tending to the patient. They did tests & set me up with a surgeon. Got it out a few days later & end of story.
The surgeon did tell me that its not unusual to have bouts of diarrhea occasionally after the gall bladder is removed with some foods. He also said that its not unusual to occasionally experience milder form of the same pain, but could be painful enough to return to the hospital for exam. He said just make sure you tell the doctor I've already had my gall bladder removed. Its an after effect similar to having a toothache after a tooth has been pulled.

 

Did they rule out an Acute Gallstone Attack ?

 

Well, did an ultrasound which the tech said came out very clear so they should have been able to see anything. Also did a CT which didn't show anything. At least to the 2 ER docs I saw. Radiologist will review. And of course only the quick blood and urine tests could be looked at, some would take a few days I guess.

 

Good luck............................

 

I had what was most likely a gall stone lodged in the bile duct. It was the most horrendous experience of my life, and apparently it could very well have killed me. It all came out of the blue. There wasn't a high fat meal or anything like that. No fever. I had excruciating, persistent, stabbing back pain, between the lower parts of my shoulder blades. No stomach pain at all. I actually thought something might have been wrong with my spine, or that it was a terrible muscle spasm. I had experienced some slight discomfort in that region before, that I thought was muscular too. But that was much less severe. I had a few bad cases of heartburn, but months before the attack. I attributed the heartburn to some pre-workout drinks I was taking, and figured my back pain was from a bad lift at the gym. Really, those were probably missed warning signs that I tried to explain away.

I wound up vomiting uncontrollably, non-stop, essentially living on the floor in front of the toilet for hours. I couldn't sleep, I couldn't keep food or water down, and I became dehydrated. As it progressed, jaundice kicked in, and I turned as yellow as a banana -- no exaggeration. Eyes, face, arms, legs, torso -- all yellow. That was the clue that it was time to see the doc, but by the time I got in things were finally resolving themselves. (Because of course I was too dumb and stubborn to go to the ER, so I made an office appointment.) Labs were still all out of whack, though. Almost all of the tests were above or below normal limits.

When they did an ultrasound, the bile duct was clear, but there were visible stones in the gall bladder. Because the acute symptoms were gone, they scheduled a laparoscopic removal a few weeks later and took my gall bladder out.

I don't know if this matches with your experience, but I hope you figure out what it was. Kudos to you for actually going to the hospital!

 

Thanks for the replies. See, this is what I mean. Each experienced different pain, though it was severe. Those fit the descriptions I found as well as the vomiting, green goo, pain in the back, jaundice (THAT I have experience with when my liver shut down...not that I really noticed through my self induced fog) fever, etc.

Mine was just a mild "tenseness" at first, in the supermarket on the way home. All across the very bottom of the front of my ribcage where the diaphragm goes across. Kind of similar to a feeling I had when I had a bad racking cough. We had just spent an hour at Wally World and I thought, ok, maybe I lifted the cat litter or something wrong, though thats normally a lower back thing. So then it just kept getting worse and worse. I went to the car while she checked out and started feeling extremely flushed and could barely get a sentence out. "I...have...never...felt...this...kind...of...pain" kinda stuff. I said just take me home she said I was white and said you're going to the ER! (So, no, I wasn't smart enough to do it on my own.)

Couldn't stand upright as I gave them my info and when they were trying to do the EKG I was shaking so bad they had to gently hold my arms. EKG was fine, put me in the ER bed and hooked me up to the machines and IV. Think I broke their pulse indicator...it was about 140 before the pain started to fade. after about an hour in there it was completely gone until the exam by the head doc, and even then it didn't come back nearly as bad. Only other location was a slight pain in the muscles traveling from my front to my back of my ribs, but I think that was just me tensing up trying to stay still. Never got any pain meds and all the pharmacies were closed so I couldn't even get the anti-nausea or bowel calming stuff til the next day.

Going to see what the first available is with my regular doc before going to a surgeon. kind of surprised they didn't send me to a liver specialist first...I would think he handled the gall bladder also. Wish I could see my own tests...I DO know how to read the ones concerning the liver,infections, bilirubin, and such. Speaking of which I had an Arbys NY Rueben for lunch with no problem, does that count...lol

Thanks for reading and the well wishes.

 

I might as well throw in my comments also.

Vic, you are absolutely correct when you say everybody experiences it a bit different. Never had gall bladder pain but I've had 2 bouts of kidney stones and I felt like I was dying. And they claim they were small ones. Never even passed them. Back and abdomen pain is excruciating. My last experience came on very suddenly. I was fine all afternoon and by the evening was in the emergency room. My first bout came on slowly and became very acute several days later.

Similar to herniated disc. I had two. In my case the only relief I could afford myself was ride a bicycle (dangerous but it relieved the pain) and try to sleep with my knees against my chest. Funny thing was I could still realize I had all my strength but could not utilize it.

Long and short is that each person has their own pain threshold and reacts to pain a little bit different be it gall bladder, kidney stones or similar.

I do hope you get better soon.