Those who have had gall stones can you explain to me what an attack feels like? I've suspected i have gall stones for a little while. The last two nights have been awful, the pain was awful and the vomitting not fun.
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Those who have had gall stones can you explain to me what an attack feels like? I've suspected i have gall stones for a little while. The last two nights have been awful, the pain was awful and the vomitting not fun.
My pain was in my chest right round to my back, it got so bad i could hardly breath and called an ambulance.
I don't think i ever vomitted but it was extremely painful, i could barely move and bearthing was difficult, it was also a lot worse after a heavy oily meal.
If you suspect you have them go to your GP and ask for an ultrasound.
I called my mum she wants to take me to the hospital. A friend who is a nurse is saying to go to the hospital too.
It can't hurt, I went but they wouldn't do the ultrasound (after hrs) so I had to go to my gp then to the u/s place :wall:
Sent from my iPhone, more than likely while I should be doing something else!
I first started to get them when I was pregnant with my DD1. I put it down to the aches & pains of pregnancy. I got them again when breastfeeding and put it down to that and then when she was 3 weeks old I put it down to a new nursing bra, though the pain didn't go away when I removed the bra.
A week later I had just finished snacking on some fetta & spinach parcels when I got a pain in my chest. I had a shower and it didn't go away. I thought I was having a heart attack as the pain in my chest and into my back was excruciating. I ended up in hospital vomiting and in absolute agony. It was the worst pain, much more painful than labour for me.
5 months later my gallbladder was finally removed.
Best to go to the Dr or hospital to have it checked over. My attacks didn't always happen from oily meals. I could have something like a paddle pop and it would set me off. I kept my fat intake down to under 15g a day which was the only thing that stopped the food induced attacks.
very bad pain, located kind of under and inside where the sternum is ... hard to explain.
but very, very bad.
after the attack, sometimes I couldn't even keep down water, and I'd be shaky and sweating.
get thee to a Dr - they don't get any better, on the contrary, my attacks became more and more frequent until I got in for surgery to have my gall bladder removed.
Don't go to the hospital. If it's a stone stuck in a duct they aren't going to do anything. You'll be stuck in a waiting room for hours until the pain goes away then they'll send you home.
You need to go to a dr and they will assess your symptoms and any good GP will be able to tell you on the spot if you have gall stones. They will immediately refer you for an ultrasound, which is the only way to confirm the diagnosis.
I don't think vomiting is common. If it's a stone stuck in a duct then it doesn't affect your stomach in any way.
It does sound a little like it. I have had a few friends with it but have not personally. I would go to the hospital because it could be something else and it is best to check before self diagnosing. For example appendicitis also can cause severe pain and vomiting.
My Dad had them last year..
the day he ended up in hospital, he was throwing up a lot (we thought it a virus at first), then he came and woke me and said he was having chest pain, so I called an ambulance.. He was taken to hospital where it ws diagnosed as gall stones.
Described as the WORST PAIN EVER! It was worst then labour and I ended up in hospital many times because of it. :-(
Pain was like a vice squeezing around my chest and like really bad abdo cramps. I vomited a lot but that could of been because of the intensity of the pain! ahh did I mention the worst pain ever.
I went to the hospital, I was never left sitting in the wating room, I was put straight into bed and given some really good drugs ;-D They generally only hold you until the pains gone (The stone moves) and then refer you back to your Dr. So If the pain isn't that bad (I couldn't get up off the bathroom floor and needed an ambulance) I would just go to the Dr.
a doctor once told me it was a bit like being in labour. i found the attacks worse. i usually end up curled in the fetal position, clutching a hot water bottle. i've thrown up a couple of times during an attack. after it goes i feel weak & absolutely exhausted - like i've run a marathon or something! the pain for me is always on my front, sort of around my tummy. i think the thing that made it worse than labour was that the pain is constant (well, it is for me). i would go to the GP & get yourself checked.
I had a rainbow of pain stretching across my ribs. The pain was worse than labour and it made me vomit and shake. I was white as a ghost and sweaty. It can be triggered by pregnancy or after pregnancy. My first attack was when DS1 was 3 weeks old. I went from "feeling a bit off" to lying on the bathroom floor unable to get up in a space of about 5 minutes. Pretty scary. Thank God my mum was over and able to help with DS1.
I agree - see your GP. It isn't going to get better on its own.
Like the others have said, it's extremely excruciating. I had my one massive stone for about 2 years before I was diagnosed. Apparently I was "too young and too thin" to have gall stones so none of the three different doctors I saw sent me for an ultrasound.
The pain can be very unlocalised and can be felt mostly under the bottom of your rib cage and radiates through to your back as well. The back pain had one doctor put me on anti-inflammatory tablets because he thought it was a back problem. Suffice to say the tablets did nothing besides totally space me out.
Once mine was found it still took a month (with private health insurance!) to have my gallbladder removed. I lost a significant amount of weight (of which I never had much to spare) because I just couldn't eat without having a pain attack.
I finally had surgery and they found one massive stone. My surgeon had me freaked out because he told me that my gallbladder looked different to any he had ever seen and sent it off for pathology testing (this coming from an older surgeon that had been doing this surgery daily for many many years!). Turns out the stone was completely blocking my cystic duct (causing additional pain) and part of my gallbladder had died and becoming swollen and necrotic. Lovely!
I then had stomach issues for about 2 years after the surgery while my body adjusted to not having a gallbladder.
Gallstones are certainly not fun times!
Everyone has gall stones it's just a matter of if you are feeling symptoms. I had bad pain like a knife in my solar plexus going right through to my back. I did a parasite treatment with herbs from a herbalist and then did a liver cleanse to get the gall stones out. WOW did some stone come out!! I've since done it a few more times each time getting less and less out. Speak to a natroupath before you consider western medicine or surgery.
Well its not gall stones......THANKFULLY!
But i do have GORD and have to see a specialist about the severity and talk about possibly having surgery as by the sounds of it i am on the severe side of it. I was given mylanta and a numbing agent which did nothing for my pain if anything it made it worse. He did think about gall bladder problems but with further testing it came back negative so we will see.
Fun times ahead!
This is potentially problematic. The cleanses might work if you've got lots of small sludgey stones, but try doing with a big mother of a stone (that's too large to pass) and you're liable to send yourself to ER. Gallstones can cause infection/inflammation in the gallbladder and even liver, etc, so the problem is potentially much bigger than just the stones. Also, if the stones become lodged in the lower part of the duct you can develop much more severe pancreatic disease (that can kill you).:
I'd say once you've got to the shaking-vomitting-sweating-unable-to-speak-coherently stage of gallbladder pain, it's time to get medical help.
ETA LMS I hope you get some answers (and soem relief) SOON!
For those who have them, I have found artichoke oil capsules really helpful, particularly if I know I'm going to have a big meal or something oily like fish and chips.
HTH x
Definitely the worst pain ever!!! My pain was exactly as MN has described.:
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I was told the same as this. They didn't know that my gall stone was just one huge one to begin with and were worried that the major pain I was in was caused by a complication of a stone shifting past my cystic duct, which could be life threatening.:
My pain was exactly as MN described too. I suggest go to your GP for an ultrasound and blood test and see what the outcome is. It took 8mths to have my gall bladder removed. In the end I cut ALL fats out if my diet and lived off chicken, salad and steamed/boiled vegetables.
I vomited with my attacks and most of the time I couldn't even talk I was in that much pain (my first one lasting 12hours) I've been one who has been left sitting in the waiting room for hours on end with not even panadol for pain relief.
The GP is def the best way to go, unless you have faith in your loca ED - mine i was taken in by ambulance, my friend followed with DD (only a couple of weeks old) and i sat in pain in a wheelchair in the waiting room for nearly 3hrs with a nearly new baby and no bra :rofl: only to get in, be checked over and finally at 10pm at night told they couldn't do anything they suspect it's gallstones but to go to my GP, get an ultrasound and go from there.
I could have gone to my GP and had an ultrasound by 5pm that day if i had of skipped out on the hospital. :wall:
I was on the waiting list for a couple of months, i had it out when DD was about 5mths old so possibly a 3-4mth wait down here.
My experience was much different to all of yours in regards to treatment.
I had my first attack when DD was 6 wks old. We were out shopping and I felt nauseated and fidgety. DD needed a feed but I couldn't hold her - DH did it (FF). As soon as she was fed I said we were going home (we'd only just gotten to the centre). DH knew I was not well because I was getting pale and starting to sweat. In the car, I couldn't get comfortable. I was doubled over. I was worse than when I was in labour. He wanted to call an Ambulance but I was convinced if I just went home and went to bed that I would be ok. DH tried to pull over and call an ambulance and I yelled at him to get me the F home. 200m down the road I saw a large GP clinic and told him to pull in. I wasn't convinced they'd be open given that it was a weekend.
He dropped me at the door then went to find a park and get DD out. I gingerly walked into the centre and lined up at the reception counter. Yes, I lined up. Thankfully the receptionist took one look at me and asked if I was ok. When I said no, she rushed me straight to the treatment room (despite my protests that I wanted to wait for me husband and baby) and yelling at the nurses on her way past their office to help me. I later learnt they all thought I was having a heart attack.
I was slapped on the oxygen hooked up to ECG and they pulled the senior GP out of his consultation with another patient (I'm so sorry to that patient!). They called an ambulance and tried to get a medical history out of DH who was petrified at this point. The GP ruled out heart attack based on my ECG, said "Gall stones. She needs them out" ordered pain relief (tramadol) and I promptly threw up all over him. And then filled two sick bags.
Ambulance came, by which time I was in MUCH less pain. But couldn't stay awake. All I kept saying was I wanted my baby. Make sure they follow me. Of course they did. The ambo's were great. Spoke to DH and said "we can take you to XYZ (major public hospital) and you can wait for 5 hours, or we can take you to ABC (private hospital) where you pay $250 and will be seen right away. We know they have a no wait time right now". DH said to take me to the Private.
Got to the hospital, they put me in a room that doubled as their plaster room. Gave me a gown, asked me to pee in a cup and freaked because there was microscopic blood in my urine (blood you can't see but is picked up in a test). Then they saw DH and DD and relaxed, realising it was post partum bleeding. I had a heap of bloods done and was sent for X-Ray. Confirmed stones and that it was too risky to leave. I was given a referal to see a surgeon and a letter sent to MY GP.
4 days later I saw my surgeon. He looked at my history, my images, my baby, the fact we have NO family in Vic and said, lets do it when bubs is 8 weeks. He booked me into a small private hospital close to home and said he would organise for bubs to stay with me overnight if I wanted.
I had my surgery and he spoke kindly to DH before I went in. Told him not to worry and to take bubs home where they would be more comfortable. He promised to call as soon as I was out and to tell them when to come back.
I remember waking post op in horrific pain but was dosed up on pain meds. When I was on the ward, I discovered I had a drain tube. DH and DD arrived not long after I was with it. My surgeon had called and told him how I'd gone and that there were a few concerns and I'd need an MRI to rule out a few things which we'd do as an out-patient.
I was given the option of a second night in hospital but refused, I wanted home.
Had post op check and went for MRI. Got MRI results around June (had had op in April) and got the all clear. But day after all clear, I had another attack at a friends house. She called an ambulance. Those ambo's were shocking. Wouldn't tell DH where they were taking me and refused to take me to the private hospital I'd been to previously. I was taken to a major public hospital and had an horrific experience. The Dr who took me through wouldn't listen to my med history and refused to contact my surgeon despite me saying I'd seen him the day prior. I was accused of being a drug addict. I was refused analgesia and antiemetics (anti spew). I wasn't kept informed of anything. I had another massive pain attack and my nurse didn't answer the call bell so DH went looking for someone. A different nurse came in and left straight away. Came back with senior consultant and morphine. This Dr listened to my history, went "Dr S? I know him. He's a senior surgeon here and a good friend. He's not working today but I'll give him a call". He then called my surgeon on his personal mobile.
Surgeon was away visiting family but was very concerned. Told them to admit me immediately at a hospital of my choice (ie public or private) and to get an urgent CT. I later discovered they thought I had a tumour. I asked to go home once the pain was settled and they let me. I was given an appointment for first thing Mon to see surgeon who sent me to see a friend of his for a second opinion. I needed an ERCP and the second Dr did it that Thursday.
On the Monday I was back in hospital with complications from the ERCP and was admitted (private hospital) for 3 days. Here I was accused of having a psychosomatic condition! During this admission I lost a lot of blood and fainted coming back from the toilet. It was after this they decided that maybe my condition WAS real...however the care was still secondary. It wasn't until DH demanded they contact my initial surgeon (who we later found out was royally ****ed the second dr had even done my ERCP as only surgeon was meant to operate on me) that things started happening. I finally got a drip, IV fluids, they checked me over post fall, and started recording my bowel movements. And I got a review procedure for my bleed. After that, any care had to be authorised by my surgeon. And when he told them I was a nurse they took my notes out of the room ;)
If I had gone to my GP, it would have taken weeks to get into a surgeon and I know people who have waited 18 months to get their gall bladder out.
Working in a major public hospital (different to the one I was sent to!), I can assure you that if you present and you need your stones out quickly, they will. We do it frequently at work. Many surgeons will also attempt to do an ERCP (without the extra bit I had done) before they attempt to remove the gall bladder. The ERCP is less invasive and considered to be the safer procedure.
There are heaps of threads on BB about gall stones, they contain lots of good info for anyone who has gall stones.
MG
MG :o what a horrific experience!
I am really glad its not gall stones but also not keen on possibly having surgery to correct my "defective sphincter" but seeing the specialst and having the endoscopy will determine if i need that *hopefully*
I really feel for you if they are gallstones. I had attacks over a couple of years in my late 20s, early 30s. It wasn't diagnosed until I had an endoscopy and a CT scan at the hospital. It was just one stone the size of a marble. (I am a sicko and I still have it in a jar 11 or so years later :lol:)
The pain was horrific :( Initially, it was thought to be a hernia.
I agree with the others about keeping to a no/low fat diet. Also, apparently, sleeping/lying on your right side can help ease pain.
I really hope you get it sorted out ASAP!
Lms, they will likely suggest either a sphincterotomy (small cut to the en of the scphincter to make it easier to pass stuff) or a stent. Both are usually done as day surgery and are fairly non-invasive as far as surgery goes.