Has anyone had gall bladder problmes? I am having a sharp pain the middle of my stomach, below the brest bone. My doctor keeps telling me I need to take Zantec, which I do. He says it is reflux, actually dispepsia. I think it is my gall bladder. Is there somethng else I can say or request from the doctor.?

I want something more done. Is there an ultra sound or some way to tell for sure it is my gall bladder?

yes, they can do an ultrasound.

I can tell you that my gallbladder pain was in my back--sort of under shoulder blade. I thought I just had a lot of stress going on. And then: I had an "attack" and thought I was dying! Actually my gallbladder had had all it could stand and was very infected. Had to have surgery to remove it 2 days after the attack.

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Mental that one, I'm telling you. ---Ron Weasley, "Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets"

what ws the attack like? i have pain and it literally takes away my breath. do you know what would show a bad galbladder on an ultras ound?

the attack had me curled in a fetal position--worse than labor pains.
The ultrasound can show if the gallbladder is inflamed and if there are any stones or "sludge" blocking the ducts.

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Mental that one, I'm telling you. ---Ron Weasley, "Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets"

Yes! It took me 2 years of constant complaining and undergoing every heart test known to man before I fianlly got a diagnosis!

The attacks are painful. . .mine made me wonder if I was having a heart attack. . . .severe chest and back pain. . .take your breath away kind of pain.

An ultra sound will show stones if you have them, I didn't have stones though. My gallbladder was diseased and "gunky" and only functioning at 6%. The test I FINALLY got that showed my problem was a nuclear test (sorry don't remember the official name). They shoot dye through your liver and gallbladder. . .then give you a hormone that triggers your gallbladder to work and are able to track the function. GET THIS if the ultra sound shows no stones!

In the mean time. . .limit fats and portion size. Once they found out it was my gallbladder I had to still wait a month for my surgery. I was having nightly attacks by then. The one thing that my doctor told me that helped a lot was to limit portion size. She told me it's not just the fat that can trigger it. . .but the amount of food as well. . ."even a large bowl of lettuce can trigger it". I ate off of a saucer for a month. . .but it helped with the attacks and for that I was thankful!


ETA_ I was told to take Prilosec darn near everytime I went to see the dr. I kept telling her, "It doesn't help!" Has it helped you at all? If it doesn't. . .keep telling them!

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Is it a thud paid or a sharp pain? I've had a thud pain off and on that I've been told is related to reflux problems.

Have you been checked for an ulcer? I had my gall bladder out and as another poster said it was in my side, higher up. I also have an ulcer, it is in the center of my abdomen, just below my breast bone. It hurts like heck when I don't take my meds or eat the wrong things. Can't breath, doubled over kind of pain. Some types of ulcers can be treated with antibiotics now. Just a thought.

Renee

I had a pain a few months ago that was so bad that dh took me to the ER. My first trip ever to the ER. It just happen to be the afternoon after New Years Eve and they seemed to think I had partied too hard the night before. Which, I hadn't, but I couldn't seem to convince them of that. They did a scan and said I did not have any gallstones, but I did have slight swelling. They gave me a shot of a painkiller and sent me home. They told me it was just a bad case of indigestion. Since that happened I have had bouts of the same pain (not as severe), constipation, bloating, burping and plain old feeling miserable off and on. I have been passing it off as stress. When I have the pain...I fell like I can't breath, and I also get a dull pain between my shoulder blades. After reading this, I am wondering if it could be more than just stress...

Oh Gawd, it was the worst pain I've ever experienced. I had mine removed in 2006 after an ultrasound confirmed I had numerous stones.

How to explain the feeling? For me it felt like I was going to explode. The first attack was the worst and we ended up calling 911 because I honestly thought I was dying. I had been in pain for about 20 minutes or so and by the time the EMT's got to my house, the event was over so I did not go to the hospital. A few days later I had a second, less severe, attack and didn't even bother calling.

My ultrasound appointment was 2 days later and once the doctor told me what it was, I went on a no fat diet. Because my insurance stinks, it was 10 weeks before I had it out. I lost 17 pounds in those 10 weeks... the only good part of the whole experience.

Your doctor should do an ultrasound to confirm or rule out that it's your GB. Even if the US shows nothing there are other GB tests they can do. It's a tricky little devil and problems don't always show up on an US.

Best of luck getting this figured out.

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I had my gall bladder out a couple of months after my last child was born years ago. I didn't know that it could be a complication from pregnancy from the baby kicking the gall bladder too much and squishing and causing damage, that's what happened to me. The pain was horrible, much worse than child birth, and I have had 3 kids by natural child birth. I actually thought I was having a heart attack, my pain was in the center of my chest and hurt so bad I could hardly breathe. I had several attacks and several trips to the ER before they figured out it had to be my gall bladder, then they scheduled the dye iodine contrast dye test, my gall bladder was working at 7%, 93% not working. Unfortunately I was allergic to the dye (iodine) so that was really fun, good thing the test was done at the hospital, LOL. I ended up back in the ER for the allergic reacton to the dye. I had to wait 10 days for the scheduled surgery, had to go on a no fat diet, fat triggers an attack, as long as I had no to very little fat I did not have ANY attacks. I kept my fat to under 5-10 grams a day and did lose 10 pounds before the surgery. I had the laproscopy surgery and it was SUPPOSED to be oh so easy afterwards, well I was in so much pain it was unbelievable, I couldn't even get out of bed except to go to the bathroom for a week, I even had to take pain meds, LOL, I don't do pain meds. Thus, the having the 3 kids naturally. I could not believe the pain.

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My pain started in the right shoulder blade and it was a constant nagging hurt. Then when the gallbladder really flared--OMG! My chest hurt, I couldn't get a deep breath. I felt like something was crushing my chest, plus I was experiencing the sick stomach and what comes w/ that. When H came home and found me curled into a 3 foot ball---he took me to the ER. All the general surgeons were, well, in surgery! So they sent me home w/ some heavy duty narcotics and had me come back the next day for ultrasound, and then the next day I had surgery. Oh, and I was running a fever of 103+ because it was infected.
Yeah, that experience is seared in my brain!!!
Ultrasound is typically a simple thing, and at this point you probably need one, OP.
ETA: In looking back, my attack was probably triggered by red meat and/or higher fat diet.

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Mental that one, I'm telling you. ---Ron Weasley, "Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets"

I had only two very severe attacks and they caused me enormous pain between my shoulder blades that radiated through to just between and below my breasts. I was shocky on the second one because of the pain. For the first one, I thought I was having a heart attack.

On the other hand my FIL would get attacks more regularly but much less severe. Obviously, after reading those posting here, there can be different symptoms for different people. But you need to rule out ulcers, pancreatic problems and along with watching your fat intake, watch for spicy foods.

Insist they run more tests. It sounds as if you haven't had a full blown attack yet, so get tested before you do. Doctors like to ignore women and their symptoms. Don't let them get by with that. Just tell your doctor that the stress of not knowing what is really causing this is probably aggravating the whole thing.

Another thing I might mention is that my husband gets attacks and is on Prilosec riight now, but many of this type of medicines make him very sick. He gets lots of pain, sometimes vomits, and it messes up his lower digestive tract, if you know what I mean. He can't take Zantac, Nexium, Pepsid, or anything except Prevocid or Prilosec. And the Prilosec will eventually give him problems. But our insurance refuses to pay for Prevocid, so he has to use Prilosec for now. So maybe you need to try a different medication. But first insist on more tests.

When mine went bad all I can tell you that its the worse and most PAINFUL feeling you will ever have. Not even having a baby elephant would compare to the pain you will feel IMHO.

I had very sharp pains in my ribs. I thought I had pulled a muscle. then 2 days later I ate a piece of chocolate cake and with in 10 min thought I was dying the pain was the worse thing i had ever felt and I couldn't breathe. I felt as if my lungs were being crushed by a ton of bricks. I told my mom to take me to the ER and she LEFT me there thinking the same thing just a pulled muscle. They did a ultra sound and when the results came back about 20 mins later I was told I was headed to surgery. I freaked out because I was there alone. any hoot, I only had 3 stones but they got stuck causing my liver to swell and collapsing my lung. I spent 6 days in the hospital. The stones were the size of a golf ball. If you really believe its your gall bladder I suggest you go on into the ER. I never thought it was mine I had never heard of anyone at the age of 23 having a bad gall bladder. I thought that was reserved for older people. But as it turned out anyone can have a gall bladder to go bad. it's best to be safe than sorry or even worse having to spend multi days in recovery.

Oh my gosh that's sounds horrible. Glad you are well now!

Thank- You Kathy.
This was many moons ago 20 years. But I can say I will never forget that pain. My Mom's steps to her porch broke one day and I was having to pull myself up from the ground to the porch ( around 6 feet ). That's why we all thought it was a pulled muscle or maybe even a broken rib. I had just came back from a date and wanted a piece of cake before bed. After eating that cake thats when all hell broke lose with my gall bladder. I really did think I was going to die because I couldn't breathe and when I did it hurt so badly I didn't want to breathe.Never ever did any one think it was something else and never crossed anyones mind it was my gall bladder.Shoot I was only 23 at the time didn't even know a gall bladder could go bad at that age, bet now I know better. I still suggest the OP go on to the ER whats the worse they can say to her heart burn, well that also is painful. But should it turn out to be a diseased gall bladder they will know what to do for her.

I don't know anything about the gall bladder, but I was able to more or less eliminate my reflux (especially night time) by modifying what I eat, avoiding certain foods entirely or limiting them to breakfast or lunch (tomatoes, for example), and not eating within 3 hours of going to bed. This is how my physician chose to address it.

My husband's physician on the other hand told him that he could eat whatever he wanted but take medication (acid-reducer). He still battles with the reflux....AND takes medicine.

I prefer my doctor's approach.

Sounds like you have something more severe though...

cj/

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I was walking home one night and a guy hammering on a roof called me a paranoid little weirdo. In morse code. -Emo Phillips

I just had test Monday for Gallbladder issues. They did an ultrasound on me too. Hopefully I will know by Monday what is going on. Until then, I eat a lot of rice dishes. My symptoms is that I feel blah. If I eat something with fat or meat, I feel yucky nautious like morning sickness. I have to lay down because I feel like I want to throw up. I also have some soreness on my right side and my back. It didn't hurt when the doctor pressed on me but it just feels like a bad bruise in side me everyso often. I don't like this feeling. I live on cereal, rice and bland. The thought of a McD french fry right now...ewwwwww. Last weekend I had a high fat meal day since we were on a road trip. I hope I find out this week. They also took blook test to see if I have an ulcer. I just turned 40..... not a good sign for the next 40 years!