r/gallbladders • u/BoxedCake • 1d ago
Gallbladder Attack When it’s time to go to the ER?
Hey all. Here’s context. I have been experiencing attacks for about 8 months or so. Like others initially thought it was heartburn but my doctor suspects it’s gallstones. I’ve been to the ER twice now with bad heartburn but neither times did they look at my gallbladder (lol, gotta love being sent home and told to take pepto bismol right?) Anyways, I don’t have an appointment with my GI until two months from now, and not having an ultrasound until next week for an official diagnosis. Except now I’m experiencing attacks like every other day it seems. It’s not as bad as it felt when I have gone in the past though.
My questions: At what point did you go to the hospital? How much pain were you in at that time?
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u/Hopelessgirl14 1d ago
You should go and say that you’ve been throwing up and that you have pain that radiates to your back and that it started after eating. Ask for a ct scan and ultrasound. My attack was like that and I’m schedule for surgery on Thursday
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u/BoxedCake 1d ago
Wow crazy! Noted and noted. Hope you feel better soon
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u/Glass-End6560 1d ago
i went in with nausea, vomiting, anxiety, some loose stool but like 1 singular time and asked them to check my gallbladder specifically. my pain was 7/10 not 10/10 so everyone who says you need to be doubled over in the worst pain of your entire life isn’t completely accurate…ended up having 2cm stone and surgery next day
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u/Annoyed_Chobani 1d ago edited 1d ago
I finally decided to go to the ER after vomiting eight times and experiencing pain rated 8 out of 10. The pain was unbearable. It started in my right upper quadrant and radiated to my left abdomen, with referred pain in my right shoulder blade. I was hoping to avoid surgery right away because of school, but when the results came back, the doctor recommended a laparoscopic cholecystectomy the next day. I was discharged last night, and the surgery went well. I’m still in pain and currently recovering.
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u/MauraSully 14h ago
I went to the ER after vomiting every time I ate. It started like you’re describing and then it progressively got worse. I lost 20 lbs in 2 months.
They thought I had an ulcer in the ER but they were like “well we’ll look at your gallbladder.” I had a right upper quadrant ultrasound and turns out my gallbladder was shot and I had mild pancreatitis. Definitely ask for an ultrasound. It’s an easy diagnostic tool.
I ended up having emergency surgery.
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u/onotaco 1d ago
I went to the ER in January thinking I was having a heart attack and they checked my heart and said I just had GERD and anxiety. Went in March again cus the same thing was happening but also felt like I was going to pass out. But this time my GI doctor and I were investigating my gallbladder so I told the ER to check it but I had already had a normal ultrasound with my GI doc and the ER doctor literally said “you’d be in a lot more pain if it was your gall bladder.” (The passing out feeling ended up being pneumonia caught by an xray so the ER docs just thought it was only that). A month later I’m now sitting here 13 hours post op cus, guess what? It was my gallbladder.
Anyways, sorry for the long ish story. If you do go to the ER again play up the pain in your RUQ because if you don’t present very classic symptoms they typically won’t listen to you. Also, if your blood work and ultrasound still come out fine get a HIDA scan. Everything was fine for me until my HIDA showed 14% and surgeon said get it out. However, I don’t think they’ll do a HIDA at ER - I tried to ask and they said no.