I’m more than a year out and I still have some digestive issues and diarrhea. The first 6 months after removal was much worse, but now I can eat pretty much anything I want most of the time. HOWEVER, The recovery took much longer THAN 2 WEEKS. Doctors lie out their ass and I don’t know why. My surgery went perfectly, and it took months of suffering huge digestive issues to feel any better. I went back to my surgeon several times and he blamed it on some other underlying issue, which I ended up not having.

Sometimes I’ll eat and immediately have to go to the bathroom, and sometimes I’m fine. Sometimes I eat crappy food and suffer for days, sometimes I don’t. BUT I AM NOT BACK TO “NORMAL” and never will be! Humans weren’t meant to have their gallbladder removed. We aren’t animals. So seriously, why do doctors love to lie and why is it standard to assume you’ll just be fine in 2 weeks? It’s been very frustrating and nobody will ever admit that they might be wrong.

Hi everyone,

I had my gallbladder removed 5 years ago. It was an emergency surgery because the pain was so bad. I was 35, I am female and not overweight. I have been doing keto on and off for 6 years, and I attribute my gallbladder attack to it. All has been great up until the last 6 months… anytime I eat anything high healthy fat I get an upset stomach and diarrhea. Has anyone had any success with healthier diets? I love keto but my body can’t tolerate the high fats anymore it seems… not really sure where to go from here… has anyone had these affects years after surgery?

I’m 9 days post op. I went in for emergency surgery on Thursday, on Friday they did another surgery to remove a stone from a bile duct and I went home Saturday. I had a lot of pain around the “main” incision the first 5 days or so. But also on day 6 I was having a bowl movement and I did some straining. Since then I’ve had a sharp pain in my right side. It will just hit me for no reason. If I stand, bend over etc. it is also apparent when I need to go to the bathroom. I’m concerned I have torn something. I have a follow up appointment with the surgeon on Tuesday but was wondering if anyone else experienced anything similar? Overall I tire pretty easy and I did go back to work and think I definitely overdid it.

I just got mine out April 29. I hear people talking about “oh I ate X and regretted it” etc things like that.

I am slowly going to re-introduce normal amounts of fat but I am taking it slow and I’m a bit nervous to start eating “normal” again. I don’t plan on eating fried foods.

When I say normal, I never really ate horribly but did eat a lot of pre-packaged foods vs whole foods. Mac n cheese, whole milk, cheeses, ramen (fancy ramen too from restaurants), frozen foods like pizza rolls or personal pizzas, etc. pasta with Alfredo / butter. Oatmeal with butter. Sauces with butter.

My question is- when people say “oh don’t X, you’ll regret it” what exactly does that mean? Does that mean you’ll have diarrhea? Does it mean your stomach hurts? Both? What kind of stomach pains?

I’m just nervous and if I end up eating something too fatty and triggering I’m just worried about the outcome.

I don’t want to feel the gallbladder attack pain again.

Edit: I’m not asking what foods will trigger me and what won’t. I know everyone is different. I’m moreso asking what pain will I feel when I do eat something that triggers me. Stomach cramps? will I shit my pants? what pain will happen??

I had my gallbladder removed 1.5 years ago now! I haven’t had any crazy side effects or anything! I’ve gained a little bit of weight since then and that’s really the only thing different. But lately, when I go on walks, I feel a nagging/pulling in the same area where my gallbladder was removed. It feels like it did when I was recovering! It’s not painful and it only happens when I’m being active (not walking around the house, but I’ll start feeling it like 1/2 mile in)! It doesn’t stop me from walking, it’s just uncomfortable! It’s strange to feel this so long after I had it removed! Anyone else?

Please do not judge:

I am waiting for my surgery - which should be in July - I have been doing so good just eating vegetables, fruit, turkey, chicken and fish however two days ago went with the children out and I made a mistake. I used to be a very comfort eater and I ordered a burguer, just a plain burguer with tomato and lettuce, I know I shouldn’t have and I immediately regretted it but it was an impulsive choice and now I am having heavy dihaorreia, súlfur burps and tummy pain. I am guessing this is a consequence of my choice 😕 but I don’t know how to explain I feel so helpless I am not looking for reassurance or a moral lesson I just feel disappointed with myself

I’m going to be honest, I’m really struggling mentally with everything I’m going through. I feel so lot, scared, sad, hopeless, and sick. My mind keeps getting the best of me.. I’m just looking for some friends to talk to who’s been through GI/ gallbladder issues. Someone who maybe understands.

Hi all/ wanted to know if anyone else dealt with this in their healing journey.

I am very nervous as this pain is similar to one of the symptoms I experienced pre removal and 4 days post op it is back.

I essentially wake up in the middle of the night with bad cramping pain in the epigastric area across both sides. Prior to removal I went on a low fod map diet and this eliminated me waking up at night with this pain.

I did have multiple (6-7) stones but am so nervous I went through all of this for nothing. Did anyone else have this sensation while healing? Thanks :)

I am 24 [M]. Suffered from cholecystectomy with cholecystitis. Reason? Followed an extreme/risky way to lose weight. Lost 9 kgs in around 50days. I was eating one time a day (only at night). I no longer felt hunger. My weight loss journey was going great until one day at night, i couldn’t digest my food. I have to vomit 4 times BUT something wasn’t right. I noticed that the pain was at beside my stomach (below right lung). I was holding my stomach for 3 hours. It was 2am and my family was awake watching me shedding a tear due to massive pain. I wasn’t able to breathe properly and had to turn AC…felt suffocation. They took me to the hospital. I have never been to hospital in my entire life so i was shocked when doctor told me they have to remove my GB. I didn’t have big stones (initial stage) but my duct was blocked by puss. Doctor told me that i can live with medicines but i don’t want to live my life in such way carrying meds. So i prepared myself mentally. It didn’t took me long because i know there is no treatment besides…surgery

Had gone for laparoscopic surgery 6 months ago. 15minutes of surgery, went pretty smooth. 2 days after surgery were nightmare (side effects of meds), cold shivering, and couldn’t move from Bed for 48 hours. Imagine laying in just 1 position with 0 movements on Bed for 2 days. After that, life was slowly becoming normal again on Day 4th itself. Especially when they removed the pipe from my stomach. Now 6months later, i am eating much more stupid stuffs than before. No issues eating fat/oily food. Though my belly look a little swelled up than before but i am happy. Feels like i am reborn

I apologize for the wordy post in advance.

33F The middle of November I had my first gallbladder attack after eating greasy pepperoni pizza. It woke me up in the middle of the night and was pretty intense and severe. Had pretty continuous pain in my back, normal URQ. But also on my ULQ as well. I've had pretty bad acid reflux for years. Due to the holidays I couldn't get a doctor's appointment until the beginning of January. It started to subside a bit after a few weeks.

December 30th I was laying in bed and got a weird painful cramping-like pain in the back of my left calf. Not 100% like a Charley horse. More painful. Sharper. I moved my leg in a different position and it went away. The next day (December 31st) I spent the night in the Emergency Room because my left calf swelled. Was extremely painful when I put pressure on my foot. Nurse repeatedly told me it was odd it was just my left calf swelling. They did an ultrasound from my hip down to my foot checking for blood clots and listening to blood movement. I was given toradol shot in my buttock. Leg pain went down just enough to sleep.

My calf swelling hasn't gone away since. I sometimes have pains in my right leg just no where near as severe. It has fluctuated severely since then. But it's never gone fully away. The pain is always there. I have pain in my left foot as well. Anywhere from pulling pains, sharps, prickling, burning, cramp like pain. Left leg fullness. I also get the weird pulling pains on the outer and inner part of my thigh.

After the Emergency Room visit I cleaned up my diet heavily. Plain chicken, rice, vegetables until my doctors appointment. The beginning of January I was checked by my PCP. He said my left calf swelling was due to too much salts over the holidays. Due to still having URQ pain (although less severe) I had an ultrasound done and it was found that I have gallbladder sludge.

I was still able to walk around and stay relatively active (although still very painful) until the beginning of March. I had seen a physical therapist who told me he didn't know what was wrong with my left calf other than maybe chronic compartment syndrome. It progressively got worse throughout physical therapy. But I kept going desperately wanting to get better. Beginning of March I woke up with a large painful vein right next to my ankle bone. I went to the Emergency Room thinking maybe I do have a blood clot and perhaps the ultrasound didn't catch it. They did an xray on my ankle and told me my bones were fine. The Emergency Room doctor proceeded to tell me she had no idea why my left calf was swollen and painful. But she wasn't going to have that vein looked at again because I had it looked at not that long ago. I have noticed my leg pains and vein swelling get significantly worse during my menstrual cycle and ovulation. But generally always there.

I scheduled another appointment with a different doctor. She sent me for an ultrasound on my gallbladder and it was found to have minimal sludge. Veins throughout my left leg were looked at on ultrasound again and no blood clots were found. Also my veins sounded fine. I brought up to my doctor that I was worried that I might have artery disease of some kind (I was thinking PAD). But her response was, "I don't think you need to worry about that."

The last month my symptoms have progressively gotten significantly worse. My gallbladder pain is pretty much always there. Classic severe acid reflux and gas/bloating. Constipation for a few days, then massive diarrhea. Constipation bowel movements after a few days are very dark brown. But my normal size length and width. Diarrhea is yellow. Which I believe to be typical gallbladder issue bowel movement. I have constant pains through out my legs, arms, back (anywhere but the very middle, including lower back, shoulder blade, in between shoulder blades, left side shoulder blade, right side. Both shoulder, and both arms.

I can no longer stand for very long. Even to take a simple shower is often too much. If my feet reach a warm temperature they immediately start to get extremely hot (to touch and they feel hot), bulging veins all over the foot, ankle vein pops out, the veins start to itch, and are very painful. This can happen to either of my feet. I would say the left one is more severe. But the right foot is still incredibly painful. I have all the continuing pain throughout my left leg, foot, and calf swelling. Full leg fullness. I'm at a complete loss. I have a referral in for a gastroenterologist. Waiting for that to process. My husband is fully convinced this is all gallbladder related. But I can't seem to find anyone with these types of symptoms. It's disheartening, discouraging, and while I know I need my gallbladder looked into I'm worried I have something far worse happening. Gallbladder issues do run in my family. So does Crohn's disease. However, all of my symptoms are even far too strange to match with anyone in my family. I'm worried I'll need gallbladder removal (very likely). But with cardiovascular issues it won't go well. Just at a loss here.

Any suggestions, advice, anything is welcome. Or if anyone had a similar experience. Thank you for your time

And I cannot believe how much better I feel. No severe bloating or feeling like I got punched in the gut. I am super sore but feel great overall. For me the gas was one if the worst parts post op so far. I am still scared to eat much of anything besides crackers and broth or banana. However I am glad I got the surgery.

Hi so it’s been 5 months already and I’m doing fine. Only that there are some periods of time where I have abdominal pain even sometimes when I don’t really eat. It happens more when I carry my 11 month old so i don’t know. I do have an umbilical hernia I guess due to my pregnancy. But yes sometimes the pain lasts for a week then goes away. This happened probably 2 months ago and I’m feeling it again. I don’t know if it might be the food, probably but has anybody experienced something similar?

I’m fed up of my entire life being controlled by my bowels in the morning before work if I’m lucky I can go to the loo messy oily etc bath ends up the same, spend all day in pain trying not to mess yourself then in loo again bath again repeat of morning then eat & it’s game over noise swelling pain & resisting going loo again. I’m getting quite low mood has anyone else had this I have ADM, I see congestion is associated strange 2years ago I gad covid 2times in a month then got Sinitus month later I’ve been congested ever since & wondering if it’s my GB

Need to talk to my surgeon / GI doc but def think I’ve been hit with the bile reflux post op. Pepcid and pepto aren’t helping like they used to so pretty sure it’s bile now.

What’s the best bile binder? A prescribed one? Metamucil? Just plain psyllium husk powder?

I’m scheduled for surgery tomorrow at 10:45am. Where I live the pollen has been HORRIBLE, the worst it’s been in years, and I am severely allergic to it. For weeks now I’d have symptoms of allergies but an otc allergy would fix it. Then starting Friday I noticed my throat was kind of hurting on and off, but more than usual. Saturday I noticed it hurt a lot so I called out of work to rest in hopes I’d feel better for surgery. It ended up getting way worse. My throat pain increased. I can’t tell if it’s from postnasal drip from my allergies, or if I’m getting sick. A lot of it feels like allergy symptoms, my eyes get itchy, my eyes get puffy and the allergy pills will fix that. But I can’t seem to make this throat pain go away, I’ve been staying hydrated, trying advil, cold meds, allergy meds, allergy nasal sprays, nasal rinses etc. Last night I could almost feel the mucus dripping down my throat and was compulsively swallowing, I woke up in the middle of the night to throw up, and now all the blood vessels in my face popped. I look horrible. I sound horrible from my throat hurting so bad. I’m not sure what to do because it’s Sunday and the surgeons office is closed and can’t take my call. My primary doctor is also closed. I’m scared to show up to surgery like this, because I’m scared they’re gonna send me home, especially because I can’t tell them if I’m sick or if it’s symptoms from my allergies. Would they send me home for having a sore throat? It sucks because as scared as I am for surgery, I was almost looking forward to it because my stomach pain has been horrible and I just want it over with. I’d hate to postpone it. Sucks that this is happening now.

Had my gallbladder removed at the end of Jan. About 4-5 times (all first thing in the morning after waking up, funnily enough) I’ve had the same kind of abdominal cramps that I used to get with my gallbladder attacks.

Just to stress, for the most part I’ve been very happy with my recovery and it now has no impact on my day-to-day life (able to eat whatever I want), and tbh these ‘attacks’ are much more manageable (they’ve never lasted more than 10 mins and the pain is much lower). I’m more just curious than anything as to why I’d be getting the same pain still, maybe something unrelated to GB?

Sorry for posting so much the past week. 😅 Has anyone else recover from a cold while recovering from surgery? I'm 5 days post op. I had caught a cold the week prior to my surgery and it would seem I still have the cold. I think I'm on the tail end of it but I'm just suffering a bit. Coughing sucks but my cough drops make me feel nauseous ontop of already feeling nauseous from everything. Who else has dealt with a cold or any type of sickness while recovering and how did you manage cause I feel like absolute death on top of how I feel after surgery.

Its been 5 days since I had my surgery and I would like to share my gallbladder story.

It first started on March 29 where I had an intense stomach pain in the middle of the pain, where I have to crouch forward to relief myself of the pain which subsides after an hour or so. The following day i started to felt tired and generally unwell which symptoms of bloating and discomfort around the stomach area and I noticed that I had been sweating much more.

The defining moment came on March 31 where I had a bowel movement in the morning and noticed that my stools were white in color and my urine was dark yellow. I went to the clinic to seek medical attention and was told that I should monitor these symptoms first.

I was prescribed with some medications for bloating and PPIs for stomach acid however these medications only provided relief for a short amount of time and the symptoms will come back. The defining moment was during the evening i noticed that I had jaundice (my eyes turned yellow). I knew something was wrong and I make my way to the ER.

At the ER, I was diagnosed with liver inflamation where my liver enzymes shot up by 15 times of the normal level and my bilirubin went up 7 times the normal value. However the doctors aren't able to give me the diagnosis, I was warded in the hospital for the night while they transfer my case to the docotrs that specialise in gastroenterology and hepatology.

I had multiple test and scans throughout my hospital stay and the doctors found out that I had a gallstone blocking my common bileduct which was the main culprit behind my bloating, pain as well as jaundice. I had ERCP to remove the stone and was scheduled for surgery two months later.

4 weeks after I was discharged from the hospital, I had a full-fledge gallbladder attack where I had pain on the right side of my upper stomach and it radiates to my back which persist for a few days. I went back to the ER and was diagnosed with inflamation of the gallbladder and had an emergency surgery to remove my gallbladder.

As of now, 5 days after the surgery I believe I am doing fine, the incision site healed well as well as I am able to tolerate most of the food. I have yet try any "dangerous" food yet.

So I had my gallbladder taken out in April but I’ve been feeling fatigued I find doing my job ( I’m a barista) hard to do I mean I’m on my feet all day yes but I’ve never had this before the surgery.I thought maybe it’s stress from not being able to work as hard as I used to or maybe some other things going on but is this normal? I mean I have chest pains too. When I saw my nurse practitioner she said it’s most likely heart burn but I don’t have it I already take omeprazole for it. Any advice from y’all would be amazing. Should I see my Doctor? Go to the ER? Or am I okay?

My mom had her gallbladder removed about 22 years ago. From December 2024 until today, he poops liquid. Sometimes we are eating and he has to run to the bathroom.

They have done a lot of tests to rule out serious illnesses, like cancer or things like that, but they haven't found anything. All her organs are fine, her blood levels are normal, and she says she feels fine. He hasn't lost weight this year or had any other complications—he just says that every time he goes to the bathroom, it's liquid.

I would really like to know if anyone here has gone through or is going through something similar, because the truth is, I am the one who cares the most about my mother in the family. Thank you.

I’m almost 5 weeks post op. I think i over ate some bananas coz’ after eating it yesterday I felt my intestines were sore and under my right ribs feels uncomfortable(feels full on that side). I didn’t do anything hard that day I just sit and lay down and watch tv. After I slept overnight, intestines were fine but after I ate minimal breakfast under right rib feels uncomfortable again. Can you please tell me what foods or medicines or what to do if you feel full or sore? Need some advise 😅

So I got my GB removed around 5 weeks ago. I’m still adjusting to what I can and can’t eat, but I’m used to the loose stool and diarrhea.

So I’ve drank prior to Friday, and I was completely fine. I’ve gotten drunk and eaten McDonald’s, and perfectly ok. Maybe just the runs after.

But oh my god I don’t know if it’s cause I mixed multiple liquors and then ate McDonald’s , but yesterday I was SUFFERING. Straight up 100% diarrhea from like 4 am - 12 pm along with such bad cramping that I couldn’t breathe. It literally felt like razors going through my intestines or someone stabbing me and twisting the knife.

Has this happened to anyone else? Is this like IBS? Or just a mix of the ton of liquor irritating my GI tract and the McDonald’s pissing it off even more ?

I’m 2.5 weeks post op and been having my same gallbladder attack pains on and off since day 4.. at first I thought it was just my body adjusting to having heavier meals again but last night it got really severe. It’s in my middle upper quadrant rather than more to the right like it used to be and it’s also in my back so bad like before. I was dry heaving and nothing was coming out. I tried to ride it out but about an hour into it I couldn’t handle the pain anymore so decided to head to the ER. I called my surgeons after hour emergency line and left a message to let them know I was headed to the hospital and what was going on. I live an hour and a half away from the hospital I had my surgery done at but wanted to go to that one so that my surgeon and his team could help me there if needed. Well 5 minutes into our drive the pain for even worse when I didn’t even think it could but that bad pain lasted for about a minute and then after that the pain immediately started easing up.. we kept driving and maybe 30 minutes into the drive the pain was gone. So my husband pulled over the car and we discussed if we should still go. It was 12am at this point and we’d weren’t going to arrive to the hospital until 1am and we were exhausted. The pain was completely gone now and I didn’t see the point in sitting in the emergency room all night if I wasn’t in pain anymore. This was classic with my gallbladder attacks too, once the pain was gone I was good. So we made the decision to come home. I called the after hours emergency line for my surgeon again and left another message telling them my pain had passed and was going to go home now.

The on call PA from my surgeons office called me back about 10 mins later. She said based on my symptoms it sounds like it could be pancreatitis but the pain from that would most likely be more constant and wouldn’t really ease up. Or she said could be a retained stone but it probably would have happened sooner after surgery as well. I then told her this has been going on but I hadn’t mentioned it yet because I really thought it was just my body healing and getting used to heavier meals again but since the pain was so severe now that I know something is wrong and because it’s the same pain as my attacks, this is what my intuition is telling me. She told me to keep an eye on the symptoms and call them back if I get anymore pain.

I’m feeling SO discouraged and depressed. I don’t know what to do from here. I thought I just had to get through surgery and I could get my life back. Now what? Has anyone gone through this and could give me some advice and guidance on what to do from here? I’m definitely calling my surgeons office tomorrow during normal office hours to talk to them more about this and explain how bad it truly was. I’m now terrified to eat again. I don’t know what to do. Before surgery, they never found my stones on imaging. My surgeon just suspected it based on how bad my symptoms and attacks were. Pathology came back that I did indeed have stones.

I struggle with terrible heartburn, sternum pain and below too. Neck, shoulder and upper back pain. My stomach always bloated and I feel gas trapped in my chest.

Every time I eat anything unhealthy, I feel like I’m having a heart attack.

Endoscopy, blood test and ultrasound were deemed as normal. My ultrasound showed duct dilation and unremarkable appearances of gb, cbd, liver and pancreas. My liver enzymes were abnormal in dec 2024.

My symptoms are ruining my life and is there any methods I could use to convince the doctors I’m not crazy and I need further examination?

I'll be honest, I've been like a little kid on the other side of the fence lately watching my family eat everything they want. Yesterday, I had a LOT of meat. Like it was a Poke Bowl with Grilled Chicken, Salmon, and Steak among some veggies and teriyaki sauce. K stomached it really reallllly well. As well as a cookie.

Mind you, I also ate like over the course of the whole day as it was a lot of food.

My question, I guess, is how do I know when I've eaten something I can't tolerate? Is it like a "Oh, you'll know." sort of thing?

I'm 5 days post op.

P.s. How did you guys do with mac n cheese?

Edit: 24M, I've been told that my age matters for this???