Hi There, I have been reading and following some of the dialogue or messaging for a year or so now, I decided it was time to jump in hoping to find some answers.
I have had gall bladder and upper rib cage pain for 5 to 6 years now as a 37 year old male. I have seen 3 different surgeons in this time. The first two reluctant to take my gall bladder out and the last one consented to doing the surgery but offered no suggestion as to why I keep producing these stones. I have done the olive oil grapefruit/lemon juice cleanse probably 100-150 times in the last 5 years. I was very ill last winter and thought I was going to die. No energy, dark circles under my eyes glossy eyes, poor skin color. Totally flat all the time. I had been told the year prior that I had a fatty liver by the surgeon and that I should lose 10% of my body weight. I have lost the weight but I still produce these stones regularily. They used to be green or yellowish but now they are always kind of a black or greyhish color. I feel better now physically but as time goes on after doing these cleanses I start to feel a mounting pressure build in the upper rib cage area. The color of my stool starts to change or lighten slightly and I always have discomfort in the gallbladder ribcage area. Cleanse Usually lasts 2 weeks to a month before feeling pressure. It feels like the bile is being restricted causing a build up of pressure in my liver area and even causing pain in my spleen area. One thing I thought was peculiar was that I noticed after drinking a few beers regularily it seems to alleviate some of this pressure build up. I often wonder if the gall bladder is the cause of the bile stagnation in the liver or is just my poor liver? They do not perform Hida scans here just surgery. Over the years I have removed probably buckets of these stones, Will they ever stop? I am afraid of removing the gall bladder as I have heard it can make it worse as there is no contraction now to squezze bile into the small bowel and further stagnation can result. I have had 2 or 3 ultrasounds and a MRI or the ducts. All relatively normal, last MRI it was noted that I had at least one stone. Your thoughts or comments are aprreciated!