Problems 6 months after Gallbladder Removal

Hi everyone,

im looking to share experiences with others who have had their gallbladders removed and warn those who have yet to have this surgery!

first off i guess i feel let down, by all the doctors, it seems not one person was straight and honest with me - countless times i asked what are the side effects only to be told "oh you wont notice its gone" "you dont even need a gallbladder" "its not even needed you wont have ANY side effects"

well thats not quite true! and maybe im just unlucky? the one out of how ever many that gets the bad things happen to them? my friend who has crohns disease has been the greatest strength and support as it now seems we suffer similar problems and i cant thank her enough but i want to know how many others out there have the same as me?

Ever since my gallbladder was removed i have suffered acute diarrhea - but no doctors took this seriously for a LONG TIME. i wasnt stupid i didnt honestly believe there would be no side effects from surgery or having an organ removed but i didnt expect to be told to go away and stop complaining when i developed them anyway :(

7 months ago i had my gallbladder out it was done as a priority as i was suffering awful attacks as many as 3 a day and getting the billory colic and being in A&E several times each week....

from that day to this i can count 1 solid poo! it was amazing i almost felt like OMG what the heck is this huge thing im passing - it was perfectly normal just you forget what thats like when you pass liquid instead!

After 2 months of this i thought ok somethings not right it should have settled down by now, and unless you have suffered likewise you cant truely understand how tiring it is suffering chronic acute diarrhea. I went to the doctors and was told basically to go away! he said "perfectly normal come back after 6 - 9months" 6 - 9 months??? i have a job to hold down!!!

well i mumbled and grumbled at not having been told this sooner but got some tablets supposed to stop it - which didnt work and left begrudgingly...

i kept going back but they didnt really take it seriously and the problem i had on top of it is that my other medication for back pain (i have spinal curvatures and arthritis) makes you gain weight drastically and wont allow you to loose it, it makes you retain lots of water too - so in all this time whilst i have had diarrhea i had lost very little weight...

1 month ago i go back and say to the doctor - now come on this is serious i am so tired i can hardly get out of bed some days and i have not had a period in over 8 weeks! FINALLY with a woman doctor alarm bells begin to ring and they decide to look into it! ABOUT TIME!

well they think now i have mall-absorbtion of the bile, im awaiting tests and such to confirm... if it is what i have and the doctor seems its pretty certain diagnosis then i have not been able to absorb the calories from my food for 7 months now and have been leeching calcium out of my bones in that time putting me at increased risk of osteoporosis - well thats just blooming brilliant since i have a family history of that one too! well done doctors for potentially screwing my life!

they put me on new tablets which have not worked either - so i started to play around with not eating like they told me to do before my gallbladder was removed to minimise attacks, and that seemed to work much better... that is to say i was going toilet a small amount roughly every 90 mins with a sticky partly clear jelly but still watery black substance... i dont know much about all this yet so i wonder if that is the bile? in this 10 days of not eating i started to feel much better and have even come on a period thanks to the new tablets - alas ofcourse that made me even more tired...

last night i decided because i was feeling better maybe i could eat something and this turned out to be a mistake... i made myself a big sandwich but ofcourse with not eating could only eat it slowly and so ate it between 8 - 9pm last night, at 12 i felt the "uh oh" feeling and stood up to walk less than 5 metres to my bathroom as i got up it all just flooded out and i messed myself :( it happened a second time that night shortly after the first...

now i feel so humiliated by it all and scared to leave my flat, i have taken sick time off work and booked holiday time off aswell to stay home. i feel so tired all the time some days the most i can get done in a day is have a bath and then its back to bed to sleep. i just cant believe my rotten luck and i would have liked to have been told this could happen even if it was slim chances but they talked down to me all the time before the operation when i said what are the side effects and after when i told them i was experiencing them...

my now ex-partner who was with me at all those hospital appointments is furious and thinks i should sue, i havent got the energy to fight quite frankly and i have been refered back to the surgeon who did the operation - god knows how long that will take - im not sure i can even face him because i just feel so upset.

I feel totally hopeless - i dont see an end in sight, things have just got worse and worse in the 7 months since my operation and its affecting my life in terms of friends family and work. im embarressed and scared that if i eat i will mess myself again. it would be great to hear from someone who has been through this with their gallbladder (or rather lack there of) and how they are doing... Tweet