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Gall stones
jacko - 8/3/08 at 09:33 PM

Hi All any one that has had gall stones can you tell me the symptons please we think my wife may have them
Graham

[Edited on 8/3/08 by jacko]

Hellfire - 8/3/08 at 09:43 PM

Graham,

link to NHS Website

Phil

jacko - 8/3/08 at 10:09 PM

Thanks Phil
but we would like to here from people who have had the symptons please
Thanks
Graham

Fozzie - 8/3/08 at 10:22 PM

Hi Jacko

Not had gall stones, but I have had cholecystitis, which is an inflammation of the gall bladder.. which can be quite nasty if left untreated. I went to my GP and ended up being taken to hospital from the doctors surgery...

Cholecystitis is, I believe, a bit different from gall stones anyway, so I think it is not helpful to describe the symptoms...just in case.

Have you tried phoning NHS direct?

I hope mrs jacko gets better soon....

ATB Fozzie

jlparsons - 8/3/08 at 10:32 PM

I beleive the operation to sort them can now be relatively easy and un-invasive. My mother had them in the late 80s and the operation was the full deal back then, 9 inch incision, weeks of recovery. Aparently now it's done via a tiny incision and you're back in work in no time, so you shouldn't be without hot dinners for long mate.

BenB - 8/3/08 at 11:06 PM

With my GP hat on I'd suggest that the NHS direct website is pretty spot-on.....

The operation now can be done via keyhole surgery. Great operation. The problem with keyhole surgery is how to get the big stones and gallbladder out through a tiny hole. Answer is to put a small bag into the abdomen via one of the grasper holes, put the gallbladder and stones into the bag, hold onto the neck of the bag with the grasper, remove grasper (and neck of bag through the incision), then pull on the neck to "deliver" the rest of the bag which now contains the gallbladder and stones. Jobs a good'un....

Even via an endoscopic approach the recovery takes a while. Human nature is such that if the external wound is small people assume the recovery will be quick. However, the internal recovery takes just as long.... Okay it's not the full "6 weeks no lifting" rules of a laparotomy but the recovery still takes quite a few weeks...

Mr Whippy - 8/3/08 at 11:17 PM

what happend to the ultrasonic blaster thing? I thought that could smash stones up without an op?

BenB - 8/3/08 at 11:17 PM

quote:
Originally posted by Fozzie
Hi Jacko

Not had gall stones, but I have had cholecystitis, which is an inflammation of the gall bladder.. which can be quite nasty if left untreated. I went to my GP and ended up being taken to hospital from the doctors surgery...

Cholecystitis is, I believe, a bit different from gall stones anyway, so I think it is not helpful to describe the symptoms...just in case.

Have you tried phoning NHS direct?

I hope mrs jacko gets better soon....

ATB Fozzie


Cholecystitis is an infection of the chole (gall) cystis (bladder) [as in cystitis being a bladder infection]. Presents with relatively sudden right upper quadrant, fevers (and often vomiting). Gallstones usually presents relatively slowly as an aching tightness in the right upper quadrant of the abdomen especially after fatty food. Gallstones are more prevelant in overweight women in the decade before the menopause (or as some less subtle surgeon put it, "fat, female and forty" )..... Gallstone pain tends to slowly get worse and worse over a number of weeks and months (with a slight fluctuating course). If they're unlucky one of the smaller stones will shoot off into the bile duct and get stuck. This results in biliary colic which is painful.... not as painful as renal colic by all accounts which is the second most painful thing a man can have (after gout) and the third most painful thing a woman can have.... If a gallstone is a single stone it tends to stay in the gallbladder. Lots of little stones can be more trouble because then you get a cluster-bomb effect if they move into the bile duct.....

Most gallstones are dealt with on a relatively relaxed basis.

Things to look out for are

1) yellowness of the skin or whites of the eyes (jaundic, which suggests the liver is unhappy)

2) temperatures (suggestive of co-existant cholecystitis)

3) severe pain (which can suggest bile duct blockage, often leading to 1)

4) vomiting severe enough to cause dehydration (admittidly rare).

BenB - 8/3/08 at 11:18 PM

quote:
Originally posted by Mr Whippy
what happend to the ultrasonic blaster thing? I thought that could smash stones up without an op?


Yes. But it's a bit like blowing up a satellite in orbit. Sometimes it just turns a single big missile into a cluster bomb.....

Fozzie - 8/3/08 at 11:30 PM

quote:
Originally posted by BenB......
Cholecystitis is an infection of the chole (gall) cystis (bladder) [as in cystitis being a bladder infection]. Presents with relatively sudden right upper quadrant, fevers (and often vomiting). .....


Spot on there Ben! ...I wont forget that episode in a hurry........

ATB Fozzie

zilspeed - 9/3/08 at 02:01 AM

And here was me thinking that Kidney Stones were as bad as it gets for a bloke.

That's a pain I won't forget in a hurry...


The only good bit was getting the old gas and air (entonox) in the ambulance. I could develop a habit for that stuff.

liam.mccaffrey - 9/3/08 at 03:22 AM

ive just had my gall bladder removed, but unfortunately it was a full blown op due to the other problems i have

Peteff - 9/3/08 at 09:29 AM

When I was in last month the bloke in the bed opposite had his gall bladder removed. His side looked like he'd had a good kicking.

trikerneil - 9/3/08 at 10:31 AM

SWMBO has them so I asked her to reply:-

"Symptoms of Gallstones - I know I have them and I really feel for you. I would rather give birth again.

1. Lots of pain which comes on suddenly - at any time, mine generally seemed to enjoy appearing in the early hours.
2. An indigestion like feeling - mine where treated as a hiatus hernia for 9 months before the GP actually asked a colleague about my symptoms as the medication wasn't helping.
3. Pain just under the right breast, sometimes into the stomach area.
4. Throwing up - bile most of the time, this can make the pain disappear.
5. Pain stops suddenly - which is when the stone stops blocking the tube apparently.
6. You feel like you have lots of acid in your stomach - do not take indigestion remedies - this confuses the gall bladder into believing the stomach does not have enough acid and it produces more and makes the whole thing worse!


How to help it.
1. Paracetemol & codeine
2. Ibruprofen - taken 2 hours after the above, both lots then repeated every 4 hours until pain subsides
3. My GP suggested Buscopan (available over the counter as a treatment for diagnosed IBS - Buscopan was a huge help)
4. Hot water bottle over area of pain.
5. Always sleep on your right side - this is beleived to stop the stones 'slipping' out.
6. Exercise during the pain - not easy - if you're familiar with yoga the cat stretch can ease the pain, which just involves being on your hands and kness and stretching the back up and down slowly (like a cat - hence the name).
7. Avoid high fat food big time. I also avoid alcohol, fizzy drinks and dairy produce - apart from milk in tea and coffee. I've lost 4 stone which is the only benefit of having them.
8. Don't go on crash diets - not sure why but that makes them worse - if you start to follow a low fat diet after having a normal one you'll lose weight anyway.
9. Reiki - when it hurts you'll try anything that anyone suggests.

Avoiding high fat food and alcohol seems to do the trick, I'm touching wood but I haven't had severe problems for about 11 months and I was having regular bouts every few weeks.

Good luck and make sure you talk to your GP, it's easy to confirm with an ultrasound."

Hope this helps.

Neil

angus.d - 9/3/08 at 02:35 PM

My dad's got gall stones.

The first he know about it was bad upper abdominal/lower chest pains. He was convinced he was having a heart attack as the pain was that bad.

999 job straight into A&E where they eventually diagnosed it as gall stones, but as has been mentioned above the stones are larger than the very small neck of the gall bladder. One of the stones had become wedged near the neck and had become inflamed. He was in hozzy for a few days and on antibiotics via a drip. He's had a few scans and the stones seem to have stuck to the side. Ongoing scans have shown that the stones haven't subsequently moved and so he wont have surgery as someone he knew who had keyhole surgery for this same thing died of internal bleeding when this wasn't picked up in post operative care !

I believe many people have this procedure successfully however.

Cheers

Angus.

jacko - 9/3/08 at 04:37 PM

Thanks to everyone for information - It is much appreciated Kath - Grahams wife.