I Had a Gall Bladder Attack

[metro]

I''ve been MIA and haven''t followed-up with some of my threads recently. I''ve been busy searching the net for anything and everything I can find relating to gall bladder attacks.

I had my first attack early Saturday morning, around 12:30am. All I can say was it was HORRIBLE. It wasn''t too far off from labor. The pain was excruciating! Since I didn''t know what was happening or what the pain was, I tried to ride it out for a bit but it kept getting worse by minute. I endured for 3-hours, hoping to make until morning so I wouldn''t have to pay a hospital bill but I couldn''t take the pain and ended up in the ER at 4:00am. Thank God for morphine.

I was diagnosed with an inflamed gall bladder and gall stones. I had no infection so no need for emergency surgery, but I do have to consider getting my gall bladder removed if I don''t want to experience another attack. Apparently, a big bowel of chili beans set off my attack. Who knew beans could cause so much pain!!!

My head is so bombarded with information that I''m not sure what to believe. Does anyone have any first hand experiences to share?

I have high cholesterol (300), which is heriditary, and have been taking Antara for the last 3-months - could this have triggered an attack?

How long does it take to form a stone?

Is surgery really as easy as it sounds?

I don''t want to lose an organ - seems like they are important enough to keep! So why are the docs so eager to remove my gall bladder after one attack?

I see a specialist next Monday. Until then, any advice would be helpful and appreciated!

 

[Dreamgirl]

I feel for you. My Mother had gallstones and had to have her gallbladder removed. She used to have severe attacks. She then had a laparoscopic surgery, they made about 2 little holes and also went thru her belly button.

What induces attacks is greasy food, anything with butter too. You have to eat a very healthy diet, and minimize the greasy stuff. My Mom used to just eat plain baked potatoes, apple sauce, and rice a lot before her surgery to try and prevent the attacks.

Good luck with everything and I am truly sorry for your troubles.

 

[chizzy1982]

Hi Metro

I hope you are feeling better!

Gall bladder removal is a relatively minor procedure called a cholecystectomy - usually done via a laparascope so the wounds are very very small and you are normally in and out in a couple of days.

Hope that helps

Take care

L

 

[OUpearlgirl]

My sister had hers removed at the age of 21 or 22 I think. Since the surgery her ahem bowel movements have not been the same. Often she has very little warning time. She cannot eat spicy or greasy foods like she used to.

It has gotten better with time, but it's still not normal 2-3 years after.

That's all I really know about the matter, sorry I am not more help! And I really hope you get to feeling better. That sounds just awful.

 

[sera]

Occassionally I would notice some foods occassionally upsetting my stomach; I thought that's all it was.

Then, when I was sick with the flu, my right side just under the ribcage hurt pretty badly. Because the pain was in such a specific area, on day 3 of pain I called the advice nurse at Kaiser who told me to go into ER. My response was, "Tonight?!" and she said, "Right now." So, I drove to ER.

They took me right in and did an ultrasound and bloodwork and told me I would need emergency surgery- it was on the verge of rupturing it was so inflamed. And yeah, thank God for morphine because it hurt.

Basically, they can remove the gall bladder two ways- the big cut across the abdomen or 4 very small incisions (3 upper abdomen and 1 in the belly button). If you're lucky (no scar tissue from previous abdomenal surgeries, etc.) they will do the small incisions (laproscopic cholecystectomy) because the healing time is quicker.

They were able to do the laproscopic on me. Of course I was sore and on morphine. I needed help to sit up in bed and get off the bed in order to get to the bathroom that day and the next- not easy, but not unbearable. I went home the next day. I had to be careful when moving, coughing or laughing. It was mildly sore for a while- not too bad at all.

I did have a drain tube left in- this isn't always the case but I think it may have been because mine was so inflamed. A tube being removed after several days of being in your body feels a bit like a knotted rope being pulled through the incision site (

), but truly it's very, very fast... I said, "Ow, Ow, OW!" and then it was done- burns a bit after. Again, not unbearable- especially since it's quick like pulling off a band-aid.

Because I was dehydrated, they had to give me a lot of Postassium. I am warning anyone who might ever need postassium via IV... MAKE SURE IT IS DILUTED WITH NORMAL SALINE FIRST OR YOU WILL WANT TO TEAR YOUR ARM OFF! Yeah, it hurts. When it's diluted, it stings a bit intermittently- not bad at all... when undiluted, it burns. I kept asking, "How much longer?!?!" and the nurse wouldn't answer LOL. I think she knew she might have gotten socked with my good arm had she told me anything longer than one second more! They did end up giving it with the normal saline. I'm not sure WHY they would give K undiluted... it's barbaric lol.

ETA: to answer the questions...
-Not sure how long it takes for a stone to form. I had three and they were amazed I wasn't in sooner. But like I said, I thought it was just the food upsetting my stomach.

-It is an easy surgery... if laproscopic, the healing is quicker.

-You're fine without a gall bladder. Most people don't even change their diet after having it removed. There are still times when I'll get that upset stomach feeling.

 

[allikatac]

Date: 5/6/2008 5:03:30 PM
Author: OUpeargirl
My sister had hers removed at the age of 21 or 22 I think. Since the surgery her ahem bowel movements have not been the same. Often she has very little warning time. She cannot eat spicy or greasy foods like she used to.

It has gotten better with time, but it''s still not normal 2-3 years after.

That''s all I really know about the matter, sorry I am not more help! And I really hope you get to feeling better. That sounds just awful.

Metro-- I am so sorry. I totally know what you are going through. I had my galbladder removed one week before my 21st birthday. I was having attacks for about 2 years. It took them about 1 year to figure out what were causing them. They assumed I was too young for it to be my galbladder. The last few attacks I had were AWFUL. I ended up in the ER with each of them and one actually caused my to have a panic attack because I thought I was dying of a heart attack. My pain was mostly stabbing chest pain with stomach cramps. My date for surgery was scheduled one week after they determined it was stones, but apparently I had the stones for at least the two years prior. The surgery was super easy and pretty painless. Mine was also laproscopic so there were only 4 tiny incisions like sera said. They usually send you home the same day, but I ended up having to stay the night since I had problems with the anesthetic. It has been about 4 years since I have had it removed and I can say I am happy I have never had another attack, but I do have the problems that peargirl''s sister has. Some things that I eat go right through me without any warning. yuck

I am not very fun to take out to dinner! I hope that you feel better and don''t have any more attacks!

 

[Maisie]

Ooh you never forget that pain!!! I think its worse than labour!!

I had mine removed when I was 25. It also took a long time to diagnose as they thought I was too young for gall stones. There is a saying here which is ''fair, fat and forty'' basically meaning its a middle aged illness for overweight people!

I was really thin, only because I was hardly able to eat for the two years I was having attacks. The doctor thought it was a stomach ulcer and had been prescribed anti acid medication.

The only way forward for me was surgery. I was having attacks every couple of days. I had open surgery as I was taken to a British Military Hospital in Germany and they didn''t have a surgeon who wanted to use the key hole method.

I recovered well after the operation, although I did get a mild infection which caused my temp to go up a bit in the day following the sugery. I am so glad its gone! Seriously! There was no way I was going to spend the rest of my life in that kind of pain!!

There is a famous diet person called Rosemary Connoly. She developed the Hip and Thigh diet because she has gall stones. She basically ate really low fat food and mangaged to lose all the weight off her problem areas. She has made loads of money from her books and still (as far as I know) has hardly any symptoms from her gall stones. It is possible to limit your attacks by eating low fat, but if you are having frequent attacks its better to have it removed.

I do get nausea quite a lot now. Its only been since I had my gall bladder removed. I am sure I read that without a gall bladder, you have a steady trickle of bile going into your stomach ... the gall bladder is a storage facility which pumps the bile into your stomach when you eat to help break the food down. With the bladder gone the bile just moves on its own. That may be the cause of my feelings of nausea. Its still preferable to the pain though!!

 

[Dandi]

Hi metro,

Sorry to hear about your attack, you poor thing! It must be an awful amount of pain to be in.

I work in a hospital operating theatre suite, and laparoscopic choles are pretty common, and I mean not to undermine your experience in the least. My father and both of his brothers have had their gallbladders out. None of them have fatty or greasy diets, none of them have high cholesterol (but high cholesterol does increase the incidence of gallstones).

There is thought to be a genetic link with gallstones, so most likely hence the family history! Gallstones are really only dangerous if they are small enough to lodge themselves in your bile duct... however you'd know if this was the case as you would not be well!

Alot of patients we treat have their gallbladders out purely because they have had enough of the pain associated with gallstones... some have an attack and never have another. My dad had his out as a personal preference moreso than out of necessity. This is sometimes discouraged as it's really best to avoid surgery or anaesthetics of any type (let's face it!) but honestly it's a reasonably quick, and very routine procedure. An hour tops, all going well. It's pretty rare that we have to do open choles now, and it's typically on patients with lots of internal scarring from previous surgery, or if they are terribly overweight, amongst other factors.

Dad has never been better now, and is happy he can eat what he pleases... it's not like he can get gallstones anymore! Sometimes, because the bile is flowing directly into the small intestine once the gallbladder is removed, rather than stopping off where the gallbladder used to be, stools (I was looking for a more professional word than poo!

) can be softened, hence OUpeargirl's sister's experience. It's pretty rare though, only happens in about 1% of cases I believe.

Anyway, the moral of my endless prattling is, don't stress about it too much if you can help it! Seek professional advice and make an educated decision based on what you feel is best for you.

 

[movie zombie]

i suffered attacks from age 18 to 30. i don''t recommend doing that! the surgery at age 30 was the best thing i ever did. my mother had hers out around age 40 and my brother at age 21. i was not able to have the lapriscopic due to the position of the offending organ. i''ve had absolutely no problems in all the years since. the quality of my life was immediately improved. the patient in the bed next to me at the hospital was a nurse and she said she never saw someone come out of that surgery look so good........she didn''t see me going in. i had to wait 6 weeks after the last attack for the inflammation to reduce so they could do surgery. as in all things, i think mindset is important. trust me: the surgery is worth it.

movie zombie

 

[LittleRock]

I''m sorry your going thru this. It sounds painful!

My step-dad had a gall bladder attack last year. He was in the hospital for a few days. My mom said he looked deathly ill. The doctors wanted to take out his gall bladder. He refused and now is on some medication, but I''m not sure what. He seems fine since he''s gotten things under control.

I hope you find something that works for you and feel better soon!

 

[metro]

Thank you all so much for your replies!

My mother and I don''t talk very often as we have a “strained” relationship, but I did call her yesterday and our converstion was very interesting. It turns out that my high cholestorl is from my mother''s side of the family. My mother, grandmother and brother all have high cholestorol and are taking medication to control it.

My mother said my younger brother also suffers from gall bladder issues. He has been having an attack about 2-4x a year since the age of 17. My brother was (and may still be) a drug user and my mother believe that his attacks are directly related to his use. This is just her assumption and honestly, I don’t know if my brother was experiancing attacks while using or not, I’m just repeating what I was told.

As far as my diet is concerned, I''ve been eating clean, organic foods for the last 6-years. My husband was a bit of a health nut when we married and with the birht of our daughter, I jumped on the clean living bandwagon too. Along with giving up fatty and take-out foods, we went organic - all the way down to our cat liter and glass cleaner. So I haven’t ate anything greasy or fried in years. I honestly feel a bit cheated. That’s no to say that I haven’t had more than my fair share of a poor diet growing up. My brother and I grew-up in a single-parent household and my mother worked nights. She did what she had to do – feed kids cheap and quickly. We ate lots of drive-thru burgers, pizza, and frozen meals. A salad was just garnish on a plate and I never really ate a salad as a meal until high school. I''m sure my poor diet and genes have brought me to this point, but I would like to think that my clean diet would account for something?! This is what really stumps me and my husband.

The only thing I can say I do eat that is a known trigger of an attack is spicy foods. I LOVE to spice up my food! If I can put raw jalepenos or chilis on it, then I’m happy! If you''re gonna give up yummy fat and fried foods then you gotta have a little spice, no? A bland diet would NOT be my cup of tea. With that said, I have noticed the in the last 2-years that I''ve not be able to eat too much heat as usual. One dish with veggies chicken and lots of pepers use to be favorite but in recent years and sent me on a straight path to the potty with a sharp stomach pain. I just chalked it up to indegestion and as my father puts it, “You don’t have a stomach of steal anymore, now that you’re over 30!”

But other than that, I haven’t had any indication that I could have something wrong. The night of my attack, I had a bowel of organic vegitartian chili dinner with iced green tea and wheat crackers. I did put some raw peppers in my chili but it wasn''t as spicy as I usually eat it because it was later than my normal dinner time and I didn''t want to upset my stomach. So much for that notion! ((My husband has since been advised not cook lengumes of any kind until I get this sorted out))

I''m going to see my PCP tomorrow. We''re going to talk about my attack and about my cholestorl medication and I’ll also get a referreal to a specialist. Honestly, I don''t want to lose my gall bladder if I don''t have too - but I also don''t want to have another attack. I guess the question is, how is one to know?

Dreamgirl - I hope your mother is free of all issues now. I''ve read a lot about the nasty side-effect of GB removal which is a concern. The surgery part doesn''t sound so bad though - as far as surgery goes. Thank you for sharing your story.

chizzy1982 – Quck and easy and with minimal scaring is the best outcome from surgery I can hope for! Thank you!
OUpeargirl - I''ve read about these side-effects! These post-sugary issues seem to be commonplace. I hope that your sister''s side effects continue to improve in the next few years. I''d hate to think of a lifetime with BM issues! EEEK!! I, too, would also miss my spicy foods.

sera - Thank you for sharing your story, though I’m not going to lie, it does scare me. I’ve pretty much spent most of my life in a dehytrated state and as much as I try to force myself to drink more water, if I don''t think about it, I won''t do it. I just don’t have a natural thirst. I have been really focusing on this issue the last few months and have been averaging around 80-100oz a day. I’m for sure going to keep it up - that potassuim drip sounds down right tortoures! I’m sorry you had to endure such pain! I’m happy to hear your quality of life has improved since surgery.

allikatac - I''m surprised your GB was removed at such an early age. My brother was told by his doctor that he would not remove GB of those who are under 45-yrs.

In any chase, I''m glad you attack free now. But as those GB removal side-effects

Can you take anything?

DandiAndi - Thank you for your post! I am inclinced to agree that there must be a genetic link, considering my family history. I, on one hand, am quick to think that it best to have my GB removed to avoid any future attacks. It was terribly, terribly, TERRIBLY painful and the thought of another sends shivers down my spine! Then again, as you stated, one may have an attack never to have another. The question is, how to know which is the case at hand? As far as the loose BM side effects, 1% is low risk for the (what I so discritivly call) “runny-butt”, but yet there is so many personal stories about this on the net. It seems to be very common

I sure do have a lot of questions for the doc!

movie zombie - Wow, your entire family had GB issues! How horrible to suffer all those years with attacks! I begin to imagine the terror when you feel one is coming on. Did you go directly to the ER when you feel an attack coming on? My doctor gave me Vicodin if I was to take if I start having another attack. HA! That’s like giving a women a Midol for labor! NO WAY is that going to relieve any GB pain! Which brings up another question, were all your attacks pretty much the same intensity or were some way attacks much worse than others?

More to add later – time to leave work.

 

[allikatac]

Date: 5/7/2008 5:24:28 PM
Author: metro
Thank you all so much for your replies!

My mother and I don''t talk very often as we have a “strained” relationship, but I did call her yesterday and our converstion was very interesting. It turns out that my high cholestorl is from my mother''s side of the family. My mother, grandmother and brother all have high cholestorol and are taking medication to control it.

My mother said my younger brother also suffers from gall bladder issues. He has been having an attack about 2-4x a year since the age of 17. My brother was (and may still be) a drug user and my mother believe that his attacks are directly related to his use. This is just her assumption and honestly, I don’t know if my brother was experiancing attacks while using or not, I’m just repeating what I was told.

As far as my diet is concerned, I''ve been eating clean, organic foods for the last 6-years. My husband was a bit of a health nut when we married and with the birht of our daughter, I jumped on the clean living bandwagon too. Along with giving up fatty and take-out foods, we went organic - all the way down to our cat liter and glass cleaner. So I haven’t ate anything greasy or fried in years. I honestly feel a bit cheated. That’s no to say that I haven’t had more than my fair share of a poor diet growing up. My brother and I grew-up in a single-parent household and my mother worked nights. She did what she had to do – feed kids cheap and quickly. We ate lots of drive-thru burgers, pizza, and frozen meals. A salad was just garnish on a plate and I never really ate a salad as a meal until high school. I''m sure my poor diet and genes have brought me to this point, but I would like to think that my clean diet would account for something?! This is what really stumps me and my husband.

The only thing I can say I do eat that is a known trigger of an attack is spicy foods. I LOVE to spice up my food! If I can put raw jalepenos or chilis on it, then I’m happy! If you''re gonna give up yummy fat and fried foods then you gotta have a little spice, no? A bland diet would NOT be my cup of tea. With that said, I have noticed the in the last 2-years that I''ve not be able to eat too much heat as usual. One dish with veggies chicken and lots of pepers use to be favorite but in recent years and sent me on a straight path to the potty with a sharp stomach pain. I just chalked it up to indegestion and as my father puts it, “You don’t have a stomach of steal anymore, now that you’re over 30!”

But other than that, I haven’t had any indication that I could have something wrong. The night of my attack, I had a bowel of organic vegitartian chili dinner with iced green tea and wheat crackers. I did put some raw peppers in my chili but it wasn''t as spicy as I usually eat it because it was later than my normal dinner time and I didn''t want to upset my stomach. So much for that notion! ((My husband has since been advised not cook lengumes of any kind until I get this sorted out))

I''m going to see my PCP tomorrow. We''re going to talk about my attack and about my cholestorl medication and I’ll also get a referreal to a specialist. Honestly, I don''t want to lose my gall bladder if I don''t have too - but I also don''t want to have another attack. I guess the question is, how is one to know?

Dreamgirl - I hope your mother is free of all issues now. I''ve read a lot about the nasty side-effect of GB removal which is a concern. The surgery part doesn''t sound so bad though - as far as surgery goes. Thank you for sharing your story.

chizzy1982 – Quck and easy and with minimal scaring is the best outcome from surgery I can hope for! Thank you!
OUpeargirl - I''ve read about these side-effects! These post-sugary issues seem to be commonplace. I hope that your sister''s side effects continue to improve in the next few years. I''d hate to think of a lifetime with BM issues! EEEK!! I, too, would also miss my spicy foods.

sera - Thank you for sharing your story, though I’m not going to lie, it does scare me. I’ve pretty much spent most of my life in a dehytrated state and as much as I try to force myself to drink more water, if I don''t think about it, I won''t do it. I just don’t have a natural thirst. I have been really focusing on this issue the last few months and have been averaging around 80-100oz a day. I’m for sure going to keep it up - that potassuim drip sounds down right tortoures! I’m sorry you had to endure such pain! I’m happy to hear your quality of life has improved since surgery.

allikatac - I''m surprised your GB was removed at such an early age. My brother was told by his doctor that he would not remove GB of those who are under 45-yrs.

In any chase, I''m glad you attack free now. But as those GB removal side-effects

Can you take anything?

DandiAndi - Thank you for your post! I am inclinced to agree that there must be a genetic link, considering my family history. I, on one hand, am quick to think that it best to have my GB removed to avoid any future attacks. It was terribly, terribly, TERRIBLY painful and the thought of another sends shivers down my spine! Then again, as you stated, one may have an attack never to have another. The question is, how to know which is the case at hand? As far as the loose BM side effects, 1% is low risk for the (what I so discritivly call) “runny-butt”, but yet there is so many personal stories about this on the net. It seems to be very common

I sure do have a lot of questions for the doc!

movie zombie - Wow, your entire family had GB issues! How horrible to suffer all those years with attacks! I begin to imagine the terror when you feel one is coming on. Did you go directly to the ER when you feel an attack coming on? My doctor gave me Vicodin if I was to take if I start having another attack. HA! That’s like giving a women a Midol for labor! NO WAY is that going to relieve any GB pain! Which brings up another question, were all your attacks pretty much the same intensity or were some way attacks much worse than others?

More to add later – time to leave work.

Metro,

I had so many attacks that my galbadder had actually attached itself with scar tissue to the side of my stomach so they wanted to remove it before it became any worse. I have been prescribed Bentyl which helps with the pain associated with the BMs and some nausea, but I haven''t really found anything else that helps with the "real" problem other than OTC immodium. They do say that it is a small number of people that suffer from side effects. I know quite a few people that have had theirs removed and not all of them suffer from the side effects, but there are some that do. All of our symptoms seem to be similar and believe me when I say that they are not pleasant, but we all agree that we are happy to not have the GB pain anymore!

 

[movie zombie]

well, i''m a stubborn beastie....i suffered but didn''t go to the Er or a doctor until the very last attack. i merely suffered and put up with it despite being bedridden at times from the pain, putting my fist in my side as i doubled over, and other things in an attempt to take my mind off the pain. the last attack came on strong and quick.....and lasted for 48 hours.......that''s when i bit the bullet and went to the doctor.

movie zombie

 

[Haven]

I''m so sorry you went through this, Metro. It sounds painful, and I hope you can get things sorted out with out surgery.

 

[kellyfish]

Sera--I had IV potassium several years back & almost died (well, I felt like I was about to!). I have never felt any pain like that!!! I insisted that it be removed or that I would remove it myself!! They even had to re-insert my arm my reaction was ssooo bad that I could not even stand for the drops that were in the shunt to clear! And I am NO wimp. They then diluted it and I was fine. I've been in the hospital a couple of times since & am very paranoid about the stuff....

 

[sera]

Date: 5/10/2008 12:27:15 AM
Author: kellyfish
Sera--I had IV potassium several years back & almost died (well, I felt like I was about to!). I have never felt any pain like that!!! I insisted that it be removed or that I would remove it myself!! They even had to re-insert my arm my reaction was ssooo bad that I could not even stand for the drops that were in the shunt to clear! And I am NO wimp. They then diluted it and I was fine. I''ve been in the hospital a couple of times since & am very paranoid about the stuff....

I know... WHAT possesses them to do it undiluted?! Nurses and Docs, please ''splain why it can''t always be diluted! It''s not like I was going to drop dead if I didn''t get it full strength immediately.

I''m not a wimp either... most people don''t even realize the pain I''m in daily (due to knee injuries)... on the 1-10 scale docs tell you to rate your pain, I''ve never said 10 (even when morphine was needed for the pain from the gall bladder)... I broke my ankle and foot and thought it was "just a sprain" because I thought if it was broken it would hurt more than it did... so, I''m no baby lol... but potassium IV?! NEV.ER. A.GAIN! That''s the worst!

 

[Lexie]

My dad had his gallbladder removed a couple of years ago, and he really ought to have taken care of it much sooner. Oddly enough, he was not showing any of the typical symptoms when he was diagnosed (ie: not having any sort of pain or attacks). What had alerted us to his problem was him collapsing and going into septic shock. After being rushed to the ER, the docs initially thought that he was simply suffering from a very nasty UTI, but after further testing, they realized that his gallbladder was full of stones. He underwent a procedure to remove some of them, but they urged him to get his gallbladder removed. My dad was really wanting to have laparoscopic surgery, but they had told him that it might not be possible because my dad had a lot of scar tissue in the area due to him having had surgery to fix an abdominal aneurysm; therefore, he waited and didn't do anything to rectify the situation.

Seven months later, after my mom and I had returned from a trip, he looked like he was in really bad shape. So, another trip to the ER was in order. They concluded at this point that his gallbladder needed to be removed ASAP, but the emergency surgery was delayed a few days due to the fact that my dad was taking coumadin (a blood thinner) for his atrial fibrillation. After his blood was more coagulated, he did end up having laparoscopic surgery, and it turned out that his gallbladder was really gangrened.

Essentially, the procedure seemed like it was a piece of cake, but the complications made everything a lot harder than it should have been. It didn't take him too long to bounce back, but his diet has changed somewhat since then. There are some types of food that he used to love, that he simply doesn't have a taste for anymore. I'm not sure whether that is directly attributed to the gallbladder removal or if it's because of aging (he's now 77).

Anyways, sorry to hear that you were in such horrible pain

But definitely try to explore all of your options and get different opinions. Best of luck to you!

ETA: I'm not trying to scare you with this story, but I suppose that what I'm trying to get at is that if it comes down to you needing surgery to get your gallbladder removed, please listen to yours doctors and get it taken care of within a decent amount of time. Hopefully it won't come down to that though

 

[Dandi]

Date: 5/10/2008 1:01:06 PM
Author: sera

Date: 5/10/2008 12:27:15 AM
Author: kellyfish
Sera--I had IV potassium several years back & almost died (well, I felt like I was about to!). I have never felt any pain like that!!! I insisted that it be removed or that I would remove it myself!! They even had to re-insert my arm my reaction was ssooo bad that I could not even stand for the drops that were in the shunt to clear! And I am NO wimp. They then diluted it and I was fine. I've been in the hospital a couple of times since & am very paranoid about the stuff....

I know... WHAT possesses them to do it undiluted?! Nurses and Docs, please 'splain why it can't always be diluted! It's not like I was going to drop dead if I didn't get it full strength immediately.

I'm not a wimp either... most people don't even realize the pain I'm in daily (due to knee injuries)... on the 1-10 scale docs tell you to rate your pain, I've never said 10 (even when morphine was needed for the pain from the gall bladder)... I broke my ankle and foot and thought it was 'just a sprain' because I thought if it was broken it would hurt more than it did... so, I'm no baby lol... but potassium IV?! NEV.ER. A.GAIN! That's the worst!

IV potassium isn't ever given undiluted, it is very dangerous. I daresay it wasn't diluted enough, the rate of infusion was too fast, or the IV cannula in your arm may have been too big... it's a VERY irritating venous drug! I've never had it myself, but have administered it to patients, and it sounds very nasty when not done properly. Having said that it can be hard to titrate it properly or see if it will be painful, until the infusion has started.

You poor things. It must have been awful to go through, on top of everything else you would have been coping with at the time! Not nice at all

And it's clear both of you are pretty tolerant to pain!

 

[Pandora II]

FI had his gall-bladder removed when he was 22 - no ill effects since.

My mother had hers removed about 5 years ago - again doesn''t seem to cause any problems.

 

[metro]

I’m sorry I’ve been MIA lately. A lot has been going on in my world – some good some bad.

Today hasn’t been bad. Bad. Bad! I started my day hitting a parking pole at work and I totally screwed-up the front passenger side of my SUV

. Boy was I mad at myself!

Then, after my workout I returned to the office and popped my lunch in the microwave. Upon returning to the microwave to pick-up my lunch, I noticed the bowel it was in (glass) had busted and my lunch of chicken & rice was everywhere!

It was only in the microwave for 30-seconds! Shezz! I guess that''s a no-no. I''ve learnd my lesson for the day.

After I cleaned up that mess up I came to my desk to see if I had any treats or snacks at my desk to munch on (I’m so hungry!), and I found some Pringles I had left here at work. I think they are 2-weeks old but the lid was on the container. So I opened them up and popped a chip in my mouth. Then I ate another 2-3 more chips before I noticed they tasted funny. I poured a few of the chips on a napkin and realized they were starting to mold. YUCK!!!! I just ate moldy chips.

Hopefully this bad luck of 3 is over! Today is not going well…but it could be worse, so I guess I shouldn’t complain.

Okay – enough about that…

Thank you all for your replies!

I went to see my PCP and it turns out that my cholesterol medication has a side-effect of causing gallstones and skin rash and sensitivity to the sun, of which I have symptoms. So I''m no longer taking Antara, and now taking Omega-3 to help reduce my cholesterol and triglycerides. I’m to go back to the Dr. in one month to see if the Omega-3 works. I hope so. I obviously don’t respond well to fenofibrate medications.

I’ve also been attack free! YAY! My PCP is pulling my ER records to see what testing has been done and he’s going to follow-up with me sometime next week on his findings. He’s concerned about my pancreas and liver functions.
I’m going to take this all one step at a time.
The good news – I’ve lost 15lbs since March! WHOOT!

I''m taking the right steps and hopefully in the next month I''ll have answer as to what direction I''m headed. If it''s surgery then I''m fine with that. If not - even better!
Again, thank you all so much for sharing your stories and words of encouragement!

 

[LittleRock]

So glad your feeling better

Seems like your headed in the right path!

So sorry you''ve had a crummy kind of day