What and how is it treated?

Question

I had expected i had an ulcer however had a upper gi came back negitive. i may have a gallbladder problem. my doctor said he will need to go some tests. how do you check to see if its your gallblatter? and how would you treat it. my sympthopms are abdomenal pain/pressure nausea, and lack of energy. lost of appitite. any ideas? sound like a gallblatter problem.

Answer 1

My mother had gallbladder problems and had to change her diet to try to pass the stones...that was years ago though, so they may have a better way now. She ended up having to have it removed, and has had no problems since then. I hope it all works out for you!

Answer 2

Sounds like it could be your gallbladder. Best way to find out is to have an ultrasound of your gallbladder done. This will tell your dr. if you have gallstones. Other conditions can also trigger a "gallbladder" attack, such as sludge or a poor functioning gallbladder. People survive very well without a gallbladder so if your doc. recommends you have surgery, by all means consider having it done. It will get rid of your symptoms and is usually done laparoscopically. This means it is done through 3-4 small incisions and recovery is pretty fast. You can usually return to work anywhere from 10 days to 2 weeks after surgery. Occasionally some surgeries cannot be done except the old fashioned way, through a larger incision in your abdomen. Recovery for this surgery is usually longer, anywhere from 4 - 8 weeks depending on your dr. Either way, stay away from greasy or spicy foods to avoid irritating your gallbladder and see your doc to get a diagnosis.

Answer 3

Less accurate, but it's an at home test:

The bile from the gall bladder helps break down fats. Try eliminating any and all fats from your diet for a couple days and see if the pain subsides. Then add some fat back into your diet and see if the pain returns. If so, it's possible you have gall stones.

Most docs just want to yank the thing out, saying you don't need it. If you don't need it, why is it there?

You might consider an herbal liver/gallbladder cleanse first to see if that might clean it out enough that you don't need surgery. There are several different cleanses, but one I've tried and recommend (I've not had any gallbladder issues, though) is Dr. Schulze's. His style is quite strong, but his quality of his products is impeccable.

Answer 4

to find out if you have gallstones, they do an ultrasound. its a simple as that.It takes about 20 minutes, and you can check the screen as you wait. if its your gallbladder, you should cut out most fatty, and spicy foods until they either break up the stones(if small enough) or remove the gall bladder. Gall bladder pains generally center on the lveer, by the way, so the pain is in your right upper abdomen just below the rib cage

Answer 5

I had to have my gallbladder removed because of stones. Lots of excruciating pain...Don't put off having it checked out...you could wind up in the emergency room and could face yellow jaundice. Have it taken care of while you are otherwise healthy. To find out if you have problems, the Dr. will do what they call a upper GI series. They can take xrays and found out. You have the typical systems of gallbladder problems...but you need to get a Dr's opinion to rule out anything else. Good luck.

Answer 6

If it is gall bladder then you will be sent to a general surgeon for an evaluation with the possibility of surgery. It is almost always done laparoscopically. My hubby had it 3 years ago and did quite well with only 4 weeks off from work though he could have returned in 2 1/2. He did not have any abdominal scan although he did have a colonoscopy done.

Answer 7

Ultra sound of the stomach, liver, gallbladder, and pancreas are next. Generally gallbladder problems don't develop until age 40. If you're 40+ and fart a lot most likely gallbladder. Diet and tagamet will help. Avoid fried greasy food.

Answer 8

I had to go through that a few years back. They made me drink some barium liquid and ran the tests in a nuclear testing lab at my local hospital. The stuff simulates the gall baldder dumping everything into the intestines and, for me, was quite painful. Make sure you don't eat for 12 hours prior or there will be a mess.

Answer 9

The gallbladder is a small, pear-shaped, muscular storage sac that holds bile. Bile flows out of the liver through the left and right hepatic ducts, which come together to form the common hepatic duct. This duct then joins with a duct connected to the gallbladder, called the cystic duct, to create the common bile duct. The common bile duct enters the small intestine at the sphincter of Oddi (a ring-shaped muscle), a few inches below the stomach.

About half the bile secreted between meals is diverted through the cystic duct and into the gallbladder, where bile is stored. In the gallbladder, up to 90% of the water in the bile is absorbed into the bloodstream, making the remaining bile very concentrated. The rest of the bile produced by the liver flows directly through the common bile duct into the small intestine. When food enters the small intestine, a series of hormonal and nerve signals trigger the gallbladder to contract and the sphincter of Oddi to relax and thus open. Bile then flows from the gallbladder into the small intestine to mix with food contents and perform its digestive functions.

After bile enters and passes down the small intestine, about 95% of the bile salts are reabsorbed into the bloodstream through the wall of the lower small intestine. The liver then extracts these bile salts from the blood and resecretes them back into the bile. The bile salts in the body go through this cycle about 10 to 12 times a day. Each time, small amounts of bile salts escape absorption and reach the large intestine, where they are broken down by bacteria. Some bile salts are reabsorbed in the large intestine; the rest are excreted in the stool.

Although the gallbladder is useful, it is not necessary. Thus, if the gallbladder is removed (for example, in someone with cholecystitis), bile is able to move directly from the liver to the small intestine.

Bile consists of bile salts; electrolytes (dissolved charged particles, such as sodium and bicarbonate); bile pigments, such as bilirubin; cholesterol; and other fats (lipids). Bile is responsible for the elimination of certain waste products from the body—particularly pigment from destroyed red blood cells and excess cholesterol—and assists in the digestion and absorption of fats. Bile salts increase the solubility of fats and fat-soluble vitamins to aid in their absorption from the intestine. Hemoglobin (the protein that carries oxygen in the blood) from destroyed red blood cells is converted into bilirubin (the main pigment in bile) and excreted in bile as a waste product.

Gallstones may obstruct the flow of bile from the gallbladder, causing pain (biliary colic) or inflammation. Gallstones may also migrate from the gallbladder to the bile duct, where they can block the normal flow of bile to the intestine, which results in jaundice, a yellowish discoloration of the skin and the whites of the eyes. The flow of bile can also be blocked by tumors and by other less common causes.

Answer 10

I have had a "gallbladder" removed.. You don't really hurt so much, as you just feel like **** all over, and you don't know what is wrong with you..The Doctor will order a ultra sound. Then the ultra sound will either come back negative, or positive. Then you will have to have it removed if it's negative.