Gallbladder?

Question

So I have an issue with my gallbladder. I get really painful attacks that last 1-5hours!
It doesnt only happen when I eat fatty foods, and when I DO eat fatty foods....nada. I dont think I have stones but 1-2 times a week I will get these awful pains. They keep me from functioning. I will hurt so bad I vommit.

What are some options, other than surgery?
I am making an appt for a gastro-int and would like to know what all to expect at my visit? I want to be prepared to make the most of it and begin ANY kind of treatment.

Answer 1

Hi Jayden's Mom

Here are some ideas to resolve your issue.

Natural Cures

Most gallbladder surgeries can be easily avoided through nutritional and natural intervention, with emphasis on identification, avoidance, and treatment of food allergies.

Diet: Identify and avoid all foods to which you are allergic or sensitive, especially eggs, milk and dairy products, gluten, wheat and dairy products. Also reduce your saturated and overall fat intake, keeping it below 20 percent of the total foods you eat, and eliminate all processed and hydrogenated fats. But do not cut fat completely, as this can actually increase your chances of developing gallstones. Monounsaturated fats (olive oil, coconut oil) are the best fats to include in your diet.

Be sure to eat less, as well, since overeating places stress on the gallbladder. At the same time, be sure to eat breakfast, don`t skip meals, and eat a balanced and healthy diet full of fruits and vegetables, whole grains, beans, legumes and other vegetarian sources of protein. Increase your intake of dietary fiber to improve bowel movements, and avoid refined carbohydrates, which can cause gallstone formation. Overall, eat less animal foods, remove processed foods and move toward a whole foods vegetarian-oriented diet. If you are overweight, lose the weight, but slowly and sensibly.

Good foods to include in your diet are black cherries, pears, beets (raw and cooked), fresh steamed and water sautéed greens such as beet tops collards, kale, plenty of steamed broccoli and cauliflower, snack on seasonal fruits, eat plain organic yogurt, as well as more raw foods in general.

Gallbladder Flush: Flushing the gallbladder of stones is a common natural cure and practice of holistic physicians. It is quite easy.

For six days do the following: Eat a whole foods diet with no animal products and no processed, refined foods. Eliminate all flour products, eat whole grains such as quinoa and brown rice. Limit dairy products to organic plain yogurt. Drink plenty of raw, fresh apple juice, and eat applesauce and organic apples as both meals and snacks. Eat fresh leafy green salads, steamed vegetables, tofu, tempeh, and vegetable soups.

On the afternoon of the seventh day, have 1/2 cup of extra virgin olive oil mixed with 1/3 cup of fresh lemon juice. Drink all at once and skip your evening meal. Go to bed early (no later than 10 p.m.), and sleep with your right knee tucked up to your side. In the morning, you should eliminate the gallstones, which will appear greenish yellow. If you do not have a natural bowel movement in the morning, see the enema instructions in the Cleanse and Detoxification section and proceed with an enema. Six months to a year after your first gallbladder flush, you can repeat the process.

The protocol just described is a very gentle non-invasive gallbladder flush. See Cleansing and Detoxification for a more advanced detailed protocol.

Herbs: Combine the tinctures of wild yam, fringetree bark, milk thistle, and balmony in equal parts and take one teaspoon of this mixture three times a day. An infusion of chamomile or lemon balm can also be taken regularly throughout the day.

Hydrotherapy: Hydrotherapy is the application of water, ice, steam and hot and cold temperatures to maintain and restore health. Treatments include full body immersion, steam baths, saunas, sitz baths, colonic irrigation and the application of hot and/or cold compresses. Hydrotherapy is effective for treating a wide range of conditions and can easily be used in the home as part of a self-care program. Many Naturopathic Physicians, Physical Therapists and Day Spas use Hydrotherapy as part of treatment. I suggest several at-home hydrotherapy treatments.

Juice Therapy: The following juice combinations can help improve gallbladder health: carrot, beet, cucumber, radish, and fresh dandelion roots, with a clove of garlic; or grape, pear, grapefruit, and lemon.

Lifestyle: Choose non-toxic cleaning supplies and personal body care products.

Nutritional Supplementation: The following supplements can help relieve gallbladder symptoms: digestive enzymes with each meal, vitamin B-complex, vitamin C, choline, inositol, lipotrophic factors, alfalfa tablets, acidophilus, lecithin, and the amino acid, L-taurine. Peppermint oil sipped in water throughout the meal can also be helpful.

Topical Treatment: Castor oil packs placed over the gallbladder can speed relief of symptoms.

Alternative Professional Care
If your symptoms persist despite the above measures, seek the help of a qualified health professional. The following professional care therapies have all been shown to be useful for treating gallstones and gallbladder disorders: Acupuncture, Detoxification Therapy, Environmental Medicine, Magnetic Field Therapy, Naturopathic Medicine, Neural Therapy, and Osteopathy

Cause
Toxins overloading into your system from chemicals, additives, processed and junk foods, as well as excessive saturated animal fat in the diet, contribute to gallbladder problems. If the liver becomes overloaded with excess saturated fats, the gallbladder gets stressed and inflamed. This excess of saturated fats become cholesterol deposits and when enough have formed, they crystallize with the bile to form gallstones.

Women get gallstones four times as frequently as men, especially women over 40 years old who are fair-skinned, and overweight. Twenty percent of adults over 65 years of age get gallstones that create problems and pain. Over half a million surgeries are performed each year to remove gallbladders due to gallbladder disorders, the most common being gallstones. And this can be easily be avoided by cleansing the body of toxins.

Constipation, food allergies (especially to milk products and eggs), digestive disorders (especially caused by a deficiency of hydrochloric acid), intestinal diseases, an excessively low-fiber diet, dental disturbances, parasites, rapid weight loss, and stress can all cause or contribute to gall stones and other gallbladder disorders. For lasting relief of symptoms, all of these factors must be addressed if they are present.

Best of health to you

Answer 2

It could be GERD (Gastro-Esophageal Reflux Disease) which is easily treatable with medications like Prilosec, Nexium etc. If this is your first vist to Gastro Doc, then it will basically be a meet and greet. Although, he/she might be able to tell you what it is. Have you tried anything over the counter like Prilosec, Tums, Maalox etc? Especially when having an attack? If it happens no matter what you eat, that is likely what the cause might be and not really your gallbladder. The doctor may order an abdominal ultrasound to look at your gallbladder. If it's negative, they sometimes order a "HIDA" scan where they make your gallbladder function with dye and see what kind of "ejection fraction" it is working at. If it is below a certain level, then it very well could be your gallbladder. Hope this helps

Answer 3

I would presume that he'll do a CT scan to determine that it IS in fact a problem with your gallbladder. If it is, be sure to ask him/her about having it removed laproscopically - MUCH less pain and recovery time!

Answer 4

1

Answer 5

Get it removed and improve the quality of your life. It's a problem you can solve.