Gallbladder issues: what were your first symptoms?

I've had mine removed because I was having a lot of pain, but I had a 1" stone that was starting to get irritated. My daughter had a few flare-ups which turned out to be sludge in her gallbladder but she has changed her diet and it hasn't been a problem in a few years.

I had my first symptom when I was pregnant with DS#2. Exactly that feeling, feet in my ribs. Except every time I went for a check up, his feet were elsewhere. After he was born, I had a horrible attack. I eventually had it taken out.

My sister suffered for years, as her symptoms were more like gastro issues and none of the doctors checked her gallbladder.

Gallbladder symptoms can be all over the map. If your doctor says so, you should get it out.

The first time I had an attack I thought for sure I was having a heart attack. I dealt with the attacks for a little over a year. They started becoming more painful and more frequent that I decided to just go ahead and remove it. I also didn’t have any known triggers of when I would have an attack.

My gallbladder was never painful. It felt more like flutter kicks when I was pregnant.

Same, my symptoms were quite odd. I had a LOT of pelvic pain and a lot of overall weird feeling. It took over 3 months and multiple tests to decide what the issues. They finally did a HIDA/nuclear test to find out my gallbladder was diseased. They never explained how it was diseased. The surgeon said removing it should 70% fix my issues as he said he suspects I have IBS also. Surgery fixed my issues, so glad it was removed.
I would do what the dr suggests.

I had my gallbladder removed in 2016.

My first symptom was right after my youngest son was born, in 2009. I had severe pain in the center of my chest, under the rib cage. The pain took my breath away. I spoke to my doctor about it and she told me gallbladder issues are a symptom of pregnancy and that the issues should resolve on their own.

Around 2013 the pain returned, this time repeatedly. I went to my doctor (a different doctor; we moved to a new state), and she recommended an ultrasound. The ultrasound revealed gallstones in my gallbladder but no thickening of the wall of the gallbladder. My doctor told me that the stones are nothing to worry about and she didn’t recommend a follow up with a surgeon. This turned out to be bad advise.

The day after my birthday in 2016, I had a horrible gallstone attack and I was in significant pain for 4-6 hours. Because the doctor I saw in 2013 made this sound like a normal thing, I didn’t see a doctor or visit an urgent care. The pain subsided to a dull pain, consistently, for the next 4 days. Finally, on day 5, I reluctantly drove myself to the ER. I had a ton of gallstones, thickening of the gallbladder wall, and a stone was blocking my liver and my liver enzymes were all out of whack. I had surgery to remove my gallbladder less than 24 hours later and I felt amazing when I woke up from surgery!

I do watch my fat intake as I can have minor issues if I eat too much fat at one meal,but other than that, I recovered well and haven’t had any issues since having it removed.

I hope you find the cause of your pain soon. Please message me if you have questions; I’m happy to tell you more about my experience.

This. My Mom had the literal midnight ER case. Went into ER in excruciating pain and had surgery right after midnight. Took longer than expected because the gall bladder was falling apart. She waited and tried to dismiss the pain.

I had pain and the doc said I was heading toward gallstones, so went ahead and had it taken out.

I had pain in my back, right shoulder and my right upper rib cage. The doctor did an abdominal ultrasound, endoscopy, colonoscopy and finally the HIDA scan which showed my gallbladder was barely functioning. The operation was scheduled for early February and by mid January, I was in persistent pain and constantly nauseated, eating only saltines, chicken broth, tomato soup and canned tuna. The gallbladder was full of sludge.

Last year, a dozen years later, I had pancreatitis and needed to have my ampulla removed because of a benign polyp and family history of liver disease. I have to follow a low fat diet and need to be screened every three years.

I would have the gallbladder removed.

Constant nausea and a since of fullness in my upper left torso. I was only 19 and the doctor was not convinced it was my gallbladder but every female in my family except 1 - mom, aunts, cousins have had to have theirs removed and most before age 25. It took alot of advocating on my part to even get an ultrasound.

For me, I initially thought I had a stomach bug or the flu. My stomach was upset followed by intense vomiting which almost never happens. I didn’t really have any pain at that point. About 3-4 weeks later we attended an anniversary party for friends where they had a pasta buffet, and later that night I had the classic stabbing pain right in the center below my rib cage that went through to my back. Couldn’t get comfortable in any position and it lasted for hours. Since DH had his gallbladder out years prior, I knew exactly what it was at that point and just had to wait for the clinic to open to make an appointment with someone because we had just changed insurance and I didn’t have a new doctor yet at that point. I had an ultrasound to confirm, gallbladder was full of sludge and three visible stones. I was going on Disney cruise vacation within a month, so I held off getting it taken out until after we were back. No regrets whatsoever.

My sisters could take a shot of pure lemon juice which seemed to lessen the attack. In case anyone is still struggling, this is something to try.

My mom, dad and all of us kids have had our gall bladder removed. Crazy family.