meat-suit related query

[the_siobhan]

Amybody on my f-list ever have gallstones?

What did it feel like?

Comments

[hellsop.livejournal.com]

I've heard it describe as feeling like you wrenched your back horribly *and* have a massive bladder infection at the same time.

I don't know how accurate that is.

[the-siobhan.livejournal.com]

That sounds like a pretty serious case. Whatever is poking me is definitely not that severe. Not yet, anyway.

Gallstones is my current theory because it's something that runs pretty solidly through my mother's side of the genetic pool.

*worry*

[eveofdstruction.livejournal.com]

My younger brother passed a gall stone while he was living with us 5 years ago. He was writhing on the floor and screaming, and I barely managed to get him in the car and to the ER. He didn't have much discomfort prior to that. If you suspect gall stones, please get it checked soon. Based on what I observed that day you really don't want to let it go.

Re: *worry*

[the-siobhan.livejournal.com]

You don't need to worry. Even if it is the starting of a gallstone, it's a small one right now.

Re: *worry*

[the-siobhan.livejournal.com]

FYI, oh worrying one; I believe I've passed it.

Re: *worry*

[eveofdstruction.livejournal.com]

That doesn't sound too bad, assuming, of course, that you aren't using your formidable powers of understatement. Oh, and also, I was mistaken. My brother had *kidney* stones, which are far more painful to pass.

[miss_squiddy]

A friend just had them. She went to the doctors twice and was sent home with severe stomach ache both times even though it's hereditary for her too. Ended up in Casualty on morphine, which is apparently very good. She's been told to avoid fatty foods for the foreseeable and has been living off fruit and veg.

My colleague at work had a really bad case (needed surgery) and described it as a stabbing pain in the side, so I guess it's different for everyone (although she's quite a large lady so they may have had a different cause).

[the-siobhan.livejournal.com]

The stabbing pain in the side is where I'm at.

Everything I've read said they can be controlled with diet, so I'll see what happens if I watch my food.

[liz-lowlife.livejournal.com]

Pain that is excrutiating after eating anything with fat in under the lower right rib....

Number one symptom.

[melete.livejournal.com]

It can also be a throbbing- or pulsing-like pain. It is often right up on the right side, usually right below or at the rib cage. I've also heard it described as a pain that is rather specific in placement, rather than fanning/radiating outwards.

[kightp.livejournal.com]

While my own gall bladder attack a few years ago evidently stopped short of full-blown stones (or else they were minute enough to pass without incident) that's a good description of the pain. It had me walking sort of half doubled-over for a few weeks.

Do get it checked, especially if you still have an appendix. Pain from one can be hard to differentiate from the other.

[the-siobhan.livejournal.com]

I thought that too, but it's been a few days and there is no tenderness, fever or nausea. In fact, pressing on it helps reduce the pain. So I'm thinking it's not likely to be my appendix.

[melete.livejournal.com]

Erm, what I meant was that it is *always* on the right side (if not, you have other problems that you would have already noticed) but often right up at the rib cage.

[medakse.livejournal.com]

I have them, but they're the non-symptomatic kind (that was a fun day: diabetes, high blood pressure, *and* gallstones--oh my!). I've had a few backaches here and there, but none of the really bad stomach pain in the front, and only after greasy food, which apparently aggravates them.
Stabbing pain can also be kidney problems, so if it persists, see you friendly neighborhood medical practitioner, yeah?
take care of you.

[the-siobhan.livejournal.com]

*nods* Dr Interwebs (I love that phrase) also says to look out for jaundice because it can affect the liver. So I plan on being careful.

[miss_squiddy]

Good luck! Hope it sorts you out!

R passed hers but she said the morphine really helped with that (and she was out of hospital and festivaling with us halfway across the country the next day).

[girfan.livejournal.com]

My mother had them and finally had surgery to get rid of them. They gave her a small glass jar to keep them in.

I had one a few years ago. The pain in my right side was so bad, J called an ambulance. I was lucky that it was small and passed without need of surgery, though I really hurt for awhile. Some codene really helped. I went back to work within 24 hours after my emergency room trip.

I haven't had one since.

[ambrozia.livejournal.com]

Well, I had my gallbladder out when I was 19, first year of University.

From what I recall, I had 2 types of pain. One was more related to the front and stomach under the rib. However, I had very large stones & sludge. The doctor figures that I had the stones very young as it is herditary - late grandmother & dad both had them. Plus, lots of yo-yo dieting contributed to making them worse....

I digress.

The pain for me really was in my back, below or around my shoulder blade and radiated upwards. I was told that this was because the gallbladder itself was inflamed and pressing on the kidney. So, you can most certainly have pain on the back, not just the front.

Grease and spices can aggrivagte the stones, that is for certain. One of my worst attacks was the evening after I grabbed "street meat" or "smog dog" on campus. I thought I was going to die that night. I curled up in a fetal position and rocked. My mother heard me whimpering at the time and brought me every pain med we had in the house - T3 and Midol. I took the T3 and it helped a bit. Needless to say, went to the doctor.

The doctor pressed on my right side, below my ribs and I nearly went through the roof. Next step was an ultrasound to confirm.

Keep in mind I am in my 30's now, but back then there were already quite a few treatment options, but we chose surgery because the odds of the stones coming back was high because I was so young. When you are older, they try to avoid the surgery by controlling your symptoms with diet. There are pills you can take and there also is ultrasound therapy where they break up the stones as much as possible. Again, depending on how big the stones are and amount of sludge and age....could all lead to different treatment plans.

Until I had my surgery to remove it, best thing I could do was avoid spicy foods or anything greasy. Also, if I did get any pain, a heating pad worked wonders.

I hope they can figure out what is the best option for you.

[the-siobhan.livejournal.com]

Mine is definitely not that severe. It's more irritating, with occasional sharp twinges. It hurts worse when I lie down. Hurts less after I eat. Pressing on it actually helps reduce the pain, although twisting the wrong way will make me yelp. No fever, no nausea.

My first thought was appendicitis, but it isn't getting any worse and it's been three days. I'm thinking a small stone, not enough to block the ducts but enough to be aggravating. That means I should be able to pass it eventually.

Since I do have the genetics though, I'm going to have to be very careful of what I eat to prevent more.

[rufus.livejournal.com]

oh, hey, I just did this last month! to me it felt like someone had twined their fingers in my intestines near my bellybutton/right rib and *twisted*, hard. For about 12 hours. It was throbbing at the same beat as my pulse. I thought I might have appendicitis, which was what propelled me into the ER, whereupon I was poked, prodded, tested and informed that there was nothing wrong with me.

Dr. Intertubes, however, strongly supported a possible gallstones theory, which you may take for whatever it may be worth. As for me, I'm making vague attempts to eat a low-fat diet and hoping for the best.

[the-siobhan.livejournal.com]

Mine feels like I ate something spikey and it is lodged in a part of my intestines on my lower right side.

It's not too bad (yet) so if it is a stone it's probably a small one and I'll be able to pass it. I do have the genetic predisposition though, so I'm thinking diet control might be the way to go.

[surelars.livejournal.com]

Nope - but I remember my mum having it when I was a kid.

She described it as if someone was cutting her side, twisting the knife. However, it wasn't constant - it came in waves, a big attack in the middle of the night, then just a dull pain for a day or two, then another big attack.

I remember being waking up in the middle of the night to the sound of mum cursing and wailing, and finding her doubled up in her bed - and if nothing else, she was tough.

I have no gall anymore

[gwyrah.livejournal.com]

I have a particularly fresh perspective on them. I had a gall bladder attack about a month ago and emergency surgery. It started for me as tightness in the abdomen like I had done too many sit-ups, then the pain migrated to my back just below the right shoulder-blade. Then all hell broke loose, pain, god awful pain. The kind of pain that if I could stand on my head to make it go away I would have done it.

For 8 years I've had pain in my back just below the shoulder blade that I thought was just a thrown out back, turns out that was the gall bladder acting up. What caused the attack my doctors thought was that I lost 50 lbs. on a low fat diet. The gall bladder helps to break down fat and when there wasn't any fat, or very little compared to it's normal life, it started forming stones. The stones made the gall bladder infect hence the attack.

Call me if you want to diagnose further, like I said this is really fresh for me. (detroit area code) two-zero-five 1156.

Re: I have no gall anymore

[the-siobhan.livejournal.com]

I have read that sudden wieight loss can be a trigger.

It's interesting, most sources call for a low fat diet. But I've also read that a some fat in a meal will help the bile duct empty, which is good for flushing out the crystals.

[missjanette.livejournal.com]

Mothra has this type of pain which as far as I know wasn't gallstones but was some type of irritation. She controls the pain through diet. Very little grease means not irritating it.

Friend of hers had her gall bladder out bc of this type of pain, but Mothra has not had to do so and probably won't.

Go get yer shit checked. Is probably not a big deal, but knowing what you're working with is best.

[okoshun.livejournal.com]

For me, it was like having an incredibly painful stomach ache just to the right and slightly below where my stomach was..and it just would not let up no matter what I did.

In my case a stone had blocked the duct and didnt' budge at all and my liver got infected and wrapped itself around the gallbladder.

[frogmistress.livejournal.com]

Because my pains were all so low, the doctors searched and searched for something uterine related. Two laparoscopies and a whole bunch of tests later, I mentioned it to my daughter's doctor and she diagnosed gallstones on the spot.

They put me on a no fat diet, which did help with the pain, and removed the whole dang thing cause it was full of stones and nastiness.

Not sure if that helps you at all. But I will join in with the other voices in your head saying "get it checked out." :)

[inyou.livejournal.com]

not at all what I was expecting form the title... I was going to offer up some anti-bacterial pig-loving advice, but figured it might be too out of context :(


(p.s. i love the little tacos, i love them goooood...)

[epi-lj.livejournal.com]

I don't know if I've had one, but the other day I had a pain that initially I processed as abdominal gas pain, but rapidly became about 10x worse but fortunately only lasted a few minutes. However, my abdomen around where it happened felt quivery and delicate for about a day. okoshun tells me that the spot I indicated is where the gall bladder is, so that's our best guess as to what that was. I'm glad I was sitting down at the time.