oh come ON

[minoanmiss]

Medical TMI

You all are going to think "no way can someone have this much going wrong with her at one time". This is ridiculous. If you've had gall bladder issues I could use your advice.

I hope this comes out -- I'm typing without my eyes. I THINK I have my fingers on the right keys. anyway.

WD kindly brought me home. I had a headache so I went to bed and slept till 11. at midnight I got up to have some duck and an artichoke (fancy). About 3/4 of the way a pain bloomed in my side. Upper right quadrant of abdomen, pretty much at my waist. I ate a little more, didn't explode, finished up and went to bed.

about a half hour ago I rolled over and nearly screamed as the pressure took it from about a 3 to about a 6. Remembering the four/five F's (fat, female, fertile, forties, fair -- four out of five) I callled the advice line at Tufts, thinking "please let me not have to go to the hospital on a Saturday" I Fortunately the doctor thinks I can take antacid, stay in bed, and see if it gets worse. So that is what I will do. But still. What the FUCK.


How many organ systems am I having trouble with right now?

Eyes
teeth
sleep apnea
sciatica
uterus
and now possible gall bladder isses
what the fuck.

PS Sitting up takes it to about a 5. that is not great news.

Comments

[nagi_schwarz]

I had my gall bladder out last October. I’d had random abdominal cramps and hideous nausea for years and assumed it was due to my migraines (there such things as abdominal migraines, and migraines can cause nausea, because migraines cause everything and everything causes migraines) and one night I woke up and felt like I was being stabbed and off to the ER I went. Turned out I had gallstones, so I just had to have my gallbladder out. They warned me of possible side-effects, like not being able to eat spicy food anymore, but surgery was fast and total recovery was 6 weeks max (was back to wrestling dudes in jiujitsu in seemingly no time) and I haven’t had issues since. For what it’s worth.

[gwydion]

It's a really fast recovery from my experience and it was very much worth getting it out.

[amaebi]

I am holding my thumbs for you.

Always.

[ex_flameandsong751]

Listen, I know from PERSONAL EXPERIENCE the human body can do a lot of bad shit to a person at once. I don't think you're lying/faking, OK?

My mom had her gallbladder out and she can't eat spicy food [and I'm not even talking about hot spices, but fairly mild stuff like Italian sausage on pizza]. She had her surgery back in the 1970s, and medical technology has made a lot of progress since then, like doing very precision stuff with machines and smaller scarring. Not saying I _want_ you to have to have surgery, just trying to offer some reassurance that worst-case scenario, it's a very survivable procedure.

I hope that your doctor knows what they're doing and that just taking an antacid and taking it easy for a bit will help. I've had gallbladder flares that so far haven't resulted in me needing to have it out, just doing that, but it fucking SUCKS ASS because it HURTS.

-gentle hugs- I hope the pain goes away soon.

[lilysea]

Listen, I know from PERSONAL EXPERIENCE the human body can do a lot of bad shit to a person at once. I don't think you're lying/faking, OK?

Yes, THIS.

I have had a truly ridiculous number of health issues simultaneously since 2011.

The thing healthy people often don't realise is that health issue A can trigger health issue B...

[ex_flameandsong751]

Yup. In particular, teeth are one thing that's likely to start being a problem when other body parts are acting up.

[julian]

Hello! I have Gallbladder Experience!

As you know, I got mine out a few years ago unexpectedly. I had not had pain in the gallbladder area previously, and had mostly had a few instances of heartburn, and also very occasional GERD-like things, which I did not associate as connected.

One *can* have gallstone attacks that resolve by themselves, and one *can* have medical interventional help to resolve them. Since my experience went from 0->60 in 30 seconds and I had mine out instantly, I don't really know the interim steps, but they do exist!

On the other hand, *personally*, if the pain persists for much longer, I'd go to urgent care anyway. Gallbladders can be persnickety.

To sum up: a) I want some duck now, and b) *gentle hug*.

[goss]

Oh no.. :( Hoping the antacid and rest gives you some relief. *hugs*

(BTW, Chocolate Cousin had her gall bladder removed last year, but is back to her usual self now, even though her diet is now a bit more limited.)

[baranduin]

Hoping an antacid fixes it with no recurrence. I had my gall bladder out several years ago after quite a lot of pain and I still eat spicy food though everyone is different in that regard. Fingers and toes crossed for you. ❤️

[julian]

Oh, and: I don't think you're ridiculous at all; bodily systems are comlpex and complicated, and lots can be mildly wrong.

Also, there is all sorts of literature out there about What You Should Not Eat related to gallbladder stuff, but I won't assume I need to comment on it unless you actually turn out to have it. Or not have it, depending.

[sabotabby]

I hate absolute system failure. Like, there should be one thing wrong with at a time. If you complain to a healthy person that you have a bunch of different things, they don't believe you.

Update from the roommate

[gingicat]

MM called me at 7:30 this AM from our city's former-hospital (now an Urgent Care and outpatient facility) to say that they didn't have ultrasound facilities and could I bring her home. I said "of course not, taking you to an ER, do I have time for a shower?"

Picked her up at ~8:15, having showered/dressed/brushed teeth/taken meds, took her to the Actual Hospital two towns over that is affiliated with her doctor and isn't in downtown Boston. They got blood work and an ultrasound pretty quickly and even got her information from the Urgent Care. And they gave her an anti-inflammatory!

So we're still at ER, MM is napping, I'm playing on my phone. Feel free to reply to this comment or check in with me by text or on Discord (tigerbright#2268).

Re: Update

[julian]

Oh, wow.

Thank you for your a) transportation activities, b) sensibleness, c) caring, and d) updates.

Re: Update from the roommate

[ex_flameandsong751]

Thank you for the update. I hope she'll be OK.

2nd update

[gingicat]

No gallstones showed up on the ultrasound, and neither kidney stones, nor any abdominal problems of any other kind showed up on the CT scan.

She is not being suspected of drug-seeking, thank heavens.

Also, I mis-stated regarding anti-inflammatory; it was ordered around 9:45 but was only given about 15 minutes ago.

It might be a muscle strain, but the timing is suspicious.

Heading out after discharge paperwork is done.

Re: 2nd update

[stranger]

Thanks for getting MM to medical care, and letting us know. I hope you and she both are sleeping as much as you need today.

Re: 2nd update

[julian]

Timing suspicious howso?

Re: 2nd update

[gingicat]

It was a sudden onset while she was eating greasy food and not under muscle-straining circumstances.

Re: 2nd update

[julian]

Mmmmyeah. I See.

[ellenmillion]

Big hugs!! I had my gall bladder out twelve years ago and went from 100% unable to tolerate any fats in my food whatsoever to able to eat bacon. I'm sending you all the health healing thoughts and wishes.

[sovay]

You all are going to think "no way can someone have this much going wrong with her at one time".

No, unfortunately, I won't.

*hugs*

I am glad you are not in an ER and I hope you don't have to be and someone can see you usefully on Monday.

[hitchhiker]

damn, hope they can address whatever it is :(

[ilthit]

I am SO sorry!

[pensnest]

Gallbladder pain is horrific. Eat as little fat as you possibly can. And good luck.

[mdlbear]

You all are going to think "no way can someone have this much going wrong with her at one time"

I'm not going to think that. Not going to list what Colleen had wrong, but what's scary is that it was a completely different list from yours.

[acelightning73]

Antacids don't do anything for the gall bladder. The presence of fats in your small intestine stimulates your gall bladder and pancreas to pump bile into the intestine to emulsify the fats for further digestion. That pumping is what causes the pain.

Kedem kosher tea biscuits have almost no fat in them. The cchocolate flavror is very emotionally satisfying. Any food that is steamed, boiled or baked Roasted duck is going to have a lot of fat in it naturally. Roasted or boiled chicken might be okay, and also Cornish game hens (they're preetty lean). Read labels and determine how much fat one serving of the food migh contain (and what they're calling one serving -six tea biscuits is a serving, containng 3 grams of fat.

They'll tell you to eat plain saltine crackers. No butter or peanut butter on them Introduce new foods gradually. Don't repeat anything that makes you throw up. Drink plenty of water the crackers will make you want more water anyhow.

I just posted a recipe for fried rice fried in two teaspoons of oil (I use Chinese sesame oil because I like the way it smell when I cook with it).

Incidentally, by taking glyburide (an older diabetes drug) and testing my blood sugar every morning, I am now no longer "pre-diabetic" And because of the cardiac ablation last year, I no longer have atrial fibrillation.