Gallstones

Do you mind me asking what your journey was to diagnosis? I've had really bad indigestion pains when eating foods that never normally bothered me before giving birth and when I mentioned this before someone else commented about looking at the gallstones thing

@Georgie I had excruciating abdominal pain, it took my breath away for around 30/40 minutes. I haven’t had it as bad since, but I get a lot of bloat, bile, indigestion and sometimes pain.

I’ve got gallstones which I think is due to being on the pill for so long, but had this before being pregnant and only had one flare up during pregnancy. It flared more during PP as the hormones can cause this too. But all has settled, along with good eating and exercise it’s fine. My advice would be to do your research before removal, I know quite a few people who have had it removed and wish they hadn’t as it has caused digestion issues, diarrhoea and leaky bowel because there is no where for the bileto be stored it just drips straight into your intestines. I assume you had an ultrasound to confirm the stones? Did they say the size of them? And what they’re made of and there two types.

I had my gall bladder removed 3 months PP due to weekly flare ups and large gall stones stuck and causing pancreatitis! The surgery was keyhole surgery and honestly I was driving a few days later and able to pick up my baby! Don’t get me wrong it did feel slightly bruised and a little tender on my tummy for few days after but I was surprised how fast the recovery was! I also had a C section and the gall bladder surgery was a lot quicker recovery and a lot less pain etc! Having it out was the best thing I done! I was experiencing weekly flare ups with excruciating pain and vomiting for up to 7 hours a time. I was put onto the emergency list after some scans and a hospital stay and was operated on a week later to remove it. Had no issues since and like you said the anxiety of a flare up which for me was almost any time was just not worth it! Good luck, hope it all goes okay xx

You would need to inform the insurance company as it’s a known issue and any changes can void your insurance. I was diagnosed with gallstone pp and I’m so glad I did my research and spoke to people who had it removed. I and now 9month pp and havnt had a flare up for around 2 months. I was getting the intense pain, sickness, shortness of breath at least 1/2 a week. My GP recommended removal but after a long discussion agreed with me to manage at home for as long as I can. I know 3 people that had there’s removed, 1 can no longer eat meat, 1 is constant pain with bloating and gas, 1 bloats and now has to stay away from a lot of different foods. I found the anxiety of a flare up difficult but 2 months in from my last im more relaxed and know I can deal with it if it happens again.

@Robyn yeah so I haven’t had a flare up since 5/6 weeks pp just awful bloat which I think is indigestion/IBS. They’ve said they’re small on the report but not what they’re made of, but everything else looks normal. I wonder if a change of diet and exercise will help?

I had mine diagnosed when i was 37 weeks & being induced, had a few episodes while i was pregnant and they kept brushing it off but i finally went in and they discovered them after a scan, they put me forward for a surgical review and it still hasn’t happened, this was back in November. I’ve had a good 5 episodes since then, literally breathless, rolling around like a dog with an itch and sweating all over

My LG is 7 months and I had my gallbladder removed a month ago- if you have any questions feel free to message me. I was also a c-section mumma x

@Carrie-Anne hey, can i message you with a few questions please? Xx

A low fat diet will help, high fats in the diet cause the gall bladder to pump lots of bile into the intestine to digest it. But this action causes the pain when the stones get stuck in the duct Exercise and keeping fit and healthy are how I’ve managed mine and haven’t had any issues since

@Katie absolutely!! Xxx