I Really Need Some Support Right Now--Stomach Troubles

[girlrock]

About a month ago I started having bad stomach pain attacks in my upper/middle abdomen. One was so bad that I landed in the ER. I seriously thought somethings exploded or was about to. Anyway, I had a gallstone so they assumed my gallbladder and within 2 days I had it out.

I felt pretty good after the laparoscopic gas pains from the surgery died down. I felt OK for about 3 weeks. Then all of a sudden, my stomach pain came back. My surgeon ran bloodwork and said all is fine. Both of these "attacks" came on after weekends of going out and drinking more than usual. Surgeon thought maybe alcohol-induced pancreatitis. My family doctor thinks it's just gastritis. But here we are, over a week...almost 2 since this pain started again and it's still there. It HAS improved but it's still slightly there. It's a dull/ache/pinch/stab (it varies) right in the center of my upper/middle abdomen. It's scaring me but my family doctor thinks my body just needs to get used to not having my gallbladder.

Of course, I'm convinced I have stomach cancer. I had an endoscopy a year and a half ago so I doubt they will give me another one.

Can anyone offer advice?

[Annoyed]

Just so you know... Cancers take time to grow. They have stages. Digestive cancers seem to grow the smallest. If you had an endoscopy a year and a half ago, they probably would have seen the beginning of something nasty. Polyps or something.

That's why colonoscopies only happen like every 8 years over the age of 50. The cancer takes longer than that to grow.

[Fishmanpa]

Both of these "attacks" came on after weekends of going out and drinking more than usual. Surgeon thought maybe alcohol-induced pancreatitis.

Can anyone offer advice?

Perhaps avoiding alcohol? :shrug:

Positive thoughts

[girlrock]

Thank you! I have been avoiding alcohol since the last attack. I just think it's strange that I have always been able to have a few drinks here and there on the weekend at home with my husband but the two times I went out, and admittedly drank more than I should have, I ended up in severe pain. Still says something is wrong to me 😞

[Fishmanpa]

Still says something is wrong to me 😞

Nope.... your body changed. You have one less body part so things are different. It just means your body is saying "No" is all.

Positive thoughts

[AnxiousLife]

I had my gallbladder out and had those same pains for about 8-10 months after surgery (sorry to say...). I went through every test in the book- CT, X-ray, ultrasound, endoscopy, everything....nothing was found. It's been about a year and 1/2 since my surgery and occasionally I will still get the pain. Feels like a knife being stabbed right where my gallbladder was through to my shoulder blade. A lot of alcohol and greasy foods will do it to me. I hope it goes away quicker for you than it did for me...My doctor gave me Carafate for bad days- maybe a trip to your gastro could at least provide you with some relief?

[girlrock]

AnxiousLife--Thank you sooooo much!! Your reply made me feel much better. I've been scared that they left something behind...even something logical like a piece of a stone in the bile duct. I've been worried about an ulcer or the Big C as well. Glad to know I'm not the only one experiencing this. Hoping to god my GP and surgeon are correct that it's just adjusting to life without the gallbladder.

[Fishmanpa]

I wanted to add something to this that I heard today that backs up what I was saying.

My wife has been having stomach issues. Reflux, bloating pain etc. She had an endoscopy and colonoscopy a couple of weeks ago. We had the follow up this morning. All was clear which is great news and then we started discussing things like ultrasounds and CT scans and I was like "Whoa... wait a minute"... I noticed that my wife was actually doing pretty well after the tests and it was just in the last few days that the symptoms started coming back. It looked like a light bulb went off in the doctors head and he was all over that.

He said that her feeling better after being cleaned out for the procedures pointed to dietary related reactions and believe it or not, constipation. Even though her bowel habits were normal, he said that very often, as we grow older, our bodies don't eliminate all they're supposed to and there's always a "backup" so to speak which can result in more severe reflux and bloating (if it's not coming out, it's coming back up!). He also said that as we grow older, our bodies change and can become intolerant of foods and beverages we've never had a problem with before. So.... long story short... He prescribed a daily dose of Miralax and diet modification and gave us a list of foods to avoid and foods that can help. If things don't improve, they'll look into more tests.

I have some of the same issues so we'll be doing this together.

Positive thoughts

[girlrock]

Thanks for sharing Fishman! Hope you both get relief soon!

[girlrock]

Today I really feel like someone punched me in the stomach. That's how I felt before surgery. I'm scared something ELSE is wrong and they took my gallbladder out for no reason��