View Full Version : Gall Stones and I'm scared.
Sorry guys - more eyestrain for you.
As many of you know I have been suffering from indigestion on and off for months.
I was given Metoclopramide and Lansoprazole by the emergency doctor and I found them most useful.
I went to see my own doctor who just gave me the Metoclopramide.
And to be honest it did nothing to help me.
I called the doctor this afternoon to know the results of an ultrasound scan (I had years ago).
It shows I do indeed have gallstones and I've now been called in to see him on Tuesday afternoon. :([No] To discuss possible removal.
Since last week the indigestion has been dreadful again, and I spent most of last week being sick just to take the pain away. [xx(]
I now have back ache even when I don't eat.
It is kind of a mild, but perminant dull ache, on the right hand side.
(If it was round the front it would be under my ribcage.)
After I finished talking to the doctor I decided to pop out to the shops.
The taxi arrived and I became aware how scared I was to get in it!
I told myself not to be so silly and that I wasn't going down that road again. And that me having a slight back ache had nothing whatso ever to do with getting in car. So I sat on the urges to scream for help, took some deep breathes and got on with the shopping.
I'm not due to see the doc until Tuesday, but my brain is on overload.
Am I being overly silly?
Am I worrying about something that isn't going to be half as nasty as I am imagining?
Does anyone know what I should be expecting to happen?
Love, light and Best wishes
Liz xxx
With hard work and determination and all the things you know.
The world is there for you to take. There's nowhere you can't go.
[:p]Scatty Eccentric & 'Poet Laureate to panic and anxiety'
Merlinssister
13-10-04, 07:05
I'm not sure, but I think that drugs are usually the first choice of treatment, so nothing invasive necessarily.
Hang in there.
MS
Hi there
So sorry to hear about your gallstones but in many ways its good that at least you have got to the bottom of the problem and there is an end in sight to the horrible pain you've been experiencing. Not sure how gallstones are removed but whether its invasive or otherwise, surely the benefits of getting rid of the little horrors will outweigh how scared you feel about the procedure.
Like me, you have a very real health worry at the moment and its natural to feel anxious as you don't know what is coming next and you have to wait until next Tuesday to find out (that my day at the breast clinic too so I'll be thinking of you). As we well know, anxiety isn't rational and so you will find yourself getting uptight at totally unrelated situations but it doesn't mean your going backwards, it means your human.
Try to keep your mind busy and keep doing stuff so that you don't dwell on negative thoughts. Easier said than done, I know, but keeping yourself occupied will help.
Take care honey, lots of love Jo xxx
HI Liz,
Firstly a fat free diet can go a long way to help these.
The Rosemary Conley was originally discovered by Rosemary who needed gall stones out and refused point blank to hav esurgety .
The options are usually initially an ERCP to see if they can hook them out under local anaesthetic depending on location in the gall bladder duct etc , or a cholecystectomy to have your gall bladder out either by keyhole surgery or open surgery
If the Ultrasound was ages ago, it will probably be repeated to see if there are more and current location.
Meg
It is impossible to get out of a problem by using the same kind of thinking that it took to get into it.
- Albert Einstein.
Hi Liz
Don't worry too much, my mum had these. At least you have had mild symptoms in advance - my mum was sitting at work had a bad pain, threw up in a bin and passed out!
She had them removed in the end but they can often do keyhole surgery so it wasn't that bad at all - and she felt great really soon after.
Emily
Knowledge is knowing a tomato is a fruit
Understanding is knowing not to put it in a fruit salad
Thanks guys. :D
I'm still having the odd panicky moment, but like you say there is no point in worrying until I actually know what is going to happen.
And the doctor wants to discuss that on Tuesday.
As far as I can gather open surgery is quite rare now a days and only done when there is no other option.
I just hope to god they are going to put me out cold when they do what ever it is they decide to do.
I just wish to god this was all over.
I'm not sure if I'm afraid of not knowing, or afraid of the going to find out one way or another.
Thanks Jo I will be thinking of you too.
Love, light and Best wishes
Liz xxx
With hard work and determination and all the things you know.
The world is there for you to take. There's nowhere you can't go.
[:p]Scatty Eccentric & 'Poet Laureate to panic and anxiety'
More waiting ....
I have now been refered to a specialist, so I am now waiting for a hospital appointment.
The results of my blood test have also come back and these show I am low in Vit B12 and I've got to have a course of injections.
I wish things would get moving. I'm hungry!
Love, light and Best wishes
Liz xxx
With hard work and determination and all the things you know.
The world is there for you to take. There's nowhere you can't go.
[:p]Scatty Eccentric & 'Poet Laureate to panic and anxiety'
Lanzoprazole can drop your Vit B12 levels
Meg
nomorepanic
25-10-04, 19:08
Liz
I had to go for a vitamin B12 blood test a couple of weeks ago but they lost the results so I have to go back and repeat it in 3 weeks.
Interesting what Meg says about Lanzoprazole as I take it too so I wonder if that may cause mine. I haven't had to take it for a few weeks now so we shall see.
Meg - can you explain how we get low B12 levels and can supplements help cos my doc said that it was made within the body so supplements wouldn't help that much.
Nicola
Hi Liz
Sorry to hear you have even more waiting - have you got a date for your hospital appointment yet?
Just think of all those yummy things you'll be able to eat once you're sorted :D
Love Jo xx
Amanda3266
28-10-04, 09:29
Hi Stimpy,
Sorry to hear you're not feeling good. I had gallstones 15 months ago and know how bad the pain and anxiety can be with them. It took a while for mine to become apparant too and I was likewise treated for "indigestion". The good news is that the symptoms you are describing sound entirely normal for gallstones. After they're removed you will feel so much better. Mine were removed (with my gallbladder) six weeks after diagnosis by keyhole surgery. I was only in hospital for 24 hours and went home with some medium rather than strong painkillers. I haven't had a pain since - it's now considered a daycase in some areas ie - come in during the morning, have the procedure and go home in the evening.
It's hideous pain and you'll be much more comfy without them. Don't worry about blood results etc - my liver function results were appalling but went back to normal after the op.
Hope that helps a bit
Amanda
Yes it is made within the body but needs the presence of tummy produced HCL acid to make it ..
what is a PPI's such as Lanzoprazole sole job ?- to prevent this acid from being produced !
Meg
It is impossible to get out of a problem by using the same kind of thinking that it took to get into it.
- Albert Einstein.
Thanks guys
I feel a bit better about the whole thing now.
It is just the waiting that is getting me down.
I wish the whole thing was over and done with.
I feel so hungry, but there is no point me eating anything as I seem to be sick as a dog within an hour of eating.
nevermind.
Soon be over with.
Love, light and Best wishes
Liz xxx
With hard work and determination and all the things you know.
The world is there for you to take. There's nowhere you can't go.
[:p]Scatty Eccentric & 'Poet Laureate to panic and anxiety'
Rennie1989
30-10-04, 16:25
hiya liz (again)
that sounds painful, i can empathis!
dont worry about the docs appointment on tuesday iv got to go to the hospital on march and im dreading it as i feel that my back has gone worse, but think about the positive side, what will happen that will be positive?
good luck!
Scooter Girl
if i was hungry would you feed me, if i fell you help me up, if i was crying would you brush away my tears
Merlinssister
31-10-04, 19:47
Good luck on Tuesday!
[^] Well here is the news you have all be waiting for [^]
I went to the hospital this morning to see the consultant.
He took a blood sample and wishes me to return for an ultrasound scan.
The staff were really nice and understanding.
Steve assures me that dispite a panic attack - I did not behave like a complete spanner in public.
The consultant said "Sounds like your gallbladder is playing up, lets have a scan done and get it out of there."
So just waiting for the scan now.
Phew ... That's one scary bit over with
Love, light and Best wishes
Liz xxx
With hard work and determination and all the things you know.
The world is there for you to take. There's nowhere you can't go.
[:p]Scatty Eccentric & 'Poet Laureate to panic and anxiety'
nomorepanic
19-11-04, 21:51
Liz
Great news and good luck for the next part of it too.
You are coping well with it all.
Nicola
And we're off .... [^]
Now for part 2 - the ultra sound scan.
I guess this is the part where we find out if the rumours of gallstone habitation are true.
If there are any stones I hope they remember to smile for the photo! [:P]
It's only a scan but I am bricking it !
1. Because if there are gallstones they have to come out.
2. If there are no gallstones then it is something else that has been making me ill all of this time.
So it looks like a lose lose situation to me.
I guess I will know more by tea time. I'll let you know what they find.
Love, light and Best wishes
Liz xxx
With hard work and determination and all the things you know.
The world is there for you to take. There's nowhere you can't go.
[:p]Scatty Eccentric & 'Poet Laureate to panic and anxiety'
The results are in .... :D
:( 3 large gallstones, debris and inflamation.
A few palpitations, a little depersonalization and the shakes, but over all it went very well.
Time for a lie down I feel exhaused !
But on the plus sign at least now we know for definate what is causing the problems and it is nothing even more nasty.
Love, light and Best wishes
Liz xxx
With hard work and determination and all the things you know.
The world is there for you to take. There's nowhere you can't go.
[:p]Scatty Eccentric & 'Poet Laureate to panic and anxiety'
nomorepanic
02-12-04, 20:24
Great news Liz!
Now you can deal with it and get them removed I assume.
Bet you feel relieved.
Nicola
Mixed Emotions really.
:) Thank heavens ! Let's get it fixed.
:( Why didn't the hosptial fix me in 2000 instead of messing me about?
[:I] If only I hadn't been so stupid and gone to the doctor sooner. I would be fixed by now.
It is a great relief to know what is causing the pain and that it is fairly un-nasty and fixable.
I am just waiting to see the consultant again.
Last time I saw him, he said "Sounds like your gallbladder is playing up, lets have a scan done and get it out of there."
So I guess the results of the scan will only confirm what he first thought.
At the moment I am thinking of the positive.
1. The longest I will have to stay in hospital will be 1 week.
2. Once it is done I can eat whatever I like.
3. Pain from the cut has got to be better than constant backache and indigestion!
Back to the waiting now.
Love, light and Best wishes
Liz xxx
With hard work and determination and all the things you know.
The world is there for you to take. There's nowhere you can't go.
[:p]Scatty Eccentric & 'Poet Laureate to panic and anxiety'
Meanwhile go on a fat free Rosemary Conely diet to reduce in size and break down the galls stones naturally.
Meg
Thanks meg
I will give that a go.
Love, light and Best wishes
Liz xxx
With hard work and determination and all the things you know.
The world is there for you to take. There's nowhere you can't go.
[:p]Scatty Eccentric & 'Poet Laureate to panic and anxiety'
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