Gallstones and ultrasound

[MistyBlue]

I had to have an ultrasound last night as I have been having gallstone pains. It's the second ultrasound I have had for it, the other a year ago. There are no gallstones showing up, although she did say smaller ones might not.:ohmy:

I was in such a panic, especially since when they do a gallbladder scan, they scan your liver, kidneys, ovaries etc etc. Everytime I have been for a scan they always tell me that everything is ok. I am sooo dreading the day when they say nothing.:ohmy:

I was in such a panic and wonder what I'll be like if anything serious ever does go wrong. I am waiting for an appointment with a neurologist to come through as I have been having numbness, tingling, visual disturbances and feel generally unwell. The doc says anxiety, my anxiety says something serious. I hate to have this health anxiety, it's the worst.

Big hugs to everyone who suffers like this as well.:hugs:

Lisa x

[Elly 2]

Hi Misty Blue, hope you don't mind but can I ask what your symptoms were for gallstones to be suspected. The reason I ask is that I have very bad chest pains but also pain at the top of my stomach, sometimes excruciating and it was suggested that it might be gallstones but I'm not sure if you can have chest pain with gallstones. Hope you don't mind my asking. I do sympathise with you feeling anxious about health because I am the same.
Take Care
Elly

[countrygirl]

I have had very small gallstones for past 15 years but have only had gallbladder attacks twice many years ago. Both times it was unmistakable, the area under your right rib is extremely painful to press and feels like a large balloon is under there - I also had pain going up into top of right shoulder blade at back. I never had any chest pain with it. The attacks would last about 5 hrs always late in evening/overnight.

I found that pastry and cream set it off so have avoided eating these for past 12 years at least! Too much coffee can trigger attacks as well. I have liver function tests every 6 months and an ultrasound every year to check no complications and as long as these are okay I can keep my gallbladder.

Very small stones are at risk of escaping the gallbladder and blocking the bile ducts but it seems to me that the people who suffer the most have one large gallstone that blocks the outlet of the gallbladder. Very small ones can go down the plughole so to speak!!

It is also possible to have gallbladder sludge which doens't show up on ultrasound but which can cause pain. Keep a food diary and see if there is any connection between food and pain. Mine was so obvious it was impossible to miss

[no1worrier]

I started having gallstone symptoms when pregnant with my 1st child 9 years ago. I had loads of scans which didn't find anything and also had 2 cameras down to have a look. It was 5 years later when the pain continued that I was scanned again and one large gallstone was found. I then had to wait 18 months to have my gallbladder removed. However, I occasionally still get the same pain under my right bottom rib - even though I no longer have a gallbladder!! I have been told this is common and that sometimes stones can get stuck in the bile duct near the gallbladder. It took them years to diagnose mine, but eventually they did.

As one other poster has said, try to avoid fatty foods - particularly pastry. Bananas also used to affect me. If it is your gallbladder causing the problems, the pain you will have is just below and under your bottom right rib, radiating into your back and shoulders. It's a terrible pain - I've had pethedine injections for it before now. If you do have to have an op you are only in a day as they now take the gallbladder out by keyhold surgery. It's nothing to worry about and you'll be absolutely fine.xxx

[MistyBlue]

I do have all the symptoms of gallstones, all the pain where everyone has said, plus the indigestion and deep belches.:blush:

It's so typical that they can't find anything and the doctors have told me I do not have gallstones, it's only the radiologist that informed that they don't always show up. I'm a little upset with the docs right now, as I feel that I have been complaining about nothing and that it must be all in my head, and now I know it isn't.

Thanks everyone.

Lisa xxx

[Togepi]

hiya, ive had gallstones, and had them removed along with my gallbladder almost 2 years ago. they were excruciatingly painful. however mine showed up on the ultrasound. i was told to go for an mri scan too to see if they were all contained in the bladder but couldnt bring myself to go in the scanner. was just wondering if u have had an mri scan? xxxxxxxx togepi xxxxxxxxxxxx

[Pen]

Hi

I have had my gallbladder removed due to a large stone and was fine afterwards, although it did take me about 5 months to feel completely recovered but I think my anxiety didn't help.

I also suffered with similar neurological symptoms as you last year. I was fortunate to go to see a neurologist privately (and would advise it if you are very worried as it cost around £80 for the consultation and was worth every penny and I got to see him within a week). He couldn't find anything "nasty" wrong with me and very gradually as my anxiety eased so did the symptoms - but it has taken me a year to feel completely symptom free. I was convinced that there was something terribly wrong with my like brain tumour, MS or MND and the more I thought it the worse I felt. I have found that back massage helps as I believe that my back/neck were so tense due to anxiety that this was causing me the symptoms. I also go to see a very good reflexologist/holistic therapist and take a magnesuim supplement which helps me.

Feel free to pm me if you would like any more info.

Take care

Pen

[linda5508]

I remember my cousin had her gallstone removed but they were able to detect the stones on the ultrasound

[Domas]

Ultrasound is the normal test for gallstones. She could have just sludge and that can cause the same pain as stones & if there is alot of it & causes pain or clogs the GB, then it needs to be removed. It can become inflamed.

[dodo]

Something I can actually give some advice on lol.

I have had gallstones and had to have my gallbladder removed about 6 years ago. I was getting extreemly bad pains in the centre of my chest. Took my breath away and when it happened, always around 2am in the morning, I couldn't get into any position as it was so painful. Mine was sometimes on the right side behind my shoulder, but the main pain was always centre at the bottom of my ribs. The pain made me feel sick, sometimes physically sick, and made me sweat it hurt so much. I can imagine the pain is the closest I've probably felt to a heart attack as some people liken the pain to one apparently.

I have to disagree with pp though, it was found I had about 30 pea sized gallstones and they caused no end of trouble for me as they don't pass easily and on numerous occassions they got stuck. The worst time when I was diagnosed was when I developed jaundice as one had got stuck in my pancreas.

They showed up on ultrasound though and I also had an MRI which was very unpleasant as I am a bit claustrophobic.

The pain is the worst I have had with anything, worse than childbirth, worse than cystitis. Yuk, just horrible. This is one of the things that kick started my HA as they kept telling me it was just indigestion! I was 'too young to have gallstones'.