Gallbladder Issues And Celiac

[Guest BornToRide]

I started having what I think are gallbladder issues. I have always has some minor pain for years here and there on the right side under the ribcage. Well, it really started acting up recently when I changed my diet (no I do not eat a lot of fat or fried foods - never have). I have since learned that gallbladder disease is often a component of celiac disease, but should get better once the gluten is removed from the diet.

What have you experienced in this respect, if any?

[Mtndog]

There is some relationship. In fact, myself and jaten had our gall bladders out around the same time last May. I had gall stones that they found while trying to diagnose me with celiac. I waited a year and finally had the surgery. No regrets at all!

DEFINITELY get it checked out because going gluten-free won't get rid of the stones (as far as I know) and you should find out what's going on. They generally will do bloodwork and an ultra-sound to see and then you can go from there.

[Guest BornToRide]

Yes, I have an ultrasound scheduled next Fridays to check. What kind of supplements do you need to take since you no longer have a gallbladder and does that work well? Also, how did you find that you were legume intollerant too?

[Viola 1]

I started having what I think are gallbladder issues. I have always has some minor pain for years here and there on the right side under the ribcage. Well, it really started acting up recently when I changed my diet (no I do not eat a lot of fat or fried foods - never have). I have since learned that gallbladder disease is often a component of celiac disease, but should get better once the gluten is removed from the diet.

What have you experienced in this respect, if any?

If the pain is on the right side and below the rib cage, it may be gall bladder, but frequently the ultra sound will be just fine and the pain turns out to be the illium.

Because of the Celiac digestive system, quite often particles of food will pass through the intestine a little larger than normal and sit in the illium, which causes irritation. This will show up on the tiniest gluten contamination. There really isn't much that can be done for it except try as hard as possible not to be contaminated. Which of course we all do anyway.

[Mtndog]

If the pain is on the right side and below the rib cage, it may be gall bladder, but frequently the ultra sound will be just fine and the pain turns out to be the illium.

Because of the Celiac digestive system, quite often particles of food will pass through the intestine a little larger than normal and sit in the illium, which causes irritation. This will show up on the tiniest gluten contamination. There really isn't much that can be done for it except try as hard as possible not to be contaminated. Which of course we all do anyway.

Viola- This is really good to know- I had no clue about that!

You don't need to take any supplements if you have your gall bladder removed. It's like a "storage facility" for bile and once it's gone, your liver readjusts (USUALLY rather quickly) and produces less bile. I am DEFINITELY not advocating you have the surgery....that's up to you and your doctor, but telling you this in case you decide to.

I had mine because I am trying to get preggers and they said many women have gall bbladder problems AFTER pregnancy and I didn't want to risk having to have my gall bladder out while pregnant.

As far as the legume intolerance goes, I cut out gluten and replaced it with a lot of soy and peanut butter but still felt icky. I realized I was soy intolerant so I cut it out and when I tried to eat it again, I felt really sick. Same with other legumes. So basically it was an elimination diet.

When I eat peanut butter, I feel glutened So sad because I LOVE LOVE LOVE peanut butter.

[Jo.R]

Oh, no peanut butter. That is also one of my favorites, so sorry.

They took my gall bladder out first. The test showed it was irritated. It wasn't until after I found out that I had Celiac that I found out my gall bladder could get better (I didn't have stones) if I went gluten free. I was a little upset, after my deductible and paying 20% we paid over $2000 for the tests and surgery. On the other hand I'm lucky, I have no bad side effects from having it out. My grandmother couldn't digest onions after having her gall bladder out, and I have a friend who has to watch how much she eats of certain foods.

If you don't have stones, I'd wait and see if going gluten free will help. Having it out could limit what you can eat, when you are already so limited. Also if they don't find stones in your ultrasound they will want you to do another test. I can't remember the name, but they inject you with a chemical and watch your gall bladder. If your medical is like mine, I would ask a lot of questions before doing it. It is expensive. Ask your doctor about putting it on hold and see if the gluten free diet will correct the problem. But go through with the ultrasound, you need to know if you have stones.

Good luck!

[NoGluGirl]

Dear BornToRide,

I had my gallbladder removed several years ago when I was 20. I had an ultrasound, HIDA scan, and all that. Nothing showed at tall. I knew it still had to be the trouble though. My intuition is always right. I learned the hard way not to ignore it.

My doc relied to heavily on the tests. He figured it could not possibly be gallbladder disease, because my tests showed nothing. I told him I had done some research online, and found out these tests are only about 33 percent accurate at best. That leaves a rather large margin for error.

Finally, when I had pestered him enough, he let me see a surgeon. When I saw the surgeon, he was very thorough. I love that! Anyway, I told him about the Abdominal CT I had done more than three years prior. It had showed a gallstone, and that idiot doctor I had at the time missed it. I found that out when my tech told me when I had the ultrasound the fall before! I was so mad I could not see straight.

To this day, if I see that woman, I very well might rip her head off! She told me I was crazy pretty much. My parents believed her. So did every other doctor I went to see because of that. No matter who I saw, they were already convinced I was not physically sick. I was forced to go to counseling and take nearly every anti-depressant or anti-anxiety drug on the market.

I even was taken up to IU Med where I had an entire team of doctors working on me. I had an endoscopy, intercolisis, gastric emptying study, even more blood work, and a colonoscopy. This was all for them to tell me I was crazy. Naturally, another anti-depressant was perscribed, which I do not know if I will ever get off of. Of all things, the one doctor heading the group was the head of Gastroenterology and Hepatology!

He should have known that! The gallbladder is part of the hepatobialary system! So, I switched Primary Care Physicians after returning. Then, fast-forward a couple years, and there I sat in the surgeon's office. He said considering my symptoms, I was a candidate for surgery. I felt it was the right thing to do.

My feeling was right. It turns out, at my ten day post-op check up, my gallbladder was very inflamed and irritated, and nearly ruptured. After a while, I was not feeling any better. All my doctor ended up doing was giving me pills. I could not take it anymore. I then read about Yeast overgrowth.

I asked the local healthfood store clerk about doctors that knew about it.

She recommended the doctor I am with now. She is a holistic physician as well as an MD. She is the one who diagnosed me as Celiac. I used to have reflux so bad, I had to sleep practically sitting straight up. Now, I can even occaisionally skip my second dose of Prilosec OTC. That never would have happened before going gluten free.

An important thing to remember is, once you have your gallbladder removed, you need to be careful about your fat intake. Otherwise, you could develop a stone in your bile duct. Also, you normally will get diarrhea and stomach cramps because you cannot digest fat well anymore. If left untreated, pancreatitis can result. There is no cure for that. I met a woman who had gone to the ER 15 times in 2 months, and was misdiagnosed. She was told she was crazy. Well, it turns out the tests did not show anything like mine, and it turned out there was a sandy substance made of bile called sludge in there.

It ate through her gallbladder and into her pancreas. She had a feeding tube in her bellybutton.

She told me she had to be extremely strict with her fat intake, cannot ever have any alcohol, and had kidney and liver problems. She was not much older than I was. The woman told me I was making the right decision to get it removed now.

I apologize for this being so long, but I just wanted you to know how important this is. The link between Celiac and gallbladder problems seems pretty strong.

Sincerely,

NoGluGirl

[Mtndog]

An important thing to remember is, once you have your gallbladder removed, you need to be careful about your fat intake. Otherwise, you could develop a stone in your bile duct. Also, you normally will get diarrhea and stomach cramps because you cannot digest fat well anymore.

If left untreated, pancreatitis can result. There is no cure for that. I met a woman who had gone to the ER 15 times in 2 months, and was misdiagnosed. She was told she was crazy. Well, it turns out the tests did not show anything like mine, and it turned out there was a sandy substance made of bile called sludge in there.

It ate through her gallbladder and into her pancreas. She had a feeding tube in her bellybutton.

She told me she had to be extremely strict with her fat intake, cannot ever have any alcohol, and had kidney and liver problems. She was not much older than I was. The woman told me I was making the right decision to get it removed now. I apologize for this being so long, but I just wanted you to know how important this is. The link between Celiac and gallbladder problems seems pretty strong.

OMG- this is horrible!!!!!!!!! I have a question- did your surgeon tell you that you needed to watch your fat intake after your gall bladder removal? Mine never said anything

And the woman you're referring to had this because she DIDN"T have her gall bladder out, right?

[NoGluGirl]

OMG- this is horrible!!!!!!!!! I have a question- did your surgeon tell you that you needed to watch your fat intake after your gall bladder removal? Mine never said anything

And the woman you're referring to had this because she DIDN"T have her gall bladder out, right?

Dear Mtndog,

Yeah, this poor woman. I felt so sad for her. She, like many of us, are left dealing with permanent mistakes doctors made. My surgeon did not tell me to watch my fat intake, but I was talking to someone else in the waiting room that said she had diarrhea the first six months after her operation. I came across this while doing research on the internet. I later asked my primary care physician, and he said that it is a good idea to be careful. If I eat too much fat, I get cramping, diarrhea, and nausea. My reflux usually increases as well.

It is just according to the research I have done, you can still get stones in your bile duct. Watching your fat intake after the surgery can prevent this. Fat in excess is bad when your body no longer has the organ that processes it. A blockage in the bile duct can cause bile to back-up in your system, leading to pancreatitis, and liver damage.

The woman I told you about developed those problems because by the time they did take out her gallbladder, damage was done. They waited too long. She tried to tell the doctors, but naturally they wrote her off as a mental case. Now she is left suffering damage that cannot be reversed.

Sincerely,

NoGluGirl

[Mtndog]

Dear Mtndog,

Yeah, this poor woman. I felt so sad for her. She, like many of us, are left dealing with permanent mistakes doctors made. My surgeon did not tell me to watch my fat intake, but I was talking to someone else in the waiting room that said she had diarrhea the first six months after her operation. I came across this while doing research on the internet. I later asked my primary care physician, and he said that it is a good idea to be careful. If I eat too much fat, I get cramping, diarrhea, and nausea. My reflux usually increases as well.

It is just according to the research I have done, you can still get stones in your bile duct. Watching your fat intake after the surgery can prevent this. Fat in excess is bad when your body no longer has the organ that processes it. A blockage in the bile duct can cause bile to back-up in your system, leading to pancreatitis, and liver damage.

The woman I told you about developed those problems because by the time they did take out her gallbladder, damage was done. They waited too long. She tried to tell the doctors, but naturally they wrote her off as a mental case. Now she is left suffering damage that cannot be reversed.Sincerely, NoGluGirl

I feel so bad for that poor woman.

I knew that you could get stones in your bile duct but I didn't know that watching your fat intake could help with this. Good to know as I have been suffering bouts of nausea and diarrhea that my doctor kept telling me was a virus (a 6 week virus? C'mon!). I see my GI next week and will mention this to her. maybe it plays into what's happening with me.

Thank you for the info!

[NoGluGirl]

I feel so bad for that poor woman.

I knew that you could get stones in your bile duct but I didn't know that watching your fat intake could help with this. Good to know as I have been suffering bouts of nausea and diarrhea that my doctor kept telling me was a virus (a 6 week virus? C'mon!). I see my GI next week and will mention this to her. maybe it plays into what's happening with me.

Thank you for the info!

Dear Mtndog,

You are so welcome for the info! It is scary, isn't it? I have been having pain under my ribcage again, and I am concerned this could be my trouble as well. The symptoms are pretty much the same as gallbladder disease. It has been difficult to find low-fat gluten-free food. I think that is the trouble. Too much fat is problematic. I know there are instances where there is damage done to the common bile duct, the papilla of Vater, and the Sphincter of Oddi. This is not common though. If that was the case, you probably would have suffered trouble right after surgery. Doctors can be so goofy. A six week virus. Right. That is like saying to a woman who is 7 months pregnant she is sort of expecting! Your GI may be able to help you.

I really wish I could have done something for that poor woman, too. It is so unfair what happened to her. What is worse is, doctors have all the good attorneys, so when they screw up, they win anyway! They could kills someone in cold blood and get off. It makes me furious! My mother's best friend's mother-in-law bled to death because of a nurse's major mistake. She was there having dialysis that she needed due to the effects of her Diabetes. The nurse did not pay attention, and while attempting to put the IV in, hit a jugular (major artery) in the back of her neck. Blood was running all down her neck when they came in later. By that point, she had lost so much blood, it was too late. She bled to death. They tried to take them to court, but couldn't afford to. Other attorneys were already on retainer for the hospital, and could not do it. They would have had to go out of town to get someone who could represent them.

Sincerely,

NoGluGirl

[tabdegner]

I just have to add to the whole gallbladder issue. I had mine out in January 2004 after 3 months of HORRIBLE pain. The dr couldn't figure out what was wrong because an ultrasound didn't show gallstones and I didn't have "classic" symptoms. After landing in the ER the day after Christmas, they finally did a HIDA scan and it showed my gallbladder wasn't functioning. When they took it out it was very very inflammed and "mangled" up as they said.

I was completely FINE and a new person for about 6 months after that and then the trouble started. I all of a sudden couldn't digest fat again. After many tests from the GI doctor, including an endoscopy and biopsy for celiac, he basically told me that I had postcholysisectomic syndrome. Which is trouble digesting fat even if you have your gallbladder out. He thinks my duct was still spasming when it was realeasing bile, or something like that. And he also said that they couldn't find anything wrong with me.

I was able to control symptoms with some meds for a few months, but now I am having horrible problems again and it's more than digesting fat, it's digesting anything, period. Just went to the GI doctor again last week and he said I have IBS, maybe gasteroparisis, and gave me more meds. YUCK. And again he said that he has no idea what's wrong with me.

I am going gluten free for at least 2 weeks to see if that helps. My dr. said I don't have celiac, but with my strong family history (see my signature below) and every symptom in the book (almost) I don't see how I can NOT have celiac.

I think that either the gallbladder triggered celiac or the celiac triggered the gallbladder problem. Either way, I think they are very connected. And I am SO DONE WITH MEDS AND DONE BEING SICK!!! Wish me luck in my gluten free adventure!!!

[Mtndog]

Tabdegner- Welcome to gluten-FREEDOM!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Guest BornToRide]

Thanks everyone for your inputs. I am sorry for the suffering some have endured. I just don't get it - the oath says do no harm. Not doing the right thing or anything does harm too

[AZKat]

Dear Mtndog,

You are so welcome for the info! It is scary, isn't it? I have been having pain under my ribcage again, and I am concerned this could be my trouble as well. The symptoms are pretty much the same as gallbladder disease. It has been difficult to find low-fat gluten-free food. I think that is the trouble. Too much fat is problematic. I know there are instances where there is damage done to the common bile duct, the papilla of Vater, and the Sphincter of Oddi. This is not common though. If that was the case, you probably would have suffered trouble right after surgery. Doctors can be so goofy. A six week virus. Right. That is like saying to a woman who is 7 months pregnant she is sort of expecting! Your GI may be able to help you.

I really wish I could have done something for that poor woman, too. It is so unfair what happened to her. What is worse is, doctors have all the good attorneys, so when they screw up, they win anyway! They could kills someone in cold blood and get off. It makes me furious! My mother's best friend's mother-in-law bled to death because of a nurse's major mistake. She was there having dialysis that she needed due to the effects of her Diabetes. The nurse did not pay attention, and while attempting to put the IV in, hit a jugular (major artery) in the back of her neck. Blood was running all down her neck when they came in later. By that point, she had lost so much blood, it was too late. She bled to death. They tried to take them to court, but couldn't afford to. Other attorneys were already on retainer for the hospital, and could not do it. They would have had to go out of town to get someone who could represent them.

Sincerely,

NoGluGirl

I wanted to share what sometimes helps me with the pain under the ribcage. I also had my gallbladder out several years ago, it was not working, no stones but report after surgery said chronic inflammation and infection. When I have that pain, or indigestion even, I eat about 1/2-3/4 cup of organic UNsweetened applesauce. There is something about the malic acid in apples and applesauce that helps loosen up the bile. While it doesn't completely clear it up every time it almost always reduces the pain to at least a bearable level. Hope this will help you and others with this problem.

[Mtndog]

I wanted to share what sometimes helps me with the pain under the ribcage. I also had my gallbladder out several years ago, it was not working, no stones but report after surgery said chronic inflammation and infection. When I have that pain, or indigestion even, I eat about 1/2-3/4 cup of organic UNsweetened applesauce. There is something about the malic acid in apples and applesauce that helps loosen up the bile. While it doesn't completely clear it up every time it almost always reduces the pain to at least a bearable level. Hope this will help you and others with this problem.

It's funny that you say that as I've always said that apples and potatoes are the two best foods for calming my stomach down!

[NoGluGirl]

Dear tabdegner,

Good luck with the gluten-free diet! I think it could help. The gallbladder issue is a major problem. There are many possibilities. However, the good thing is, this does not do you any harm. I would be more than happy to send you a list of safe foods. You will be surprised by what we can have, I think. Gallbladder issues were a problem for me probably for several years before it was finally removed. Thank God for intuition, or I would have been so screwed. Do not rely too heavily on your doctor. A lot of people have difficulty in readjusting after the operation. Your body cannot digest fat well most of the time. At least the postcholecystomic syndrome could be a possible answer to my troubles.

Dear AZKat,

Thank you for the tip. I will have to try that! Someone else on here was talking about how Celiac irritates the illium (a part of the body) that is located near there. I found that interesting. It is frustrating dealing with this misery on a daily basis. You think it was all going to be okay after the surgery, and yet you still suffer.

Sincerely,

NoGluGirl