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I am hoping someone here could help me.

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Irritable Bowel Syndrome
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Hopes
Regular Member
Joined : Feb 2006
Posts : 297
Posted 9/15/2006 8:08 PM (GMT -7)
I've never posted on this board before but I'm hoping someone here can help me.

I just had my gallbladder removed three weeks ago. Now I seem to be having some bowel problems. In the morning I have a touch of diarhhea but it isn't real bad.

The worse problem is in the evening. I seem constipated and after my evening meal I get bad abdominal pain especially on the left side.

I think it is bowel gas.?? It is painful and I am very uncomfortable. I feel like I need to have a bowel movement but can't or it is very difficult to. There is a rumbling in my gut and a fullness and I can only pass gas if even that. I definately have pain. What's going on?

I'm not sure what to do? Would fiber help? What kind? When do you take it? Morning or night? Everyday? Would it make constipation worse? Or diarhhea worse?

What about something like Gas X? When would I take that? Everyday? Only after I start to feel this awful pain or before? In the morning or night? I'm never quite sure when the pain is going to start. I'm thinking maybe my gut has slowed way down since surgery. Is that possible?

I'm feeling pretty bad and would really appreciate help. Is this only temporary or is this how things will be now? I'm a bit worried. I've had a hard time since my surgery.

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BumTum
Regular Member
Joined : May 2006
Posts : 307
Posted 9/17/2006 12:27 PM (GMT -7)
Time will help a lot. When I had my gallbladder out I had a lot of trouble with pain, cramps, and diarrhea - all the symptoms if IBS - just much worse.

Your body has to get used to a new way of digesting food without it's buddy, the gallbladder. It may take a few more days or weeks, but after it adjusts, you should be feeling much better.

Hang in there.
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7Lil
Veteran Member
Joined : Apr 2005
Posts : 3269
Posted 9/17/2006 1:16 PM (GMT -7)
Gas-X is to be taken at the onset of gas. To help prevent gas you can try taking Beano before your meal. If you're a tea person, peppermint tea does wonders for gas and digestion. Get used to drinking at least a cup of it a day. I'm a big fan of fresh mint tea (I grow it in my yard) and it has helped me quite a bit after a meal when I'm at my most uncomfortable.
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Keriamon
Veteran Member
Joined : Jun 2005
Posts : 2976
Posted 9/18/2006 7:51 AM (GMT -7)
Your body needs 6-8 weeks to get itself straightened out after gall bladder removal. Whatever you're left with after that point is pretty much what you've got from there on out. Doctors tell you that you'll be perfectly normal afterwards, but this is false. You're as normal as a person with only one lung. Yeah, you can live without a lung, but your marathon days are over with. The more people I talk to who have gut problems after gall bladder removal, the more I am convinced almost no one goes back to being perfectly normal after surgery. Instead almost everyone suddenly develops IBS and/or GERD. Funny, they never had either one before the surgery, but doctors can't seem to connect the dots between the two.
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kassy
New Member
Joined : Oct 2006
Posts : 10
Posted 10/3/2006 2:31 PM (GMT -7)
i have to agree with you there , i too never had any problems before i had my gall bladder removed, now i have IBS and really bad, my gallbladder op was 8years ago, and i have never been right since.
kate
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Keriamon
Veteran Member
Joined : Jun 2005
Posts : 2976
Posted 10/3/2006 4:00 PM (GMT -7)
My G.I. prescribed me Welchol for my bile diarrhea. It works like a charm. I put my m-i-l onto it too and she loves it. She said she used to have to go without eating when she traveled and did lectures because as soon as she ate, she was in the bathroom the rest of the day. And being diabetic, that was really bad for her to skip meals!

It has a constipating effect, so it's not for people who have chronic constipation (although you can take it just when you are having diarrhea--it doesn't constipate me like Immodium does). If you suffer from constipation more than diarrhea, there's supposedly an OTC medicine out there called "bile salts". It's an old-timey laxative. I couldn't find any in a drug store, but I read about them online, so I know you can order them from there. Some people, after having the GB out, don't produce enough bile to break down their food, leading to constipation. The bile salts are supposed to replicate the bile you've lost and help you get regular.

Two things I have learned since having my gall bladder out: one, a low-fat diet can constipate you really, really bad (so I don't recommend them) and two, what made me sick before having my gall bladder out generally still bothers me. For example, my biggest gall bladder attack trigger was caffeine. Sometimes I can tolerate it with my Welchol and sometimes I can't. So I finally just gave it up except for green tea (which has very little in it anyways). But the things that bothered me less often--like pizza and fried food--are generally okay so long as I don't eat too much at once and not multiple days in a row.
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