Gallbladder?

How many of you had Gallbladder problems ruled out prior to an IBS diagnosis?

I was diagnosed with acid reflux and IBS both before doctors finally discovered, after 5 YEARS, that I really had had a bad gall bladder all along. Funny, my mother and I were both telling them that from the beginning. In fact, everyone in my family was telling me that was my problem because everyone in my family has had a bad gall bladder. But no one ever took genetics into consideration.

Ultrasounds don't do anything but show stones. You HAVE TO HAVE a hida scan in order to determine gall bladder functionality. My gall bladder was not functioning correctly all the time. Thus why sometimes I would be okay and sometimes I would be terribly sick. When they analyzed it after taking it out, they declared it "chronically inflamed". That sort of thing doesn't show up on a hida scan. CathyA, you need to find another doctor and get a hida scan done if you suspect your gall bladder. You really need to have it done when you're having a bad spell because I had two done when I was not having a bad spell and one came back inconclusive and the other normal. I've even gone so far as to recommend that a day or two before the test, people eat and drink everything that they know makes them ill just to bring on an attack. If your gall bladder looks good while you're having an attack, then it shouldn't be your gall bladder; otherwise it will show up.

When I had an attack--which usually, but not always--happened in the middle of the night--I would wake up sick to my stomach. Lying down intensified this feeling 10-fold. I would get up and pace around my living room cramping all along my diaphram (several doctors said I wasn't have GB problems because people only hurt on the right side). After some time--usually about 30 minutes--the pain and sick feeling would intensify suddenly and I would go sit on the toliet and hold a trash can and wished I could die. Then I would have a fairly explosive bowel movement, sometimes followed by another one or two additional movements. I would then become very chilled, but the pain and sick feeling would start to subside. I could then return to bed, but I had to go to sleep sitting up for a few hours afterwards because lying down made me sick again.

Supposedly the inability to lie flat on your back when you're having an episode is a hallmark symptom of a bad gall bladder. Vomiting is also common, but I only ever did it once. Vomit and stools during and after attacks tends to be yellow or greenish in hue, become more and more yellow/green the longer you expel fluids. I usually had diarrhea the day after an attack and the more I pooped, the yellower it became until it was daffodil-bright yellow. Bile also burns like the devil and there's nothing you can do or take to stop the burning in your esophagus or rectum. I also sometimes hurt up into my right shoulder and down into my right arm--my elbow would ache and ache like it has been severely injured. This usually happened after I drank something with caffeine in it, but sometimes it happened with food too. This too is a common gall bladder symptom. The other common symptom I had was the sudden feeling that I had overeaten and was in danger of vomiting. This would happen before I had even finished my regular amount of food for a meal, but some people complain of feeling Thanksgiving-miserable after only three or four bites.