In 2000, at age 26, I had my gallbladder removed due to 3 large, passage blocking stones. The attacks started when I was 23, but had no health insurance and figured it must be the start of an ulcer, so I self-treated with Pepto. After getting health insurance and seeing a doctor right away, they prescribed Previcid, which worked great most of the time and they started the battery of tests that found the stones. My pain was increasingly excruciating. It was about as you described yours, but I also had a lot of pain in my neck and the back of my left shoulder, which the doctor said abdominal pain tends to show up in the oddest ways. (My ex-husband's kidney stone attacks prevented him from lifting his arm at the shoulder.) My gall bladder attacks started coming fairly often and one night I made myself stay up all night just so I wouldn't have one. They were driving me insane. My IBS is thought to have been triggered by years of eating disorders accompanied by diet pills, laxatives, and antidiarreals. Since removing my gallbladder and as I get older, acid reflux, indegestion and heart burn have become prevelent, but I've also learned what I can eat and what I can't and what to take if I do. If your gallbladder is still functioning then I can see why a doctor wouldn't want to remove it, but I can almost guess that there will be stones eventually. Stay with the same doctor, so there is a medical history and keep a journal of the attacks or at least note them on a calendar regarding time, what you'd eaten, what you were doing, what it felt like, etc. Good luck.
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Re: Has anyone here had gallbladder problems?
