Tip for complaints after a gallbladder operation
Hach, the human body. Inexhaustible source of literary inspiration, fund of a thousand and one story, what would I do without him? Everyone has a body. Somehow, sometimes more, sometimes less. And everybody likes to talk about it. Are not a few well-kept ailments more interesting than the annoying topic of weather? What are heavy rains and heat waves compared to a real corn-eye or a rare eczema?
After I have taken you in various posts already in the remotest regions of my body, from high blood pressure in my veins to earwax graft in the ear canal, I would like to share my personal gallbladder drama in several files. Well, brave body researcher, packs torches and provisions, we break into the depths of the human mesentery.
What is the gallbladder?
In my ignorance, I thought for a long time that the bile (bilis) is an independent organ, such as spleen or liver. It is a secretion of the liver, which is stored in the gallbladder (Vesica fellea). Where exactly? We walk down the esophagus. As soon as the stomach comes into sight, we hold ourselves diagonally on the right side of the upper abdomen and find the gallbladder pit with the gallbladder in the posterior shadow of the liver. A small pear-shaped organ, about 8 to 12 inches long and 4 to 5 inches wide. Not spectacular and yet invaluable in relation to all alimentary processes: it forms the interim storage facility for 30 to 80 milliliters of bile juice (bile) produced in the liver. If the body is given high-fat foods, the gallbladder will release this juice into the duodenum, where it helps to digest the food. One of the many processes that go unnoticed by us in the body. So far, so natural. Unfortunately, the small gallbladder has in many cases an ugly hobby: it collects stones.
How do gallstones develop?
In simple terms, gallstones (cholelithiasis) are solid, crystallized failure products that arise as a result of an imbalance of the solutes within the bile. That was a long sentence. What interests us is the term "solid products". These solid products, called stones for the sake of simplicity, accumulate in the gallbladder. There, they usually do not cause any problems and therefore often go undetected. They only make complaints when they get stuck and hinder the removal of bile. But then right: It can come to extremely painful biliary colic, in which the pain radiates to the shoulder and back. About 10 to 15 percent of all Germans are affected by the stone-collecting passion of their gallbladder, women more often than men.
How are gallstones diagnosed?
Because the gallbladder is not easy to palpate from the outside, gallstones that cause no discomfort usually do not occur until an ultrasound scan (sonography) of the abdomen. For me personally it was nocturnal strong and indefinable abdominal pain, which put me on the ultrasound couch of my family doctor. Suddenly she pointed to the monitor of the ultrasound machine, but they have a nice collection of small stones. I only saw snowstorm. "But here?" She insisted, "we call the semolina." She sent me to a specialist (gastroenterologist) who confirmed her diagnosis and advised me to surgically remove the gallbladder (cholecystectomy). I googled through all the gall forums on the net and found confirmation that possible alternatives to surgery exist, but are not very promising, or not permanently help. So surgery. That was in the spring of 2015.
Complaints after the operation
After being pushed out of the recovery room back to my room, I spotted a small, transparent plastic box with my name on the bedside table on the bedside table. In it were? no joke ? my gallstones. I counted them, 42 small chunks in a greenish liquid. Somehow disgusting, but somehow mine too. At least. Two days later, I was released with the order not to bang so clean while eating ?, otherwise everything was as usual. Not even close. No matter what and how little I ate in the next time, with or without fat, the result was always the same: At the latest ten minutes after the last bite I sat on the toilet and fought with violent cramps and diarrhea. My family doctor prescribed pork enzymes to aid my digestion. The effect was zero. I ate low in dwarf portions and soon sat hungry on the loo. Soon I ate only in the safe vicinity of a toilet anyway and before I left the house, nothing at all.
The gastroenterologist I visited diagnosed a bile acid loss syndrome in which too much bile juice gets into the small intestine and there so-called 'chologe diarrhea'? triggers.Also the bulky term? Postcholic cystectomy syndrome? fell in the conversation (means post = post, chole = bile, cyst = bladder, ectomy = removal, syndrome = symptoms). A phenomenon that occurs in some people after removal of the gallbladder, but you could not do very much there. But I was not ready to spend my remaining years of life in the immediate vicinity of a toilet. Eating nothing more was not a real alternative.
The saving tip: cholestyramine
I went back to the virtual world of internet galleries and lo and behold: I was not alone with my problem. After some research, I came across a tip that both my GP and the specialist had not been able to give me: An active ingredient that is actually used to treat elevated cholesterol levels, but supposedly works wonders in chologene diarrhea. Cholestyramine. To make it short: My family doctor was baffled, but prescribed me a pack of the (unbelievable) size of a shoebox. There were 100 sachets of water-soluble powder. I do not believe in miracles, but the effect of cholestyramine on my gut makes me doubt that attitude.
Since the first ingestion (just drinking the contents of a bag of water before eating), I am completely symptom free, no matter what I eat. Of course, the drug is as usual in a leaflet, whose reading makes one dizzy in view of the possible side effects. However, I did not notice any negative effects and am grateful for the quality of life I have regained every day. If someone of you suffers from similar problems: Just ask the doctor you trust about experience with cholestyramine. Oh yes ? On the net, many talk about the terrible taste of the remedy. There are several manufacturers and I can assure that Ratiopharm produces a variety that does not taste bad, more like a mixture of a magnesium and a vitamin C effervescent tablet.
