gallbladder surgery, Afraid... Options

[jerzme]

Recently I have heard of people having gallbladder surgery and the one thing they have in common is jenny craig....is there something I can do to prvent this from happening?

[emerald_green]

Gallbladder attacks can be caused by a number of things, though quickly loosing a lot of weight is often a culprit. I've known of many people who needed gallbladder surgery as a result of being pregnant!

Overall, I believe the risk of staying overweight and suffering from diabetes, heart disease, certain types of cancer, etc. is much higher and much worse than the risk of needing your gallbladder removed due to weight loss. I already have high blood pressure at the relatively young age of 36, so I am far more worried about getting this weight off to reduce my blood pressure than the small risk of gallbladder problems.

Dont let fear prevent you from reaching your goals.

Angela

[ScorpioScuba]

My sister had her gallbladder removed last month. She hadn't been on JC but has lost some weight over the last year. The surgery was done laproscopically and was outpatient. Pretty painless. In the grand scheme of things I am with Angela - the risks of being overweight far outweigh any potential issues from losing weight.

[AvivaG]

As Emerald Green said, it's losing a lot of weight quickly that causes problems... I've posted previously how quick weight loss caused my brother a bout of gout! Ouch!

Make sure your weight loss is only 1 -2 pounds per week. If it's faster than that, you'll need to adjust your calories in/out. Express your concerns to your JCC. That way, if you are losing faster, s/he'll understand why you want to up your calories.

I'll jump on the bandwagon and say that the risks of staying overweight are much greater than the risks of problems from losing it.

[sopalto]

About a month ago I found out I had gall stones, and I've had 2 major gallbladder attacks. I didn't relize that losing weight fast could cause the stones. I worked hard over the past months and got big results in my weigh-ins.

But my question is before I consider surgery, I heard alot about natural remedies for healing gall stones. Do any of you have any advice or experience with that?

[Mama Bear37909]

I lost about 70 lbs on a diet 2+ yrs ago. I came home from working out one night and i started gettin major pains in my right side. I dealt for 2 days then couldnt handle no more for i was in tears, calling the doc he sent me directly to the hospital for tests on my gallbladder. It showed nothing (when your overweight soemtimes your stones arent picked up) so they did a hida scan again nothing. I have dealt with major attacks now for over 2 yrs. I have gained back all 70 lbs and then some. I ended up being deathly ill and they refused to do anyting about my gallbladder because of it. Now i have no insurance, still haveing the issues with my gallbladder and went for a second opinion. Now they are starting to do tests all over again. Hopefully they will result in removing my bladder for the pain is really bad. When i explained this to my JCC on my first visit she said soemtimes it is normal for gallbladder issues to arise from losing weight too fast. Put it this way, I have high blood pressure, high cholestoral, diabetic, retain water severly and anemic. Had i insisted on a second opinion b4 i regained the 70+ lbs and had my bladder removed, i prolly would not be diabetic right now (although my diabetes was brought on by a sever infection, my weight kept it). I agree with everyone else. Id rather have my bladder out as a result of losing weight then continue to go the way i am at 39 id be gone in no time! Talk to your JCC they will explain to you as mine did to me.

Good Luck

[jerzme]

Thanks, yes that all does make sense...I joined last night. Started this am!

[wldgrl]

I lost 60 pounds in 2 years doing WW and had a gall bladder attack after getting to my then goal. I was told that I met the 4 Fs: fat, female, fertile, and (over) 40. The BIG problem I had was I only ate 2 -3 meals a day and had most of my calories between 5 - 10 pm when I was at work. I didn't eat much during the day, would have a coffee & pastry from Starbucks before going to work, and would eat my dinner when I got home.

Big problems, enventually. I was still utilizing my points during the day but not eating many of my calories during the day until I went to work.

I gained some weight back after my mom got sick and I had to take on a lot of the family bills and housework functions. For my own perspective: I eat many meals during the day and don't eat all the JC meals (only lunch and dinner). I have to stay away from some of the preservitives so I don't have the cereals and snacks, and I only have oatmeal or eggs and toast for the breakfast meal. I only have fruit or milks for the snacks.

It works for me and I still have NOT had my gall bladder surgery and have NOT had any attacks or GERD in the past 3 years. I still have a few more pounds to lose for my personal goal.

JC food has not caused me to have any problems with my gall bladder even since I have gained a few pounds back. I have not had any problems in the past year, anyway.

Hope this helps.

[LeeDixie78]

I had my gallbladder removed back in 1999/2000. Mine was due to gentics. Gall Bladder disease runs in my family. I started JCC for the first time back in 2005. So it was unrelated.

[Veatros]

Recently I have heard of people having gallbladder surgery and the one thing they have in common is jenny craig....is there something I can do to prvent this from happening?

I lost 15 pounds over 4 months with Jenny Craig. Then, had my gall bladder out. It seems to be tied to weight loss (perhaps low fat diets?). I didn't have a problem while on Jenny Craig, but about 2 months after going off the diet, I had pains and had it removed. The surgery went well and I can eat normally now.

[EllenWheels]

The need for gall bladder surgery for gallstones is not common among JC members, at least not as a result of being on the program.

Problematic gallstones requiring surgery happens in about 4%-6% of people who go on a weight loss diet, particularly a rapid weight loss diet. JC is not a rapid weight loss diet, and in fact, if you are losing too quickly, the program will increase calories so that you are not losing too quickly. Gallstone disease happens much more frequently with weight loss surgery or very low calorie diets (less than 800 calories a day).

So what causes gallstones? There are two types, but the type we should be most concerned about are cholesterol gallstones, the most common type foud in obese patients. Cholesterol gallstones develop when bile contains too much cholesterol and not enough bile salts. Obesity, not dieting, is the cause of the gallstones. Obesity further complicates the situation. A large clinical study showed that being even moderately overweight increases one's risk for developing gallstones. This is probably because obesity tends to cause excess cholesterol in bile, low bile salts, and decreased gallbladder emptying. Very low calorie, rapid weight-loss diets, and prolonged fasting seem also to cause gallstone formation.

In addition, female hormones seem to increase cholesterol production, setting up prime conditions for gallstone formation.

Millions of people have gallstones, yet remain asymptomatic.

One reason gallbladder problems show up in weight loss is because going on a low fat diet decreases the need for the gall bladder to release bile. Bile is used to break up dietary fat. When we eat a low fat diet, especially after consuming a high fat diet for a prolonged period of time, the bile ducts become used even less. So the next time a high fat meal is consumed (which usually happens right before a gallstone attack), the gall bladder is stimulated to release more bile than it has in quite a while—and the sudden, large demand for bile also causes any gallstones to be expelled along with the bile. If a large one is positioned near the bile duct, it can be forced into the duct, causing a very painful attack.

I asked my JCC (who has worked in my center for six years) about this rumor (that it is common for people who go on JC to have to have gall bladder surgery. She told me that in all the years she has worked there, she has only heard of three, and both of them had gone seriously off program when it happened. One had a big pizza dinner followed by ice cream, another had a hamburger and onion rings, and she didn't know what the other had eaten just before the attack that caused the need for surgery—but she had decided to take a break from the program about a week before, and when the JCC called to see how she was doing, she told her she was recovering from the surgery, but would be back in a few weeks to get back on program.

[sngrgirl]

I had my gall bladder removed 7 weeks ago. I hit my goal of 70 lbs lost after a year of JC. I hit my goal in November of 07 and started having attack in May of 08. I was within 5 lbs of my goal when they started occuring. Through my research I found out that gall bladder removal is one of the most common surgeries in the US. Especially if you are female. As surguries go, it really wasn't bad. My surgery started at 7:45 am and I was home by 3 that afternoon. I returned to work a week later and had to wait 4 weeks to start working out again.

The pathology reports found that I had chronic problems with my gall bladder. I had gallstones long before I started JC and if I didn't have it removed 7 weeks ago I would have had to have it removed within 5-7 years.

I completely agree with the other posters about the health implications of being obese being far worse than getting gallstones. Especially if you have good health insurance.

Let me know if you have any questions.

Best,
Tauren

[sngrgirl]

Also to Lisa who asked about natural remedies...

I researched them as well and spoke to my doctor about them. I especially wondered about doing a gall bladder flush. My doctor advised against doing this. The reason why is that if the flush works, the idea is to pass the stones through the bile duct into the stomach and out of the body. The reason he said not to do it is that you don't know how big the stones are or how many there are. If there is a particularly large stone it could get stuck in the bile duct and the gall bladder could get infected. If that happens, you could end up having to have emergency surgery. The difference between emergency surgery and elective surgery are huge. Besides the costs which will be much higher, with laporoscopic surgery it is often out patient. The scars are really tiny and you are back on your feet within a week. If you have emergency surgery it is more likely that you will have a larger incision (4-5 inches across your abdomen) and it will take longer to recouperate and will involve a longer hospital stay.

Also, gall stones can reform. If you form them once, you are likely to get them again even if the flush works.

All of this convinced me not to try a gall bladder flush.

Best,
Tauren