# Phantom gall bladder pain--anyone else have it?



## JuliaAnn

I am calling it phantom gallbladder pain, becasue I had my gallbladder out about a year and a half ago, healed up fine, but to this day I sometimes have pain right where my gallbladder used to be--on the right side of my upper abdomen, in the front, just up under the ribcage. Anyone who's ever had gallbladder problems will know exactly where I mean. It's a sudden, sharp, pinching pain, sometimes lasts just a few seconds, sometimes several minutes, and is very intermittent in nature and does not seem to result from my eating or not eating things.

I've addressed this with my Dr., and I had x-rays and ultrasounds twice (insurance wouldn't spring for an MRI or whatever) and those imaging methods show nothing there. He has palpated and mashed and poked with his fingers till I'm sore, and says he feels nothing. I don't feel any particular discomfort while he's doing it, other than being poked. I asked if it could be scar tissue, and he said he didn't think so. He claims there is nothing to be done, which is fine, I can understand, it's just a little annoying sometimes.

Has anyone else ever had pain in that area after having their gallbladder out?


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## Wendy

Yes. It is annoying.


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## JuliaAnn

What do you think is the cause for it?


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## uncle Will in In.

I had similar symptems and the Dr. didn't figure out the cause for over a year. I started loosing weeight rapidly, and a lower GI showed colon cancer. Your may be all together different, but I'd certainly want to know the cause. Try a different Dr.


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## hmsteader71

My friend had her gallbladder removed years ago. Then a couple years ago she had to go for some tests and they found she had a new gallbladder.


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## marvella

in a few rare cases the duct from the liver to the GB remains and can have a small stone.

more likely is either a high level impaction (constipation) or a liver that is inflamed from overindulgence is high fat/ high carb foods.

both of those issues can be cured by changes in diet.


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## tallpines

I was almost certain they had left an instrument inside me!
It took years before the discomfort went away.

I had mine done before the tiny incision procedure so ended up with a 12 inch scar.

Apparently the continuing discomfort was caused by trauma to the nerves and muscles damaged during the procedure.


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## menagerie momma

Yes. Very annoying - I find it is caused by what I eat, mostly. If I overindulge in very spicy food (my fave!) or very fatty foods, I feel like I am having a gallbladder attack all over again. Then sometimes, I will have days where nothing I ate was a no no, but I bend to the right, creasing my right side where my galllbladder used to be (does that make sense? ) and I get the pain - worse than if I ate something bad. They warned me about phantom gallbladder, and *other* troubles if I ate fatty foods. I am very blessed not to have *that* particular problem. But yes, you are not alone.

Jessie


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## RLM

I get it too. I had my gallbladder out about 10 years ago, and I still have episodes of pain. Acidy and or fatty foods seem to be the culprit. And alcohol combined with with fatty foods seems to be the kiss of death ~ no more margaritas and onion rings for me!


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## NickieL

No......I have no phantom pains. Although if I eat the wrong thing, or if I forget to eat meals and eat when I;ve let myself get too hungry then I get so sick....throwing up, runs, etc. Mainly because I had complications after the surgery that lead my pancreas to devour part of my stomach and other organs. By the time I was able to leave the hosspital I was 60 lbs lighter, all bones, so week I could hardly walk, and my surgery was already healed.


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## JuliaAnn

Thanks everyone, I apprecaite the insight. Didn't realize it was uncommon, although I'm glad I'm not the only one.

Like I said, it is very intermittent, so I am not overly concerned about it, it's just annoying when it happens. 

No onion rings? Terrible!!


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## KatW

My Mom had her gallbladder out about 4 years ago and still has the pain. She also still has lots of stomach issues but has been diagnosed with IBS. I had my gallbladder removed last year and haven't had any pain but I have found that certain foods (usually high fat) make me throw up, I assume it's because I don't have the gallbladder to help digest the fat.


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## Jokarva

I get them, best we can figure is that they're bile duct spasms brought on by something I've eaten. Also can be brought on by codeine - which I stopped taking as soon as we figured that out. 

Thank heaven they don't happen often.


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## Old John

Yiup, I get them too. I had an Ultrasound once, to no avail. No Gallstones.
By Keeping track on my own, I traced it down. I have severe gall bladder pains if I eat
too much fatty Pork or much food, fried in Lard, even donuts....I Love Donuts. 

I also get gall bladder pains severely if I eat Rye Bread or drink Rye Whiskey.........And I love them both. So, I asked my old Doc to please give me something for it. 
He said, "I have just the thing. I'll give you advice. Don't Eat it!"

It pretty much solved my problem.......I still eat to much fried foods occasionally.
Dumb, hunnh?


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## [email protected]

I just had my gallbladder out a couple of months ago. The surgeon told me before surgery that phantom pain is a possibility because the brain patterns get used to signaling pain in that area and your brain says it hurts even if it can't. I haven't had any pain there but I know someone who does have the phantom pains. I do agree with getting a second opinion. My pancreas is shot and that can be caused by the gallbladder, once it's damaged there is no going back. Has your dr. done an endoscopic ultrasound? It can show things an ultrasound from the outside won't.


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## SirDude

Do a google search for this, it's very common. I had mine out in 02 and just this year started having the pain again. 

I read more websites then I care to ever read again on people asking the same question. The same answers kept being said, maybe stones in the "Y" duct or maybe acid-reflux. I started taking the cheap version of an "Acid Controller" ($4 / 50 or 100 ct @ Wally World) and watched what I was eating for a couple of weeks and now I'm back to eating Italian, spicy foods without a problem. 

This seems to be one of those problems that most doctors don't to know how to fix / answer.


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## Osiris

Gall Bladder is definitely not a happy camper with high fatty foods. Pork specifically. But also I've found that if I simply, "don't get full", I have no problems with the old GB. That said, everything in moderation, _including moderation_. If I do get an attack, I use an equal part combination of Red Clover and Goldenseal tea. 2 cups and the attack will subside within an hour. Best method is definitely diet control though and don't get full - especially if you KNOW you're eating fatty food. 

"take a baseball - with SPIKES on it, and stuff it up under your ribs!!"

hehe


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## JuliaAnn

That's why I had it cut out! It kept getting infected, and I knew it was a matter of time before it became a life threatening situation. My dh called it my 'worm'. I don't know why. Best thing ever, getting that thing cut out of me. I have spoken to people who were anxious about having theirs removed that they would feel so much better after it was gone. I remember for several months before I had it out, I felt very bloated and full all the time, like I had just finished eating a huge meal. I felt absolutely stuffed, even when I had eaten nothing for literally one or two days, and only normal amounts of liquids like water, juice, etc. I felt vaguely nauseated all the time too, and just generally run down. The day of surgery of course I was too dopey to know anything, it was day surgery so I was in at 7 a.m. and home in bed by 4 p.m. But when I woke up the very next morning, I was immediately aware that that bloated, stuffed feeling was totally gone. I still had significant pain from the surgery, but I could tell I already felt SO much better. 

I was never told about phantom pain, guess it didn't occur to my Dr. to tell me. I try to avoid really greasy, high fat foods. There are a lot of greasy foods I've never really liked--bacon, sausage, most cheese, etc.


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## orangehen

This might not work for everyone, but I had the same thing after a gall bladder operation decades ago. Such a sharp pain that I would double over, as though I'd pulled a muscle there or something. Then I read some book by Edgar Cayce, and he recommended a flannel cloth soaked in mineral oil and fastened about your upper waist, and I tried it for a few days and never had the pain again.

All this took place about 1967, so I don't remember the name of the book or what it was talking about, sorry. All I know is that it worked!


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## Vbillman1

hi there, 
Yes I have had pain in the same area where you are having pain. But I didn’t have that pain after having my gallbladder removed I had that pain after having to shunt revision‘s. End it is right where my gallbladder used to be. My shunt is in the same side as where I had my gallbladder taken out.


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## Alice In TX/MO

old original post - 2010


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