Damn. A friend of mine just went through that same thing with her gall bladder and I was so scared for her.

See a different doctor. Go to your surgeon. That's not a coincidence and it's not something you can shrug off.

If worse comes to worse, I know this may sound crazy, go to a walk in clinic. Tell them your background and they can give you an unbiased opinion or may send you straight to the ER. I go to one whenever I'm not sure my doc isn't diagnosing me from my history instead of my symptoms.

It's clearly not nothing.

Best of luck!!!!!

And in case you need something to cheer you up: When my friend was in the hospital, my mom, absent minded wonder that she is, remembered to warn me that the carpet cleaners were stopping by days in advanced. But it took her three days for her to remember that my friend's mom had called that she was in the hospital. Her reasoning? My friend couldn't have visitors plus the car wasn't available - but the carpet cleaners where working in my video gaming room.

Definitely not something to put off! I had my gall bladder removed a loooong time ago :) , but I get a "pulling" type pain in my stomach that is due to scar tissue. The docs don't want to operate because they say the scarring could be worse from the surgery to remove the scars. Go figure. If it gets worse, they will operate and that is okay too. Whatever it is that's causing your pain should definitely be evaluated.
Let us know how it goes.
Good luck and God bless,
Marcia

I wont ever go back to the surgeon who operated on me. I had nothing but complications after my gall bladdor was removed.
Things from internal bleeding from a busted suture, to infection with the insision sites, and last but not least severe secondary kidney infection that nearly shut my kidneys down. When I went back to my surgeon when I started having a horrible pain from my right hip to the top of my right shoulder all he was willing to do was medicate me for pain so I went to my family doctor and she found that my kidneys were almost failing the infection was so severe.

I have an appointment with my family doctor next week so I'll ask her again or ask her to recomend someone for me to see.

Thanks you two!

At least your family doctor will listen and help you. So many docs just want to give you meds and send you on your way. I have been very lucky with my docs over the years. They actually think I might know something about my own body. :)

Let us know what you find out.
Good luck and God bless,
Marcia

I am not a doctor or a nurse, but the anatomy in the area could also implicate your Pancreas. Have you had a fasting blood glucose test in a while? Or are you diabetic? These are things I would ask. The gallbladder feeds into the common bile duct, and from there meets up in the pancreas where it exits into the duodenum. It is possible, from what I read online, that you can still develop stones in the common bile duct even if you've had the cholecystectomy. I hope this never, ever happens to you again! Definitely don't settle for medicating the problem and letting it go. If pancreas is fine, the transverse colon is also in this area. I also have IBS and occasionally get shooting, stabbing pain like you describe, but not at all for that amount of time. It's very brief for me. Keep us posted on any developments!

I was just reading somewhere on line a few days ago about something called "postcholecystectomy syndrome" which affects a large percentage of people after removal of the gall bladder. I just looked it up and found this link, which seems to have some good information.

http://www.gallbladderattack.com/gallbladdersurgery.shtml

I have fasting blood tests done every 3-4 months because there is diabetes throughout my family so far I'm not diabetic. I do have pretty advanced "fatty" liver disease though. When my gall bladdor first went bad the doctors thought it was my liver failing because of how severely it reacted.
I've written down some questions to ask my doctor when I see her.

Thanks for all the info!!!!

Looking at your pretty profile picture, assuming it's you and current, I am definitely old enough to be your mother. I had all boys, so I have 'adopted' girls all over the country. Soooo . . . coming from a mom substitute, I would say, "Get off that damn computer and get yourself to an urgent care facility or to the ER if this happens again.

None of us here knows what's going on with you, thought we all google all kinds of things and gain a little bit of knowledge. But a little knowledge can be a dangerous thing. Don't fool around with this. You can be hurting terribly in one place, but it's actually 'referred' pain from somewhere else. Our bodies are amazing and complex entitities. That's why it takes years to become a doctor and even more to be a surgeon, etc. (Just have to watch out for those that graduated in the bottom 5% of their class.)

Don't fool around with this. I know nobody wants to go sit in the ER, but take something with you to read, or puzzles to work, and some music and be patient. OR, better yet, if you are in acute pain, dial 911. That will get you in there a little faster.

I haven't a clue how old you are. You look younger than my kids, but I'm not saying their ages. (The youngest is freaked out that he's so 'old.') Heck, the oldest is freaked out he's a grandpa - which kind of freaked me out too.

Anyway, you will find that as time goes by, you will have all kinds of things that will make you wonder what in the hell is going on with me NOW!

In fact, I had a normal appt. today with the optomostrist as my vision is getting worse. Been doing this since I was in the 4th grade (back in the dark ages). Well, before we got started, we had this long discussion about me once having diabetes, but after my gastric bypass, that seemed to resolve itself. But then my doctor said you never really get rid of diabetes, it's just that mine is now under control because of what I eat. (He hasn't seen what I eat. LOL) So, long story short, I didn't get my eyes checked, didn't get to order new glasses, but have to get a referral to an endocrinologist.

I have to hand it to this medical asst. because she was aware that narcoleptics have a somewhat predisposition to diabetis. Won't go into that now. I was bummed. Adding another doctor to my already long list ticks me off. Seeing doctors is the extent of my social life.

Ok, one more time from a 'Mom' - get yourself checked out and the sooner the better. My appendix went from bad to acute emergency in no time flat once.

Mom signing off. Now I'm just Andrea. Take care of yourself.

Hi mom (andrea) :)

My picture is me and current, I'm 25.
I see my doctor next week. I would go to the hospital when there is an attack but I have no warning, it just hits, I'm fine one minute and the next i'm not, and i never know how long it'll last. The attacks come and go, i can have a few a day or a couple days a week then go months without one and slam it's happening.
If/when i have another attack i will take my butt to the hospital.

Thanks :)

Another mom putting in my two cents worth....do not wait to get to the ER if/when another attack occurs. PLEASE DO NOT MESS AROUND WITH THIS! Oh yeah, I had my gall bladder removed in 1985 and even now remember that the pain was like childbirth. No fun at all!

I think I mentioned keloid scar tissue could be a problem in an earlier post...plus it could be a hernia. The list goes on so take your butt to the doctor or ER without delay if you are having an attack. Please.

Are you keeping a journal? Try keeping track of foods that you are eating and see if any of them set this off. Maybe it is diveticulitis or some kind of food allergy. I dont' know if I am lactose intolerant, but I know I have problems when I drink milk or eat yellow cheese. Yogurt and white cheese don't seem to bother my stomach. I love popcorn, but cannot always eat it or even certain types of bread because of the seeds/kernels.

We want you healthy. Let us know how you are doing.
Marcia

i would also cut out any fatty foods for a while as my dad when he had attacks like this it was cause he had eaten to mant fats

Hey Sleepystar, are you feeling the love? LOL Seriously we get concerned about one another and watch out for each other so get yourself in for some help ASAP. And there are just so many possibilities. If you're doctor should make light of it, you just plant yourself in the chair or on the exam table and tell him you're not leaving until he covers all the bases. So easy for them to chalk things up to something innocuous. Gall Bladder, pancreatitis, Celiac disease, IBS, scar tissue, hernias. I've had so many hernia surgeries I've lost count. My son too. You don't want to mess around with them because you can end up with a strangulated hernia - not good. Well, heck, none of the above are good. So get yourself checked out unless you find yourself needing to tap 911 on your phone. You don't want all us moms sitting her worried, do you?

And let us know how you are doing...Moms need to know that our kids are feeling well and/or taking care of themselves. LOL

And a mom is only as happy as her saddest child.

Oh boy, I'm in trouble. Right now I have some really sad kids.

Hi to Moms

Yes, I am feelin the love! and it's nice!

Wish I could say that I'm feeling good. I caught a nasty stomach virus from my brother and have been battling it all weekend. I'm finally winning the battle. Add the stomach virus to a lovely case of upper respritory infection and I'm just up the creek with no paddle lol.

I see my doctor on Wednesday. I plan to be flat out annoying if I have to be to get answers. My family doc is pretty good about listening to my concerns. If she cant find an answer she'll send me to someone who can.

I'll keep ya guys posted on how things are going!