Irritable Bowel Syndrome Message Boards | Peppermint Oil & gallbladder surgery

I went to a doctor first, then had an ultrasound, followed by a hida(?) scan, and some other tests, and then the doctor's office scheduled me to see a surgeon. He made it sound like it was going to get worse and worse and cause more problems and didn't seem to even suggest leaving it in there. At the time I was in so much pain that I just wanted it and the pain gone (I wanted them to take the appendix out while they were in there so I wouldn't have to worry about appendicitis, but they wouldn't). Any time I would eat almost anything, I got a horrible pain on my right ride up by the rib cage. My gallbladder was a little bit higher under the rib cage than normal, the doctor said, so I guess normally the pain might be lower too? Sometimes I could eat SmartOnes or LeanCuisine with the turkey and mashed potatoes and not have an attack. I think when the pain started I'd eventually have to run to the bathroom and it felt like my colon was getting rid of more than I ever could have eaten. It was miserable. We are finding out now that gallbladder problems run in the family. I was 20 when mine had to be removed. My cousin was only 18 and had hers removed by the really invasive surgery where they made a long incision because they found out she had stones and they got too big before they could schedule a laproscopic surgery. My aunt found out last week that she has stones. It's all on my mother's side of the family. My doctor didn't find any stones in me though. I'm glad I got it taken out because after I recovered from surgery I didn't get that awful pain anymore, and I won't have to worry about stones. But, I still have the IBS, I think IBS-C, and have to watch what I eat - fatty ro greasy foods affect me a lot more now. I wasn't diagnosed with IBS until after the surgery. I never had a lot of D after surgery like a lot of people mention. Sometimes if I have a bad IBS attack that lasts over several days it becomes D but generally my gut is slow moving. Now that I've been diagnosed with the IBS I can recognize a lot of the symptoms throughout my entire childhood because I always had stomach problems - they just got worse and worse until the gallbladder episode and now it's just flat out IBS-C. I'm not sure what the benefit of leaving a messed up gallbladder in there is. I was in so much pain that I don't remember a lot of the details of what the doctor said or if he even gave the option of leaving it in. What did your doctor say about it? Do you get pain from it?

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Jennifer

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