Gallstones at 24 Weeks

I had the my gallbladder take out before I had children. But stay away from greasey or spicey food . It will cause the pain to come back and they usually come inthe middle of the night. It seems as if there is no comforting postionto be in . They probably won't operate until you give birth. Go to an IG doctor . They will how to handle this issue .

Hi J.,
I unfortunately did go through this same thing....I was put on a no fat diet...which lets be honest is nearly impossible to do...but I found it better than dealing with that pain...because really it is not fun...for me the pain was worse than labor....I lived on fat free bologna(I know its nasty) sandwiches with mustard, fat free pringles, toast with jelly, pickles, low fat poptarts for when I was craving something sweet....and that is pretty much it...I eventually ended up having my gallbladder out 3 months after I had my daughter...and it was THE BEST thing I ever did....Tell your friend I am soo sorry and can sympathize with her on the pain thing...dont think there is much that they can do while she is still pregnant though...If she has any more questions Id be glad to try to help!!
Meg :)

Oh and P.S. Tylenol doesnt even touch the pain...when I ended up in the ER the first time they gave me 3 Tylenol and it did absolutely nothing....I dont think anyone can understand how painful a gallbladder attack is unless they have gone through it!!! LOL

If it gets unbearable, I am sure her docs will suggest
she have her GB out. Baby will not be in any danger.
It is done laparascopically and recovery is very, very
quick. Within a week you are back 100%.

I highly, highly reccomend she visit her doctor immediately. My experience with gall stones wasn't until after my 3rd child had been born, but an ultrasound showed "innumerable" gall stones and the surgeon told me any one of those stones could work its way to the bile duct where it could get lodged and at that point it could be fatal if you don't make it to emergency surgery in time. A friend of mine had her gall bladder out when she was 5 months pregnant- this is probably what your friend will have to do for the saftey of both her and her baby.

Hi.
Same thing happened to me at about the same time in my pregnancy. I ended up in the hospital for about 2 weeks, while they monitored me and the baby and were deciding how to proceed. During that time I was on IV's and all liquid (clear) diet. They released me as is, and gave me a very very strict diet to follow when home, and pain meds for when it was too bad. That lasted for about a week (or less) and I had another attack and was back in the hospital.
I had to have the gallbladder removed at about my 28th week pregnant. It wasn't too awful bad. They did laser surgery, monitored me and the baby constantly, and within a couple days I was up and somewhat back to normal. Once I was released to go home, I had 2-3 check-ups a week to make sure me and the baby were ok.
So...they won't remove it if they don't have to, but it is do'able if needed.

I have stones and had them while I was pg with my two girls. I got attacks more frequently when I was pg, and learned quickly what I could/couldn't eat. No fatty foods, definitely no greasy fried foods at all! Also things with heavy cream sauces bothered me, and real butter anything! Have her do a search on what foods others have learned to avoid. My last attack while I was pg was horrible, and was brought on by me eating one too many rice krispie treats!! I do not eat those anymore! Good luck to her, it sure is a painful thing. Tylenol does work for me - however I take it as soon as I might possibly feel an attack coming on - I take 4 and go to bed! when I wake up its usually passed....

I had this just after the birth of my second child. I did not want to have surgery with a newborn and toddler who needed me, so I looked for a natural alternative. I drank kombucha tea, 4 oz. a day for 2 weeks and the pain completely went away and hasn't returned yet (it has been 4 months). You can find kombucha iced tea at Whole Foods. I have heard that apple vinegar can give the same results. Good luck - I know how painful this is and how desperate you feel for a solution.

Gallstone pain is the worst pain I've ever had in my life. Worse than childbirth, worse than C-sections, worse than surgery.

Everyone was telling me not to eat spicy food. That did not work. It was the fatty foods that gave me so much pain.

I went on a diet for the last 4 months of my pregnancy (after I was hospitalized and on IV for it all) eating nothing but vegetable soups and grilled chicken.

I was pain free most of the time.

I remember my second attack before the hospitalization. I just left my OB after the sugar test. I hadn't eaten all morning. So I stopped at a Wendy's drive through. I ate about 2 french fries and then thought I was dying. I had to pull my car over and call an ambulance!

Low fat to zero fat diets work best!

I had gall bladder removed about 2 months after baby.

omg yes! I was fortunate to have them just after I was pregnant. Apparently it is quite common. My doctor gave the info to me this way... FFFF female fat forty and fertile...lol I fit all those catagories at the time. About 2 months later I had it removed because of its being inflamed. Your friend will have to grin and bear for four more months...this pain is truely worse than child birth!

I went through it, but luckily it was 6 months after giving birth. It was indeed so very painful and I honestly almost died because I got severe pancreatitis as a result. The only solution is to get the gall bladder removed, which is relatively quick/easy procedure. However, I'm sure they are quite reluctant to do so while she is still pregnant. Definitely the surgeons decision but she should advocate for herself and be informed of what risks she would be running b/c it's also up to her to decide on taking those risks or not based on how much pain she is in. Other than surgery, they are quite right about keeping away from all greasy foods and such. Best wishes, N.