I'm 16 weeks pregnant and have been having pretty severe pain in my upper abdomen for a few days now. My OB doesn't think it's related to my pregnancy, so I have an appointment with my PCP on Monday. I'm suspicious that it's gallbladder related, but not sure. I know it's not uncommon to have gallbladder problems during pregnancy with the hormone changes. Does anyone have any similar experiences to share?
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@MrsF: I did! I think it started a little later than 16 weeks for me (I don't remember exactly). It was the severe pain in the upper right side, especially after eating high fat foods! DH and I were being soooo bad and going out to eat a lot. Lot's of food like spinach artichoke dip, etc. YUM! My doctor basically told me to cut out fat and eat really clean. I did and the problem went away! I was so scared because she said if it didn't go away with diet changes, surgery would be a possibility. I even lost a little weight when I made the dietary changes!
ETA: the problems went away completely after giving birth! -
@cmomma17: Thanks so much! I'm glad that you were able to control it with diet. I know that they do gallbladder surgeries during pregnancy but that sounds really scary. I'm curious - did your doctor do testing (non baby-related ultrasound or blood work) or make the diagnosis based just on your symptoms?
So interesting that it went away after your LO was born! My mom had to have her GB out right after my sister was born, so I figured I might be headed down the same path.
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I just had mine out. I had severe pain right after having M, but looking back, knowing what I know now, I think I had issues way back when I was pregnant with S. They just got really horrible lately, so I had it taken out.
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@MrsF: I was really scared I would have to have mine out, because I had an aunt who went through that. She had extreme pain after my niece was born, was ill (throwing up) and had emergency surgery! My OB started out by telling me to track what I ate and how I felt. She said to call her back immediately if the pain did not improve/go away after a day or two of doing so. If diet hadn't helped, she would have done an ultrasound to diagnose. The mere mention of surgery basically scared me into eating super healthy!
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I'm in the middle of this right now - I almost started an identical thread! I'm 23w1d today and started having INTENSE right side, upper abdomen pain about a week ago - I didn't sleep for three days because of the pain/discomfort, it was awful. I have had a couple of blood tests (kidney/liver function, etc) and an ultrasound tomorrow to diagnose. I've felt significant better since basically cutting out all fat from my diet three days ago, but I have a ton of other food allergies and it has been really hard to maintain the diet - I can eat about 5 things total! They're discussing surgery, but trying to avoid it until after baby comes if at all possible.
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YES. I had never had heartburn before, so when I started getting the pains when pregnant with my daughter, I figured it was standard stuff. Um, not so much. That standard heartburn landed me in emergency a couple times before they did bloodwork and an ultrasound and diagnosed my gallstones. I had to cut out all fat from my diet and basically ate like a rabbit. I went in a month after she was born and they basically widened the valve where the gallstones were getting stuck, as a means to make me feel better until I could have surgery. The pain was EASILY worse than childbirth. 5 months later my gallbladder came out and I haven't had a single moment of pain since.
Apparently pregnancy does weird stuff, and if I'd never gotten pregnant I never would have gotten gallstones. Good luck to you!
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@Sophs mama - what did you eat for protein while pregnant and on the no fat diet? I'm totally stuck on this. I'm super allergic to all fish and most beans/legumes, so that pretty much leaves super lean grilled chicken?? Not sure I can do that for every meal for the next for months, lol!
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@Dandelion: I remember reading your threads! It must have been a lot to go through but I'm glad you're doing better.
@Rocker2014: I'm so sorry to hear you're going through the same thing! I've been hardly eating anything the past few days (no appetite with the pain). I'm surprised that I'm still having so much pain because I definitely haven't had any fat. The idea of surgery while pregnant is so scary! I hope you're feeling better soon
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@MrsF: having it out is the best thing. A few days of recovery (easier than my c section) and I have felt so great ever since. Instant relief.
I hope you don't have to do it while pregnant, but it does happen all the time and surgeons are well equipped to take care of you and LO. BUT I deal would be to wait til after.
Low fat was tricky for me. I basically ate salad, fruit angel food cake and jelly beans for 3 weeks.
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In case anyone looks at this thread again in the future - I ended up in the ER last night because the pain was so bad and I was worried about baby. They did lab work and ultrasound (both abdominal organs and baby). Everything looked great and no signs of gallbladder issues (which the doctors were surprised about). They think it's probably just pregnancy gastritis, irritation of the stomach lining. Send me home on two meds and told to avoid acidic foods. Hopefully that does the trick!
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@MrsF: Just wondering how you're doing, any updates? I'm still in pretty regular pain, and my liver enzymes are off so they're still thinking gallbladder even though the ultrasound didn't show any significant gallstones. I have an appointment with a surgeon tomorrow...still hoping to not have to do that!
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@Rocker2014: I'm so sorry you're still having trouble! I've been taking the medications that they prescribed me in the ER and being pretty careful with my diet (low acid for gastritis, rather than low fat for gallbladder). I've actually only had very minor pain a few times since then, but nothing like what I was having last week.
I'm so sorry you're still in pain. It's hard to imagine that your liver enzymes are elevated without seeing anything in the gallbladder. I'll be curious to hear what the surgeon says. I hope that you get some relief soon!
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@rocker2014: I just saw this! I ate a lot of grilled chicken.. But it's one of my favourite foods, so it wasn't that torturous for me. How have you been doing?
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@MrsF
@SophsmamaThanks for the follow up - Saw the surgeon on Wednesday, they'd like to take my gallbladder out but we decided trying to wait until after baby girl is born (16ish more weeks!) is the safest course for everyone. The super low fat diet helps a lot, and I can definitely tell if I stray even a tiny bit from it. If I can tolerate the pain and don't get jaundiced/run a fever/etc. they'll take it out after I deliver.
I am now a fount of knowledge about fat free foods...especially ice cream!
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