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Anyone ever dealt with gallstones?
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Apparently the crippling pain I've been dealing with on the run of my last two tri's has been due to gallstones. Some brief research tells me surgery and removal of the gallbladder is the only real option. Unfortunately my employers health insurance is complete garbage so I would be left with a humongous bill, also looking at potentially flying somewhere to have the procedure done. Anyone else ever dealt with this? Is it possible it goes away on its own? Any other options? Thanks in advance.
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Re: Anyone ever dealt with gallstones? [Terrordact] [ In reply to ]
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I got the same diagnosis about October 2018, with some pain during the runs and couple of pain attacks that took me to ER. After the imaging reveled gallstones I was sent directly to surgeon. Then he explained that’s up to me to get the gallbladder removed as the only solution. since the pain attacks started there was no way to tell when they will happen again, and it was most likely to have more pain one after another, and 1 of 10 of the attacks are life threatening. I did the math and got the gallbladder removed in January. It took me about a month to get fully functional after that but no stomach pain anymore. Hope it helps.
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Re: Anyone ever dealt with gallstones? [Terrordact] [ In reply to ]
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I had my gallbladder removed as an emergency surgery less than a week before my scheduled 70.3 a couple of years ago.

I had no signs of trouble until I was in such intense pain that I couldn't stay still and my husband insisted on taking me to the ER. I had a stone over an inch in length jammed in the neck of my gallbladder, which was going gangrenous. They estimated it would likely have burst and likely killed me within 48 hours.

I would strongly recommend that you find a way to get it taken care of, especially if you can do it on your own schedule. Mine was done laparoscopically and the recovery was... OK. I got really tired really quickly for a long time afterwards. Slept a lot the first week. I was riding my gravel bike on the trail trail after about two and a half weeks, short distances and super gently (and against doctors suggestion, but I was going nuts). I jogged after about a month. I didn't swim for a couple of months, but that might have been overly cautious.
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Re: Anyone ever dealt with gallstones? [Terrordact] [ In reply to ]
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Unfortunately there are not many options for conservative management that will make the gallstones disappear on their own. There are options to look at what you can do diet wise to help reduce the incidence of attacks.
How sure are they that the symptoms you had during the triathlon were secondary to your gallstones? I only ask as classically the symptoms are food related and particularly more likely with fatty foods, which would not be as common during a triathlon.
There are a number of bad things that can happen with gallstones, such as cholecystitis and pancreatitis, so you do need to be super careful. A laparoscopic cholecystectomy is not a major procedure to have done if it all goes smoothly, but it is also an operation best done when before you run into problems like cholecystitis.
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Re: Anyone ever dealt with gallstones? [Terrordact] [ In reply to ]
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Just had my gallbladder removed 2 weeks ago....had no warning but 3 attacks in 3 weeks....the third ended me up in the ER with pains worse than giving birth!! Like many - they leave it up to you whether you want it removed and I figured I'm here...just get rid of it!

The procedure itself is fairly simple and 2 days post -op I didn't even need tylenol anymore.

Worst part of us (triathletes) is the sitting around....no core work for 6 weeks was recommended to reduce chances of hernia. I started walking 3 days post-op and just started back on the bike trainer around recovery intensity. Like others said...it's the slow recovery period that just sucks - no heavy lifting, no swimming, very light cardio work.

Had to skip Maine 70.3 and the rest of my season but.....it's better than that horrible pain sneaking up on you.

On the plus side I got down to race weight with very little effort!!
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Re: Anyone ever dealt with gallstones? [guillermoD] [ In reply to ]
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Not sure how to reply to multiple people in one post, but you guys have sufficiently terrified me. I have one more race this year (sprint) on the 18th, and was considering another in mid september, now that seems unlikely. I was thinking of waiting until November, doing some research on how I can get this done as cost effectively as possible (while not doing it in some back alley butcher shop), but now maybe I'll seek something out ASAP.
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Re: Anyone ever dealt with gallstones? [Terrordact] [ In reply to ]
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Personally I wouldn’t fly anywhere to get a surgery.... have you ever watched the tv show botched?! 😰😱
Anyways, gallstones begin forming and they can be passed they the digestive system sometimes should they be still small enough.

Have you gotten an ultrasound yet to confirm that you do have gallstones? A simple change on your diet can easily begin helping you to avoid making those stones bigger, plus remember that once your gall bladder is removed your diet will have to change drastically to accommodate your body initially... it could also be small kidney stones as that’s what I was told part of my side pain was a bit of gallstones and a couple of kidney stones. Again, I would never ever E-V-E-R go outside of the USA to get surgery under any circumstance



Terrordact wrote:
Apparently the crippling pain I've been dealing with on the run of my last two tri's has been due to gallstones. Some brief research tells me surgery and removal of the gallbladder is the only real option. Unfortunately my employers health insurance is complete garbage so I would be left with a humongous bill, also looking at potentially flying somewhere to have the procedure done. Anyone else ever dealt with this? Is it possible it goes away on its own? Any other options? Thanks in advance.

Speed kills unless you have speed skills!!!
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Re: Anyone ever dealt with gallstones? [playero] [ In reply to ]
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Yes, I had a physical, and after some numbers came back odd, he sent me for an ultrasound. That's when I was diagnosed, however, I hadn't had any issues at the time, so he said don't worry about it unless they start to give you problems. This started on my 70.3 in June, had never had any issues previously. Then I had a pain running a fast (for me) 5k at a little local race. Now it's starting a bit during hard swims, and in my sprint race this past Sunday. I started to research my symptoms and everything made sense.

I plan on seeing my Primary Care Physician this week, and going from there.

I'm not talking about going somewhere 3rd world. Canada, EU, and possibly where I was born (I have dual citizenship) are what I am considering. Without this conversation turning political, the US has the worst ranked healthcare system of any developed country, why would I not consider going elsewhere for higher quality and less costly care?
Last edited by: Terrordact: Aug 6, 19 6:40
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Re: Anyone ever dealt with gallstones? [Terrordact] [ In reply to ]
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Got hit with it several years ago as I training for a marathon. I woke up one night in horrible pain that came out of nowhere. I had no idea what it was and I didn't think it was a huge deal but something told me to get it checked out. When to my doctor's walk-in hours and was immediately sent to the ER. They told me it was most likely a gallbladder attack. They did a scan and one of the gallstones was causing a cystic duct obstruction and they diagnosed me with acute cholecystitis. I was immediately admitted to the hospital and given IV antibiotics since my gallbladder was inflamed and causing a fever. Had surgery the next morning to remove my gallbladder. They wanted to do surgery that day but they had to let the antibiotics do their job and get my fever down. They told me that if I waited any longer my gallbladder would have burst and it would have been life threatening.

I was back running 10 days after surgery and have not had any issues since. I don't think it goes away but I have read that people will get attacks and deal with it until it gets to the point that they no longer can tolerate the pain. I don't think it goes away on it's own. Once the stones are there, they don't simply dissolve. My case was an exception and I didn't have a choice (fortunately I have good insurance). You want to be careful as one of those stones has the potential of causing an obstruction then you'll be in a situation where you have no other options.
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