Gallstones Discovered During Pregnancy

I.; i had galstones right after the birth of my first child, the pain was really intense, in face i ended up in emergency surgery , 6 months after the birth, not cause of pregnancy, but because i had tiny stones that had plugged the bile duct, the gal bladder is a holding tank for the bile that the liver makes and when you eat it releases the bile into the intestines to mix with your food to help break it down, this also gives our poo that dark color, without it, your stools are bright florescent yellow, like mine was with no bile getting through system then you can go jaundice and it can destroy your liver if left too long, most cases do not go that far, so dont fret, the best way to avoid the pain, is dont eat greasy foods, if i ate at pizza hut, i had pain, if i ate fried chicken , pain, french frries, pain, my surgery was the old fashioned way , and was 21 years ago, now a days its non evasive, and usually outpatient, and done pretty quickly, so your recovery is only about a day or two, not too bad once the side effects of the anethesia wears off, usually you are good to go, my husband has been showing signs of gal stones,a nd i was talking to my sister, she said have him drink olive oil and lemon? not sure, the concoction or the amount, but she said it disolves the stones, but it did nto make sense to me, since the gal bladder is not in the intestinal track , but she said it worked for her but she stll had to have gal bladder removed, so i dont know, she said it softens the stones, so you can pass them, but food does not get to the gal bladder , it just releases bile into the intestines, the food does not cross the path of the gal bladder itself, so im not sure if it works, but avoid greasy foods, at all costs, it will keep the pain away, and you can live with stones, for quite a while, and they can get bigger over time, so hang in there, and dont fret, for some reason greasy fods flare up the pain, eat right and enjoy , D. s

I.,

I can truly relate I had gallstones with my first prgnancy and the pain was so severe at times I felt like I was having a heart attack. Pay close attention to what you are eating that causes flair ups. I had to watch my fiber intake as that was something that set me off. I could not eat apple peels or high fiber foods. Tums and malox stopped working for me. Papaya helped a lot. I also lifted the head of my bed as lying flat caused flair ups at times. I went to a endocrinologist that specialized in OB patients (this was 10 yrs ago), because I was not comfortable taking the Demoral and stuff for pain. He put me on this little blue capsule called Actigall, which help me make it through my 3/4th Trimester. God Bless You!

Hi I., I can't exactly speak to gall bladder problems during pregnancy, so I apologize if this is not what you wanted. My husband recently had gall bladder surgery. He was hospitalize for 4 days while they investigated what was causing his problems. They did the surgery 2 weeks later.

I tell you this because the gall stones were causing severe liver problems. What I know from people who have had gall stones is this.

1) you can control them with diet.
2) if they are not causing liver problems then you can wait to have it taken care of.
3) Natural remedies can be dangerous to fetus' unless you absolutely completely know what you are doing too much of anything can cause problems.

1)My advice would be to talk to specialist or look up information online about how to control gall bladder issues through diet and eating of whole foods.

2)Make sure that the doctors are doing blood tests that check the liver protein (or whatever they call the chemicals that they check when they suspect a liver problem) and that it isn't causing liver #'s to be off (I would think that these chemicals can hurt the fetus, just judging by what it was doing to my husbands overall health)

3)I would take any "natural supplements" unless you have talked to a gall bladder specialist (I don't know who that would be, but your general practioner, MD, would and get advice from him and then double check what natural medicines that he recommends with your OB to make sure that the substance wouldn't harm a fetus.

Good luck. I know that you are in a lot of pain. My hubby had the bouts of pain and then was pain free for months. I will pray that this subsides until after the baby is born when you can deal with it medically without worrying about the fetus.

Hi I.,
I hope the pain has decreased for you. I have read the other responses and there is some great advice for you :) I too had gall bladder problems in my first pregnancy, they were not exactly sure of stones but it was enlarged and pressing on some nerves in my back. Diet was key, I had to go on the no fat, no flavor diet for the last 6 months of pregnancy. I was in the hopsital a few times because the pain was so severe that they used the heavy duty meds - which frightened me! So, the diet helped some of the time, but they also took me off from work to reduce my stretching, bending, movement - not bedrest, but was told that movement increased the pressing of the nerves, that helped a bit too. I was told/promised that they would take out my gall bladder right after delivery, and would spend a few extra days in the hospital - they did not do that, I had to wait a few years to finally have it removed - when I became pregnant again it statred right back up again. I hope you get some relief from you pain and that all is well with the little one!

My cousin had gallstones during her first pregnancy, so severe that she actually did have surgery during the pregnancy to remove her gallbladder.

I started having severe gallstone attacks four months after my third child was born. I put up with the attacks (increasing in frequency and duration) for four months, and then I too had my gallbladder removed. When I researched it a bit, I found out that cholesterol naturally increases during pregnancy, although I don't know if this is why this occurs.

Looking back, I think that I may actually been starting to have problems during the pregnancy, but just ignored it, and blamed it on the pregnancy. I had no sickness (morning or otherwise) with my first two pregnancies, and then I was sick all day, every day, for six months during the third pregnancy. Perhaps the stones were already forming, and that is what was making me so sick.

During the attacks, I found herbal teas to be quite soothing...chamomile, peppermint, fennel...all worked well for me. I have also heard that dandelion tea is good, but I've not tried it. Also, the BRAT diet helps get you through it. Bananas....Rice....Applesauce....Toast.

I hope that they are able to find something that helps you.

Hi I.,

I had kindney stones with my first pregnancy. It was painful and there was very little they could do. BUT it finally must have passed, since I no longer felt the pain..after MANY trips to the hospital and many ultrasounds... and never had an issues with kidney stones every since..

GOOD LUCK AND TAKE CARE AND HOPEFULLY THEY TOO EITHER PASS OR THE PAIN LET'S UP!

Heavy use of antacids like 'Tums' have been shown to cause galstones for some, they have a concentration of a form of calcium that is poorly absorbed (hence stones form.) A Certified Traditional Naturopath would be qualified and educated to help a pregnant woman safely address this issue (called 'Doctor' in other states!) I am so sorry, I know this is a very painful situation! There are MANY non-surgery approaches, and in fact, several safe, nutritional, remedies that can ease the pain quickly (contrary to the typical medical experience). Check out www.VisitIndigo.com, our healthy family center in ann Arbor carries many of these products and we've had several customers who've come through the same situation well without surgery. Best wishes in your pregnancy and journey in health!

My sister and I both had them immediately following our second pregancies. Diet is the only thing I can tell you everyone is different as far as what flares it up. Mine was ice cream (no suprise) but also processed foods I could just have one cracker from a box and boom. Some of my flare ups just lasted an hour or so some much longer. One thing that worked for me was leaning over the tub with the edge of the tub under my gut and just rocking. I had to go in a month after having my daughter to have mine removed my sister was about the same. There are some issues w/ having no Gall Blatter you may want to look that up on line. Good luck it is painful and once you have eaten something you can't make the pain stop until the gallstone comes through the gallblatter. I was hospitalized 2x before scheduled for surgery. Do your best to eat right.

Hi I. ~
I'm an OB nurse, and we've had alot of patients with gallbladder issues, and I've had mine removed....

Gallstones can be caused by many things. Generally, it's somewhat heriditary, but some people get them, some don't....with or without pregnancy.

They can be aggrivated by what you eat...try to stick with non-fat, low spice foods. Sometimes even just buttering your bread, salad dressing, or drinking milk can irritate the gallbladder and cause an attack. Usually it's trial and error...see what's ok for you and what's not....my friend couldn't even lick her fingers while making frosting without causing an attack.

At this point in your pregnancy, they won't remove your gallbladder unless they absolutely have to...if you start having other problems, maybe, but usually not until after delivery.

We've had many women come in when the pain was bad and get medications....morphine or demerol....you have to weigh the risks & the benefits. The meds are out of your system and the baby's system in just a short time...but obviously we don't want to give them if you can tolerate the pain. But if you can't function, you need some help.

When you do have it taken out...make sure that the surgeon who does it also does a cholangiogram. During the surgery, they explore the common bile duct for any stones that may be in there, not all surgeons do it, and if there are stones there you may end up with another surgery because the pain is still there (I do know of someone that that happened to).

Hope that helps some!
D.

My doctor recommended having my gall bladder removed which of course could not be done until after I gave birth. There was really nothing I could do for the pain in the meantime. Since then I have been told there are natural remedies that you can do to help and that you don't need your gall bladder out. You might want to check into that. Good luck. I know it is very painful