I've had my j-pouch since 1999 and things have been great overall. A couple of months ago, I started to have occasional pain in the upper right quadrant just below the rib cage. The pain got worse so I had a CT scan done a month ago which didn't show any problems. So the doctor told me I was fine, but then the pain started getting much worse this week, so I went to see a different doctor who told me j-pouchers are more prone to gallbladder problems and that CT scans are not good at diagnosing them so I'm going for an ultrasound tomorrow. If it turns out I need to have the gallbladder removed, I'm just wondering how those of you with j-pouches have done afterwards. I've heard it increases bowel movements in people with colons, so is it even worse for us? I'm very concerned about this and I'm freaking out at the thought of yet another surgery and losing yet another internal organ.

Well, I actually had mine out before I had my j-pouch... but I have to say that I don't think it negatively affects my quality of life. My bathroom trips are between 6 and 8 per day, and very manageable in terms of my ability to delay them.

I eat whatever I want, so it didn't change that, either.

Hopefully it will not have any negative impact on you. But even more than that, I hope you can avoid the surgery altogether if possible.

-Nicole

Like Nicole, I had mine out before I had my j-pouch surgeries. I do just fine. I don't think I recall anyone who's had their gallbladder removed ever posting that they're having problems after the surgery. As I recall, they all say how much better they feel.

You can freak out about yet another surgery (allowed) but you don't have to worry about it affecting your j-pouch in my opinion. We have quite a few organs that we can survive without - I'm also spleenless.

kathy

I had my S-pouch made in 82 or 83, and had my gallbladder removed in 91.....

for me it almost seemed that things were better after the gallbladder was removed.

And as for being worried about the surgery, has anyone said anything to you about doing the gallbladder removal done Laproscopically..

I had lap surgery done to correct my GERD, and it was one of the best things I could have ever done. just had 4 small incisions and an NG tube after surgery. No big incision..My PCP actually saw me after the surgery, and told me I was the only patient he had seen that had a smile from ear to ear with an NG tube in. (hey the pain had finally gone away from the reflux). My surgeon for the reflux surgery promised me he would do it laproscopically, and followed through even though the other surgeon on the day of surgery wanted him to open me up, because I had so many adhesions. My surgeon took an extra 1.5 hours to remove the adhesions.

If they do end up taking your gallbladder out ask them to do it laproscopically.

Best of luck with everything,
Beth

My jpouch surgery was in 93. Had my gallbladder out in 2000. It was done laproscopically. No problems at all. If your ultrasound comes out negative as mine did, ask for a HIDA scan. My gallbladder was just barely functioning. And I'm with Nicole, Kathy and Beth feeling much better without it.
Take care
Shannon

When the gallbladder is removed, do you have have to take any meds or precautions for not having it?

Rima - I've never taken a thing and I've never heard of anybody taking anything. You just get to be normal but a little bit better.

kathy

I guess I'm the only one here who has had a problem from it. I wasn't going to say anything because I don't want to discourage anyone from a surgery they need to have..
I decided it's better to hear it all and, again, I'm not discouraging the surgery.

I ended up developing bile reflux about 2 months after having my gallbladder removed. It's caused by too much bile being produced, it seems to leak up into my stomach where it affects the ph and causes heartburn, vomiting...etc.. Very similar to acid reflux but acid reflux medication makes it worse, since it changes the wrong ph.

It's a very rare 'complication', from what I've read, and I now have it under control with cholesterol medication. It can be difficult at times, because if I miss my medication or am unable to take it for two or more doses I become very sick (vomiting) which makes it harder to take the medicine..leading to a fun hospital stay. I just have to be careful!

I had a lot of adhesions all over the area and I have them again, now, so maybe that has/had something to do with it. Who knows!

Don't let this scare you, like I said, it's rare and most people have no problems.
My gallbladder was very infected and needed to come out.. nothing else could be done.

I would definitely opt for laproscopic if you can, the recovery was amazingly fast compared to open surgery. They were able to do mine laproscopically even though I had a large amount of adhesions in the area.
I have not had any other problems with the gallbladder removal.

Since developing the bile reflux, I cannot drink any alcoholic beverages, they make me very nauseous. Thats ok though, probably better for me.
Best of luck to you!!!!

-
Sarah

Thanks so much for all the replies. It seems almost all of you are doing great after the gallbladder removal so it makes me a lot calmer about it. Shannon--thanks for the tip about doing a HIDA scan. I'm going for the ultrasound shortly and if it does come back normal, I will request a HIDA.

Just wanted to post an update. My symptoms have been getting worse so I'm going for a HIDA scan tomorrow. The GI doc says it could be gallbladder or something to do with the duodenum, but I guess the HIDA scan will at least tell me if the gallbladder is the problem and if not, at least we've ruled that out. I also am going to an upper GI endoscopy in a few weeks.

Hi Polly,
Good luck with your scan. I had a Hila scan done and it showed no problems with my gall bladder but yet I continued to have pain for 2 years. I saw 4 doctors-2 GI's and 2 surgeons who told me the pain was most probably adhesions. Well, last Oct after doubling over in pain and a late night run to the ER-guess what-bad gallbadder. Came out the next day. I have noticed more bathroom trips, I think mostly due to bile and extra gas. My GI does not think this has anything to do with removal of the gall baldder and I was suppose to go for a upper GI in Jan ( opps it's almost April) but I just need a break! I hope they find the answer to your pain on the first try.
Susan

Polly, if it is your GB then having it removed is really the only alternative I think. The pain is only likely to get worse if you hang on to a sick GB. If your GB looks ok but there are a few stones in there, these can be zapped with ultrasound as an alternative to surgery. Wth no GB it's wise to avoid too much fat in your diet. Mine was removed in 2000, about 4 years before UC was diagnosed. Good luck!

AllyKat, Your GI is probably looking for ulcers or some problem with the stomach. That's why my GI is ordering the upper GI. It's interesting you had symptoms of gallbladder problems for a couple of years and the tests were normal. Weird.

I had my gall bladder out before pouch . It is a rare complication that it can cause chronic diarrhea with colon people, I don't know that it would be any different for those of us without. But it is rare. I felt alot better once mine was gone. It was constantly inflammed and causing fevers and dehydration. I had standing orders at the ER for I.V.'s. Yes, I'm glad its gone,if you have it done lap, its frequently a day surgery which means less than 24hours. Try and stay the full amount of time, usually 23 hours, for pain control and hydration. Without the colon we dehydrate so much quicker, I did go right home and ended up having to go back for pain management and dehydration.
LoriP