Weight loss surgery causing gall bladder removal?

I had mine out in emergency surgery and it actually erupted stones everywhere on removal my surgeon told me... yuck! I am very good with my diet and eat a very balanced diet with good fats and lots of veg and fruits, sometimes theres nothing you can do to save it and my theory on it is if its gonna give me those horrible pains and try and kill me like I was told it would've if it exploaded, cut it out!

Shyne wrote:

I had my gall bladder out years ago due to stones

My surgeon saw that on my pre admin sheet and replied "oh good, will save us having to do it later"

lol...
So I assume it's pretty common.

At my consult yesterday Dr indicated that around 50% of sleeve patients require GB removal. I'm glad mine is already out. :)

I had my gall bladder out years ago due to stones

My surgeon saw that on my pre admin sheet and replied "oh good, will save us having to do it later"

lol...
So I assume it's pretty common.

Just my completely unqualified opinion but I was told 20yrs ago at just 20yo to get my gallbladder out after a series of gallstones attacks. I refused and with a change in diet managed to hang onto it without further troubles and I think having insufficient fat in your diet increases the risk of gallstones. Probably not the only factor but most 'weight loss' approaches emphasise 'low fat' so it's no accident it happens with weight loss diets of any kind. Low fat means less need for gallbladder to contract and release bile for fat digestion so bile salts have more chance of solidifying into stones which then get stuck in bile duct when bile is needed. Situation is worse if you do low-fat for ages then suddenly have a high-fat meal. The trick is to keep the bile salts cholesterol and other contents of gall bladder 'in solution' and give it a job a do regularly. Supplementing with say 1tbsp of flax oil every day or some lecithin does the job. I might lose most of my stomach with a sleeve op but I'm sure as hell hanging onto my gallbladder!

When I was a student nurse ( many years ago LOL) we were given a rhyme to remember who were more likely to suffer from gallstones - Fair, fat, female and forty. But over the years with the increasing weight problem it is very common to see them in much younger people, I have looked after people as young as 18 having to have their gall bladders out.

There is a series of Youtube videos on a UK surgeon who does Gastric Bypass surgery and he routinely removes the gall bladder at the same time he does the Bypass as he said so many of the people would have to come back anyway and it saves them a second operation.

cheers Nini

This is quiet common and is to do with rapid or a large weight loss, it is not specific to a certain type of weight loss. If you use shakes, Weight Watchers, Jenny Craig, Atkins or Banding it does not matter it can happen to you.

I'm getting mine out tomorrow! The surgeon who did my sleeve is doing it - it's the only surgery apart from bariatric surgery that he still does, as he has a handfull of patients that need it done each year. So, fairly common among wls patients.

Amanda, I have never heard it put quite that way. Kell; I had my gall bladder out two years plus before my gastric sleeve op. I was told that loosing weight (such as in plain dieting); "in laymans terms" causes fat (cholesterol) to concentrate in the gallbladder which can produce gallstones.

According to Medilexicon's medical dictionary, a gallstone is:

"A concretion in the gallbladder or a bile duct, composed chiefly of a mixture of cholesterol, calcium bilirubinate, and calcium carbonate, occasionally as a pure stone composed of just one of these substances."

"What causes gallstones? [EXTRACT]

(Ref: http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/153981.php)[/b]

Experts are not completely sure why some people develop a chemical imbalance in their gallbladder which causes gallstones, while others do not. However, we do know that gallstones are more common among:

* Overweight/obese people, especially women. A study revealed that a bulging midriff almost doubles a woman's chances of developing gallstones and the need for surgery to remove them.
* People who have recently lost lots of weight.

• Intentionally losing weight and then regaining it may increase men's risk for gallstones later in life.
  
• Women taking oral contraceptives.
  
• Women undergoing high-dose estrogen therapy
  
• People with a close relative who has had gallstones.
  
• A study revealed that a gene variant significantly increases the risk of developing gallstones.
  
• People whose intake of dietary fat is high.
  
• Twice as many women get gallstones than men.
  
• People over 60 years of age.
  
• Native American Indians.
  
• People who take statins (cholesterol-lowering drugs).
  
• People with diabetes.
  
• Hormone replacement therapy (HRT) for women during the menopause is linked to a higher risk of gallbladder problems. A study found that HRT administered by skin patches or gels poses a smaller risk than HRT given orally."
  

I had my Gall Bladder removed last week, so am actually still in recovery.

I was told before my first Gall Bladder attack, that what happens often for us sleevers is we have so little oil or fats in our diets our gall bladders can create stone as the gall bladder contracts to past the bile into our systems to digest. Simple way to help stones not heppening is make sure you have a teaspoon of oil in your diet daily post sleeve. But if you do need your Gall Bladder out it is nothing to worry about the gall bladderis one of three organs we have that due to modern living our bodies no longer need.

smiles

Mandy

A man who just had gastric bypass on my ward told me that when he had sleeve surgery, because he lost weight rapidly it resulted in him needing his gall bladder removed.
Is this normal?
Thanks again