Gallbladder pain - go to ER?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Symptoms usually wax and wane and can be avoided by noting her triggers. For me it was McDonalds. Other fast food didn't bother me as much, but for some reason any amt of McDs would cause a flare up.

If it were me, I would wait until Thurs and go on a very strict diet until then. If it doesn't improve and she's still in major pain by Wed, then maybe go in to the ER. FWIW my advice is based on never having a flare up/symptoms for more than a few hours. They always subsided, so I've never been in pain for days on end.

+1 until it was a crisis, then pain for days on end.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Is she having acute symptoms? If not then that doesn’t sound like an ER trip. If the university health service thought it was urgent they would have said/sent her to er herself.

This is bad advice.

Depending on how assertive she is (or isn’t) and how she describes the pain, the university health service will just tell her to wait.

If she’s having pain right now, she can go to the ER and they will give her an ultrasound and remove it that same day. That’s what happened to me. I was having severe pain, went to the ER, waited a few hours and had surgery early the next morning. The surgery is endoscopic and will only leave three tiny scars.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Is she having acute symptoms? If not then that doesn’t sound like an ER trip. If the university health service thought it was urgent they would have said/sent her to er herself.

This is bad advice.

Depending on how assertive she is (or isn’t) and how she describes the pain, the university health service will just tell her to wait.

If she’s having pain right now, she can go to the ER and they will give her an ultrasound and remove it that same day. That’s what happened to me. I was having severe pain, went to the ER, waited a few hours and had surgery early the next morning. The surgery is endoscopic and will only leave three tiny scars.

How long ago was that? This just happened to a friend here in DC. She had to wait six weeks after the ER visit for surgery.

And that is the fortunate situation in which the pain is gallstones and not gallstone pancreatitis.

[Anonymous]

Could it be gastroenteritis?

Horses /zebras

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Is she having acute symptoms? If not then that doesn’t sound like an ER trip. If the university health service thought it was urgent they would have said/sent her to er herself.

This is bad advice.

Depending on how assertive she is (or isn’t) and how she describes the pain, the university health service will just tell her to wait.

If she’s having pain right now, she can go to the ER and they will give her an ultrasound and remove it that same day. That’s what happened to me. I was having severe pain, went to the ER, waited a few hours and had surgery early the next morning. The surgery is endoscopic and will only leave three tiny scars.

How long ago was that? This just happened to a friend here in DC. She had to wait six weeks after the ER visit for surgery.

And that is the fortunate situation in which the pain is gallstones and not gallstone pancreatitis.

I’m the previous poster. This happened in the summer of 2024. I was in pain and the ultrasound showed gallbladder stones. I don’t know what would have happened if the ultrasound was clear. The presence of gallbladder stones was the reason for recommending surgery.

[Anonymous]

My understanding, based on my own ER visit, is that they do surgery same day if stones are blocking the ducts. My nurse got me excited that they would do surgery right away, but since I just had stones, pain and vomiting, I had to wait. Fortunately I got into a great surgeon quickly and he had a cancellation and was able to have surgery within a couple of weeks. Another friend was hanging extreme pain, stones discovered in scans for something else, and went for a surgery consult and they wheeled her right back for surgery!

For your daughter, she should go Thurs and advocate strongly for immediate scans etc.

[Anonymous]

I had gallbladder attacks regularly between 2009 and 2014

I've not had surgery, but I completely avoid very high fat food. No hot dogs, no large quantities of cheese (only very small amounts).

No attacks since then.

[Anonymous]

^^ also no ice cream

[Anonymous]

I would not rely on university health services. I don’t understand why you, with your comparison pain, are attempting to diagnose your child. I would have called my child’s home physician and asked his/her opinion. If they recommended the ER, what diagnostic tests would be typical? Personally, I would be traveling to my child to ensure proper care. I would not travel out of the country until this is solved.

[Anonymous]

Good post above ^^

Have you tried messaging your DD’s home physician through My chart?

[Anonymous]

If she's having acute symptoms and high abdominal pain, I would go to the ER. The problem is gallbladder attacks and other very serious conditions share symptoms and whole sure, you probably know it's her gallbladder, you don't want to gamble on missing another serious issue like pancreatitis.

[Anonymous]

OP here. She went to the ER and they did the sonogram. It was clear.

Now she is having pain on her left torso and up into her shoulder. Back in urgent care
Today. Chest x ray, EKG, Covid and flu tests
All negative. The want her to do a blood clot test.

I dont know what’s wrong with this kid!

[Anonymous]

UTI?

[Anonymous]

Gas pains can be very painful try gas x maximum

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP here. She went to the ER and they did the sonogram. It was clear.

Now she is having pain on her left torso and up into her shoulder. Back in urgent care
Today. Chest x ray, EKG, Covid and flu tests
All negative. The want her to do a blood clot test.

I dont know what’s wrong with this kid!

I am the PP with 10 years of gallstone pain and two clear ultrasounds. GI told me after the fact that something like 10-20% of the time they cannot be visualized on ultrasound.