I had my gallbladder removed 15 months ago, and Saturday night I did cheat and drank alcohol.....and last night and this morning I have had a ache in the exact area of where the gallbladder use to be, wondering if the liver is working overtime.....just wanted to post this to see if anyone else has experienced this!!!!!!

I haven't done the same thing, but there's a really good post on here about alcohol. Search the threads.

You could have sludge problems, I do and booze activates it normally, I'm sure being on IP doesn't help as the liver is already doing some work using up your fat store and then giving it booze makes it immediately switch to metabolizing that instead of fat stores.

Google gallbladder sludge, it's the medical term the doc gave me after I got mine out. High fat foods used to give me pain too (after it was removed).

I had my gallbladder removed 15 years ago and I STILL get the ache in that area if I eat something bad (ie: alcohol or high in fat) ... it's super weird. But, pretty sure it's normal. I've been fine.. haha

Ok it makes sense now, I did wonder if it had something to do with my cheat....probably what also forest help is that I ran out of bile salts....
Do you use these or enzymes?

I had mine removed a couple of years ago. When I eat BBQ, I get the pain. I'm told that because we don't have a galbladder to neutralize the fat we are eating, the body reacts "unhappily". Arg.
When I want BBQ, I eat chicken. It gives me the BBQ taste, without all the fat in pork or beef ribs.
Not IP. I was speaking of before I started the program.
Have not tried the WF bbq sauce, hmmmm

Its strange how we get the ache still, I did have 3 vodka drinks some nachos with I am sure full fat sour cream and 1 chicken wing....I have to say though hearing others have this when they eat off plan, makes me realize not to worry as much....thank you
I have only tried thousand island wf would love to try bbq one aswell.....

This happened to me two weeks ago...except I didn't drink or cheat (then again, I wasn't dieting at the time.) I don't eat fried food, can't stand the taste of it, and ever since my gallbladder was removed, I haven't eaten fatty food because my small intestine doesn't get along with bile, apparently. In any case, phantom gallbladder symptoms are called PostCholesystectomy Syndrome. It only affects 10-15% of post surgeries. And basically, they don't know what causes it or why. However, going back to old habits prior to the surgery, such as drinking, eating fatty foods, fried foods, sweets, uncooked veggies, things such as that, can cause it to flare up. In some cases, it can be sludge or a gall stone still wedged in a duct. In some cases, it could be the pancrease. In others, a duct could be swollen. My doctor and I are having fun tracking down my particular problem. She warned me we may never figure it out as most cases are never determined. She also warned me my funds may run out before the testing is done. Most cases end up being "fixed" by multiple exploratory surgeries...no thanks. The last surgery messed me up too much. The best thing is to closely watch what you eat, record it all, and mark it as a no-no if it becomes a trigger. So far, my triggers have been wheat, lettuce, and milk. Good luck...hope you have more of it than I have so far...

Thank you Jen, that info really makes sense....I did read once about phantom gallbladder symptons but just kinda laughed it off, but I guess thats not the case....
So you dont use enzymes or bile salts then as you said your body reacts to bile salts, I know when I go on holiday next week I will be trying new things and I am sure more booze.... so I will atleast make sure I have my enzymes with me, I had finished them when I started having the aching feeling........I wish you the best of luck and hopefully they get to the bottom of it for you, sucks you have to pay there for medical.....

I often still get pain too. Not as bad as it was before I had it removed but uncomfortable enough to be annoying while sitting. I never really figured out exactly what caused it but it really seemed to be when I ate high fat foods. My body just seems to hate high fat foods. I have also found beef will often be a trigger for me as well as wheat, ice cream and too much dairy. I kept reading that all of prior problems would go away once I had my gallbladder removed but as I have been having problems I knew that couldn't be true.

I have the same issue. My GB was removed 18 months ago and periodically i suffer that same ache when i've had something my system doesn't like. Prior to surgery and now post surgery, when the pain starts i took/take a "swig or two" of pure apple juice. There is something in the acids that almost instantly calms the bile duct/liver down. Currently i know that the juice isn't IP but it stops the pain. It doesn't happen often and usually because I've had something i probably shouldn't have so i just deal with the sugar issue. I've had to use the juice twice now on program and it made on slight difference to my weight loss but i was pain free. However I'm also very conscientious about what i eat because i don't want to drink the juice anymore than i absolutely have to while on IP.