[Beverlyjoy]

after my gallbladder surgery next week. I've been reading a lot. Some folks lose , some folks gain , and some folks stay the same.

It's kind of silly. but, I am more nervous about the weight -than the actual surgery.

Reading things on the www has given my lots of tips. Such as slowly easing myself into eating regular food after the surgery. The slower the better- as to let my body get used to digestion with no gallbladder. I have to laugh.. because, my gallbladder function is under 20%... so, maybe my body 'already knows what to do'.

I've read the horrible stories - scary. I've read lots of stories with 'happy endings', too. However, every single person I know had no lifelong problems with their digestion after the surgery.

Any thoughts or suggestions? Thanks.

[smashley52683]

I don't have any advice, I haven't had my gallbladder removed. But, I think because you are already on this weight loss journey you will be more aware and accountable and therefore you won't put the weight back on. I do know a few people that have had their gallbladder removed and they haven't had any longterm problems. Best of Luck

[runningfromfat]

I haven't had gallbladder surgery but I have had a laparoscopy (should be pretty much the same procedure, right?). It took me about a month to eat back to normal/be able to exercise. Some have a quicker recovery time but my procedure took about an hour longer than normal (although i didn't have any real complications) so that might have affected it too.

I lost quite a bit afterwards. Mostly I just ate what I could and had to go seriously low fat in order to keep my stomach happy. All sweets/junk were entirely out of the picture for me! Although I did have a lot of white bread because that was about the only thing I could stomach for awhile...

Just hang in there. Do the best you can, get your rest. After the first couple of weeks of recovery you'll be mostly back to normal and ease yourself back into everything. Don't weigh yourself immediately after surgery either because you can gain serious water weight.

[berryblondeboys]

First, you will feel tons better after the surgery... You may find you can't eat what you did beforee if you we eating fatty things, but that might be a plus? I had mine out when I was not dieting, but with a 10 week old nursing baby. I completely followed my doctors orders as I didn't want complications while also caring for a newborn.

I think you will bounce back fast if they can do it laproscopically. Just follow orders!

[cathi888]

I had mine out in Sept. It was done laproscopically. I had quite a bit of tenderness because they had to remove a couple stones that were causing blockages, but I did not have any food issues. I walked quite a bit. It was about 3 weeks until I could exercise and I am pretty sure it stalled my weight loss, but I definitely did not gain anything back.

[Sunshine73]

Had my gallbladder out ages ago and honestly I don't have any issues at all with eating. Remember that, at first, you will probably gain a few pounds because they load you up with IV fluids for the surgery and your body will be a bit swollen from the trauma of the surgery - so just expect the scale to jump a bit for the first several weeks. In my experience it's normal following surgery.

[Lyn2007]

Think positive and when your surgery is over, take very good care of yourself. Eat/drink what will make you heal faster and feel better! Let us know how it goes

[Skrael]

I had my gallbladder out in December 2010. I did initially gain weight - 10 pounds - and I attribute that to finally being able to eat whatever I liked after being in pain from so many foods for months. I did lose that weight, and then some after it leveled out.

[Beverlyjoy]

Thanks for your input. I appreciate it greatly. I don't think I will get on the scale for a week after the surgery. I guess that could work - I need to focus on eating healthful food to heal - and not stressing about what the scale says.

Thanks again.

Your experiences and thoughts have been helpful.

[SmallSteps]

I had my gallbladder removed some 15 years ago and I never had any digestion issues so that is totally a myth. I did gain weight but I didn't attribute that to my surgery I attributed that to working full time at McD, going to college full time, and raising a small child on my own.

Don't worry you will be fine!

[linJber]

Actually, Beverly Joy, everyone I know who has had gall bladder surgery felt better after the surgery than before. That goes for my 90 year old ex FIL to my 24 year old nephew. Good luck and keep us posted. I'm glad you said something because we see your posts every day and would wonder where you were if you hadn't warned us.

Your body will tell you what to do. Just don't listen if it says to eat too much bad food!

Lin.

[baker23]

I had mine taken out 3 years ago when I was 20. I ended up losing 25 pounds because I couldn't eat before I had the surgery. 10 came back after a few weeks but I blamed that on actually having food in my stomach and not moving xD

My stomach does have digestive issues and i'm not sure if its because my gallbladder was removed or because i'm not used to certain foods...but either way, I'm kinda thankful for it being taken out xD....less temptation to eat something I shouldn't really be anyways.

[Tai]

I'm sure you're going to feel much better afterwards and hopefully won't have any lasting digestive issues.

Best wishes for a speedy recovery; good thoughts and prayers are with you! Be sure to let us know how you're doing when you can.

[caryesings]

Originally Posted by Skrael

I had my gallbladder out in December 2010. I did initially gain weight - 10 pounds - and I attribute that to finally being able to eat whatever I liked after being in pain from so many foods for months. I did lose that weight, and then some after it leveled out.

My weight didn't change but my Cholesterol went up due to finally being able to eat fatty foods again. I had gone extremely low fat for 18 months to avoid painful attacks (I was afraid of the surgery so was procrastinating).

Like you, my GB was not really working anymore so I had virtually no adjustment to my eating once I got over my "I can eat pizza and pork again" phase.

[DixC Chix]

Like you, I had low functioning GB. I had a slight temporary gain post surgery. Overall, the feeling of a broken rib and cramping were gone and I resumed a normal diet. The only digestion problems I have had are definitely related to super high fat meals - a rare occurrance and someone else is cooking. They make me nauseous and cause diarrhea. The upside is that it is like aversion therapy!!! .

I think I've mentioned this before - ask for the incisions to be numbed before they wake you up.

I'll be keeping you in my prayers.