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Hi...I have a question.....I have gallstones and although I haven't had an attack..I have the chronic "gnawing" pain. My Dr. was not concerned as the stones are not blocking anything. However, my husband and I have been trying to get pregnant for a couple months. I am considering waiting now and scheduling a surgery to have my gallbladder removed. But, does anyone think it'll be okay to proceed with trying to get pregnant and let nature take its course?? I know the gallstones can get worse with pregnancy, but I also know gallbladder surgery is very common in pregnancy as well. YIKES!

I'm bumping this because i found several other gallstone posts.... man sometimes i get really mad at obgyns when i hear these gallbladder stories. I had my gallbladder out when my daughter was about 5 months old....i had the terrible pains all through my pregnancy but they didn't check me for anything because i was pregnant... just chalked it all up to pregnancy. Well, after I had the baby, the pains and nausea and vomiting remained...also no matter what i ate...FINALLY found out it was a gallstone stuck in a duct....had emergency surgery and found out from my surgeon the pregnancy hormones have been known to cause gallstones!!!! You would think that obgyns would make this one of their routine tests then. I think they should. I am really sorry for my rant by I feel so badly for you. I can't believe they actually diagnosed you the first time and then didn't do anything about it. Further, I can't believe they didn't tell you when you found out that you were preg again that the problem would return! Unfortunately, I have no experience with the actual surgery during pregnancy, but I am writing to let you know you have every once of my empathy and sympathy...I will keep you in my prayers...please keep us posted!

OMG,this thread is still active?? I hope you ladies do okay,gallstones are horrible,especially during pregnancy!!I'll come back here and see if I can be any help!!!I know this thread has helped me and others,funny thing,Tami was the first one to reply to this thread,and we are STILL friends!!!

HI I am only 9 weeks pregnant and have had over 3 attacks and lost 15 pounds in three weeks. This is my third pregnancy and my last as it has been vey tough. I am eating bland and small potions, but I still get the attacks. At the E.R they treat me for pain and nausea and send me home after doing ultrasounds. My o.b and gastro Dr.did not have any game plan except diet restrictions and my gastro Dr said it sounded like I had a pancreat_tis attack which he hopes won't return. Also he felt it was related to gallstones. I have been told I have a lot of them-at least 13. I am very scared as it is so early in my pregnancy and also during my last pregnancy 2 1/2 yrs ago I had severe attcks but was undiagnosed. Any advise from anyone who had these early in their pregnancy?I'm very glad to have founf this forum. Thanks! Kelly

Hi Kelly~ Although I didn't get my gallbladder attack until I was at 16 weeks, I know what you are going through. I know you just want your questions answered. So I just wanted to give you a little advise my surgeon told me. He said instead of eating a low fat diet, try and eat a Fat Free diet. If it says its fat free then you can eat it. Thats the rule he told me. I had one attack after that and no more until after I delivered my baby. It is ok to lose weight too. I was really concerned about that as well but my Dr. said as long as the baby is growing, thats all that they worry about. My baby came out 6 lbs 8 oz. and was a preemie (1 month early) so what little I ate, she took. Thank God! I just thought I would give you the advise I was given. When I did have my Gallbladder taken out 6 weeks after I delivered they said it was "chronically inflamed" so I can't imagine what it would have been like if I ate food with fat in it! Anyway, best of luck to you! Keep your head up and try not to get too down about it. I know its hard. Just keep thinking about the baby and do what is best for him/her. Wendy

Thank you so much Wendi. I will take that advise. I was just told no fatty, spicy or dairy foods- which I have been following, but I will definately look for the fat free label.My nausea attacks are subsideing so I have stopped loosing weight and am able to keep some food down and I know your right about how the babies suck up all the nourishment. I guess fear of another attack will keep me eating right. Are you able to digest normally after you gallbladder removal? I read some scary stuff on the internet about people still having gallbladder pain when they eat normally and severe sudden diahhrea as a side effect after eating.I hope this isn't too personal ,but I sincerely appreciate hearing it from someone who has gone through the operation. I will keep my head up and think about what a blessing it will be when I get to hold my baby- it will all be worth it, but this kid better be a momma's kid after all this. LOL

Hi Kelly~ I didn't have any reactions like that after my gallbladder was taken out. They have you slowly try foods with fat in them and see how you react. My Dr. said that some people have reactions to foods like salad or greasy food that they never had before but most are fine. I would say I am a little more sensitive to greasy foods, but my stomach has never dealt with fast food very well anyways. I have not had any gallbladder attack feelings. The only thing I had was after taking my kids to a party at a pizza place and eating pizza, I got heartburn which I never had even while pregnant. Besides that, I am eating tons of fat now (too much since i was deprived for so long), and I feel fine. I'm sure you will be fine too. Try not to look at the internet too much. I did the same thing and scared the daylights out of myself. And my baby girl is a Mama's girl so hopefully you will be just as lucky. :) Take care and feel free to ask me any questions you want. Its no problem at all. Wendy

Thanks again Wendi. That is a big relief to know everything pretty much works like it should and you can eat normally. I really did scare myself by the stories I read on the interernet- so much so that I backed out of my gallbladder surgery last year at the last moment as I was not having much symtoms. BAD DECISION!LOL Normally I am not a chicken at all as I have had many surgeries but this time after I have the baby I will stay off the net.

I found this thread when I first found out I was pregnant, with gallstones, but this is the first I've posted. I had my first gallstone attack in Feb. '06 but was not diagnosed until April '06. Being a huge chicken when it comes to surgery and anesthesia, I put it off and wanted to try managing my diet. In all, I think I had around 5 severe attacks, and at least 5 that were more minor in nature. In mid-June '06 I ended up in the ER with severe pain that would not subside and was told I had stones in my bile duct. They removed them the next day and referred me to a surgeon. At that point, I was not arguing with them. We had been trying to get pregnant for 2 years at that point but in the ER they ran a pg test, which was negative. Well in early July I found out that I was pregnant and we were ecstatic! I met with the surgeon the following week and he recommended waiting until the baby was born before removing my gallbladder. I had not had any more problems at that point and thought I could do a better job of managing my diet. He told me to watch my fat intake, but especially the saturated fats. Worst case scenario was that we could do the surgery during 2nd trimester, if I was having problems. I'm happy to report that I am 32 weeks pregnant now and have not had any further problems. It's been hard to gain weight with the very limited amount of fat intake, but I have some extra to spare so my ob/gyn has not been concerned. I still plan to have it out sometime after the baby arrives. I've enjoyed the weight loss (50 lbs. total) and plan to keep it up, but I would like the freedom to "cheat" every now and then, without the fear that I will be doubled over in extreme pain. The best advice I can give is to avoid these foods: b___ter, oil, cheese, full fat dairy, fatty meats, and chocolate. When you really start considering not eating those things, you will find it eliminates things like salad dressing (unless you use non-fat) and a lot of restaurant prepared foods. It's been hard to eat out but I choose carefully and haven't had any problems. Good luck to all of you who are currently struggling with the attacks. I wouldn't wish one of them on my worst enemy!

hey everyone! my name is sabrina lynne and im 24 years old and 23 weeks pregnant with a healthy very active baby boy ryan and i was just discharged from the hospital because i have gallstones. this is the first time i have ever had any type of problems with my gallbladder and ididnt feel any discomfort until a few weeks ago when i had my first attack. when i went to teh hospital the first time the pain subsided like 15 minutes after i got there and that doctor said it was just gas pains, the second attack my sister called an ambulance but by the time the medics had arrived the pains were gone and i was fine, ands the last time was sooo terribly painful and embarra__sing because before the ambulance arrived a firetruck with very attractive new york firemen arrived omgoshhhhhh was i red in the cheeks lol now i have to say i have had fantasies about firemen lol but they did not include me being hooked up to a heart machine with a breathing bag over my mouth and wearing polka dot pajama pants lol when i went to the er thistime they gave me pain medication and monitered me for the night and then discharged me without any medications because even though this is the safest time for me to have surgery the surgeons ruled not o and the doctor said basically to tough it out until i give birth and everytime i have an attack they will admit me for the vening and administer pain management care so basically theyll just put a bandaid over an open wound. iam in constant pain and because of a recent teaching position i recieved i had to apply for a different insurance so iam without an obgynas i wait three weeks to hear from my insurance. this has been one of the scariest things ive had to go through and i also have a very intelligent 5 year old jordan who unfortunately witnessed one of the attacks and is so afraid something is going to happen to his mommy or little brother. my heart goes out to you ladies who have to deal with this especially going through it during pregnancy. i told my fiance this is why women are the stronger s_x because there is no way he could tolerate this kind of pain.

I am about 26 weeks and going to be induced next week but am taking lortab about 4 times a day or as needed for pain from the gallstones. Has anyone else experienced any problems in the baby from taking these painkillers that close to delivery?

I had a scheduled surgery 1-3-08, to have my gallbladder removed. During all the bloodwork and pre-op, I waited for surgery. Then noticed that the DR and nurses had to do more "testing" come to find out my DR informed us he wouldn't be able to do the surgery because I ws 8 weeks pregnant. I had gone to the ER on 12-28-07, and that is when they discover I had them. I began having attacks about two years ago, about ten I've had. I seen a Gastrontologist, and he diagnosed me with acid reflux, erosion of the stomach lining, and he overlooked the gallstones. I described sharp pains in the core of my stomach that went striaght to my back, and I let him know that I was in a fetal position crying when I got these pains. Now i can have no surgery, and my dr says to wait until baby is born, and to go straight to the ER if the pain reoccurs.

Hi, I think there may be a correlation between coffee intake and gallstones. Do all of you who were regular coffee drinker that stop drinking coffee once pregnant? I had one gallstone attack during my pregnancy. After my baby was born, I have 3 more attacks. The latter 2 attacks ended me in the ER. I don't want to do surgery but the attack is unbearable. I am trying natural remedy right now. I read some researches about coffee may reduce the risk of gallstones. The day I had my last attack as I recall, I didn't drink coffee. I now drink coffee everyday even though I still b___stfeed.

Hello all, I am 29 weeks and have been suffering from gall stone attacks since halloween. They have been incresingly more frequent now that the baby is getting bigger, i've been getting them every week now for the past month. I'm taking tylenol 3s with codine for the pain, because they are supposed to be safe. I've been to the er 4 times now, but i'm getting better at managing the pain. My surgery will take place after I have the baby. Stacey, I read quite a few things that say coffee is supposed to help dissolve gall stones, I hope that is true, and don't worrry about b___stfeeding and drinking coffee, they havent' been able to prove that it affects the baby in any way.