I Had a Belladonna Cocktail...

[MoonCat]

..In the ER this morning. No, it's not a new song. Turns out I have a wonky gallbladder. I shouldn't be surprised because both my mom and my one sister had to have their gallbladders removed. I hoped I could avoid this, damn it!

Went to the ER about 4 AM because of severe pain in my right upper abdominal area. I thought it was probably my hiatal hernia causing a problem (which it never has, to my knowledge, but hey...you never know). And when the others in my family had gallbladder attacks it was always in the middle of the stomach area, accompanied by nausea and vomiting, which I didn't have (thank god). I've had this pain before but ibuprofen usually quiets it down. Not this time.

They were going to give my dilaudid for the pain, along with something for the nausea they said the dilaudid would cause. I didn't want to be both loopy and barfing all at once, so I refused it, and they came back with a combo of belladonna, lidocaine & Maalox. Worked pretty damn well, too.

Going to try to cut really fatty foods out of my diet first, if that prevents another attack maybe I won't need the surgery. I've been trying to cut back on greasy, high-fat foods anyway, but now I've got even more incentive.

[AdminAssistant]

MoonCat, I understand your desire to avoid surgery. I really do. But if you've got gallstones, then you've got a bile-filled ticking time bomb in your insides. Once they confirmed I had gallstones, I had to wait nearly 2 months to have surgery. Two months of plain grilled chicken, plain roasted vegetables, plain rice, plain plain plain. You don't want to live your life like that. It's better to have it removed early, when they can do it laproscopically, and there's minimal risk of rupture. Because they can rupture, which, of course, can kill you. I don't want to scare you, but life's much better without the wonky gallbladder. I was basically fully recovered in 1 week, some heal even faster.

And hon, you should've had the dilaudid. That's what they gave me in the ER when my lung collapsed and it is awesome. It actually wore off pretty quickly, and I felt only a little loopy by the time I got home (and then took a hydrocodone and slept...all day.)

[Sapphire Silk]

They were going to give my dilaudid for the pain, along with something for the nausea they said the dilaudid would cause. I didn't want to be both loopy and barfing all at once, so I refused it, and they came back with a combo of belladonna, lidocaine & Maalox. Worked pretty damn well, too.

Going to try to cut really fatty foods out of my diet first, if that prevents another attack maybe I won't need the surgery. I've been trying to cut back on greasy, high-fat foods anyway, but now I've got even more incentive.

Maalox is an antacid. Belladona is an anti spasmodic. Lidocaine, a numbing agent.

You got what we ER nurses call a "GI Cocktail", sometimes also called a "grasshopper," or "green dragon."

I've had them, too. They work great.

When my gallbladder went south, the surgeon wanted to operate the next day. However, I didn't want to be out from work . . . I had no one to cover my clinic . . so I wanted to wait two months until the Christmas break.

Two weeks later, I was called my surgeon back and begged him to schedule me.

Had my gallbladder out on Halloween, of all days. Best decision I ever made.

[Der Cute]

I had mine done.
I spent about 4 years fighting the thing, and would get intermittent attacks. Those SUCK. My first few years working with this was to cut mass sugar out, many acidic things and stick to low fat foods.

It kind of worked, I found out my cholesterol was high after a couple of GB attacks. I then worked with the doc to lower cholesterol. Fine. The GB did not shut up. About 2.5 years ago I had one so bad I had my BFF drive me to as hospital without his license. The GB was removed laproscopically (that's all they do now unless it ruptures) . I was sent home after overnight stay.
Later I found out that the GB was Acute and Chronic - it had been very unhappy for years and finally screamed I"M DONE. No stones in it, just a very angry unhappy organ.

there were some side effects, but short lived. Pain, duh, stoned on drugs, duh and some bowel issues. All done now!

Dilaudid - much better than morphine. I had (in the ER) 2 morphine shots and that didn't work..I had to do 2 Dilaudid shots. THEN immediate surgery. DO NOT wait, line this up asap and get it fixed. Until then, super bland, super low acidic and super low carb food.
You may be able to line a sooner surg thru your PCP doctor. Find out....yesterday.

[Food Lady]

It doesn't have to be a death sentence. I had a couple of attacks in the fall and winter and none since. I don't eat plain anything. I love spicy foods. I eat fat (although very heathy fats, mostly unsaturated), lots of carbs, but enough protein (I'm vegetarian). I don't have any issues except very slight tinge of pain if I eat too may eggs at once. Doctor says he thinks I have an issue, but says I don't need to change my diet. So, meh. Unless I end up in the ER, I'm not going to worry. Also, had no idea anyone used belladonna at all, especially not in hospitals.

[MoonCat]

I know, I know.

I'm going to be seeing my regular doc, but I will probably have the thing taken out. I'm just a little concerned about after-effects. I know there aren't supposed to be any, but both my mom and my sister had them. My sis still does. Certain foods mean she has to run for the bathroom. It doesn't even have to be anything greasy. Sometimes all it takes is a drink of water first thing in the morning. If gallbladder problems run in the family (I remembered my grandpa on mom's side had it, too), then possibly the bad after-effects do, too.

I don't mind the plain diet, really. I can use a touch of herbs like rosemary, sage, tarragon, thyme, etc., to perk things up. And I should be eating less fat anyway.

But very likely I'll have it out. For one thing, we keep urging a friend who has the same problem to get hers out....be pretty dumb for me to chicken out after bugging her to do it!

[Der Cute]

The bowel/poop side effect is 10%. (read up on that one).. It took about a month or so for my intestines to adjust and things to work out correctly. Frankly, gb vs bathrooms, I'll bet on the bathrooms.

I'd start making diet changes anyways - try the organic milkcarton kind of chicken broth, cook brown rice in it and have some low fat chicken...add veggies, it's nummy! Stay away from dressings such as full flavor and low fat - too much fat and too much sugar - try a SMALL vinaigrette one, (as in dip fork, stab salad, test it...then run with it if it works).

The sugar, acid foods and fatty foods will killya with that GB. Trick I learned - apple juice. It neutralizes the acid in the stomach. So if you have the pinchy ouch pain on the right side, chug some apple juice and try that. But get this lined up, ok? I don't think the cost of TP over a life time will be equal to the cost of GB removal AND OR be as painful.

[MoonCat]

The bowel/poop side effect is 10%. (read up on that one).. It took about a month or so for my intestines to adjust and things to work out correctly. Frankly, gb vs bathrooms, I'll bet on the bathrooms.

I'd start making diet changes anyways - try the organic milkcarton kind of chicken broth, cook brown rice in it and have some low fat chicken...add veggies, it's nummy! Stay away from dressings such as full flavor and low fat - too much fat and too much sugar - try a SMALL vinaigrette one, (as in dip fork, stab salad, test it...then run with it if it works).

The sugar, acid foods and fatty foods will killya with that GB. Trick I learned - apple juice. It neutralizes the acid in the stomach. So if you have the pinchy ouch pain on the right side, chug some apple juice and try that. But get this lined up, ok? I don't think the cost of TP over a life time will be equal to the cost of GB removal AND OR be as painful.

Thanks for the apple juice tip! We're already eating brown rice...I love it. And I hardly ever use dressing. The pain doesn't start right after eating...usually a while later. And not every day or even every week. But this was the worst one I've had, so yeah...probably needs to come out.

[Jennie's biggest fan]

gall stones cure when small olive oil and lemon juice works a treat tastes like crap

[HappyFun Ball]

I would go ahead and get it out myself.. I had to wait 4 very painful months to get mine removed and it went from being a simple 1 day surgery with 2-3 small 1/2 inch incisions to a huge, thick 9 inch incision and a 4 day in a complete dope stupor hospital stay.

You can cut back on the fat all you want, it might only reduce the number of attacks you have and when you pass a stone it could get lodged in you bile duct which without treatment can kill you. You can also end up in the hospital with Pancreatitis.. And that is no fun at all, they starve you until your pancreatic enzymes go down.

I'm allergic to Morphine and Demerol.. So they give me Dilaudid for pain, and yes that stuff WILL make you puke! I have em push the nausea meds before they push the Dilaudid.

The only side effect I've had from mine being removed is more gas.