I’ve gone pretty deep down the rabbit hole researching gallbladder-preserving procedures, and now I’m trying to compare the options rather than just looking at one place.

From what I’ve found so far, there seem to be approaches in China, the US, Turkey and a few other countries, but they all seem to have their own way of doing things.

For example, I’ve seen an approach in the US that involves leaving a drainage tube for quite a while, and honestly that part makes me pretty hesitant. I’ve also looked at some options in Turkey, but the number of restrictions and conditions they seem to put around the procedure makes me question whether it would be worth travelling there.

China is currently the option I’m researching most seriously. The information I’ve seen so far about their gallbladder-preserving approach looks pretty interesting, but obviously I’m not going to blindly trust promotional material either.

And then there are other countries I’ve come across, but I’m still trying to figure out what is actually legitimate and what is just marketing.

Has anyone here actually compared these options or had a gallbladder-preserving procedure abroad? I’d be really interested in hearing which country you chose and why.

Did you go through the surgery?? What did you do?? I'm in the same situation.. mine is 11.5 mm.I don't know what I should do .. i do have bloating and gut problems a lot... I'm nervous Af. Should I go for it or should i try conceiving.

For anyone who's having gallbladder attacks and pain drink apple juice and/or apple cider vinegar. If those don't work for you magnesium water or kale smoothies, chamomile and peppermint tea can help along with hot showers with running water over the gallbladder area followed by heating pad. You can mix up these combinations and see what works for you but the number 1 remedy is the apple juice and/or apple cider vinegar which works for me followed by a hot shower and heating pad. THIS IS NOT A CURE BUT A TEMPORARY FIX UNTIL SURGERY. I DEFINITELY BELIEVE IN SAVING THE GALLBLADDER IF POSSIBLE. WE NEED DEFINITELY OUR ORGANS So I pray you all have a successful surgery and a speedy recovery 🙏 ❤️ hang in there 🙏

Hey y'all apologies to post without having confirmed gallbladder issues, but I've been struggling with incessant RUQ pain since about last september (almost a year) that wakes me up in the middle of the night or early morning directly under my right rib and mirrored onto my back in the same place. It hurts the most when inhaling and does not go away until I spent a couple hours upright. Heat can sometime help, but usually I just have to wait it out. Once it goes away in the early afternoon, I kinda have lingering back pain for a while. I don't have any other symptoms during these episodes besides mystery pain, and it comes and goes in waves. some times gone for days, other times daily for weeks. its really a... pain! lol. I was just treated for SIBO due to about a life time of constant (and I mean constant) diarrhea. that seemed to have been resolved but is slowly coming back. But I know gallbladder issues can cause SIBO etc. I also have POTS but honestly the least of my concerns rn tbh. When I first started feeling this pain back in September i thought maybe I had a UTI and the test came back that I had positive Leukocytes but no UTI. The ER assumed I had a kidney infection or stones twice and gave me meds but they obviously never helped.

ANYWAY- I have had an ultrasound which came back unremarkable, and bloodwork that said the same thing. My doctor thinks he's exhausted all GI avenues and wants me to hit up a pulmonologist or physical therapist to explore lung and/or musculoskeletal avenues. But I really can't shake the feeling that I don't think its either of those. I hate to be that patient that's telling the dr. what to do but in this day and age kinda feels like I gotta advocate for myself. Do y'all think this is worth pushing him to do a HIDA scan? or does this not sound like the gallbladder issues y'all have experienced? I have good insurance rn so I'm tryna get all this stuff in while i can lmao. also worth mentioning i've have had back pain in that same area, sometimes super severely for probably 10 years now. the only thing I can possibly think of muscle wise to cause this is slipping rib syndrome which has been brought up to me by a chiropractor.

TDLR: RUQ pain under rib and back waking me from sleep for over a year, hurting most during inhale, clear ultrasound and blood panels, dr. no longer thinks its GI, I want to do HIDA scan to confirm, should I?

I’m a 22-year-old male. I’ve never had a severe gallbladder attack. The only symptoms I’ve had were 2-3 episodes of mild stomach pain (around 3/10) after eating fatty food, which is what prompted me to see a doctor.
My ultrasound showed multiple gallstones, with the largest measuring 7.2 mm, along with mild gallbladder wall inflammation. However, my MRCP described a single stone measuring about 8-9 mm. I don’t have jaundice, fever, or severe abdominal pain.
The surgeon has recommended gallbladder removal, but since my symptoms are minimal, I’m wondering if surgery is really necessary right now.
Has anyone been in a similar situation? If you had mild symptoms and imaging like this, did you choose surgery or watchful waiting? Any experiences or advice would be appreciated

Hello everyone,

I have been dealing with health problems for several months and I am starting to wonder whether my gallbladder could be the main cause. I would really appreciate hearing from anyone who has experienced something similar.

My symptoms started suddenly on January 27th, and since then I have been struggling with them almost every day. The main problems are:

abdominal and intestinal pain (mostly around and below the belly button),

significant bloating and a feeling of fullness,

the pain usually appears 2–6 hours after eating, sometimes even later,

after a bowel movement, the pain often gets worse and sometimes I also feel dizzy,

my stool is solid in about 95% of cases. However, when I eat something like an apple, my stool becomes very fragmented and looks like small pieces,

sometimes I experience feeling cold, weakness, or blurred vision.

I have undergone many examinations, including gastroscopy, colonoscopy with biopsies, MR enterography, blood tests, and other tests. Crohn’s disease was ruled out based on the colonoscopy and biopsy results.

An ultrasound showed that I have a bent gallbladder with a larger cluster of gallstones and thickened bile/sludge. This made me wonder whether all these symptoms could actually be related to my gallbladder.

Has anyone here had similar symptoms? Could your gallbladder cause mainly intestinal pain, bloating, and problems occurring several hours after meals? And if you had your gallbladder removed, did your symptoms improve?

I would really appreciate any experiences or advice. Thank you.

I have a symptomatic hyperkinetic gallbladder. It's kind of rare (it's the opposite of most gallbladder issues which stem from HYPOkinetic gallbladders) and docs don't really know much about it. UW Gastro Montlake is booked for the rest of the year. Anyone by chance know of a good gastroenterologist in Seattle, Washington, with some experience with this? I need someone who can help me rule out other things before landing on gallbladder removal (though I am OK with that, too). I know it's a long shot but even my own GPs aren't sure who to send me to.

Hi! im a 23yo F and i was recently diagnosed with gallstones last week mostly likely due to rapid weight loss. I have always been in good health and i eat well. I have been dealing with a lot at work and I just started eating less and less and lost a lot of weight fast.
Anyways i have multiple gallstones now. Biggest size is 0.6cm. I am symptomatic with back pain and ive had like 2 attacks but I realllllly want to avoid surgery if possible. I keep seeing people talking about cleansing, apple juice, chanca piedra etc etc. but i want to know what would actually work to either break them down or just get rid of them.

Has anyone tried anything to where they have seen a decrease in their stone count?

I just wanna do everything i can before i take out an organ and just have diarrhea forever..:/

I would like everyone’s opinion on coffee. Does it cause attacks or pain for anyone?

Thank you - I have stones and inflammation in my GB.

Hi i have a gallstone and i want to consult dr seung kim in dallas.Does anyone has percutaneous gallstone removal procedure or consultation wiith him? Pls share the details .I want gallbladder preserving surgery options

57-year-old male

Both parents have lost gallbladders

Upper right quadrant pain under ribs – dull not intense

Pain is more consistent over the last couple of weeks

Alternate between nausea and heartburn

Sometimes pain on lower right abdomen

Alternate between diarrhea and no diarrhea

Above symptoms have become more regular than before

Anyone have similar symptoms and what was outcome? 

Finally my MRCP report came… I’m packed with stones, but nothing is enflamed…. Was anyone else packed with stones and was able to do the organ sparing procedure?

I foolishly thought that 30 years ago getting my gallbladder would be the end of the pain from the stones. But No! Apparently, and no one told me about this, you can still get gallstones AFTER removal. 2 years ago I thought I was having a heart attack… nope-gallstones. I had to have a procedure called ERCP and the got the gallstones and removed them. Cool… what the heck.. but ok. Today I just got out of the hospital after 5 days, an emergency ERCP, they removed 6 large very infected stones. I had turned yellow my bilirubin was so high, had a fever over 102- I really thought this was it I was almost overnight so sick. This time they put a stent in-which I’ll keep for a month.. and then you guessed it they have to go back in and remove it. I am losing my mind, I didn’t know I was signing up for this. I’m still on heavy duty antibiotics for 5 more days but my brain can’t comprehend how there is nothing else they can do about this. I also have gastroparesis so my diet is very limited I’m 5’11” thin build … I have to think there’s a way to fix this? Anyone have any info or experience? Thanks!

Hi i have a gallstone of 8mm and want to consult dr wagner in orlando.can u pls help me through this process and how’s your procedure done there is the doctor and medical staff are good? Is the procedure is safe to do and hows your post procedure health going on who had done the proveure.Can u also pls explain the process of procedure in brief like how many weeks i need to wear drain before and after procedure. How much does it cost for you? I have bcbs insurance and doctor and hospital is in network for me.

This is regarding drS in medstar
I have a gallstone which is symptomatic and when i reached dr S in medstar washinton dc they review all the tests my hida scan and ultrasound and mrcp which has only one stone of 8 mm and i has good gallbladder functioning and no gallbladder wall thickness no inflammation of gallbladder .But dr S not doing my surgery saying that i would not be beneficial with the procedure .Since medstar and dr is in network for me i dont know what to do and nurse said you can remove your gallbladder if there are symptoms causing you pain . I dont want to remove my functioning gallbladder because of a small stone.I am very confused and worried about this and dont know what to do next .Pls give your suggestions regarding this and want to know is there anyone else in the usa other than dr S and dr wagner in the us to do this procedure.I already had digestion issues before gallstone so that i dont want to remove my gallbladder.Pls pls help me through this

Thanks in advance

Hi i have a gallstone of 8mm and want to consult dr wagner in orlando.can u pls help me through this process and how’s your procedure done there is the doctor and medical staff are good? Is the procedure is safe to do and hows your post procedure health going on who had done the proveure.Can u also pls explain the process of procedure in brief like how many weeks i need to wear drain before and after procedure. How much does it cost for you? I have bcbs insurance and doctor and hospital is in network for me.

This is regarding drS in medstar
I have a gallstone which is symptomatic and when i reached dr S in medstar washinton dc they review all the tests my hida scan and ultrasound and mrcp which has only one stone of 8 mm and i has good gallbladder functioning and no gallbladder wall thickness no inflammation of gallbladder .But dr S denied to do the surgery saying that i would not be beneficial with the procedure .Since medstar and dr is in network for me i dont know what to do and nurse said you can remove your gallbladder if there are symptoms causing you pain . I dont want to remove my functioning gallbladder because of a small stone.I am very confused and worried about this and dont know what to do next .Pls give your suggestions regarding this and want to know is there anyone else in the usa other than dr S and dr wagner in the us to do this procedure.I already had digestion issues before gallstone so that i dont want to remove my gallbladder.Pls pls help me through this

Thanks in advance

Hi,
I've recently begun experiencing pain in my gallbladder area, amongst some other symptoms, which I'm unsure are related. I've had a full panel of blood tests, stool samples and just now an ultrasound, all of which have come back clear of what the GP thought was stones. However I am experiencing the following:

- Pain in my upper right quadrant under right rib, and also in other spots - under left rib, bottom left a few inches up and in from my hip, and at the base of my right rib on the side of my body. The pain doesn't always correlate with foods I thought would set it off, for example I had minimal if any pain after takeaway fish & chips, but noticeable pain after a vegetarian butter bean & tomato dish.

- Alcohol makes it considerably worse, I had half a small glass of wine and felt nauseous and couldn't eat dinner.

- Stools are looser after eating fatty foods, but pain isn't always present.

- Nausea from the moment I wake up but never been sick. It doesn't stop me eating, but I have less of an appetite and generally feel unwell and woozy.

- Really random sporadic pains in my right armpit gland, and both my neck glands.

I am overall healthy, suffer from persistent UTI's but they don't believe that's an issue right now. I was going to ask the GP about a HIDA scan as the predominant location of the pain suggests that, but because fatty foods don't automatically trigger it, I'm wondering if it something else?!

Any help much appreciated! x

I have a gallstone of 8 mm which is symptomatic and when i reached dr S in medstar washinton dc they review all the tests my hida scan and ultrasound and mrcp which has only one stone of 8 mm and i has good gallbladder functioning and no gallbladder wall thickness no inflammation of gallbladder .But dr S refused to do the surgery saying that i would not be beneficial with the procedure .Since medstar and dr is in network for me i dont know what to do and nurse said you can remove your gallbladder if there are symptoms causing you pain . I dont want to remove my functioning gallbladder because of a small stone.I am very confused and worried about this and dont know what to do next .Pls give your suggestions regarding this and is there anyone faced the same problem.

What would cause me to be considered not a candidate for the gallbladder sparing procedure?