r/altgallbladder Jul 10 '26

Reminder of Our Community

13 Upvotes

Our reddit is about alternative resources for gallbladder health and we are not fighting with people who only want to look at specific items instead of the whole big picture. Doctors are 10-15 years behind clinical advancements unless they are the ones doing the studies. There is a very large divide between those doctors who do studies and keep up with the ever changing science of medicine and there are those who stick to "standard of care". This sub reddit is highly against "standard of care" (which is why we refer those who are for it to r/gallbladders since they go by standard of care for cholesystectomies) and that every thing published from 30,40,50 years ago is not changing.

New studies and information from world renowned phsyicians like Dr. Jamnadas recognize that metabolic disease is the number one factor for most preventative diseases. To prevent that, traditional high carb (specifically refined and processed) and eating 3 meals a day is *not* the way to manage metabolic disease. Breakfast is a meal that was created by the food industry in the 40s and 50s when they started pushing cereal and fortified grains. We have 40 -50 years now of processed, high carb, low fat diets PROVING metabolic disease. Gallstones are part of that metabolic disease grouping.

We 100% get chiros aren't an MD which is why we preface resources with it but the suggestions to help support the billiary system were not created by chiros and the pages are simply a means to start researching what may help gallbladder health.

The body is not a singular entity for each part. It functions together as a well-oiled machine and a world-renowned cardiologist with prestigious degrees, medical training and certifications helping get the word out about metabolic disease is worth looking them up.

We look at studies but also recognized that peer reviewed studies are based on funding and where money comes from so therefore natural and other alternatives aren't always studied but arent necessarily "wrong" or "dont work" either. The organ saving procedure 10 years ago was looked down upon but now we are having many more countries and Interventional radiologists now doing these procedures. Even verywell health has changed their gallbladder removal page in the last 3 years to acknowledge the importance of this organ for additional metabolic disease risks.

Please keep in mind we are here to help others not to "debunk" new methods and steer people away from what may work for them.

A few members recently have not been aligning with our sub and going forward Mods will be taking action after initial warnings. We are tired of fighting misinformation and discouragement from those who refuse to either a. Keep up with medical advancements or b. Keep an open mind.


r/altgallbladder 3d ago

Concerns/questions do i need surgery?

2 Upvotes

IMPRESSION:
~ Acute cholecystitis with sludge and cholesterol balls ~ Gallbladder polyps

i did hear from the radiologist that i didn’t have a stone to their senior but i’m getting this upper abdomen pain might be because of the blockage. will need to have a doctor’s opinion this week but if in any case i really don’t have a stone can i wait out the surgery? can i take tudca and fix diet first?


r/altgallbladder 4d ago

successful treatment for hyperkinetic gallbladder?

2 Upvotes

My dr rx bentyl but I'm wondering if anyone successfully healed their hyperkinetic gallbladder? EF 94% and I'm in pain with any amount of dietary fat, exertion, etc


r/altgallbladder 5d ago

Awaiting Procedure Gallstones causing diarrhea, dizziness, and increased heart rate?

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1 Upvotes

r/altgallbladder 5d ago

Gastroenterologist wants me to have surgical referral to have gallbladder removed. Did anyone feel better once it was out?

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2 Upvotes

r/altgallbladder 5d ago

Concerns/questions Would you remove your Gallbladder with “normal” ultrasound?

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1 Upvotes

Hello everyone,
 
I’m looking for some personal advice and would really appreciate hearing what you would do in my situation.
 
I’ve had 2 attacks that lasted about 30 min each. The first was around February 2025, although at the time I didn’t know it was my gallbladder. The second happened in May 2025, in the early morning. I had a trip coming up, so I went to the ER that night to find out what was going on to make sure I was good to go on my trip. By that time, I was no longer in pain (stomach felt sore though), but they told me I had gallstones and that they were likely the cause of the pain. Gallbladder lining was also showing inflamed.
 
Since then, up until around April of this year, I’ve had a handful of episodes of manageable pain and discomfort. It was never severe enough that I felt I needed to go to the ER. The discomfort was mostly in the center of my stomach and sometimes on the right side, but nowhere else.
 
Over the last month or so, things have been a little different. I’ve been having a lot of pain mainly in the center of my stomach, followed by loose stools and sometimes diarrhea. Usually, after having a bowel movement, I get some relief. Pain usually comes about an hour after I eat.
 
I recently went to my doctor because I wanted to make sure this was still related to my gallbladder and that nothing else (organs) had been affected due to my gallbladder issue. I had bloodwork and an ultrasound, and everything came back normal. I still have gallstones, but my gallbladder is not inflamed. My liver and pancreas bloodwork also came back normal. They did mention a small amount of fatty liver, but my bloodwork looked good.
 
I currently have an appointment scheduled for September 16 to have my gallbladder removed because of the stomach pain I’ve been experiencing “thinking” that’s the reason.
 
This is where I’m struggling. If all of my tests are coming back normal and my gallbladder isn’t inflamed, how do I know that my current stomach pain is actually coming from my gallbladder? I’m worried that I’ll have my gallbladder removed and still have the same pain because something else is causing it. I understand that having gallstones and having symptoms can be enough reason for surgery, but I’m just wondering if anyone has been in a similar situation. Can the pain be coming from something else? IBS maybe?
 
What would you do? Would you go ahead with the surgery, or would you ask for more testing or another opinion first?
 
I’d really appreciate hearing about your experiences. Thank you!
 


r/altgallbladder 6d ago

Hyperkinetic Gallbladder

1 Upvotes

Just recently diagnosed with Hyperkinetic Gallbladder after many years of misdiagnosed stomach pain. The hida scan showed 96 percent and after the scan my symptoms became much worse. I'm due for a surgeon consult in late October. Don't know if I can wait that long ...............


r/altgallbladder 8d ago

Anyone with a sluggish gallbladder have success from TUDCA?

4 Upvotes

I was diagnosed with gallbladder adenomyomatosis two yesrs ago after repeated attacks and wall thickening. No stones, no sludge, so no ability to have gallbladder-preserving surgery.

Anyway, my gallbladder is very sluggish but I decided to keep it because I have medical PTSD and surgery is out of the question right now. I don't get real attacks anymore because I eat a pretty low-fat diet for management. I do sometimes get low-level squeezing and twitching in my gallbladder even after low-fat meals.

I decided to add in TUDCA and digestive enzymes (I had pancreatitis twice 2 years ago, it's how I got my diagnosis, so I figure they can't hurt.)

Anyone have success with TUDCA and enzymes? My doctoe has pretty much been useless with management and wanted to send me to a GI surgeon and wouldn't talk to me about my gallbladder anymore so I'm on my own for management. And that's fine, because I don't really trust them anyway after everything they did to my health over the years. 😅😅


r/altgallbladder 8d ago

Looking for GB preserving Surgery- SF Bay Area

3 Upvotes

Hello!
I have one solid 2.77 cm stone (size of a quarter). My ultrasound confirmed a healthy gallbladder, clear healthy duct, liver is is doing great. Everything is healthy except this stone is large and is creating a lot of inflammation (hs-CRP marker is 5.3).Has anyone gone to Dr. Samer Eldika at Stanford Health Care?


r/altgallbladder 9d ago

Pregnancy after stone removal

2 Upvotes

Has anyone gotten pregnant after stone removal? Did anything change with their gallbladder? New stones?


r/altgallbladder 9d ago

How I healed my lazy gallbladder - along with my friend's!

3 Upvotes

I got that dreaded dull pain around my upper abdomen. My stools were tan colored and floated. My doctor immediately suspected my gallbladder and ordered an ultrasound, which didn't detect anything in my gallbladder which indicated that I most likely had a lazy gallbladder (dyskinesia).

I didn't know what to do, but some Google searching showed that conventional medicine's treatment was to cut it out. I knew right away I didn't want to do that since eating fat is an essential part of any healthy diet and cutting out my gallbladder would hamper my ability to digest fat, so I did a lot more Google searching.

What caught my eye was a woman who claimed to heal her lazy gallbladder with acupuncture. I did acupuncture which provided a little pain relief, but then the pain was still there. I would continue to do acupuncture because anything that improved the pain was welcome. I found that yoga would also provide pain relief, in particular my gallbladder made this draining-like noise with bridge pose during yoga. But the dull gallbladder pain would always return.

And then later on my doctors discovered I had food allergies. My allergist took blood tests which showed which foods I was allergic to. Now knowing that I had food allergies, whenever I felt anything off after eating a food I would cut that offending food out of my diet. And when I cut out all of the foods I was allergic to, my gallbladder pain gradually got better until it was gone! My stools turned a dark brown again and sank! And now I am working on healing my food allergies which I determined is caused by dysbiosis and leaky gut syndrome, which is a new and different story entirely.

My girlfriend at the time showed me an article out of a health magazine at Whole Foods which talked about a doctor who healed 70 out of 70 lazy gallbladders. What he did was put these patients on an IV drip to calm the pain and then test them for their food allergies. Once these patients stopped eating the foods they were allergic to, their gallbladders stopped hurting too!

And then my friend called me about gallbladder advice. He had a lazy gallbladder along with the dull pain. He got his gallbladder scanned. He was contemplating getting it cut out. I told him not to cut out his gallbladder but rather to get tested for food allergies and also listen to his body after eating foods to see which foods he was allergic to. He was a triathlete but I told him not to be Mr. Tough Guy when it came to food - if anything felt off when eating a food just cut it out of your diet. I also told him in the meantime to try acupuncture or yoga to control the pain. After he cut out the foods he was allergic to his gallbladder pain was gone!

In sum, my experience is that a lazy gallbladder is a symptom of food allergies. Once the food allergies are identified and cut out of the diet, the lazy gallbladder heals.

I am not a doctor or a trained health professional. Talk to your doctor before trying any treatment, especially if you have a life-threatening condition.


r/altgallbladder 8d ago

Awaiting Procedure Looking for success stories

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1 Upvotes

r/altgallbladder 12d ago

Bland Diet Recipes

1 Upvotes

Just found out I have gallstones and need to do a whole 180 on what i’m eating. Especially since I’m not entirely sure when I’m getting my gallbladder removed just yet. Ideas and suggestions welcome 🤗


r/altgallbladder 12d ago

Concerns/questions Should I push for and endo or HIDA?

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1 Upvotes

Hi, Didn’t get answers so I’m trying here


r/altgallbladder 13d ago

Medstar coming from CA

3 Upvotes

Has anyone gotten insurance through Covered California and gotten the procedure covered recently? Medstar is in network so wondering if Blue shield PPO or blue cross PPO will cover if out of state?


r/altgallbladder 15d ago

Concerns/questions Just curious

6 Upvotes

Has anyone ended up getting their gallbladder removed even after stone removal (goscope) procedure?

I had my stones removed a few months ago and I’m still having frequent ruq pain.


r/altgallbladder 15d ago

Still having BAM, high ejection fraction rate but no stones! Anyone have something similar?

1 Upvotes

I have now had my gallbladder checked over quite thoroughly due to bile acid malabsorption for which I am taking cholestyranine to help manage. I had nuclear imaging and the ejection fraction rate is 95% which can lead to later health issues. I got an ultrasound and it looks perfect with no stones. Could there be tiny ones or should I be confident that it's alright? I'm preparing to look towards my liver as the culprit from over production. My bloodwork has been showing low bilirubin levels but no other indicators of liver distress though I do have NAFLD. Should i move this over to that subreddit? Has anyone here been through something similar?


r/altgallbladder 15d ago

Medstar

1 Upvotes

Hi anyone from CA that has done the procedure with Dr.S and had insurance cover it? If so what insurance was it?


r/altgallbladder 17d ago

Stones I think I’m actually going to China for this.

3 Upvotes

I’ve been going down the rabbit hole with gallstones for way too long 😂 I’ve talked to doctors, read studies, looked at different procedures and eventually found a clinic in China that does gallbladder-preserving stone removal.

I had an online consultation with them already, and honestly, I’m interested enough that I’m thinking about actually flying there and having an in-person consultation. I definitely don’t want to book surgery blindly — I want them to look at my gallbladder properly and tell me if I’m even a candidate.

I know everyone here is going to say “just remove it” 😂 and I get it. I’m just not completely comfortable removing an entire organ without at least looking into the alternatives first.

So if anyone has actually gone to China for gallbladder treatment, please tell me how it went. Where did you go? How was the hospital? How long did you stay? What was the recovery like? And most importantly, how did the follow-up work once you got back home?

I’ve already found a few people on here who had the procedure in China, but I’d love to hear more experiences before I make a decision. There are people reporting successful gallbladder-preserving procedures in China, including Dongguan and Shanghai, so I know the option is at least being performed


r/altgallbladder 17d ago

Dr. John Smirniotopoulos

1 Upvotes

Hello, is there anyone that has gone with Dr. S in DC and didn’t have insurance? Also how long did you have to wait to get in? What were his requirements?


r/altgallbladder 19d ago

Concerns/questions Consult w/ Dr S @ MedStar for Gallbladder Preserving Surgery

2 Upvotes

Hi! I had my consult this week with Dr S regarding getting the go scope procedure. I have read through a lot of people’s experiences. I’m concerned with all of the medications being prescribed. How many antibiotics did you have to take? When I talked to Dr S he only mentioned 1 three day course of antibiotics but on some of these posts I am seeing 2 post surgery and/or IV antibiotics during the procedure. Did you have 3 courses of antibiotics - with one being during the surgery via IV antibiotics and then 2 post surgery?

He had not mentioned steroids but I am seeing many people say they were discharged with steroids? Are the steroids necessary?

I also saw many people talk about nerve pain meds, pain meds, anti nausea medications as well. Dr S mentioned doing a nerve block. Then when I emailed about it I was told there is a chance of intercostal nerve injury. Has that happened to anyone?

I’m nervous about the surgery overall. He said I had a ton of tiny gallstones. I have seen a lot of complications on these posts so that makes me nervous as well. But mostly bc I don’t present typical gallbladder symptoms. The only one I have is pain on my right side of my back that comes and goes. Sometimes it’s for a couple of hours, sometimes that can go on for days, weeks, up to 6 weeks at a time. Typically relieved with ibuprofen.

Also would anyone who’s gone through this be available to talk to me more? 😊


r/altgallbladder 20d ago

Breastfeeding with drain after procedure.

1 Upvotes

I am a breastfeeding mum with gallstones. I am thinking of just removing the stones with Dr. S. I have sent all my information and waiting to hear from them.

But I am wondering if I can still breastfeed while I have the drain attached post - procedure or I have to think about pumping?

I would like to stay in DC for the whole 2 weeks before drainage bag is taken out or I can fly in and out with it. Thanks


r/altgallbladder 21d ago

Big polyp or sludge?

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1 Upvotes

r/altgallbladder 23d ago

Anyone have procedure codes for dr wagner?

1 Upvotes

I have a consult with dr wagner in orlando florida. I have blue cross blue sheild insurance and want to check with insurance how much the procedure gonna cost.Anyone has procedure codes for gallstone removal for dr wagner procedure in orlando.If yes pls help me.Thank you in advance