All I have to say is thank you for this post.
I have been looking around online and different places the last day or so because I had elevated liver enzymes on some blood work last week and I was just trying to figure out why that might happen. The only other time I have had elevated liver enzymes was a few years ago when I was having gallbladder issues and they went back down on their own and once I had my gallbladder removed the have been normal since (until this past week).
After reading this post I am amazed because I had these episodes VERY frequently years ago and they were misdiagnosed as anxiety or stomach cramps or whatever else. I had the abnormal bloodwork then - also to add I was ALL READY diabetic when this happened - and started digging into things myself instead of relying on docs. I ended up diagnosing my own gallstones and pushing for every test under the sun. They would NOT believe that I had gallstones - THEY diagnosed me with a nonfunctioning gallbladder - they did a HIDA scan and my gallbladder didn't even show up lol. Well they removed it and lo and behold it was so full of gallstones nothing else could fit in it - no dye or anything that is why it didn't show up on the tests.
I thought that the attacks I was having were simply related to gallstones and I was wondering why I would still get the occasional "gallstone pain" I got before. For me I do not get fevers but I get what starts out as a feeling of gas pain that then radiates up into my chest/rib cage area and feels like I am being squeezed to death. That is what my pain is like now it is tolerable though uncomfortable I have had this pain about every other day for the past week, but it is getting less and less - and I will add to agree with Nicoles drink water thing - it goes away when I drink more water versus other things.
When I got these pains before they were horrendous I literally wanted to die or thought I was dying. It would start with stomach cramping, then go to the tightness and constriction in my chest/rib cage, then I would get nauseous, shortness of breath and actually be crawling on hands and knees panting because the deeper I would breathe the more my stomach would cramp. Ultimately (a few months before surgery - gallbladder removal) I realized that throwing up usually ended these attacks VERY quickly. As gross as it may be it was the only thing that helped to alleviate the pain. I had those attacks frequently over a 2 year period. Initially they were very infrequent - maybe once every few months and they correlated with high stress times in my life so when the doc said anxiety I believed her. Then I started getting them once a week or every few days and at times when I was not stressed and I started to question things. By the time my blood work came back abnormal I was havingan attack a day if not more. I was waking up in the middle of the night with them and had actually gotten to a point where my feet would itch like mad for no reason (also a very unusual side effect of gallstones/gallstone attacks). I experimented with different foods to see if anything was causing it and nothing seemed to be a direct cause ... then one day I realized I had not had an attack in a few days and started thinking what have I done differently ... I had NOT had any soda - caffeine or carbonated beverage in general. I went a few weeks without drinking a soda and didn't have a single attack. Then I decided to test my theory and had a pepsi for dinner - within two hours I was crawling to the bathroom in pain, heaving and throwing up.
I never had meds for the attacks, pain antibiotic or anything. I never knew that was a possible option I just dealt with the problem/pain. Once I stopped drinking sodas the attacks stopped until I had my gallbladder removed. Now I will get occasional tightness in my chest and stomach cramping but nothing like before and it is maybe once a year and lasts for only a few minutes or so. Oh also to add the longest single attack I had like that lasted about 2.5 hours. Yes 2.5 hours of constant cramping and heaving and throwing up lol. Oh Good times.
I will also add - everyone I knew thought I was nuts when I said I had gallstones and now that I am thinking this most recent episode is a pancreatitis thing I am thinking everyone (except you all) may think I am wacky again. Oh well - that is my diagnosis of the problem, so we will see what the docs say next week with more lab work.
Take Care and thank you again for the articles and for sharing your stories cause it has truly been helpful.
Love Linds