Gall Bladder Cleanse
 

I need to have a cholecystectomy but I'd rather not. I was up this morning from 12:30-4:00 am. with the wonderfully painful sensation of a gall bladder attack--I think a stone must have gotten into the common bile duct and worked its way down and, GAWD, it hurt. Then, I threw up. I googled a bit and found that some people do what is known as a gall bladder cleanse and they swear it got rid of their stones. One calls for a pint of olive oil, some lemon juice and V8. You're supposed to drink the olive oil two tablespoons at a time along with a tablespoon of lemon juice--the V8 is to sip if you think you're going to blow chunks. you do this until the olive oil/lemon is gone--about 4-4 1/2 hoursz. Then you go to sleep on your right side. In the morning you're supposed to have passed the stones! Does this seem nuts? I'm desperate to avoid that pain again.

A little, yes. But it doesn't sound like you have too much to lose. You will know in a relatively short time if it works.

I'm no health expert so any advice from me is suspect.

And I'm sorry you are going through this. Hang in there.

Yes, you're nuts. The only way to "pass" the stones is to have one or more attacks for each one -- probably more pain than you want to contemplate. I had more than 200 stones when they biopsied my gallbladder.
Consuming all that fat probably will trigger attacks, but my gawd! who would want to live through that?
(I had a lap choly in 2002, and was back at home the next day; out of work for 1 week. No fuss, no muss.)

My Lap-Choly Adventure.

Yes, that does say ONE STONE, 4 cm diameter.

According to several studies my level of coffee consumption should have kept my gall bladder as clean as a whistle ... and those studies have a lot more science behind them than the drink icky liquids and fast crowd.

I'm doing a V8/cranberry juice (diet) fast for next three days to let gb settle down and rest. If I eat anything solid, I'm belching up a storm and the pain comes...this may turn out to be the most effective weight loss method I've tried in a long time!!

Erm...if I understand the cleanse plan correctly, shouldn't you be on an olive oil diet? :-) I thought the V8 was just an anti-emetic?

Not to mock your pain, though...gall bladder pain is nasty. I have had a small sample of it on occasions in the past, and both my mom and my dad had cholys...my dad before they had the laparascope deal; he was hospitalized for about a week and had a huge scar.

But then he was a huge guy.

Well, the others have made me see the error of my idea to drink the olive oil/lemon juice and I did find other info saying a juice fast for 2-3 days COULD help to settle it down after an attack. They also mentioned a WATER fast, but, I don't think I could do that one. I really don't feel like eating, though. Now: Food=Pain. :eek:

Not being able to eat ; a galling prospect indeed .

Bri, drink sauerkraut juice. Lots and lots of little cans of Franks Sauerkraut Juice. I swear to you that it is helpful.

yay for drinking coffee but what is "fast crowd":p


buddug...he is pun-ny

by 'fast crowd' wolf means people who advocate fasting for a few days to let your gb settle down. and, I think buddug is a she! :)

I suppose I could have clarified the meaning by expressing it as 'drink icky liquids and fast' crowd.

So how are you feeling now, Brianna?

Spending too much time in the bathroom to post ;)

After a brave two day juice fast (V8, apple and carrot--which is better than it sounds) I feel much MUCH better. Thanks! :)

Excellent!

Bri,
So what exactly did you do, and how did you wean yourself back onto solid foods? Glad you're better BTW.

That next rack of ribs, or even a seemingly innocuous bologna and cheese sandwich will put you back right where you began.

Suck it up and go see a doctor.

....and that's what that ghost girl from the sixth sense kept saying...:worried:

....if she'd only gone to a doctor. :rolleyes:

Ah, too true, too true. I am watching it (sometimes I watch it better than others) and I plan on seeing a Dr. next week. The thought of surgery...well, I don't want it, but, if I have to, I have to. Lithotripsy is out.

I did two days of juice only (no orange, too acidy) then soft foods for a day. I was feeling so much better after that that I just started eating regularly again. BTW-the juice fast made me feel energized.

They don't do that for gallstones anymore. It didn't work, apparently.

The fancy medical term for that, as you know, is "sugar rush."

I tried mightily to avoid pure sugar rushes--I drank V8, carrot and (ok, I'll give you this one) apple juice. I think I just felt better 'coz I felt skinny! :lol:

What you have to effectively do is eliminate ALL fat from your diet. More than 5 grams per day will put you into a state which morphine will barely touch. I lasted nearly eight months between diagnosis (Thanksgiving weekend, not surprisingly a time when many gall bladders flare up) and the actual operation, while trying to get together funds to pay for it all because I had no health insurance. When they began the laproscopy, it was discovered that my gall bladder had completely disintegrated and they had to rush in a different surgeon to make a large incision and flush out my body cavity with saline. The doctor had 15 years experience in this kind of operation and she said she had never seen anything like it, she said it should have been impossible for me to stand the pain. Up to the time I lay down on the table I had been functioning on Tylenol and a no-fat diet, though, simply because I had no choice.

Oh yeah, and I lost 12 pounds too.

Do not rationalize or look for temporary fixes. Quit trying to fool yourself. Once the gallstones start they do not go completely away later, you will have to have the operation now or someday, but you will have it. Better now than at the autopsy, huh? Unless you are especially fond of the idea of massive pain and possible death, get it now.

learnt a lot about Gall Bladder and its opearation in human body. thx mate.

Hey Brianna,

If you have gallstones I recommend having surgery to have your gallbladder removed. I was sick (in pain, throwing up, etc) like you were, and dealt with it for a year (because I had no insurance)...and ended up with an ulcer from it, from throwing up so much. I was sick 4 or 5 times a week though, and mostly during the middle of the night. I know how painful it is, and it's been my experience that you really don't need your gallbladder all that much to function, and function properly. I've been without mine for 4 years and haven't noticed much of a difference at all. To find out if you have them is pretty painless and if you have insurance, just a co-pay. The surgery is practically painless (afterwards) out-patient type, and I was up and at it the next day. I have three little scars on my stomach.