I wonder why so many people are suffereing with gallstone-related problems at the moment?
The posts here are numerous, and I personally know of several people (in their twenties) who have had their gallbladders removed recently.
I'm guessing it's diet related in the first instance - most seem to happen when switching to a lower fat regime. The stones shrink a little then the little blighters start their journey down the tubes.
I don't think the waiting list for scans help either. After waiting 12 weeks since my GP's referral, I rang the hospital yesterday and was told for a routine scan it's an 8 MONTH waiting list. She recommended I contact my doc again to maybe escalate it. This may be contentious, but if I got myself pregnant right now, I'd have an ultrasound within 6 weeks! So why when we're in all this pain do we have to wait for ours?
Apologies for the rambley musings, just venting my spleen - or should than be 'spitting my bile'? ;) Hey, if you don't laugh, you'd cry.
Interesting to know your thoughts.....



I agree with you about the wait for scans. I can't understand it myself as two weeks ago, my daughter was taken to casualty with a pain in her abdomen. The A&E doctor ordered a scan and she had one within the hour - maybe we were just lucky.
Lesley



Red Bess
as you say, gallstones are diet related, and exceedingly common in western world (rare by comparison in the third world). they are often silent, so scan department needs indication from referrer whether it is urgent - as when getting lots of gallstone colic as opposed to a touch of windy indigestion.
I hope your local hospital does not have the problem we had in North London - the ultrasound department shoved GP referrals into a drawer and 'forgot' about them in droves - the subsequent scandal led to the resignation of the chief executive!
Lack of resources is the problem leading to long waiting lists, usually. Give us the tools and we'll finish the job!
Hope you get your problem sorted out soon - get your GP to expedite appointment - if the wait is 8 months where you are, you are overdue and should be done immediately to make up for the apparent oversight.
[sm=love-smiley-009.gif] Doq



Hi Red Bess,
can I venture to add something here - it is a valid point as I have , as you know from another thread, I had mine out and a bad time with it generally.
In my research I found it can be a genetic predisposition which can cause these problems with the gall bladder. I looked at my own birth family, and two half sisters, my mother and my grandmother all had the same as I did.
I saw that this can occur in families in this research, and it adds another dimension to the overall causes. And this is also why I tend to (personally) dismiss the spiritual reasons for gall bladder disease - all these people show clearly, with their different personalities and characters and lives that they were not the same at all and did not share the same problems, mentally or spiritually, but definately physically.
I do find looking at family backgrounds fasinating as they do tend to show lines of possible inherited disease/malfunction if we look closely enough.
Love Gxxx



Thanks for your thoughts, everyone, very interesting. G, one pal of mine was 26 when he had his GB removed - that one ran in his family but he didn't fit the fat, female and forty tick-box, so was left in pain for 2 years before proper diagnosis.
On a personal note, I have some better news: rang my doc Friday to see what he could do. Apparently the private hospital I'd approached about a scan doesn't have its own radiology dept, and so pays the doc at the hospital to stay on past 5pm - I'm not paying to go private when it's done at the same place!! [:@] Anyway, my doc said he would change my referral so it's to a surgeon directly; that from my description of symptoms, it seems pretty pointless to wait for a scan to confirm what we already know, and then wait another 4 months on a surgeon's list. He said the surgeons aren't that busy at the moment, and one of two things will happen: 1) The suregon will see me directly, maybe as soon as 4 weeks; or 2) The surgeon will contact radiology directly and ask them to bring my scan forward. Either way, I should get seen a bit quicker.
Out of interest I did ask him about scanning pregnant women and apparently those scans are done elsewhere in the hospital.



Der Red Bess,
Very very pleased to see things are moving in the right direction for you and will think of you during this awful time.
One friend of mine had gallstones, very nasty diseased gall bladder, she was 59 when it was removed, and she was slim, Vegan, exercised every day relentessly, biked from John o'Groats to Lands End for Charity recently, and works as a Hospice nurse, one of the kindest and lovliest people I have ever met. There could not have been any 'spiritual' reasons for her condition, and it lead me to believe that, although the mind influences the body hugely, some things are just plain old there, and are going to happen, or are genetic and going to happen. ;) I could go on, as I made a point of researching this, but, I will rest my case there.;)
Take care. Loe Gillyxxx



Hi red bess,
i see you are in my area (im in Bury)
i had my gall bladder removed at the age of 24 after a few years of pain , my mum had hers removed but the gp never thought to look into my history(nor did i) as i was so young, i have to say my diet has always been pretty good/average and i was not overweight or fair/forty,
its something strange that so many young people are sufferers...
hope you get sorted soon