Binging is bad - lesson learned
Discussion
At the weekend we had some friends visiting from LA. It also happened to be his birthday on the Saturday and I'd arranged to get all our pals together for a big BBQ on the Sunday.
One thing they miss over the pond is a decent curry so on the Saturday night got a takeaway, washed down with a "quantity" of beerios and finished off with some whisky.
My wife's a veggy so usually at home I am too, only really having meat (chicken) when we go out, maybe once a fortnight.
If that wasn't bad enough, on the Sunday I went a bit mental, you know how it is. Started at 1pm through till 10pm and it's pretty scary when you tot it all up. Beers, spirits, cocktails. Add in a load of food I don't normally eat - sausages, burgers, belly pork, chicken and finished off with some birthday cake...
Monday comes round after a sleepless night and I have bad indigestion at 7am (or so I thought). Went home at lunch and by mid afternoon I'd been sick multiple times and was curled up in the fetal position shaking with pain.
Roll on 9pm and I'm in A&E and on some very strong pain killers - I'm sure Iliphine was mentioned but tbh my memory is hazy as I was on the verge of passing out, guessing some relation of morphine?
Upshot is - had a gall bladder attack and they found some infection in my blood. Probably stone/s need removing, got an ultrasound booked for Friday. In the meantime I'm on soups+rice+salads, pain meds, and a strong dose of antibiotics for 7days. Thankfully the pain has mostly subsided and I'd describe it as "discomfort" now. This time yesterday I couldn't even speak I was in so much pain.
TLDR - binged on booze, cocktails, spirits, red meats, cake, takeaway all weekend and had a gallbladder attack + gallstones.
One thing they miss over the pond is a decent curry so on the Saturday night got a takeaway, washed down with a "quantity" of beerios and finished off with some whisky.
My wife's a veggy so usually at home I am too, only really having meat (chicken) when we go out, maybe once a fortnight.
If that wasn't bad enough, on the Sunday I went a bit mental, you know how it is. Started at 1pm through till 10pm and it's pretty scary when you tot it all up. Beers, spirits, cocktails. Add in a load of food I don't normally eat - sausages, burgers, belly pork, chicken and finished off with some birthday cake...
Monday comes round after a sleepless night and I have bad indigestion at 7am (or so I thought). Went home at lunch and by mid afternoon I'd been sick multiple times and was curled up in the fetal position shaking with pain.
Roll on 9pm and I'm in A&E and on some very strong pain killers - I'm sure Iliphine was mentioned but tbh my memory is hazy as I was on the verge of passing out, guessing some relation of morphine?
Upshot is - had a gall bladder attack and they found some infection in my blood. Probably stone/s need removing, got an ultrasound booked for Friday. In the meantime I'm on soups+rice+salads, pain meds, and a strong dose of antibiotics for 7days. Thankfully the pain has mostly subsided and I'd describe it as "discomfort" now. This time yesterday I couldn't even speak I was in so much pain.
TLDR - binged on booze, cocktails, spirits, red meats, cake, takeaway all weekend and had a gallbladder attack + gallstones.
Edited by Ambleton on Tuesday 11th June 21:07
Ambleton said:
At the weekend we had some friends visiting from LA. It also happened to be his birthday on the Saturday and I'd arranged to get all our pals together for a big BBQ on the Sunday.
One thing they miss over the pond is a decent curry so on the Saturday night got a takeaway, washed down with a "quantity" of beerios and finished off with some whisky.
My wife's a veggy so usually at home I am too, only really having meat (chicken) when we go out, maybe once a fortnight.
If that wasn't bad enough, on the Sunday I went a bit mental, you know how it is. Started at 1pm through till 10pm and it's pretty scary when you tot it all up. Beers, spirits, cocktails. Add in a load of food I don't normally eat - sausages, burgers, belly pork, chicken and finished off with some birthday cake...
Monday comes round after a sleepless night and I have bad indigestion at 7am (or so I thought). Went home at lunch and by mid afternoon I'd been sick multiple times and was curled up in the fetal position shaking with pain.
Roll on 9pm and I'm in A&E and on some very strong pain killers - I'm sure Iliphine was mentioned but tbh my memory is hazy as I was on the verge of passing out, guessing some relation of morphine?
Upshot is - had a gall bladder attack and they found some infection in my blood. Probably stone/s need removing, got an ultrasound booked for Friday. I'm the meantime I'm on soups+rice+salads, pain meds, and a strong dose of antibiotics for 7days. Thankfully the pain has mostly subsided and is describe it as "discomfort" now. This time yesterday I couldn't even speak I was in so much pain.
TLDR - binged on booze, cocktails. Spirits, red meats, cake, takeaway all weekend and had a gallbladder attack + gallstones.
Read here: https://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&...One thing they miss over the pond is a decent curry so on the Saturday night got a takeaway, washed down with a "quantity" of beerios and finished off with some whisky.
My wife's a veggy so usually at home I am too, only really having meat (chicken) when we go out, maybe once a fortnight.
If that wasn't bad enough, on the Sunday I went a bit mental, you know how it is. Started at 1pm through till 10pm and it's pretty scary when you tot it all up. Beers, spirits, cocktails. Add in a load of food I don't normally eat - sausages, burgers, belly pork, chicken and finished off with some birthday cake...
Monday comes round after a sleepless night and I have bad indigestion at 7am (or so I thought). Went home at lunch and by mid afternoon I'd been sick multiple times and was curled up in the fetal position shaking with pain.
Roll on 9pm and I'm in A&E and on some very strong pain killers - I'm sure Iliphine was mentioned but tbh my memory is hazy as I was on the verge of passing out, guessing some relation of morphine?
Upshot is - had a gall bladder attack and they found some infection in my blood. Probably stone/s need removing, got an ultrasound booked for Friday. I'm the meantime I'm on soups+rice+salads, pain meds, and a strong dose of antibiotics for 7days. Thankfully the pain has mostly subsided and is describe it as "discomfort" now. This time yesterday I couldn't even speak I was in so much pain.
TLDR - binged on booze, cocktails. Spirits, red meats, cake, takeaway all weekend and had a gallbladder attack + gallstones.
It's not fun!
Literally a year ago I'd just been released from a week in hospital via A&E with cholecystitis; numerous stones, biliary sludge and severely jaundiced (numbers were into the 700s)! I was on IV everything for the week and only released when my numbers dropped enough they were happy to boot me out, with a view to having my GB removed within 6 weeks (released 06th June, GB removed 30th June 2023)
I've a) never been in such pain before (I've broken numerous bones/6 ribs/smashed my face in/damaged my C5C6 etc - all via rugby in my yoof) and b) never been so scared! It was a horrendous episode I'd never want to repeat nor wish on my worst enemy
Fingers crossed you get sorted soon enough; don't drastically reduce your fat as you still need it! But do lower it; up the fibre and up the fluids too (non alcoholic). Grapefruit juice is good for this scenario also; so if you're happy drinking it, get some of that in
I had chemo in 2017 so gave up coffee while I was doing that, after I finished I decide not to have caffeine any more so that was that.
2018 I started to have abdominal pains after particularly fatty/greasy meals or cheese and bread, fish and chips that sort of stuff. Early 2019 I had a particularly bad attach that had in me A&E for 16 hours all kinds of pain meds and was diagnosed with gallstones, told me I was full up and it needed to come out.
I did some research as I didn’t fancy that and found a few studies that mentioned coffee and some combination of caffeine and liver enzyme that softened and reduced gallstones. I started drinking coffee again, watched my fat intake for a good few months and never had an attack again.
2018 I started to have abdominal pains after particularly fatty/greasy meals or cheese and bread, fish and chips that sort of stuff. Early 2019 I had a particularly bad attach that had in me A&E for 16 hours all kinds of pain meds and was diagnosed with gallstones, told me I was full up and it needed to come out.
I did some research as I didn’t fancy that and found a few studies that mentioned coffee and some combination of caffeine and liver enzyme that softened and reduced gallstones. I started drinking coffee again, watched my fat intake for a good few months and never had an attack again.
d_a_n1979 said:
Interesting read - thanks.d_a_n1979 said:
I've a) never been in such pain before (I've broken numerous bones/6 ribs/smashed my face in/damaged my C5C6 etc - all via rugby in my yoof) and b) never been so scared! It was a horrendous episode I'd never want to repeat nor wish on my worst enemy
Yeah, it was pretty grim! When I first went in to A&E I requested some emergency pain relief and they gave me a paracetamol. 
After I made it through to triage they gave me the good stuff. Arrived at 8.45pm, was settled by about 11pm. Eventually saw a doctor after 5.5hrs. got home just before 4am.
simon_harris said:
Early 2019 I had a particularly bad attach that had in me A&E for 16 hours all kinds of pain meds and was diagnosed with gallstones, told me I was full up and it needed to come out.
I did some research as I didn’t fancy that and found a few studies that mentioned coffee and some combination of caffeine and liver enzyme that softened and reduced gallstones. I started drinking coffee again, watched my fat intake for a good few months and never had an attack again.
That's very interesting - time to do some more research of my own.I did some research as I didn’t fancy that and found a few studies that mentioned coffee and some combination of caffeine and liver enzyme that softened and reduced gallstones. I started drinking coffee again, watched my fat intake for a good few months and never had an attack again.
Update -
Pain seems to be mostly manageable although it comes in surges and has also migrated to my back.
Biggest concern at the moment is that I feel full and bloated, but i don't feel like I need to poop. Nothing. It's not like I feel constipated or bunged up. Just absolutely no desire/requirement to go (I have tried several times!)
Last "real" deposit was sunday morning.
It's not like I'm not eating. I am (not as much as I would otherwise), but If I eat I can feel it sitting at the top of my stomach for ages, which is also uncomfortable.
Pain seems to be mostly manageable although it comes in surges and has also migrated to my back.
Biggest concern at the moment is that I feel full and bloated, but i don't feel like I need to poop. Nothing. It's not like I feel constipated or bunged up. Just absolutely no desire/requirement to go (I have tried several times!)
Last "real" deposit was sunday morning.
It's not like I'm not eating. I am (not as much as I would otherwise), but If I eat I can feel it sitting at the top of my stomach for ages, which is also uncomfortable.
I remember seeing a video of someone's digestive system trying to cope with Xmas dinner and one of the effects was to make the gallbladder shrink to the size of a walnut as it dumped all the bile it could produce into the gut to try to deal with the onslaught of lard coming down stream from the dinner plate. I expect that this would be a good way to discover if your gallbladder was already full of gravel.
ATG said:
I remember seeing a video of someone's digestive system trying to cope with Xmas dinner and one of the effects was to make the gallbladder shrink to the size of a walnut as it dumped all the bile it could produce into the gut to try to deal with the onslaught of lard coming down stream from the dinner plate. I expect that this would be a good way to discover if your gallbladder was already full of gravel.
Wait... So you're suggesting the only course of action now is a full Christmas dinner? 
Ambleton said:
Update -
Pain seems to be mostly manageable although it comes in surges and has also migrated to my back.
Biggest concern at the moment is that I feel full and bloated, but i don't feel like I need to poop. Nothing. It's not like I feel constipated or bunged up. Just absolutely no desire/requirement to go (I have tried several times!)
Last "real" deposit was sunday morning.
It's not like I'm not eating. I am (not as much as I would otherwise), but If I eat I can feel it sitting at the top of my stomach for ages, which is also uncomfortable.
It'll be the meds that have slowed your system down more than likely; did they give you any dihydrocodeine as that really slows your bowels down?!Pain seems to be mostly manageable although it comes in surges and has also migrated to my back.
Biggest concern at the moment is that I feel full and bloated, but i don't feel like I need to poop. Nothing. It's not like I feel constipated or bunged up. Just absolutely no desire/requirement to go (I have tried several times!)
Last "real" deposit was sunday morning.
It's not like I'm not eating. I am (not as much as I would otherwise), but If I eat I can feel it sitting at the top of my stomach for ages, which is also uncomfortable.
Keep fluids up and avoid hard to digest foods etc for a few days and see how you get on
The pain in your back is standard with gallbladder issues; fingers crossed it calms down
Ambleton said:
ATG said:
I remember seeing a video of someone's digestive system trying to cope with Xmas dinner and one of the effects was to make the gallbladder shrink to the size of a walnut as it dumped all the bile it could produce into the gut to try to deal with the onslaught of lard coming down stream from the dinner plate. I expect that this would be a good way to discover if your gallbladder was already full of gravel.
Wait... So you're suggesting the only course of action now is a full Christmas dinner? d_a_n1979 said:
It'll be the meds that have slowed your system down more than likely; did they give you any dihydrocodeine as that really slows your bowels down?!
Keep fluids up and avoid hard to digest foods etc for a few days and see how you get on
The pain in your back is standard with gallbladder issues; fingers crossed it calms down
No. All they gave me was some penicillin for the infection they found in my blood. The tablets are like biscuits, massive. Keep fluids up and avoid hard to digest foods etc for a few days and see how you get on
The pain in your back is standard with gallbladder issues; fingers crossed it calms down
They said if I needed pain relief to use paracetamol, and if it got really bad get some over the counter codeine. But don't use ibuprofen.
So far not been too bad on just paracetamol but I've just popped to boots and got some co-codamol as it's ramped up a fair bit over the morning.
Ambleton said:
d_a_n1979 said:
It'll be the meds that have slowed your system down more than likely; did they give you any dihydrocodeine as that really slows your bowels down?!
Keep fluids up and avoid hard to digest foods etc for a few days and see how you get on
The pain in your back is standard with gallbladder issues; fingers crossed it calms down
No. All they gave me was some penicillin for the infection they found in my blood. The tablets are like biscuits, massive. Keep fluids up and avoid hard to digest foods etc for a few days and see how you get on
The pain in your back is standard with gallbladder issues; fingers crossed it calms down
They said if I needed pain relief to use paracetamol, and if it got really bad get some over the counter codeine. But don't use ibuprofen.
So far not been too bad on just paracetamol but I've just popped to boots and got some co-codamol as it's ramped up a fair bit over the morning.
Co-codamol for some reason makes me feel really sick
Gall bladder has 3 large stones in it (and sludge). The largest is about 16mm. That sounds big to be but I don't know how abnormal that is.
They're recommending gall bladder removal.
Said I could leave it but there's likelihood of it happening again (absolutely f
k that - it was bloody awful), potential infection, sepsis etc.
Apparently they don't remove gall stones as they just reform instantly and it causes more issues/more invasive and it's just loads better to whip the whole thing out as we don't really need it anyway.
They're recommending gall bladder removal.
Said I could leave it but there's likelihood of it happening again (absolutely f
k that - it was bloody awful), potential infection, sepsis etc. Apparently they don't remove gall stones as they just reform instantly and it causes more issues/more invasive and it's just loads better to whip the whole thing out as we don't really need it anyway.
Edited by Ambleton on Friday 14th June 09:57
Back to the emergency clinic today for some more blood tests. Apparently my "levels" were a bit high on Friday so said to keep taking the antibiotics and go back today for more tests.
Went in at 8.45 hoping for a 15minute in'n'out... How wrong I was
11.45am came and they finally withdrew some of the red sauce and was told I had to wait for the results to come through.
At about 2pm the doc called me in. Bloods all fine and told I could go home to await a call from the surgeon.
Id just strolled up to my scooter (free parking
) fired it up and put my helmet on and a call comes through. It's the surgeons PA. "If you're okay for tomorrow, we can do it tomorrow morning. Can you be at the surgical inpatient area at 7.30am?"
Sooo.... Looks like it's being whipped out tomorrow morning. Should be day surgery but need to take an overnight bag just in case.
Went in at 8.45 hoping for a 15minute in'n'out... How wrong I was
11.45am came and they finally withdrew some of the red sauce and was told I had to wait for the results to come through.
At about 2pm the doc called me in. Bloods all fine and told I could go home to await a call from the surgeon.
Id just strolled up to my scooter (free parking
) fired it up and put my helmet on and a call comes through. It's the surgeons PA. "If you're okay for tomorrow, we can do it tomorrow morning. Can you be at the surgical inpatient area at 7.30am?" Sooo.... Looks like it's being whipped out tomorrow morning. Should be day surgery but need to take an overnight bag just in case.
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