- Nov 22, 2018

Gut Issues After Gallbladder Removal

So you've had your gallbladder removed and perhaps things appeared to be normal at first, but eventually your gut troubles began and before you knew it you were looking at a diagnosis of Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS) and no hope of relief from the pain, fatty foods irritating your stomach, urgent diarrhea and gas.

Gallbladder removal has become a common medical procedure in hopes of correcting gallstones, chronic inflammation, pain and even bile duct stones.

Now, fortunately, you CAN live without your gallbladder, but at what cost?

What the heck does a gallbladder do?

The gallbladder is a small pouch sized organ that sits on the right side of your abdomen. Small and mighty, it does play an important role which is why you may be feeling the effects of it being gone.

It's job is to work closely with the liver and as the liver produces bile, a digestive enzymes responsible for breaking down fats, bile is sent to the gallbladder for storage. During digestion, it's job is to release the bile to help you digest your fats.

After the gallbladder is removed

If your thinkin' what I'm thinkin'... you are catching on that this may become a problem for you and your digestion. If the gallbladder isn't there what happens to your bile?

With no place to store it, the bile constantly moves (even while sleeping and not eating) directly from the liver to your intestines instead of being stored. This can greatly affect your bodies ability to digest.

You have likely been told to follow a low fat diet to avoid digestive upsets but most people at some point revert back to their old eating patterns only to be met with pain and frequent bowel movements.

Symptoms after gallbladder removal

Diarrhea (chronic or short term)
Constipation (not as common, but possible)
Urgency
Gas
Bloating
Difficulty digesting fats
Digestive pains

Supporting your angry guts

We are often given the impression that this is it, this is what life is going to look/feel like going forward, but that doesn't have to be the case.

The good news is there are things that you can do to take back control of your body and support your digestive system so that you aren't feeling glued to the toilet, embarrassed by your gas and in pain from eating.

1. Eat smaller more frequent meals

2. Avoid processed fatty foods

3. Supplement with bile salts

4. Increase fiber (such as ground flax seed or psyllium husk powder)