Everyday Systems

Hi Peeps,

I just wanted to share what I'm hoping will turn out to be a blessing in disguise rather than anything scarey.

Over the last couple of weeks I've noticed that when I eat seconds on S days (rare thesedays but I do have my moments) I end up with pain in my upper right abdominal region (possible gallbladder issues?).

It's also happened on the odd N days when I've eaten quite a large, overloaded plate of food.

The food I'm eating isn't particularly fatty or heavy, so I think it's just something to do wtih the quantity.

The pain has been mild, just a kind of aching that lasts a couple of hours, though I've had moments of mild stabbing pain too.

By looking at my diet, I seem to be low risk for gallstones (vegetarian, don't eat processed foods etc.) but I do have a family history of gallstones.

It has definitely been a deterrent for overeating, I've cut down my meal sizes (to an amount that is still satisfying, but doesn't leave me totally full) a bit over the last few days and have not had any further issues so far.

Anyone else had issues like this?

I am hoping that I can use it as a blessing in disguise and avoid any further problems by not overeating (I will see a doc though if the pain comes back).

In the meantime I'm off to get some Swedish bitters (which my German mother-in-law says are a cure for every ailment you can imagine )

I don't get the kind of pains that you describe, but I have noticed that when I overeat, I get the most incredible heartburn -- much worse that what I would get prior to No-S when I was living on phony foods. Noticed this especially these last two weeks during my vacation food frenzy. It's like No-S has gotten me out of shape for less-than-sensible eating. Not a bad thing, and it provides me a lot of incentive to eat healthful foods in reasonable quantities.

That said, I hope you'll get a checkup if your kind of pain recurs, especially with the family gallstone predisposition. If it doesn't, though, perhaps you are having an experience similar to mine: No-S trains your body to rebel if you eat too much.

Hope you continue to feel good!

Hi Bonnie,

I had my gallbladder removed 19 years ago. The pain you are feeling could be gall stones or it could be heartburn like winnie suggested.

When it happened to me the pain was very similar to heart burn and at times I felt the pain in my upper middle back. The night before my husband took me to the doctor the pain was so severe that it woke me up. He was at 7-11 at 3 in the morning getting alka-seltzer for me.

I hope that it is not your gallbladder, but if it is and you have to get it removed, I can tell you that it is not a bad procedure. I am sure they have gotten ever easier in the last 19 years. I recovered from it in about 4 days and this was on top of having a c-section 3 months prior. Definitely go to the dr. if the pain persists, but don't let it worry you.

As far as food being a trigger, fried food always put me in pain. It took me awhile to make the connection.

I hope it all turns out ok for you. Keep us posted on how you are doing.

Maggie

Thanks Winnie & Maggie

Since posting this I've been to my doc as the problem persisted/worsened. I'm waiting for him to arrange an ultrasound to look at my gallbladder. He thinks gallstones is a likely possibility considering family history etc.

I recently made the mistake of going out for an Indian meal I was good and only had one plate of various vegetarian curries with plain rice, but the food was quite oily and I woke up the next morning unable to move and feeling like my liver had exploded. Taking some swedish bitters helped.

Since that little episode I'm on a kind of mandatory detox, super strict No S diet I can only eat very small meals, nothing oily or heavy, not even too many starches (too bloatifying!) in order to avoid recurrence of pain.

I feel better when I eat lots of apples and have protein shakes for breakfast. Coffee seems to help too suprisingly. I haven't had the inclination to eat sweets or snacks either, but seem to crave sweet things in the form of fruits or honey. Taking swedish betters a few times a day helps too.

The funny thing is I have lots of energy and can still go about my daily routines, even yoga (though have to avoid anything that involves leaning over to the right side too much).

Oh well, while I'm waiting for tests etc. I'll consider it a lesson in portion control with inbuilt detox diet/No S habit re-inforcement, silver lining and all that

I think garlic is definitely a trigger with gall stones. Anyway, being vegetarian has nothing to do with avoiding them. What caused mine was having been on a 500 calorie nonfat liquid protein diet for 12 weeks and then eventually going back to my old, high fat ways. I had about 7 acute attacks. They ALWAYS woke me up.

Good luck. It's done laparoscopically (sp?) now. The only advice I would give is if you have to cough or sneeze after your surgery, press your hand on your right side, between your waist and your breast. It hurts a lot less that way.