My stomach/digestive issues

[Axiomatic]

Not really looking for advice, or a diagnosis, just venting and documenting my journey.

For the past 4 or 5 years, I have had chronic GI and digestive issues. I will start having terrible abdominal pains and throw up most of what I eat. When these attacks happen, it literally feels like I'm poisoned. I will barely be able to eat anything for the first few weeks, and after that it will slowly heal with a lot of resistance. The most grueling part is when I am woken up between 3-5a.m. with overwhelming stabbing pains in my gut. It will keep me up all night until about 8am and then I will sleep until 12. The fact that I have maintained a decent GPA in college this semester has been a testament to my perseverance, despite wanting to give up many times.

My solution to fixing this went two routes. I went to a doctor for test, and I hired a nutritionist. The doctor diagnosed that I have a low functioning gallbladder below 30% and that is why foods that are heavy and fat and sugar trigger these attacks. The recommended that I get surgery. My nutritionist however advised that I hold off and give a more holistic approach a chance, because taking out an organ is a serious decision. So I decided to hold of on the surgery. And her methods were helping, so I believed that I could fix this without a major surgery.

It has been a year since I first hired her help. And although it has helped me tremendously and helped establish a good foundation for healthy eating and habits, it hasn't fully solved the problem. I have had two major attacks since the year started. Both lasting 2 to 3 months before I was feeling 100%. This most recent attack is currently going on almost 3 months and I am still not feeling at full health. The reason for these attacks is due to me not being 100% discipline with my habits. One attack occurred after my friend's birthday party and I drank a bit too much alcohol, and the other was due to moving to a new city and not having the funds to buy all the right foods to my plan.

So after realizing that there are still major drawbacks to this issues, and I still have the potential to get sick, I decided to go through with the surgery. I have it scheduled for next month, and I am ready for it. Many people felt like I should not go this route, but I know myself and my body better than anyone else. And it is straight bullshit that I become sick to the point of barely being able to live a proper life if I am not 100% discipline with my health habits. It would be one thing if the drawbacks were a week or two of loose bowel movements or something, but to feel poisoned and sleepless for months on end? Nah man. At this point I have nothing to lose. 

They say that removing the gallbladder isn't always a 100% fix for most people. They still need to watch what they eat and face complications if they don't. But at this point, the draw backs from not having a gallbladder couldn't possibly be worse than what I am dealing with now. Feeling like shit has become the norm for me. It has started to really affect me emotionally. It can be tough to find the joy in life sometimes. I am very limited in many things and I am tired of that. I am ready for something better, and this is my best bet.

Thanks for listening! Wish me luck!

[UDT]

Can you elaborate why 0% Gallbladder will better your condition when your problem is a only 30% working Gallbladder?

[Axiomatic]

15 minutes ago, UDT said:

Can you elaborate why 0% Gallbladder will better your condition when your problem is a only 30% working Gallbladder?

It doesnt produce enough bile to digest fats and sugars. I don't recall the exact medical science, but removing it allows the production of bile to come from the liver and produce sufficiently. It isn't 100% full proof, but it has shown enough results to improve people's quality of health who suffer from it. Some people still need to be careful about overdoing it, some people are perfectly fine after it's removed. But nothing could possibly be worse than how  I feel from an attack with it in. 

And this surgery isn't a cop out for me to eat like shit. I eat much much healthier than the average american. I don't eat fast food or junk food, and I don't drink. I have set meal plans and do my best to stick to them. But I am not perfect either, and the punishment for not being perfect shouldn't be 2 to 3 months of feeling poisoned with sleepless nights and stabbing abdominal pains daily while being unsure of puking after a meal. 

Edited November 19, 2020 by Axiomatic