How To Make Belly Bloating Go Away After Gallbladder Surgery

When To Call The Doctor

• Your temperature is above 101°F .
• Your surgical wounds are bleeding, red or warm to the touch or you have a thick, yellow or green drainage.
• You have pain that is not helped with your pain medicines.
• It is hard to breathe.
• You have a cough that does not go away.
• You cannot drink or eat.
• Your skin or the white part of your eyes turns yellow.
• Your stools are a gray color.

Managing Your Weight Post

Despite having your gallbladder removed, its still possible to lose weight as you would normally. As always, short-term and quick weight loss plans arent healthy and may make matters worse in the long run.

Instead, strive to make weight loss part of an overall healthier way of living. That means making good dietary choices and engaging in regular exercise. It doesnt mean starving or completely depriving yourself of the foods you love.

If you have a lot of weight to lose, ask your doctor how you can do it safely. You may also find it helpful to work with a dietitian or nutritionist.

Tips For Recovering From Laparoscopic Gallbladder Surgery

If you have been recommended for gallbladder surgery, you are probably wondering about the recovery process. After all, even though it is performed using a minimally-invasive technique, it is still a medical surgery. Fortunately, for most patients the recovery from this type of surgery is fairly simple.One of the biggest benefits of laparoscopic surgery is that the recovery time is much quicker and usually more straightforward than conventional, invasive surgeries. You should be able to leave hospital on the same day as your procedure, although you will need someone to drive you home, and they should ideally stay with you for at least 24 hours as you may feel some side effects from the general anesthetic.Common side effects that you can expect to experience after your laparoscopic gallbladder surgery include:

• Swelling and bruising around the incision points, which should start to subside within a few days.
• Some discomfort, which can usually be alleviated using over the counter pain medication.
• Nausea, which abates as the anesthetic completely clears your body.
• Bloating, gas and diarrhea, sometimes accompanied by pain in your abdomen and shoulders. The latter should pass in a few days and is a result of the gas used to inflate your belly during the procedure while the former can take several weeks to regulate.

In total, it usually takes between one and three weeks to recover from laparoscopic gallbladder surgery, but this can vary from patient to patient.

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Eating And Drinking After Surgery

Reach For Smaller Portions And Skip The Deep

As your system gets used to processing fats without the aid of a gallbladder, large meals and high-fat foods can cause pain and bloating. Smaller, low-fat meals spread throughout your day six is a good number are easier for your digestive system to handle.

Foods to avoid in the weeks following gallbladder surgery include:

• High-fat meats, such as bologna, sausage, and hamburger
• Cheese, ice cream, whole milk, and other high-fat dairy products
• Pizza
• Cream soups or sauces and meat gravies
• Chocolate
• Chicken or turkey skin

We also recommend you avoid heavily spiced foods during your initial recovery phase because theyre more difficult to digest. Rather than deep-frying your foods, reduce the fat and add flavor by stir-frying skinless chicken breast or lean steak in a pan with a teaspoon of olive oil.

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Take A Break After Surgery

Whenever possible, our surgeons prefer the robotic-assisted laparoscopic technique for gallbladder removal because its a minimally invasive procedure. Compared to traditional open surgery, the laparoscopic method offers fewer risks of complications during and after surgery and greatly speeds your recovery time.

In fact, most of our patients whove undergone a laparoscopic procedure can return home the same day as their surgery. But dont expect to return to your normal activities right away. Give your body a day or two to rest.

Pamper your stomach as well for two to three days with a diet thats easy to digest. Start with clear liquids, broth, and gelatin, and then add solid foods gradually.

Bloated Stomach After Gall Bladder Surgery

Guest over a year ago

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Guest over a year ago

I’m sorry you’re going through this, but discomfort after a gallbladder operation is quite common. You’re not the first or the last to go through it. If you’re looking for ways to be more comfortable, try some of these bloated stomach cure options after gallbladder removal:

– Eat low fat foods

– If everything makes you feel bad, switch to broths and soups for a while

– Reintroduce more foods again at a gradual pace

If you’re not sure how to go about this, look for information about post gallbladder removal diet or ask your doctor for a diet plan.

Guest over a year ago

Guest over a year ago

Guest over a year ago

tiki143 over a year ago

Guest over a year ago

over a year ago

In reply to Guest on 2009-09-16 – click to read

feelingyourpain over a year ago

Guest over a year ago

Guest over a year ago

over a year ago

Hi everyone,

Hope this helps someone out there.

i’m going to be copying and pasting this in a few diffrent forums so if you see it twice, I apologize : )

over a year ago

Lisa,

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How Does Your Body Adapt After Gallbladder Removal

The role of the gallbladder is important indigestion, but fortunately, your liver can take on that role over time. The liver will continue to produce enough bile to aid in digestion. Yet without the gallbladder, there is no place to store the bile between meals.

This means that your liver will need to produce more bile in real-time, as you eat. Over time, it will become quicker at doing so. And your bile ducts may even enlarge to provide room for bile storage in the absence of the gallbladder.

Gallbladder Removal Side Effects

Even after gallbladder surgery, your body still gets bile from your liver. But, bile production is lower, so it is recommended that you avoid eating fatty foods as much as possible. When you eat a large meal of protein and fats, you may experience bloating, nausea, indigestion, and abdominal pain.

In the days after surgery, you will probably be moved to a bland diet of food that is easily digested. This helps your body heal and adjust to the difference in bile production. Since the gallbladders main role is to assist in digesting fat, small, frequent, low-fat meals with enough soluble fiber are recommended. The fiber found in fruit, vegetables, oats, flax seeds, and pulses helps rid your body of bile sterols.

Skip saturated fats such as red meat, poultry skin, egg yolks, and full-fat dairy. You will also need to say no to fatty, fried, and spicy foods, pickles, thick soups, and heavy gravies as well as the trans fat from processed foods. You will need to consume a small amount of unsaturated fats, whole grains, chicken, low-fat milk, pulses, and plenty of fruit and vegetables. And, of course, drink plenty of water to stay hydrated.

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What Should I Expect After Gallbladder Removal Surgery

You can still live normally, even with a missing gallbladder. The liver will still produce enough bile juice for food digestion. But therell be no place for bile storage- itll continuously drip into the digestive system.

You dont need special precautions or diets after the surgery. Just adhere to a normal, healthy, and balanced diet.

What Can I Do To Help Reduce The Bloating

Post-surgical bloating and swelling is mostly eased with time. Although most swelling and bloating will clear by 12 weeks, you may find that swelling ebbs and flows for up to 12 months after surgery. Some ways you can help ease swelling, bloating and stomach discomfort are:

• Gentle mobilisation when you have the clearance to do so
• Increase your fluid intake to flush the excess fluid from your body
• Ensure your post-surgical diet is rich in fibre to aid bowel movements
• Gentle stool softeners can be utilised to help with post-surgery constipation
• Cease stronger pain medication as soon as practical and replace with those that are gentler on the gut such as paracetamol. It is important to note that post-surgical bloating and swelling cannot be improved with prescription medication.
• Keep wearing your surgical garment to help minimise swelling.

Although its uncomfortable, rest assured that post-surgical bloating and swelling is a completely normal part of the recovery process and will subside over time. If you have any questions about your recovery process, please do not hesitate to contact myself and our friendly team on 4920 7700.

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Gas Pain After Surgery: Why It Happens And How To Relieve It

I am a board-certified anesthesiologist in Lake Tahoe, California. I write from the perspective of both a doctor and a patient.

If youve had surgery before, you may have experienced gas pain as one of the post-operative side effects. Indeed, the number of questions about this topic I get as a board-certified anesthesiologist suggest that many people suffer fromand seek relief fromthis type of pain.

There are two common types of gas pain that may occur after surgery. They are quite different from one another, but they are both bothersome. The two types are:

What Is Gallbladder Removal Surgery

It is a process of removing large gallbladders to avoid painful blockage of ducts. Therere two main types:

• Laparoscopic Gallbladder surgery: anesthesiologist puts you to sleep, and the surgeon makes a small incision in your upper belly. Then they insert hollow tubes for the passage of instruments to the area. For a better view, the surgeon pump CO2 into your belly. Theyll then get rid of the gallbladder and sew up the area.
• Open Gallbladder Surgery: in this type, your surgeon makes a 6-inch incision through muscle and fat to access the gallbladder. Theyll then remove the gallbladder. The surgeon may also close off your duct before stitching or stapling the cut. The doctor may need to drain off excess fluid using one or two drains.

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Will Gallbladder Removal Cause Me To Lose Weight

After having your gallbladder removed, its quite possible that youll experience some weight loss. This may be due to the following:

• Eliminating fatty foods. After surgery, you may have some trouble digesting fatty foods until your body adjusts. For that reason, your surgeon may instruct you to avoid high-fat and fried foods until your body is better able to handle them.
• Eating a bland diet. During recovery, you may also find that spicy foods and foods that cause gas can lead to gastrointestinal upset. This can make you shy away from some of your favorite dishes.
• Selecting smaller portions. For a few weeks after surgery, you may not be able to eat large amounts of food at one sitting. Youll probably be advised to eat smaller meals more frequently.
• Recovering. If you had traditional surgery rather than laparoscopic surgery, you may experience more postsurgical pain, discomfort, and a longer recovery time, all of which can affect your appetite.
• Experiencing diarrhea. One potential side effect of gallbladder surgery is diarrhea. This should improve after a few weeks.

During this time, you might be taking in fewer calories than you were before the surgery. If so, youre likely to lose weight, at least temporarily.

Stopping The Pain Of Chronic Diarrhea

While you are waiting for diarrhea after gallbladder surgery to improve, you may experience pain, discomfort, or burning in and around the anus. Diarrhea contains both bile and stomach acid, both of which are very irritating to the skin.

Consider the following tips for personal care to improve comfort:

• Avoid spicy foods, anything that burns your mouth can burn on the way out as well.
• Pat gently rather than wipe after a bowel movement. This will clean without being abrasive. Baby wipes are a great way to gently clean without causing more irritation. You can always put them in the refrigerator for extra soothing.
• Consider using cooling wipes such as medicated pads with witch hazel to cool the fire.
• Soak in the tub if your rectal area is very sore from constant diarrhea. There are many products that are meant to soothe irritated skin as a bath additive.
• Apply a thick protective ointment to the sore area. It will provide a barrier between your sensitive skin and the bile/gastric acids that are causing the irritation. You can also use ointments that are designed for diaper rash, as they tend to be thick and long-lasting.
• Start a food diary, writing down what you eat and when. You may find that certain foods help the diarrhea, while others make it worse.

If you continue to have pain or the diarrhea doesn’t improve, be sure to tell your healthcare provider. There are prescription medications that can help reduce diarrhea and improve your quality of life after gallbladder removal.

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Create A Good Sleeping Environment In Your Bedroom

When you recover from any type of surgery, its important to make sure that you have a clean, calm environment to rest in while you heal.

If you have the opportunity to prep your bedroom before your surgery, you might want to invest in blackout curtains and moisture-wicking sheets to create a dark, relaxing atmosphere.

Make sure you have a glass of water, your phone charger, and any other essentials on an accessible surface near your bed before you lie down, as it may hurt a bit to get up and out of bed multiple times. Using an eye mask and noise-canceling earplugs to decrease night disturbances may also help you.

What Symptoms May Occur During The Recovery Process

Recovering from gallbladder surgery takes anywhere from a couple of weeks to 4-6 weeks, depending on factors such as the type of surgery , your overall wellness, and other issues.

You may experience:

Temporary Pain

It is common to experience pain in the region where surgery is performed, which in the case of gallbladder removal means the incision site and the surrounding abdomen. You may also experience back pain and even pain in your shoulder area, which results from the air pumped into your abdomen during the surgery.

This pain should fade over the course of a few days after your surgery. And it is usually treatable with over-the-counter products such as Acetaminophen and ibuprofen, as well as ice packs.

Bloating

Because gallbladder removal surgery involves pumping air into your abdomen as part of the procedure, you will experience temporary bloating or swelling that will decrease within a few days of the surgery. It may be uncomfortable, but it should improve quickly as the air has a chance to dissipate.

Fever

Due to the stress of surgery, you may experience a slight fever that goes away within a few days. If you have a low-grade fever, you may use over-the-counter medication to address it, as well as drinking plenty of water and getting plenty of rest.

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Treating The Incision Site