Gallbadder - to remove or not to remove

That is the question.

I'm middle aged and my gallbladder needs to come out. The question is, does that really matter? If I have gallstones that are too small for the HIDA scan, CT and ultrasound, they will still be in my stomach or intestines causing the side pain and nausea until/unless I pass them.

Has anyone here had their gallbladder removed? I'm not worried about the laparoscopic surgery or anesthesia since its a 35 minute outpatient procedure.

I'm just wondering if the surgery is worth it overall. I am going to try to 100% overhaul my nutrition choices starting this weekend: no more bread, processed sugar (i.e. cupcakes, muffins, brownies, donuts, candies), or fried foods.

Seems daunting but I'm willing to reverse my bad eating habits as I can't handle the cholecystitis attacks anymore as they seem to last more than a week (my gallbladder takes a long time to calm down).

This Christmas I really overindulged in processed snacks b/c of the places I went that had cookies and other baked holiday goods to eat. Huge regret.

I went to urgent care and followed up with a dr. Of course, the dr. was adamant that my symptoms were NOT related to my gallbladder b/c my bloodwork and CT/ultrasound is normal. But...I still have gallbladder symptoms anyway. He prescribed me physical therapy and said that my age means I pulled a lower back muscle. I don't think so. I have had gallbladder attacks off/on throughout my life. The option for surgery never crossed my mind until this past week b/c the fatigue, nausea, headache and upper right side pain that radiates up to my right shoulder is unbearable.

Of course, the CT/ultrasound of my appendix, liver, and pancreas were also normal.

Normal doesn't always mean something bad isn't going on. Just need to find the right dr. I scheduled a video visit with a gastro so hopefully he won't medically gaslight me and tell me its all in my head.

I had a gallbladder full of stones on ultrasound so this is a little different than your situation but getting my gall bladder out was the best thing I did that year. I went from being so sick all the time to feeling 100% better in the recovery room. I had no idea how bad I had been feeling until I woke up and wasn't sick.

It's certainly worth exploring.

I had clear gallbladder symptoms and repeated trips to the ER; no doubt it was gallbladder. Finally, the last time they set me up for surgery and kept me inpatient for three days because it was the week of Christmas and getting a surgeon lined up was apparently an issue. (Don't get sick the week of Christmas. LOL)

Surgery was laparoscopic - no problem. Absolutely no regrets about having the surgery as the attacks were awful. My system has never quite been the same without my gallbladder. I do have to be careful somewhat about what I eat -- particularly fried restaurant foods.

My daughter-in-law was more like what you sound like. Kind of chronic issues. Eventually, she had her gallbladder removed and it was essentially dead. Like me, there are residual issues with digestion -- that's just the price of not having a gallbladder as my gastro says.