Losing Weight Can Wreck Your Gallbladder: It Happened to Me

I started counting calories in late August, and as of February 1 had lost 25 pounds. Nice, normal, sustainable weight loss, nothing dramatic. But I noticed that was really not feeling like myself from the end of November onward for weeks and weeks. Finally on February 8, I was awakened at 4 a.m. by stabbing, sharp pain under my right ribs, so bad I couldn't get out of the bed. It subsided after about an hour and fifteen minutes, and I went on to work. Halfway through my work day, I came over all shaky and dizzy and had to call my sister to come pick me up because I didn't feel safe to drive. Spent most of the rest of the day in the ER, and lo and behold, it was gallstones. Had gallbladder removal surgery 2 days ago, and the surgeon said he removed a gallstone the size of a golf ball! No wonder I felt like trash!

It turns out that your gallbladder freaking out is decently common after weight loss--many bariatric surgery patients experience this. Because I haven't had weight loss surgery and am not on any weight loss meds, I thought it wouldn't be my problem. Let me stress that I do NOT regret my weight loss or my weight loss efforts, I just want to park this on folks' radar as they make their way through their weight loss journey. If you get weird stabbing pains in your side, chest, or back that don't correlate with heart attack (your physician needs to verify that it's not your heart), ask your doctor to check your gallbladder. It's a safe and effective surgery, and I'm glad I did it. Can't eat anything but soup right now, but soon I'll be back in my food and exercise routine, having exorcised my little demon organ.

Moral of the story: get weird/bad pain checked out, and don't try to lose weight at some hugely accelerated speed or you may end up needing surgery.