Gallbladder problem

B123 - here is a blurb from Dr. Weil on the subject of increased colon cancr risk from gallbladder removal:

The idea that having the gallbladder removed affects the risk of colon cancer was explored in a study of nearly 56,000 patients in Great Britain's General Practice Research Database. The investigators, from the University of Pennsylvania, found a very small increased risk of colon cancer among these patients. Their data suggested that of every 10,000 patients who had their gallbladders removed, 119 would develop colon cancer within 10 years. That compares to a slightly lower rate of colon cancer among the same number of British patients in this study who didn't have gallbladder surgery: 86 of them developed colon cancer in the same period of time. No higher risk of rectal cancer was seen among the patients who had gallbladder surgery. The study was published in the August, 2005, issue of the American Journal of Gastroenterology.

Here is also some info regarding stones in the gallbladder indicating about 10% of the population has gallstones:

http://health.usnews.com/health-conditions/digestive-disorders/gallstones

Some info on Arimidex and gallstones:

http://www.ehealthme.com/ds/arimidex/gallstones

I know, there always seems to be a new issue, but some of those could conceivably have happened anyway, right?  My gallbladder has not been imaged in a while but I have had a recent PET scan.  After hyst/ooph my cholesterol went quite high and I have been on a statin for several years.  I just had a chat with my primary care doc and since I have eliminated the vast majority of processed food, sugar, grains, fats from my diet I would like to try to get off the statin.  He reduced my dose from 40mg to 10mg for 6-8 weeks, then will recheck my cholesterol.  If it is controlled he will let me discontinue the statin.

B123, what I was trying to say is that I think your problem is with anxiety and not with your gallbladder. We talked about that in your earlier post. You really should discuss THAT with your docs. All the incidental findings on imaging do not warrant further action.

I didn't mean to sound short B123. I really empathize & have been there and I know you're scared. It's just that it seems you are afraid about things that aren't really problems and I don't think your doctor is getting that across to you. I don't think you're being a pest at all. I just hate to see you have unnecessary things done.

I had loose stools for a week or so. That was it. Otherwise I have had no other problems.

I had a breakdown post dx, and the things that pulled me out of the darkness were anti-anxiety meds, an antidepressant, meeting with a Stephen Minister through our church, and time. I'm a year out now, and my PCP said to stay on the anti-anxiety meds until April, and then he'll wean me off. I'm ready to get off now, but I will do what he says. Oh and I exercise about an hour a day, and the endorphins really help chase the beasties away!

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I've had BC 2x ('07 and '09).  They could see on my CT scans that my gallbladder was calcified and full of stones.  I was told it wasn't urgent but at some point I should have it out.  A calcified gallbladder put me at risk for gallbladder cancer so I went ahead and had it out last January even though I had no symptoms.  The Dr told me my gallbladder was in bad shape but showed no signs of cancer which was a huge relief.  I didn't experience diarrhea after like many do.  But I've had chronic nausea since the surgery.  I got put on Prevacid which helped some but I don't want to be on it long term.  My onc tried to give me Reglan which has horrendous side effects.  I thought if that is what its come to, I need to change my lifestyle.  The nausea apparently comes from eating too much fat now that my GB is gone and so the bile goes down into the stomach where it makes me nauseaus.  I would personally not have mine out unless it posed a significant risk.  They say you can live without it, but if your reason for having it out is more anxiety related then I would really think it over.  Of course, not everone experiences side effects like I've had. 

B123 - last spring I went on a medically-supervised liquid diet, and within weeks my liver enzymes shot up pretty high. The doc in charge ordered an abdominal ultrasound which showed that everything was normal, except for the fact that I had sludge in my gallbladder.

Well, of course that freaked me out. But the way it was explained to me was that this was a common side effect of a starvation diet, and that unless I had pain or other gallbladder symptoms or pancreatitis, there was nothing that needed to be done.

I've heard (anecdotally) that sludge forms into stones, and therefore the gallbladder should be removed, but once I started researching this, the medical literature told me differently: that sludge, can and does resolve on its own.

In any case, I'm off the liquid diet but eating healthy, my liver enzymes are normal, and while I haven't had another US of my abdomen, I've had absolutely no gallbladder symptoms whatsoever.

Sorry you are having pain. I would say that if that were not the case, you would not necessarily need to have your gallbladder removed just because of sludge.