All symptoms of gallbladder/bile duct blocked

[rich1234]

HI, I have been suffering from a pain/dull ache to the right side of the bottom of my ribs from near june now. I have been back and forth to the NHS gp many times, being told its muscle pain, ibs, caelic, etc even an ulcer. All my blood tests have came back negative, I had to pay for an ultra sound myself as the waiting list was months and months and I was found to have no gallstones or any thing out of the ordinary but a small liver cyst. I now more recently have developed a dull pain/ache as well in my right hand shoulder blade and my stools have become much lighter in colour. Could the cyst on my liver be causing bile duct blockage and leading to these issues?

thanks for any possible help, I have been back and forth to the drs for four months now with no real solutions.

[chynablue]

Hi rich, I'm sorry you haven't been able to find the cause of your symptoms. I can relate to that!

However, if you have a bile duct blockage, it should show up on your blood work. Also, liver cysts are very common and normally not a cause for concern, if that helps at all. I hope you find some relief soon.

[grace111]

i had a gallstone blocking my bile duct it did not show up in blood work or a scan it showed up on an MRI ct scan.

[chynablue in reply to grace111]

That's interesting, Grace. Did you have any other symptoms? Was it difficult to get the doctor to order an MRI CT scan? I'm glad they were able to find it!

[grace111 in reply to chynablue]

i had already had a scan which showed i had one large gallstone so they knew that. i had operation to remove gallbladder. when they went in the found it had shrunk to size of a thimble and was stuck to liver and could not find the stone. an MRI confirmed it was in my bile duct. and had caused 1/4 of my liver to atrophy and also my gallbladder had shrived up to. they tried to remove the stone with an ERCP which did not work and that confirmed i had Mirizzi's syndrome and i had a hepticojejunoscopy operation as they had to reconstuct the bile duct which was all torn and attach it to my jejunum with is the middle of the lower intestine. i'v been reading up on it as i got no information from them except the name of the operation and i did not know what the operation entailed. its been very hard to find any new on the internet or find anyone who has had this operation. i had all the symptoms of gallstones. cramps indigestion. pain in the back between the shoulders. fatigue nausea unable to eat. sometimes i was starving though. weigh loss i had so many symptoms and pain i though i was having a heart attack and was taken into hosptal by ambulance one day as the pain in my chest and sickness was so bad. also the start of blood poisoning. the whole thing has been a night mare also continual sweating and hot flushes and facial flushing. love grace xoxo ps they ordered the MRI scan after the first operation when they could not find the stone which was 3cm.

[chynablue in reply to grace111]

Wow, you have been through so much. I assisted with gallbladder surgeries and with bowel resections. I saw a gastrojejunostomy and a duodenojejunostomy, but never a hepaticojejunostomy where the liver and bile ducts are involved. I learned about them in surgical school, though. I have seen a handful of gallbladders that were in pretty bad shape, but not the size of a thimble! That is extreme. I'm sorry you had to go through all of that, but I'm glad we have you in our community

[gfmum1]

The pain could also be due to a low-functioning gallbladder, which is diagnosed with a HIDA scan. Or as grace111 said, ultrasound sometimes doesn't show stones (particularly small ones) so an MRI scan is needed.

If your GP hasn't already referred you to a consultant I would suggest that's the next step.

[jakegeorge1961 in reply to gfmum1]

i have just found out i have biliary dyskenesia where the bile duct doesnt empty properly. i have had all the symptoms you describe so if you still havent had any joy go back and ask for a hida scan. i have suffered for years thinking i was tired from my osteo arthritis but as soon as i had ciprofloxacin antibiotics i felt better than i had in years but the symptoms do come back, hope this helps