Not posted for a while but I’m in hospital with inflammation of the Gall Bladder , my BMI is too high for surgery at the moment. My question is I came off my meds for a period before this as I had flu, so I’ve missed quite a few weeks of methotrexate and benepali. My breathing is very laboured and they are concerned about this, do any of you wise sages think it’s because of the lack of meds ( reading gone up to over 300).
The consultant in the assessment ward dismisses this
Thank you
Hi Joang,not to put a dampener on things but I had a terrible time a couple off years ago when I got mine out,after trying keyhole they had to open me up and I had 9 perforated abscesses on mine plus I had sepsis and a ecoli bug and was in hospital for 17days,by the time I got out I had to use a stick as I was off my RA drugs,but hopefully you’ll sail through yours xxx
Ask the doctor looking after you to have a word with your rheumatologist.
If that fails talk to your rheumy nurse yourself.
Some Doctors think they know everything about every condition.They don’t so ask get asking...you are the one suffering not him.
So sorry for the bad run you are having.
I also went down with a bad gall bladder when I was 29 years old. ( I’m now 50.)
I don’t know how your thyroid functions, but often with auto immune disorders, our thyroid runs low. ( even if we may not actually have auto antibodies directed against the thyroid.)
This can cause the gall bladder to have a lower than normal ejection fraction- a colicky , sluggish gallbladder, and not actual gall stones.
Mine was quite inflamed due to a very low ejection fraction and causing an infection into the common bile duct and just starting into the pancreas.
Might be worth also running a full thyroid panel while you are there.
Thyroid UK here on Health unlocked is a very good resource for information on this subject.
If you are unable to obtain the testing you need, blue horizon and medicheck is a good option we advise on my home forum ( For patients with APS - Antiphospholipid Syndrome) , as a low thyroid often comes along in the picture.
( as does RA, Lupus, Sjögren’s syndrome...)
It is paramount you have the full, comprehensive thyroid panel run.
It’s quite surprising how low you can feel when your numbers are actually low, or even skirting the bottom 10% of the range.
My daughter who is in her thirties and is having her gallbladder removed, hopefully within the next few weeks. I know that she did have her thyroid checked, but don't think they did the full panel test you speak of so I will mention it to her.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bilia...
A good article
Thanks for that, I'll show it to her.
Apparently she has a number of small stones causing issues. Hopefully having the gallbladder removed will sort things out for her.
Hi Joang
Best discuss cause with medical health professionals.
I’m far more likely to be breathless ON meds for RA than off them though. Normal BMI helps me with it.
I hope you can be stabilised and start on reducing weight to enable surgical removal of the gallbladder if that is the recommendation given.
Hope your condition improves soon.
I had my gallbladder removed at the end of November.i was off all RA meds, including MTX and biologics for 3 weeks before op and three weeks after . I had also done the same for wrist/ pelvis op at the beginning of September, with no adverse effects.
I think you need to have more of a discussion with your doctors as I’d suspect, breathing difficulties may be more likely when actually taking the meds? But, I’m no doctor.
I hope it gets sorted soon for you.
Sorry to hear you have gallbladder problems. I know through my h it can cause quite some discomfort.
Only from his experience but if the gallbladder is inflamed it can cause a change in breathing. He's terribly breathless at the mo anyway & under investigation at Cardio again but when he has an attack his stomach area becomes quite bloated, distended. This affects his diaphragm & is when he becomes more breathless. Don't know if any of this sounds familiar? He has tried my Windeze at times but it only gives a little comfort. His Gastroenterologist does check at each appointment (he has other gastrointestinal issues) but we're holding off intervention because obviously Cardio problems take precedence just now. It's a nuisance really because post cardio ops last time it was decided he'd had enough surgery but the gallbladder problems remain & increase.
Hopefully the team looking after you will be able to give you some reassurance & make things more comfortable for you.
I remember that pain far too well. It’s horrid isn’t it. I ended up bright yellow as a stone stuck in my biliary tube and I had a huge infection and was hallucinating. All very weird. Stuck in hospital over a week and because of the infection the pesky thing couldn’t be removed at the time.
Staying on a fat free diet for around four months prevented any further issues, then it was whipped out. Even a tiny bit of fat in anything and I was in agony again. That will also help to reduce your BMI so that you can have the op. Keto isn’t going to be your friend! Not sure about the breathlessness. I get that about every other day and think it could be the meds and the inactivity over the last four years since diagnosis.
Hope you’re feeling much better soon.
Thank you good advice
I had my gall bladder out Aug 2013 after being diagnosed in 1992 with multiple small gall stones. I declined surgery as I was moving to Cyprus. I suffered several painful attacks over the next few years but then nothing from 1996. I came back to the UK in 2003 and still nothing.
However in 2012 after having Pizza for lunch the old familiar pain was back.
Several check ups and scans revealed huge stones. I ended up in A&E several times with absolutely agonising pains - but they still didn't operate. I eventually had surgery 13 Aug 2013 (a day I'll never forget) and they tried keyhole surgery but couldn't find the gall bladder so did open surgery. My gall bladder had moved further back, attached to my liver and bowel and was rock hard like concrete 😢 The surgeon had to use a hammer and chisel for 40 minutes and I also had sepsis. It took 4 hours and I remember in my groggy state the next day asking him if he'd got it all out and he replied around 90%!! He said he'd never seen anything like it.
I was in hospital for 12 days and off work 4 months.
Shortly afterwards I started having RA symptoms - I truly believe the trauma to my body kick started RA (which apparently can happen)
Looking back I should have had check ups when I returned to the UK but I felt fit and healthy! Little did I know the stones were multiplying and growing 😫
Over 6 years later my RA is controlled by MTX and Hydroxychloroqine and I have a huge scar (still can't wear anything tight around my waist) - but I'm generally fitter than most people my age, go to the gym regularly - I'll be 61 soon 😊
I hope all goes well for you.
Gallbladder and bile duct disease 
Suspecting RA guilty and not gallbladder.
Breathlessness update 
Breathless with Rumy?
MTX and Gallbladder problems/ abdominal pains anyone?
