Symptoms of Gallbladder disease

Did you know that people could live for years with gallbladder disease and not know it? The reason for this is not just because the gallbladder disease symptoms are so closely related to other digestive issues, but because the symptoms can be so similar to each other. And this is most often because they work so closely together with your digestive system. This is why it is so very hard to determine whether or not you have a problem, and why it is so important for you to go and see a professional and have tests done. Here is a list of the most common gallbladder disease symptoms.

Signs of Gallbladder Disease:

• Indigestion
• Gas
• Bloating
• Burping and belching most often after a meal
• Pain and or indigestion after eating fatty and greasy foods
• Constant tenderness and discomfort not related to food intake just under y our rib cage on your right side

Furthermore, you will find that  the symptoms of gallbladder disease are also like those experienced with a gallbladder attack but with less severity. To see a more complete list of symptoms go to the section on general gallbladder symptoms.

What is a Gallbladder?

Most people do not know what their gallbladder is or what it does. It has never been one of the more popular organs to get spots on medical shows, and up until the last few years there haven’t been as many cases as what you see now so not a lot is known about them in the general public. However, the medical community has seen an increase in gallbladder related issues due to the changing eating habits from whole foods to many processed foods. Let’s take a look at what your gallbladder is and what it does.

Your gallbladder should be thought of like a container, and in this container all your bile is stored that gets transported between your liver and your intestines. And because your gallbladder is so closely associated with your liver, one of the first symptoms to present can be jaundice. What jaundice can do to your skin is turn it either yellow in color or even orange. The color will depend on the type of jaundice you have. Furthermore, not only is your skin affected but also the whites of your eyes can take on the same yellow or orange color.

Symptoms of Gallbladder disease: Jaundice

There are two reasons why you would present with jaundice. The first reason for this jaundice is because your liver is not working properly at getting all your old blood broken down and transformed into bile. The second reason could indicate a blockage in your gall bladder.
Pain Associated with Gallbladder Problems

• On and off again pains around the middle of your upper abdomen, or below your ribs on the right side
• Pain felt around your right shoulder or on your back between your shoulder blades
• A gallbladder attack can last from just a few minutes to over three hours before it subsides
• Just how painful and often these attacks occur can vary
• At times you will find that attacks can happen as a direct result of the foods eaten like fatty foods, chocolate, cheese or pastry
• Because they are so closely associated with other issues some of the pain you feel can be similar to pains from gastric ulcer, back problems, heart pains, pneumonia, and even kidney stones.

Furthermore, food is a major cause of these attacks even if you do see the connection. To see this you must think back at when you had the symptoms and figure out how long after eating that they presented. But when looking at what are the symptoms of gallbladder disease it is also important to figure out why there is a connection to fatty foods. To answer this studies have shown that it is a blockage of fat digestion; however, the reasons for that blockage can vary.

For example, some people can have a stone that may be causing a blockage of the bile flow. Or perhaps your gallbladder is distended because of stones or inflammation. What’s more, some people end up with an infection in their gallbladder that makes it tender, or that tenderness could even come from a stasis of your bile which can cause distention. Further still, some reasons point to the fact that your gallbladder has problems emptying fully (called biliary dyskinesia), and lack of the bile makes for poor fat digestion.

Life Threatening Symptoms

Fever
Sweating
Chills
Jaundice
Yellow eyes
Yellow skin
Persistent pain
Clay-colored stools (“Light Colored Stools” or “Pale Stools”)