Gall Stone Symptoms-4u

Gall Stone

Gall Stone Symptoms

If you experience gall stone symptoms, it is important to seek medical treatment right away. Normally a balance of bile salts, lecithin and cholesterol keep gallstones from forming. If there are abnormally high levels of bile salts or, more commonly, cholesterol, stones can form. A lot of people don’t realize that they have gallstones until they're discovered upon routine x-ray or abdominal CT study for other problems. But when gallstones are suspected to be the cause of symptoms, the doctor is likely to do an ultrasound exam.

Symptoms of gall stones are often called a gallstone or a gallbladder "attack" because they occur suddenly. 

• Steady pain in the upper abdomen that increases rapidly and lasts from 30 minutes to several hours. The pain may begin after you have a fatty meal, but may occur at other times such as at night.  The pain starts in your upper-middle or upper-right abdomen and, on occasion, may shift to your right shoulder blade or back. After the pain subsides, you might have a mild aching or soreness in your upper abdomen that can last for up to a day or so. Gallbladder attacks tend to occur infrequently, weeks, months or even years apart. Daily abdominal pain is usually not a symptom of gallbladder disease.
   
• Nausea and vomiting may accompany a gallbladder attack. This happens when small gallstones escape the gallbladder and enter the duct leading from your liver and gallbladder to your small intestine, common bile duct. Gallstones occasionally enter the duct leading to your pancreas, if a stone blocks one of these ducts and you don't receive treatment it may be fatal. You'll likely have pain and sometimes fever due to inflammation at or near the site of the blockage. Other symptoms of bile duct obstruction include: 

1. Shaking chills with a high fever if an infection in the biliary system (cholangitis) develops as a result of the obstruction
2. clay-colored stools
3. Dark sometimes referred to as coffee-colored urine
4. Yellowish color of the skin or whites of the eyes, jaundice

• Chronic indigestion. Symptoms of indigestion may include gas, bloating, nausea and sometimes abdominal pain. These symptoms may occur or be made worse after you eat foods high in fat content. But even if you have gallstones, they often aren't the cause of  digestive problems. A number of other conditions,  including GERD (gastroesophageal reflux disease) and peptic ulcers of the stomach or duodenum, also can cause chronic indigestion.

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