Gall Bladder Problems: Knowing the Symptoms

For some people, it may take years before symptoms of a gall bladder disease appear. But when they do, you need to know exactly what they are. Having a gall bladder problem may mean that you may have to prepare yourself for treatment or surgery and possibly changes in your lifestyle.

Gall Bladder Disease

The most common form of gall bladder problem involves the formation of gall stones. Most of these stones are formed when cholesterol in the bile crystallizes. This happens when there is more cholesterol than the regulating bile salts. In very rare cases hemolytic anemia may also cause a different kind of stone formation from bilirubin.
In some instances, gall bladder problems may not be accompanied by the presence of stones. The gall bladder may become inflamed or may not function properly due to a natural defect in the organ, or due to another severe ailment that has come to affect body organs, including the gall bladder.

Problem Symptoms

In some people, there may be no symptoms at all. Clues to a gall bladder problem may only be found accidentally during check ups. There are actually several symptoms that may accompany a gall bladder problem. These symptoms may spread themselves through many years so you should be alert and attentive to body sensations. You may not immediately have a succeeding symptom or you may easily confuse some symptoms for something else. Here are possible indications you should take note of.

The most obvious possible indication of a gall bladder problem is pain that accompanies an attack. You may feel pain in the upper central portion of your abdomen where your ribs meet. Most often though, the pain really stems from under the right rib cage. The sensation may move on throughout other areas of the abdomen and even the back. Vomiting and dizziness may accompany this pain sensation. The symptom may appear some hours after eating a fatty meal and may last for a couple of hours. You may have an attack again after a short interval of time but it is likely that a succeeding attack will only follow after a few years. Some people mistake attack symptoms as caused by ulcers.

Indigestion, bloating and too much burping may or may not be early indications of a gall bladder problem. These symptoms however can be misleading since you can easily think of having only a condition as simple as acid reflux.

Jaundice is the yellowing of the skin and whites of the eyes. We normally associate this with liver problems but it may also be a sign that you have gall bladder disease or that the ducts from the organ are blocked with stones.

Fever, chills, painful breathing, and severe pain in the right rib area or center of the abdomen may indicate that your gall bladder is already inflamed. The pain may be more prolonged than that felt with an ordinary attack.

The symptoms may not always be easy to read. You should see a doctor immediately once you feel the characteristic upper right abdominal pain, and especially when it is accompanied by vomiting, nausea and radiating back pain.