I had been experiencing painful bloating for six months before I realized that something was wrong. It wasn’t a normal bloating feeling, but a sharp pain in my stomach and I inflated like a balloon.
I first noticed my painful bloating on vacation and was absolutely miserable. I assumed that this was because my digestive system wasn’t adjusting well to the travel, or heavy foods I was eating.
As time went on, I still felt this way but it was inconsistent. It didn’t occur exclusively when I was eating meat, or gluten. It also didn’t happen every time I ate, so I just lived with it.
Left: Bloated and in pain after eating. Right: feeling normal in the morning.
My First Doctor’s Appointment
My first step of getting help was with a doctor at University of South Carolina. She had me do a blood test to see if I had any food sensitivities. I didn’t. However, I did have very low vitamin B, D, and iron (all of which connect to depression and anxiety).
Then, she thought that I may have had gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD) also known as Acid Reflux. She prescribed me Omeprazole (Prilosec) for this.
While taking this medication I started to feel horribly depressed, lower than I have ever felt before. I wasn’t sleeping at night, slept through the day, could not get motivated, had no desire to be around my friends, and was crying almost every day. In my three years of diagnosed depression, I had never experienced such a low point for so long. Typically when I have a bad depression spiral it lasts a day, not two straight weeks.
I had realized that my school work wasn’t causing me stress, my friends and family were fine, and the biggest lifestyle change that could be causing this was the change in medication. I did some research about the medication, and there have been connections with anti-acid medications causing depression, although it is not very common. Check out some articles about it here:
After this research confirmed my suspicions, I immediately stopped taking the drug and my depression symptoms returned back to normal. However, this left me with the painful bloating.
A Different Approach
My mom called a family friend who is a surgeon to ask for some general advice. He suggested it might be connected to my gallbladder and offered to run some tests on me over winter break.
First, they did a couple ultrasounds to determine that it was not a gallstone or large ovarian cyst.
Next, I did a HIDA scan to measure my gallbladder ejection fraction. Ultimately what this means is that they were monitoring how long it took my gallbladder to process and release bile which allows us to digest food.
My results came back abnormal, showing that my gallbladder was not properly releasing bile. The doctor described it as having “gall gravel” blocking the bile from exiting, rather than large gallstones. This was huge red flag for a 20 year old with otherwise perfect health.
Surgery and Supplements
While the HIDA scan diagnosed my gallbladder problem, I wasn’t immediately ready for a surgery. I did tons of research on the gallbladder, met with the surgeon a couple times to discuss the diagnosis and procedure, called another GI, and met with a nutritionist.
The nutritionist was super helpful with recommending supplements and protein powders for me. I have been critically low on B12, Omega-3, Vitamin D, and Magnesium which all affect my gut health and depression. If you are looking to start taking supplements, I highly recommend meeting with someone to suggest healthy and safe brands because there are so many overwhelming options.
Ultimately, we determined that I could keep my gallbladder and live with the pain, but it puts me at risk of my pancreas getting infected and having pancreatic cancer. There were no lifestyle or diet changes that would heal the gallbladder and surgery truly was the best option.
The Removal
I scheduled my surgery for my first week of spring semester so that I was able to stay home, not miss important work, and have freedom to do what I want in the summer. It was absolutely terrifying preparing for surgery because I am so scared of needles and hospitals but they took great care of me. The surgery was laproscopic, so I only had two scars that they tucked into my belly button and bra strap area, as well as 3 tiny scars around my gallbladder. I am so thankful for Dr. Leff doing such a fantastic job on the operation, and easing my anxiety leading up to it.
Post Operation
After surgery I felt SO bloated and sore. The best way I can describe the pain is like an intense period cramp where there is more discomfort than sharp pain. It was important to walk around and not be on bedrest but this was pretty hard for me when all I wanted to do was sleep. It took a couple weeks for my scabs to heal, bloating to go down, and soreness to fade. The weirdest thing about post operation was how my body was reacting to foods. Some foods like mac and cheese made me feel so sick at first, but I can eat it now four months later.
My Health Now
I went through a lot of physical and mental challenges but I’m so happy to say that it was worth it and I’m not longer feeling pain. If you are struggling with painful bloating, try not to be discouraged in your search for the diagnosis. It will come.
