Pancreatitis and Gallbladder. Question?

In the year of 2000/2001 I was pregnant with my son and I was diagnosed with Gallbladder disease and was hospitalized I had an infection that was affecting my Pancreas and I was jaundice and dehydrated and when I had my son I had to have my gallbladder taken out 6 weeks later. Ti find out that I had a severe infection and had a tube and a drainage bag. In bed for like a week in a half. The specialist said that I had like over 150 stones and He was very surprised. Well he said that I could still have stones in the bile duct. That If I ever had pain again then to see a doc for further testing. well for like almost 7 months I have had Diarrhea and everything goes right through me after I eat. and drink. and its A bright yellowish brown sometimes. I do sometimes have pain in the same place like before do I might I have Pancreatitis?

Hi Tink:

It sounds like you had an episode of gallstone pancreatitis when you were pregnant. This is inflammation, rather than infection of the pancreas. It does not sound like you had an infected gallbladder (acute cholecystitis), as you could wait for your gallbladder surgery until several weeks later. You were also jaundiced at the time. The possible causes of your jaundice at the time include bile duct stones or Mirizzi's syndrome. I have posted links below if you are interested to read more about these conditions.

What is bothering you now is hard to say based on the information that you provided. Since you have pain in the "same place like before," the possibility of another problem related to the gallbladder or pancreas exists.

What you need to do, is to see a doctor. He/She would likely interview and examine you and then start further workup by ordering lab tests and an ultrasound scan for you to start with.

There is a lot of confusion in the public mind about these matters, and although the above posts have without any doubt the best intentions, you should be aware that they are factually inaccurate.

Some patients can develop diarrhea or softer stools after removal of their gallbladder. However, these would not cause pain. Reasons why chronic symptoms might occur after gallbladder surgery include retained bile duct stones, problems unrelated to the gallbladder that would not be expected to improve after gallbladder surgery, and occasionally sphincter of Oddi dysfunction. However, make sure the latter diagnosis is made by a real expert (and there are very few of those around who can make that diagnosis reliably, and almost all are at academic medical centers as far as the US is concerned).

All the best!

Addendum:
As a comment to Lisa's post below, please be weary that in this day and age, an ERCP for diagnosis of chronic pancreatitis is generally not necessary. In fact, unnecessary ERCPs are occasionally the very culprit and cause of chronic pancreatitis that did not exist before the ERCPs.

well, while i wouldnt like to say you have pancreatitis, it is quite possible. it is a very difficult disease to navigate mainly because pain is the first symptom and it takes time for damage to show,sometimes an attack can be documted by blood tests. normal blood tests do not rule out pancreatitis. you may have whats called postcholecystectomy syndrome. my friend shannon also had her gb out and wound up with pancreatitis. i have chronic pancreatitis. we made a webgroup in yahoo health called sphincterofoddi_pancreatitis. if you can, please join and we will assist you further. we have many polls that once you take them, you can see how other memeber voted.then you can compare symptoms. im sorry for your troubles.goodluck;)michele

You should have gone back before this to get checked. Please go to the doctor and find out what you have. Try taking digestive enzymes including pancreatin to help make better use of your food. Eat small amounts of low fat foods often, at least six times a day. Go find out what's wrong and get treatment so that you can get better. If you do have pancreatitis, find Adelle Davis' book, "Eat Right to Keep Fit" and do what she says for pancreatitis. It saved my mother's life when she had it.

Get better soon!

No, pancreatitis is very painful, you would know. Do you have bloating? Cramping? Does it matter what you eat? Have you lost weight, but not tried to? Blood in stool? These are all question you need to answer. Weight loss and blood in stools should be checked out by MD. You could have IBS, an irritable bowel. Some people have problems after GB surgery, with bile production and the break down of fat. Your body practitally rushes fat through undigested. A stone can cause the bile duct to not work properly and decrease digestion. The doctor will need to run test to see if there is a blockage, or if you bowel is working overtime.

I cannot answer your question, as only people licensed to do an examination and interepret lab tests can give you an accurate diagnosis.
I can tell you that I suffered with chronic pancreatitis for 10 years. It was actually hell on earth for me. I would like to tell you that you need to see a physician. Specifically a gastroenterologist, like the one who answered your question. Gastroenterologists are specifically trained to deal with the disorders of the gastrointestinal system. This Dr. may refer you to another Dr. who will look at your pancreas with a scope. This test is called an ERCP which will look at the organ, the duct work associated with the organ, and also do pressure readings to determine if you might have a problem with your pancreas or biliary tree. Pancreatitis is terribly painful. I have met people who have pain, just not constant disabling pain. Don't get too caught up in the amount of small stones, this happens. The issue is that your still having problems and you need to find out why. Having stones caught in your common bile duct can be a life threatening problem.