Discussion Board

I've been having gallbladder pain for a while now. I'm going in on Friday to have an ultrasoud done on it. I know it is the consequence of SAD that I've consumed for years before this WOE. I just wonder if I should agree to have it removed or wait to see if my problems will cure themselves on this eating plan.

Do you know anything about liver/gallbladder cleansing? I have done this about 33 times since Nov 1998. I normally do a cleanse in spring and fall. But when I began in 1998, I did an initial series of about 6 cleanses 2 weeks apart.
Then went to twice a year. I feel like it does me a world of good and I feel rejuvenated afterwards. I think most people who have eaten the SAD diet have gallstones. Often people who have their gallbladders removed will have problems.

So long as I stay on a very low-fat MWL style diet I have zero gall bladder issues - in spite of my doctor's desire to 'take it out'. But god help me if I cheat with something fatty. McDougall's Revenge indeed!
Kate

Here is a link to what Dr. McDougall has written about the gallbladder:
http://www.drmcdougall.com/med_gallbladder.html

Personally, I would wait - give this diet a chance.

shell-belle, you might be interested in Jeff Novick's information regarding "cleansings". He does not recommend them.
http://www.drmcdougall.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=5852

Thanks for all the info! I will give this diet a reasonable try! Yet another reason to not cheat!

I would also be concerned about any attempt to cleanse or flush gallstones out of the gallbladder, as they might get lodged in another part of the digestive system where they could cause even more serious problems.

And I would disagree with the statement that "Often people who have their gallbladders removed will have problems." I had my gallbladder removed about 12 years ago, and have had no problems since. Though I now wish I'd gone on the McDougall diet first, to try to resolve the problems without surgery.

The internet is literaly littered with gallbladder flush protocols. There are essentially two types: 3 day full flush, and 1 day mini flush. I have used both with good results.

I know Dr mc D is not in favor of these cleansing flushes. Just because you had no problems after you gallbladder as removed doesn't mean there aren't a lot of people who've had terrible problems.

Establishment medical thinking says that if you have stones in your gall bladder, it is diseased and needs to come out. But do gall stones mean that the gall bladder is diseased? The gall bladder is a reservoir or holding tank for bile salts, which the body uses to digest fats. When we eat fat, the body releases bile into the digestive tract to break it down into absorbable fatty acids. Bile salts are made of cholesterol. Gall stones are a sign that your body has "decided" to increase its reservoir of cholesterol. Why would it do this?

Your gall bladder is not diseased, it doesn't need to come out. In fact, some say that taking your gall bladder out will increase your risk of cancer. As in war, doing violence to an innocent (or in this case, helpful) organ leads only to even greater suffering (cancer, or more "terrorism"). The reason that removing the gall bladder leads to cancer has been the subject of study and research for over 40 years. The best guess is that when you remove the reservoir for the bile acids they get secreted into the intestines in an "inappropriate " fashion. "Inappropriate" could mean not in its usual rhythm, or in an altered form. The excess cancer risk is seen in the right side of the colon, exactly where these bile salts enter and "irritate" the colon.

I have read alot about gallbladder cleanses and most directions insist that you must drink apple juice for a few days before the cleanse and also use epsom salt the day of the cleanse. That is what I have always done. The reasons for this is the apple juice seems to make the stones soft and mushy and the epsom salt opens up or expands the BILE DUCTS so that the stones don't get stuck.

Research this very thoroughly, before making that choice. I think everyone should really put alot of thought and planning into doing a gallbladder cleanse. So GOOGLE and research several articles, PLEASE! I wouldn't want someone to be rushed to the emergency room, in pain and a hard stone stuck in their bile duct and have to have an emergency surgery.

Hi
I am one of those people who got complications pre-surgery so it does happen.

I got diagnosed with gallstones and went fat free - (this was premcdougall days) as an alternative to having my gallbladder removed. I must have eaten something with hidden fat whilst eating out as the stones moved to my bile duct. I became jaundiced, septic and developed pancreatitis. I was seriously unwell for months

I had my gallbladder out after the bile duct was cleared and had digestive problems for a while but since being on this programme I have not had any issues at all.

I do not want to cause alarm and obviously you need to discuss this with your own doctor. However, you need to establish if there are any stones in your bile duct first.

I can't tell you what to do. I can only tell you about my own experience. I had gallbladder pain. I had tests and x-rays that showed several gallstones. We moved to another state and for some reason the pain stopped for about a year. Then boom! Out of the blue I had excruciating pain and I couldn't stop throwing up. I went to the emergency room and found out I had an infected gallbladder. They had to pump me with antibiotics and wrap me in ice to get my fever down. I had developed peritonitis. My gallbladder was so enlarged and the gallstones were so big they couldn't do a laporascopy and had to make am 8 inch incision to take the gallbladder out. After I was released from the hospital I had to have nurses come to my house for 2 weeks to give me huge shots of antibiotics. The doctor never said, but I think I almost died. However my recovery was swift since I was in my 40's at the time. If I had it to do over again, I would have gotten the surgery earlier.

or maybe if you had known about a safe and effective way to cleanse your gallbladder gramma jackie you could have done that?

......................................
The beauty of the olive oil/grapefruit juice is that the oil is not actually
digested. It flushes through the biliary tubes in the liver, pushing the
stones out ahead of it. So that way, the liver becomes unplugged (although
it may take 6 or 7 flushes to get all the stones), and then everything works
better.

If people did liver flushes instead of going to doctors, there would be a
lot of healthier people around and a lot fewer doctors needed.

Best of Health!
Dr. Saul Pressman
...........................
ok that quote was from Dr Saul Pressman - in Canada. I am not saying do a gallbladder cleanse without doing your research first. You must do that and no one can decide if it is right for you except YOU. So I am not advocating a liver/ gallbladder cleanse. But please open your minds.