[savaholic]

I'm just getting around to asking ya'll about this one. Long story short I went to ER by ambulance 2 wks. ago b/c I was having severe chest pain. Turns out I have a gallstone. It is still aching at times, but never like that day. I'm now 15 wks. along. Anyone else ever deal w/ this during pregnancy? Did you eventually have it removed during your pregnancy?

[mcmama]

A lot of things that aren't related to the chest will cause chest pain in pregnancy. Gallstones, reflux, etc. I think that pregnancy brings out whatever was ailing you in the abdominal area in the first place.

Can't advise you on the removal - many people live with them for a while, but they are painful. What did your doctor advise?

[twinzplus3]

Yes, but it went undiagnosed through pg. I would not have been a surgical candidate anyways bc it was a high risk pg (the twins). BUT what I did to help cope with the pain and essentially turn them into silent gall stones was to drink lots of water and cut out the soda and all else, and radically change my diet to mostly fruits and vegetables with lean protein, whole grains etc. ( was enjoying too much junk food.) Also, I cut out most of the bad for you fat from my diet. Changing my diet in this way, plus drinking lots of water helped a ton.

Gall stones do not always require surgery to remove them. But they do require a doc to keep an eye on them.

[LeanyBean]

I knew someone who was on prescription medication for heartburn during her pregnancy. Turns out she had gallstones and at about 2 months postpartum had to have her gall bladder removed. They doc never thought about gall stones until the heartburn got worse after delivery. Turned out she about 100 individual gall stones. She kept them. We counted 97. Kinda looks like aquarium gravel. I think the best bet would be to keep just as close of an eye on the gall stones as the wee one growing in the uterus. Take action as necessary.

[mamato2]

At 34 weeks my last pregnancy I thought my uterus was tearing apart. I thought I was going to die. My poor 3 year old watched helplessly while I laid on the carpet and puked and called 911 and told them I thought I was going to die. Went by ambulance and it was my gall bladder. I have never including child birth been in such awful pain in my life. Welllll they told me that it was really bad but they couldnt do anything while I was pregnant so sent me home to suffer and finally induced me at 37 weeks. I was lucky and my baby was 8 lbs 2 oz and did fine and 2 weeks later they removed my gall bladder, which was awful and packed with stones. I feel your pain! I hope it gets better for you because 15 weeks to 40 is a long time.

[mrs_ray]

My mother had gallstones with my younger sister, I believe she had her galbladder removed.