Issues losing weight after gallbladder removal.

[KittyChimera]

I started dieting in October, because I decided that I wanted to be healthy before I turned 30, and my 29th birthday was coming up in November. I got a gym membership and started eating better, and then out of nowhere at the end of October, I had to have emergency gallbladder surgery.

Since I had the surgery, I think that I've gained like 40 pounds, even though I am eating healthier and eating less. I started paying particular attention to what I was eating, and counted calories very specifically and gained 5 pounds over a week. The next week, as an experiment, I ate whatever I wanted and only gained 1.5 pounds. 

Has anyone else had this problem? When I had the surgery, they didn't say anything about how it would affect my body or anything, or how I should be eating if I wanted to get healthy and lose weight. In the follow up with the surgeon, I didn't really get a chance to ask him because he came into my hospital room at like 5am to check the incisions and talk to me and because he woke me up I was really groggy so I didn't really think to ask any questions. 

According to the calculations from Fitbit, I need to eat about 1700 calories a day to lose 2 pounds a week, but people are telling me that that's way too high and I need to cut back to 1200. Does anyone have any thoughts? 

[t56]

The problem is real.

[t56]

That is my question too. I have no idea what it means.

[UkuleleMama]

Well ... drinking the Kool Aid has a negative connotation so I'm not exactly sure how to take that response. These days, it kind of means that you were misguided and fooled about something, or accepted something without question, just followed along. The original meaning seems to be tied to the mass suicide by the cult that all drank grape Kool Aid and died. Although it wasn't actually Kool Aid but that's a moot point. Anyway, I'm not sure if it's all of us who believe that losing a gallbladder are misguided or the doctors who aren't bothering to research the connection. 

[bellasupernova2]

Hello lissa ,i know you respond awhile back,but you said you did research on weight gain an hard to loss weight. By any chance any websites  or books where you got your information that you recommend,id really  like to read an learn more im going  through the same ,but its really  starting to affect  me ,my health.an while id do have schedule to see a specialist. Id really want to do my own research an not feel so puzzled, i greatly appreciate  it.

[SunsetRunner]

You stomach not only send messages to your gallbladder to release bile, also send them to your liver and your liver send the message to your stomach that there is no gallbladder, so at this point, your liver is not stupid and some mecanisms start creating hormones  to move quicker your bowel and put bile in your ileon where bile is absorved, so your liver start sintety bile quicker and this allows the posibiliy to digest fat, then your sistem cordinates all this by hormones to empty your stomach at the same time that bile is going to your duodenum. So probably your problem is in any hormone that is not working well, check out your tyroid.

[SunsetRunner]

check out your thyroid.

[t56]

Thyroid is checked every year. Hormones are too. It isn’t them. It is because the gallbladder is gone and any fat your body has is stored and doesn’t move on by itself. It doesn’t distribute properly without the gallbladder.

[SunsetRunner]

without a gallbladder you are still able to absorb far from your diet, because your body adapts about the way that i said. Also its physically imposible to eat less calories, burn more, doesn't matter if it carbo hidrates or fat and not lose weight. So i don't know maybe your gallbladder was taken out because there was a underlying problem that its not resolved. 

[t56]

My gallbladder was taken out because of Polyps. No underlying problems. The issues started when it came out. I had a completely flat stomach until then. The only thing that helps is running.

[Dominique]

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@t56 wrote:
The only thing that helps is running.

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Sounds like an old-fashioned case of calories in vs. calories out. There is nothing magical in running, in terms of making your belly flat again or triggering weight loss. Any other activity that would burn the same amount of calories would have the same effect.

Looks like, somehow, your overall activity decreased after the procedure, your intake increased, or a combination of both. 

[Dominique]

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@t56 wrote:
because the gallbladder is gone and any fat your body has is stored and doesn’t move on by itself. It doesn’t distribute properly without the gallbladder.

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Even when one has a gallbladder, stored fat "doesn’t move on by itself". What do you mean by "doesn’t distribute properly"? That the gallbladder is the mastermind that distributes fat evenly over the entire body, and that without one it all ends up in the belly area?

[t56]

I’m sorry I misread your reply. I was half asleep. I read your question wrong. From what I have read over the years, yes, I think the gallbladder is the mastermind. If we loose our gallbladder then the body cannot move the fat properly, therefore it stays in our bellies.

[t56]

My activity stayed the same as it was. I have always been active. I didn’t change anything, except I added running. Running seems to do something in the belly area that nothing else does. I can’t explain it, I just know it makes a difference.

[SunsetRunner]

This is what happen when the gallbladder is out. In women some hormonal changes can occurs after this surgery that make hers put on weight. I've read that in many sites but don't think gallbladder is a mastermind, because it isn't. 

 

[TraceyLops]

I'm not entirely sure where your information comes from. I have been a vegan for 19 years and still had gallstones and had to have my gallbladder removed. It is not related to animal products my friend. 

[t56]

I must have missed the post about animal fat. It definitely is not related to that.
I wish they had something they could give us that would make our bodies think we still have a gallbladder. That would be amazing.

[SunsetRunner]

try ketogenic diet. 

[Dominique]

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@SunsetRunner wrote:

try ketogenic diet. 

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In what way would the ketogenic diet make things better for people without a gallbladder?

[t56]

I don’t eat starches. Only if I eat unsalted cracker’s because I am Hypoglycemic. So, Keto is basically what I have been doing for years.

[t56]

Thank you!