My Pet Stone

Along my journey to be gluten free, I have endured quite a lot of abdominal pain, bloating, pressure, gas, etc....

Removing gluten from my diet has certainly made quite a change in how I feel - no more severe bloating or always feeling like I have overeaten after a meal containing gluten.

However, even with removing gluten from my diet, I still experience considerable abdominal pain. Pain which hits around mid abdomen, pushing up into my diaphragm and piercing through to my back. I have noticed that it increases with different types of food ... anything fatty, cruciferous vegetables, red meat (a little) and dairy.

I have known for a few years that I have a gallstone, so wondered if it could be causing all this discomfort. I spent some time researching my symptoms and they certainly match the list I found in my "Nutritional Healing" manual.

So I decided with great trepidation to go to my doctor to followup on this pain. I usually try to resolve health issues naturally before resorting to medical and chemical treatments, but at this point feel that I have exhausted my resources regarding this discomfort.

So off I went to see my doctor who promptly sent me for an ultrasound & blood tests (results not in yet). When the technician was performing the ultrasound, I mentioned to him that I knew I had a "pet" gallstone and was it still there? When he completed his examination he asked me if I wanted to see my "pet". He turned the screen towards me and I got to see the picture of my over 4mm gallstone residing quite comfortably in my gallbladder. Naturally he could not tell me anything else, so I will have to wait to see the doctor for the radiologists report.

Until I hear back from the doctor, I will continue to watch carefully what foods pass my lips.

The following foods are what I should avoid - fast foods, oily foods, spicy foods, red meats, eggs, pork, onions, fowl, milk, corn, beans and nuts. As well cruciferous vegetables, brussel sprouts & spinach can cause gallbladder discomfort. It is also recommended that sugar in the diet be reduced.

By changing to a diet rich in fruits and vegetables (vegetarians infrequently get gallstones), I hopefully can decrease the pain I am struggling with daily. Pear & apple juices help as well. Following more closely a vegetarian diet would most likely provide me relief, so as I said in my "Can I Do This" post, I really think I need to make this change in my lifestyle and "meat a treat".

I have found that I do not experience too much pain until later in the day as my breakfast is frequently a fruit smoothie and lunch is my vegetable load up.

As well six to eight glasses of water a day will help to maintain the right water content for bile.

There are flushes used regularly by naturopaths to rid the body of gallstones which I have considered, but my concern is - what if this stone is too large to pass and gets stuck in a duct, then I have a serious problem.

Here is the flush:

For the first 5 days, take 4 glasses of apple juice everyday or eat 4 or 5 apples, whichever you prefer. Apple juice softens the gallstones. During the 5 days, eat normally.

On the 6th day, take no dinner. Avoid food after 2 pm. At 6 pm, take a teaspoon of Epson Salt (magnesium sulphate) with a glass of warm water. At 8 pm, repeat the same. Magnesium Sulphate opens the gallbladder ducts.

At 10 pm, take ½ cup olive (or sesame) oil with ½ cup fresh lemon juice. Mix it well and drink it. The oil lubricates the stones to ease their passage.

The following day will produce gallstones.

A naturopath Dr Chiu Nan suggests performing this cleanse one a year to improve digestion.

So I have questions which I certainly will want to ask my doctor, for example what if I submit to this surgery (providing the gallbladder is the cause of my pain) but the pain persists ... then what?

What does he think about flushing the gallbladder? Although I think I know what his answer will be.

Is it possible to completely eradicate this pain solely by diet?

Health issues certainly push me to research, research and research some more. I like to be totaly informed before I seek medical help. I want to be aware of all of the options so I can intelligently discuss these with my doctor.

So in keeping with all of the information above, I will continue to work on my diet in the hopes that maybe I can ease this pain and possibly flush this stone.