Symptoms, Causes, and Treatments of Gallstones

It was 2am when the pain began. The horrible crushing pain that felt like a heart attack. I was 21 weeks pregnant and scared to death. I got out of bed and paced the halls. I cried and cried and kept falling down in the hallway. My husband rushed me to the hospital, terrified for my health and the health of our unborn child. My husband flew to the hospital, illegally passing other cars and running red lights after making sure nobody was coming. The nurse immediately gave me a bed and a shot of Demerol. Apparently, I was not having a heart attack, but a run of the mill gallbladder attack. This was a shock since I had never had gallbladder problems before. So, why now? It is common for pregnant women to experience gallbladder attacks due to an increase in estrogen. Excess estrogen can prevent the gallbladder from emptying entirely and can cause a buildup of cholesterol. This was confirmed when the doctor took an ultrasound that showed my gallbladder was not inflamed, meaning that all of the gallstones were very new. Gallstones and gallbladder attacks are very common. Read on for symptoms, causes, and treatments.

The gallbladder is a small organ that aids in digestion. It can be removed however, and the person can lead a normal life. There are two types of gallstones. The first type and most common is the cholesterol stone. The other is the pigment stone, which is generally made up of bilirubin. Cholesterol stones generally form when there is too much cholesterol in the bile or the gallbladder is not emptying properly. Pigment stones are more often found in people with certain medical conditions, such as sickle cell anemia. Causes include obesity, diet, and genetics. Some other risk factors are ethnicity, gender, age, cholesterol medications, estrogen, rapid weight loss, and diabetes.