Cholestasis

[SuperSanity]

Say somebody were to have this. Should they go to a doctor right away. Or are there other options?

Or could they be misreading they one symptom they've seen?

[doc97]

Good question, and they answer definately will vary depending on who you talk to. First off, I would have to ask if the person was symptomatic or not. Cholestasis results from the gallbladder losing it's ability to contract and/or inflamation in the gallblader wall. This is not the same as having gallstones, but it somewhat similiar. When the gallbladder does not contract, it ends up developing a "sludge" that and when it doesn't work like it should, abdominal pain, nausea, diarrhea, etc can result. I would imagine if it was diagnosed, then the patient would have been symptomatic. If you have no symptoms, then I would leave well enough alone. If you are having problems, you are going to be better off getting it out. I had cholycystitis, had bad abdominal pain and chest pain and when I got mine out I felt a whole lot better. You can develop some major diarrhea after your gallbladder is taken out, but this resolves in time. There is not much in the way of any natural herbs or medicine that I know of that would help.

I guess it would depend on the symptoms and how the diagnosis was made. To diagnose, you would need an ultrasound of the gallbladder and/or a hida scan which is a nuclear medicine study. If you could give me more symptoms, and what studies were done, I may be able to give you some more info. Hope this helps.

[SuperSanity]

No studies were done since the first symptom that stood out was tonight. That would be clay colored feces. However, the person has been having abdomen pain and naseau (usually in the morning). Though this has been going on for years.

[doc97]

Yeah, I would definately get at least an ultrasound of the gallbladder. Clay colored stools are also indicative of gallbladder dysfunction, however it can also be a sign of problems with the pancreas. I had abdominal pain and nausea in the morning also. I also had quite a bit of chest pain. If the ultrasound has any abnormalities, such as gallstones, a thickened gallbladder wall, or "sludge" you will have your answer. If not, then a hida scan (nuclear study) would be the next step. Usually if any of the above are abnormal, your doctor will probably recomend surgery to remove it. I am very glad I got mine out. Hope all turns out well.