Did you guys all get your gallbladder removed and not tell me?

[birdwhacker]

Down about 18lbs in 5 weeks on Reta, and I'm starting to have issues with gallbladder pain while running. I know fast weight loss causes gallstones.

I decided to search for "gallbladder" on here and it sounds like everyone who lost weight on a GLP had to have it removed.

Is that it? Do I just wait until it becomes painful enough to warrant an ER visit and then hope they do the surgery for zero down?

Update:

Stats, 236->216, week 7 of reta, started at 2.33mg/wk titrated to 4.66mg at week 5.

6ft tall male 27 years old

Gallbladder pain while running yesterday. Possibly related to taking a calcium supplement I probably didn't need. Felt gallstones shifting just under my ribcage at the 2 o clock position in bed last night.

Went for a run this morning and cut it short due to gallbladder pain again. I only had a protein shake with skim milk this morning, no fats at all, and have previously had pain in the same area during morning exercise when having only a protein shake and some heavy duty brownies I had made (unhealthy fat).

Came home and had a big meal with a lot of olive oil, chicken, garbanzo beans. An apple before and after the meal. Chased it with a few tsp of fish oil. Took some vitamin D. 3 hours later had a big smoothie with frozen fruits, whey protein, and shim milk. Had a few more TSP of fish oil then went out again.

Managed to do six miles of alternated walking and jogging without any more pain in the gallbladder! Crisis averted. I also take a lot of magnesium.

Courtesy of others on here, I might add in malic acid as well.

 

[woundcarping]

I haven't had issues and had my lipase and amylase checked last month just to be sure.

If you're of interest/want confirmation, you could do some bloodwork as well.

It sounds like less calorie deficit could help with your symptoms?

 

[Birdie]

My daughter has been having issues with her gallbladder, but she lost weight very rapidly.

I haven't had an issue, but I have lost my weight slowly over the course of two years, at a rate of about a pound a week.

I would like to point out that major weight loss, regardless of how it occurs, is a risk factor for gallbladder issues.

 

[Chili777]

Down about 18lbs in 5 weeks on Reta, and I'm starting to have issues with gallbladder pain while running. I know fast weight loss causes gallstones.

I decided to search for "gallbladder" on here and it sounds like everyone who lost weight on a GLP had to have it removed.

Is that it? Do I just wait until it becomes painful enough to warrant an ER visit and then hope they do the surgery for zero down?

That's a lot of quick weight loss. No more than 2 lbs a week is supposed to be a healthy rate. Can you lower the dose or increase your intake? I've averaged 2.2 lbs a week over 9 months and I've had no issues.

 

[Smiter]

Muther...terrified the feces outta me

 

[birdwhacker]

That's a lot of quick weight loss. No more than 2 lbs a week is supposed to be a healthy rate. Can you lower the dose or increase your intake? I've averaged 2.2 lbs a week over 9 months and I've had no issues.

Here's hoping it's just the calcium supplement I took the other day. I seem to have issues mostly on heavy deficit days. I had the issue yesterday during a walk, and it happens occasionally especially when I'm doing mostly liquid, but it happened again today so I turned it around and had a rich meal full of healthy fats.

Gonna skip the calcium moving forward and I will update here with any gallbladder related issues.

As for your question... I will be a little more careful about the deficit, but I'm not going down on the dose. I'm not doing this for my health, I'm in it to lose weight. 3lb per week is what I'm shooting for.

For reference, 6' 236lb male, on week 7 of reta, 2.33mg per week starting dose titrated to 4.66mg after week 4.

 

[birdwhacker]

I would like to point out that major weight loss, regardless of how it occurs, is a risk factor for gallbladder issues.

I can't say with absolute certainty but I feel like I've had gallbladder pain off and on for a while. Just a lot more rare than this.

I could be getting it mixed up with precordial catch or liver pain though, but it's not an unfamiliar feeling for me.

 

[5byfive]

I had never heard if this so I did some quick googling.

From a JAMA paper: Association of Glucagon-Like Peptide-1 Receptor Agonist Use With Risk of Gallbladder and Biliary Diseases A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis of Randomized Clinical Trials.

This is the first paragraph of the discussion session: This systematic review and meta-analysis of 76 randomized clinical trials found that randomization to treatment with GLP-1 RAs compared with placebo or active controls was associated with increased risk of the composite outcome of gallbladder or biliary diseases and for cholelithiasis, cholecystitis, and biliary diseases. Risk was increased in trials of patients treated for diabetes and for weight loss and was higher in the trials for weight reduction. Higher doses and longer duration of GLP-1 RAs treatment were also associated with increased risk of gallbladder or biliary diseases, although the association was not statistically significant.

Damn, sounds scary, right? But digging deeper: (The) absolute risk difference (range) was an additional 27 (17-38) events per 10 000 patients per year.

So it what you would call a "significant" risk in clinical terms, but still a very small relative risk. Mostly at high doses for long periods of time. Seems kind of like the blindness risk. You have double the chance of a certain type of blindness if you use GLPs but the base risk is <1%.

That was from some quick reasearch; I could have missed some details, but I think thats the gist if it.

 

[Chili777]

Here's hoping it's just the calcium supplement I took the other day. I seem to have issues mostly on heavy deficit days. I had the issue yesterday during a walk, and it happens occasionally especially when I'm doing mostly liquid, but it happened again today so I turned it around and had a rich meal full of healthy fats.

Gonna skip the calcium moving forward and I will update here with any gallbladder related issues.

As for your question... I will be a little more careful about the deficit, but I'm not going down on the dose. I'm not doing this for my health, I'm in it to lose weight. 3lb per week is what I'm shooting for.

For reference, 6' 336lb male, on week 7 of reta, 2.33mg per week starting dose titrated to 4.66mg after week 4.

3 lbs a week a lot, over the long term. I've read that anything over ~2 lbs on a consistent basis invites gall bladder issues. I lost the highest percentage at the start but evened out over time.

 

[Birdie]

I can't say with absolute certainty but I feel like I've had gallbladder pain off and on for a while. Just a lot more rare than this.

I could be getting it mixed up with precordial catch or liver pain though, but it's not an unfamiliar feeling for me.

I am so sorry to hear that, and it can be hard to be sure which is the problem with the history you mentioned.

So far, my daughter has been avoiding surgery like the plague, taking malic acid and trying to be careful about hydration (she is in nursing school, and they will bench her until the next class if she goes out for surgery). She also started keeping a food journal (not to obsess over intake, but to track the pain in association with her food choices). Interestingly, the pain has not really been impacted by withdrawing the injections, so she started back up. She believes her pain was worse without the injections because the food noise came back and she ate more/worse.

 

[birdwhacker]

I am so sorry to hear that, and it can be hard to be sure which is the problem with the history you mentioned.

Really great information. I will see about adding magnesium malate along the way. And thank you for the condolences, they're unnecessary though! My body is a temple, but it's one of those temples in Thailand where monkeys shit everywhere. Believe it or not, this is probably the healthiest I've been since I was 17 years old (am currently 27).

 

[Birdie]

I had never heard if this so I did some quick googling.

From a JAMA paper: Association of Glucagon-Like Peptide-1 Receptor Agonist Use With Risk of Gallbladder and Biliary Diseases A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis of Randomized Clinical Trials.

This is the first paragraph of the discussion session: This systematic review and meta-analysis of 76 randomized clinical trials found that randomization to treatment with GLP-1 RAs compared with placebo or active controls was associated with increased risk of the composite outcome of gallbladder or biliary diseases and for cholelithiasis, cholecystitis, and biliary diseases. Risk was increased in trials of patients treated for diabetes and for weight loss and was higher in the trials for weight reduction. Higher doses and longer duration of GLP-1 RAs treatment were also associated with increased risk of gallbladder or biliary diseases, although the association was not statistically significant.

Damn, sounds scary, right? But digging deeper: (The) absolute risk difference (range) was an additional 27 (17-38) events per 10 000 patients per year.

So it what you would call a "significant" risk in clinical terms, but still a very small relative risk. Mostly at high doses for long periods of time. Seems kind of like the blindness risk. You have double the chance of a certain type of blindness if you use GLPs but the base risk is

 

[woundcarping]

3 lbs a week a lot, over the long term. I've read that anything over ~2 lbs on a consistent basis invites gall bladder issues. I lost the highest percentage at the start but evened out over time.

Being 336lb is probably a mitigating factor.

I’m on week 21 of losing 2.7lb/week, starting weight of 282lb.

 

[desinr-gal]

Here's hoping it's just the calcium supplement I took the other day. I seem to have issues mostly on heavy deficit days. I had the issue yesterday during a walk, and it happens occasionally especially when I'm doing mostly liquid, but it happened again today so I turned it around and had a rich meal full of healthy fats.

Gonna skip the calcium moving forward and I will update here with any gallbladder related issues.

As for your question... I will be a little more careful about the deficit, but I'm not going down on the dose. I'm not doing this for my health, I'm in it to lose weight. 3lb per week is what I'm shooting for.

For reference, 6' 336lb male, on week 7 of reta, 2.33mg per week starting dose titrated to 4.66mg after week 4.

I understand the imperative.. we all would love instant change. but the consequences of too fast weight drop can be severe.

My sister had her gallbladder removed, I am fine at 52 weeks later with 52 lbs loss.

Take care of yourself, you need those organs.

 

[Birdie]

Really great information. I will see about adding magnesium malate along the way. And thank you for the condolences, they're unnecessary though! My body is a temple, but it's one of those temples in Thailand where monkeys shit everywhere. Believe it or not, this is probably the healthiest I've been since I was 17 years old (am currently 27).

From that response, I can tell you are going to be just fine!!

You reminded me of something. About six months ago, I actually apologized to my body for not loving her no matter what, not appreciating her endurance, all the things I had done over the years trying to be enough, etc. That has been another great thing about the food noise being quieted--I am actually present in the moment in ways I never was before. I would like to think I am the personality she deserved a long time ago.

 

[birdwhacker]

Being 336lb is probably a mitigating factor.

I’m on week 21 of losing 2.7lb/week, starting weight of 282lb.

Holy shit LOL, typo! I was 236 starting. Probably 260 at my highest and around 240 for most of the last couple of years.

Congrats on the loss, it must feel pretty good to be where you are now. I already feel a lot better, but cosmetically I'm gonna be much happpier when I get below 200.

 

[birdwhacker]

I would like to think I am the personality she deserved a long time ago.

You can only do what you can do. Couldn't do it then, can do it now. Made the most of it then, and I'll make the most of it now too – just in a better way.

 

[woundcarping]

Holy shit LOL, typo! I was 236 starting. Probably 260 at my highest and around 240 for most of the last couple of years.

Congrats on the loss, it must feel pretty good to be where you are now. I already feel a lot better, but cosmetically I'm gonna be much happpier when I get below 200.

I like the progress but I still have another 3-4 months to my target. Overall I’m not very emotional about my progress, I’m somewhat surprised it’s going to plan as well as it is.

3lb at 240lb is 1.25%, more aggressive than the plan I built for me, which is 1% give or take a tenth.

 

[Stay gold]

Down about 18lbs in 5 weeks on Reta, and I'm starting to have issues with gallbladder pain while running. I know fast weight loss causes gallstones.

I decided to search for "gallbladder" on here and it sounds like everyone who lost weight on a GLP had to have it removed.

Is that it? Do I just wait until it becomes painful enough to warrant an ER visit and then hope they do the surgery for zero down?

I mean, if someone isn’t having gallbladder pain they’re not posting anything that’s coming up in your search for “gallbladder”.

I had mine removed years ago cause just being fat can cause it.

I still get liver pain on Reta if I don’t focus on hydration and electrolytes. Fast weight loss puts a lot of pressure on your organs so maybe reduce your dose to be losing 2lb/week.

 

[JourneyToPerfection]

Down about 18lbs in 5 weeks on Reta, and I'm starting to have issues with gallbladder pain while running. I know fast weight loss causes gallstones.

I decided to search for "gallbladder" on here and it sounds like everyone who lost weight on a GLP had to have it removed.

Is that it? Do I just wait until it becomes painful enough to warrant an ER visit and then hope they do the surgery for zero down?

I had my gallbladder out, but it was long before I started Mounjero, then Reta. I was on saxenda for a year way back when but I didn’t drop much weight. As someone who was adversely affected by losing their gallbladder, I’d urge you to do whatever you can to avoid it. Look into what foods to avoid (mostly fatty foods, sometimes even healthy ones). Since my surgery 4 years ago I’ve been unable to eat red meat and only very recently able to tolerate chicken again without becoming chronically ill. Dairy for me in very small amounts. It sucks, I miss eating steak so bad