Symptoms of gallstones to watch out for, including complications

Without treatment, gallstones can cause complications, including inflammation or cancer of the gallbladder. That is why, you must be aware of the symptoms of gallstones. Just the symptoms? Come on, see the explanation below.

Common symptoms of gallstones

According to Jordan Knowlton, an expert nurse at the University of Florida Health Shands Hospital, gallstones are formed from a combination of bile salts, cholesterol and bilirubin.

Initially, the stones that are formed are small and few, so they often cause no significant symptoms. However, gallstones only cause a variety of unpleasant symptoms if allowed to continue to grow. Here are the various symptoms.

1. Looks of rocks in the gallbladder

The most common symptom of this condition is of course rocks found in the gallbladder. The presence of stones in the bile can be examined by a doctor with an ultrasound or CT scan.

There are two types of stones in bile, namely:

• cholesterol stones, yellowish color due to high cholesterol, more often found in women with excess body weight, and
• pigment gallstones, black or brown in color due to the buildup of pigments from pure calcium bilirubin, often found in bile that has been infected.

2.Pain in the upper right abdomen (a typical symptom of gallstones)

The next gallstone symptom that is relatively common and can be felt is pain in the upper right abdomen. This symptom is also often called biliary colic.

The more and bigger gallstones that form in the gallbladder, the more risk it is to cause the bile ducts to become blocked. Blockage of stones can cause bile not to flow smoothly into the small intestine. This will obviously block the way the bile works.

Well, one of the effects of a blockage in the bile bladder or duct is pain in the upper right abdomen, right at the location of the bile. Abdominal pain, typical of gallstone symptoms, often appears at night. Especially if before bed you eat large portions.

Symptoms of biliary colic pain usually last for 30 minutes to an hour. However, the pain may continue several hours afterward with a lighter intensity. Stomach pain due to gallstones can also be felt while you are still sleeping.

Abdominal pain, signs of gallstones, can also be felt on the left. This symptom occurs when gallstones block the path to the pancreas. The pancreas functions to make fluids that the digestive system uses to process food.

3. Nausea and vomiting

The presence of stones can cause mild inflammation of the bile. In chronic inflammation, the gallbladder is at risk of scarring and stiffness. The effects can cause vomiting, nausea in the stomach, bloating after eating, and chronic diarrhea.

Symptoms of nausea and vomiting when diagnosed with gallstones generally also often occur in conditions of pancreatitis (inflammation of the pancreas).

The gallstone signs have caused complications

According to the Mayo Clinic, a blockage due to gallstones can lead to a complication called gallstone pancreatitis. Symptoms are similar to those of a gallbladder infection (cholecystitis) caused by blockage of stones.

The following are symptoms that are felt when gallstones have developed into complications.

1. Fever

Fever is a symptom of gallstones that have infected the gallbladder (cholecystitis) or bile ducts (cholangitis). Fever can also occur when the bile breaks, there is gangrene (dead tissue), or until an infection occurs in the bloodstream (sepsis).

When gallstones cause large blockages that interfere with the flow of pancreatic enzymes, pancreatic enzymes can flow back into the pancreas. This in turn can cause inflammation of the pancreas (pancreatitis) which can also lead to fever.

2.Jaundice (jaundice)

You can develop jaundice if your gallstones block the flow of bilirubin (obstructive jaundice).

The presence of gallstones that have accumulated can make bilirubin, a result of red blood cell breakdown from the liver, flow back into the blood and accumulate there. Though bilirubin should enter the digestive system.

As a result, the bilirubin carried by blood throughout the body will cause the whites of the eyes, skin and nails to turn yellow. These symptoms can also make the color of your urine turn cloudy yellow.

3. Body itching (pruritus)

Body itching (pruritus) is another symptom of gallstones. Pruritus can occur due to chronic inflammation in the gallbladder and liver. The itching sensation you feel is caused by substances in the body, known as pruritogenic stimulation.

One of the causes of the appearance of gallstones is an excess of the hardened substance bilirubin. bilirubin substance itself is included as a pruritogenic substance.

Pruritogens are natural substances in the body that trigger itching. The nerves in the brain will respond to the action of pruritogenic substances by producing an itching sensation.

Bilirubin is normally excreted in the feces and the rest in the urine. If the bilirubin level is too much to cause stones to form in the bile, the yellow pigment from the bilirubin will be carried away by the blood and stored under the skin.

The result is that the body becomes itchy as a reaction to symptoms of bile stones.

See a doctor immediately if you experience symptoms of gallstones

The appearance and severity of gallstone symptoms can vary from person to person. Some people can feel the above symptoms for months or even years.

There are also people who only experience gallstone symptoms once or twice a year. Therefore, it is important to immediately see a doctor if you begin to feel certain symptoms that lead to gallstones.

Especially when you have had unbearable upper right abdominal pain, severe nausea and vomiting, or are experiencing other symptoms that lead to complications.

Early examination and treatment, one of which is a cholecystectomy operation, is needed to prevent the risk of complications such as inflammation of the pancreas (pancreatitis) or gallstones recurrence at a later date.

In addition, there is also a risk of gallbladder cancer, although it is very rare. However, your risk of cancer will increase if there is damage to the bladder and bile ducts.

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