Your liver makes bile, and before the operation your gallbladder held that bile until you ate, then emptied it into your duodenum to mix with food. The duodenum is where the small intestine begins. The gallbladder is not an essential organ, and you can live normally without one: since it was removed, bile flows out of your liver through the bile ducts and directly into the duodenum. A small number of people have softer and more frequent stools after removal, because bile now reaches the duodenum more often.
Can loose stools after eating last years after the operation?
Recovery from a laparoscopic gallbladder removal, the kind done through 1 to 4 small cuts in your belly, takes up to 6 weeks for most people. Stools that come loose after meals are among the symptoms you may have as you recover, and they may last 4 to 8 weeks, though in some cases they can last longer. After open surgery, recovery takes 4 to 8 weeks and loose stools after eating may last 4 to 8 weeks as well. Rarely, the diarrhea can continue, and your own doctor can discuss treatment options with you. Both ranges are counted in weeks, so loose stools that have lasted for years are past them: they may be the rare case that continues, or have another cause, and that is a question for the same doctor.
Diarrhea means passing loose, watery stools three or more times a day, or more often than is normal for you, and it counts as chronic once it has lasted at least 4 weeks, whether the symptoms are ongoing or come and go. You may develop chronic diarrhea after surgery on your gallbladder, as you may after surgery on the appendix, large intestine, liver, pancreas or small intestine.
The operation is one possible cause among several. Some infections, food allergies and intolerances, digestive tract problems and long-term use of medicines can also cause chronic diarrhea, and so can trouble digesting lactose, the sugar in milk and milk products. Sugar alcohols, common in sugar-free candies and gum, may cause diarrhea in some people too (see Bloated since switching to diet drinks and sugar-free candy?).
Chronic diarrhea can cause malabsorption, when your body can't absorb enough nutrients from the food you eat, and the symptoms of malabsorption may include bloating, changes in appetite, gas, and loose, greasy, foul-smelling bowel movements. Diarrhea is more likely to cause complications such as dehydration and malabsorption if you are pregnant, over 65, taking antibiotics or have a weakened immune system, so in any of those cases keep your doctor up to date on it.
Changes in bowel habits after gallbladder removal are usually temporary, and still worth discussing with your doctor. For adults, diarrhea lasting more than 2 days is a reason to talk with a doctor right away, while diarrhea that gets worse or does not get better in 5 days is a reason to contact one; the 2-day line is the stricter one, so go by it. Loose stools that have lasted since the operation are long past it, so if no doctor has heard about yours, call your doctor's office right away and book a visit to talk it through. If a doctor already knows about them, call the office when they get worse.
Does eating advice for gallstones still apply without a gallbladder?
More fiber is the part that carries over: it is among the foods recommended to help prevent gallstones, and a high-fiber diet is also advised after laparoscopic removal. Healthy fats, such as fish oil and olive oil, are recommended to help your gallbladder contract and empty on a regular basis, which takes a gallbladder. The gallstone advice is aimed at stones that form in the gallbladder, and rapid weight loss raises the chance of forming them, though losing weight too quickly may cause other health problems too (see Pain under the right ribs while weight comes off fast can be the gallbladder).
| Topic | To help prevent gallstones | After laparoscopic removal |
|---|---|---|
| Fiber | Eat more high-fiber foods, such as fruits, vegetables, beans and peas, and whole grains including brown rice, oats and whole wheat bread | Eat a high-fiber diet |
| Fat | Eat healthy fats, like fish oil and olive oil, to help your gallbladder contract and empty; avoid unhealthy fats, like those often found in desserts and fried foods | You may want to avoid greasy or spicy foods for a while |
| Carbohydrates and sugar | Eat fewer refined carbohydrates and less sugar | Not mentioned |
| Water | Not mentioned | Drink 8 to 10 glasses every day to help ease bowel movements |
After open surgery, eat a normal diet, though you may want to avoid greasy or spicy foods for a while. Bile is what your body uses to digest fats in the small intestine. If particular meals seem to bring on the loose stools, a food journal could help you work out which foods and drinks trigger your symptoms. Track what you eat and drink, what symptoms you have, when they come, and which foods and drinks make them worse. Take the notes to your doctor, who may suggest avoiding the foods and drinks that make chronic diarrhea worse, or may recommend changing what you eat.
Talk with your doctor before you make any changes to your eating plan, and with whoever oversees your weight care if that is someone else, including how to get more fiber while you are eating less (see How to get enough fiber when you eat half as much).
Which changes need your own doctor, an emergency room or 911
For problems such as throwing up blood, severe pain anywhere in your body, fainting, trouble breathing, or throwing up or loose stools that do not stop, go to an emergency room or call 911. Loose stools that come after meals, as yours have, need your doctor's office as described above, and loose stools that do not stop need the emergency room or 911. When you cannot tell how urgent something is and nothing that serious is happening, call your doctor's office; outside its hours, the call may be put through to a nurse or other provider covering for the clinic.
Signs such as these mean calling your doctor's office right away:
- signs of dehydration, such as passing less urine, dizziness or lightheadedness, a dry mouth or sunken eyes
- blood or pus in your stools, or black stools
- stomach pain that does not go away after a bowel movement
- diarrhea with a fever above 101°F
- six or more loose stools a day
Yellowing of your skin or the whites of your eyes, and gray stools, are among the reasons to call the doctor after gallbladder removal, and both may be due to a problem with bile. The rest of that list, such as a temperature above 101°F, surgical wounds that bleed or drain, and a cough that does not go away, covers the weeks of recovery. Yellowing can happen at any age and may be a sign of a problem, with a blocked bile duct among the possible causes, so call your doctor's office about it whenever it appears, even if your stools look normal.
Your stools get their normal brown color from bile salts the liver releases into them, and pale, clay or putty-colored stools may be due to a problem in the biliary system, the drainage system of the gallbladder, liver and pancreas. Yellow skin often comes with clay-colored stools, possibly because bile chemicals build up in the body, and dark urine may come with them too. In the weeks after the operation, gray stools alone are a reason to call the office; at any other time, call it if your stools are not the normal brown color for several days.
If the office books a visit, expect questions about your medical history and symptoms, which may include when the change began, whether every stool looks that way, what medicines you take and what other symptoms you have, and tell the doctor when your gallbladder came out. Tests may include blood tests that check liver function, and imaging such as an abdominal ultrasound, CT scan or MRI of the liver and bile ducts.
NicoCares asks about your medical history so a physician can decide on treatment, and an old operation with loose stools that have lasted since is part of that history. If you are already a patient, write to your care team about both in Spruce, the app where their answers arrive. Keep Spruce for news that can wait for an answer, since NicoCares names no time for one, and for each sign above, follow the instruction given with it, by phone or in person.
