The gallbladder is a small, pear-shaped sac located below your liver in the right upper abdomen. Gallstones form when liquid stored in the gallbladder hardens. The liquid—called bile—helps the body digest fats. Bile is made in the liver, then stored in the gallbladder. When the body needs it the gallbladder contracts and pushes the bile into a tube—called the common bile duct—that carries it to the small intestine, where it helps with digestion. Bile contains water, cholesterol, bile salts and bilirubin, a waste product. If bile contains too much cholesterol, bile salts, or bilirubin, it can harden into gallstones. (1)

(1) http://digestive.niddk.nih.gov/ddiseases/pubs/gallstones/

*Author: Kelly
I have a family member who is suffering from several gall stones. She is in her eighties, and due to meet with a surgeon to discuss removal (for a consult) on June 8th. She’s frustrated because she’s waiting so long for the surgery to be scheduled, and is having severe bloating at the end of the day and after meals – intestinal discomfort. Is there anything she can take ( on a sensitive stomach) while she’s waiting that might help alleviate the bloating other than milk of magnesia?

*Author: Marilyn in Sidney
http://www.naturalremi-teas.com/Stonebreaker.htm

I think this tea is supposed to help with symptoms as well is get rid of the stones themselves. But I don’t know if your family member is open to trying herbal remedies.

*Author: Polly
You might try a gallbladder-liver flush. She doesn’t have to do the flush if she rather have the surgery, but maybe some of the steps preceding the flush she could at least try. Gold coin will soften the stones. Apple juice, malic acid, or ortho-phosphoric acid could be used to weaken adhesions between solid globules — help break them up and get them unstuck. Also, to prevent the formation of gallstones in the future, taurine is helpful.

As for the bloating — that might be bacteria. Bile will help kill off the bacteria. It seems the lack of bile getting through the gallbladder could be causing that growth. If so, then you want to gradually kill off the bacteria. Too fast, and it could make her sick. If she does get the gallbladder removed, then she should take bile supplements with her meals for the rest of her life.

One of the reasons they may keep putting off the operation is that no one wants to operate on older people. Too risky.

There are people who have gallbladder pain even after their gallbladder has been removed. Sometimes this is due to an allergy to eggs.

*Author: Niles
Polly, what is it in bile that kills bacteria? Something in the bile salts?

*Author: Polly
Bile doesn’t kill bacteria in the same manner as you would expect an antibiotic to kill bacteria. Here is an excerpt from an article at

http://www.pnas.org/content/103/12/4333.full

Differing mechanisms by which conjugated bile acids inhibit bacterial overgrowth of the human small intestine. In the proximal small intestine (duodenum and jejunum), conjugated bile acids (and accompanying fatty acids) inhibit bacterial growth directly because of their pharmacological properties. In the distal small intestine, as presented in Inagaki et al. (4), conjugated bile acids interact with FXR in the ileal enterocyte by inducing genes promoting the synthesis and secretion of antimicrobial factors from the epithelium (solid line) or by initiating a cascade of events beyond the epithelial cell that can promote elimination of luminal bacteria (dashed line)

*Author: Niles
That’s interesting info. on bile. In many classical herbal preparations there is often a bitter component. Bitters help to stimulate bile to flow. Now I can see why that might be potentially curative.

*Author: Kelly
Thanks Polly and Marilyn. She is definitely from the older generation, and tends to lean in the direction of the “I will only do what the doctor says” approach. I did share your responses with her, but she has had problems with her stomach for years – low tolerance of certain types of foods. Her last doctor suggested she stay away from all citrus fruits – and she really loved this doc, so that tends to rule out all the nice “flushes” shared on the internet using lemon juice, apple juice, or apple cider vinegar. All I can do is make sure she knows that there are side effects to gall bladder removal, and other options are available. I appreciate your reference to the tea, I may try it for myself!

*Author: Polly
Edgar Cayce used to use a abdominal caster oil packs to get rid of gallstones. Edgar Cayce was of her generation. Maybe she is a fan?