I have recently been diagnosed with gallstones. I realise fatty food is most likely to lead to bouts of pain. I am now feeling fine and bored since being hospitalised 3 weeks ago, desperate to get out and ride as I picked up my new bike the day before I was hospitalised and haven’t ridden it yet… Does anyone know if mountainbiking will aggrevate things while I am waiting for my gallbladder to be removed (2 year waiting list here in rubbish Wales) or do I need to find another hobby in the mean time?

Thanks in advance!

Will

no you will be fine to ride, diet is your friend, yes absolutely avoid fatty foods as much as possible as this triggers the pain.

Trust me I know how painful it is, keep on hassling your GP everytime you have a pain attack and you’ll get surgery quicker. The issue is once you have it removed you may well suffer eating fatty food and you’ll ge to know public toilets and their whereabouts very well

2 years!! I had mine removed 2 months after being diagnosed. Mine were discovered during a scan for something else which proved negative. Consultant recommended I have it removed. I dithered a bit, since I had experienced no pain, but had it done 15 months ago. Been fine since.

Since I hadn’t had any pain I don’t know whether biking will aggreviate or not. I take it you’ve had severe pain due to being in hospital.

Rock on! I’ll fit a cassette loo in my van!

The pain is unbelievably intense. Took a lot of drugs to control it. Wouldn’t wish it on anyone.

2 years!

I was diagnosed in May. I put off getting it seen to so as to avoid missing the Summer. Appointment to have it removed in March.

I was told to steer clear of fatty foods, but no-one mentioned cycling.

The pain is unbelievably intense. Took a lot of drugs to control it. Wouldn’t wish it on anyone.

Yup.

At least I missed the intense pain – thankfully.

Cycling shouldn’t be a problem. Fatty foods most definitely will be. As others have said, indescribable pain.

My gallstones were very small. Small enough for them to be invisible to ultrasound but only visible on endoscopy. My liver and pancreas failed after a stone migrated and blocked something… Came far too close to dying. Dosed to the eyeballs with morphine to ‘comfort me’ as I died. Medical staff told my Mum it was curtains for me. AArggh! Not nice. Hospital for two weeks, intensive care and an emergency op to get it removed.

Cycling will do you no harm. Just steer clear of the chip buttie afterwards! 😀

Ohh…and a word of advice, after removal if you end up with a drain bag, when the nurse tells you to breathe in when it’s being removed, do so. 😉

Cycling shouldn’t be a problem but pain management is essntial if you have an ‘attack’ whilst out on the bike. As others have said, the pain is rolled-up cold-sweat nauseous-inducingly intense. My gall bladder was removed within a couple of months but, like p8ddy, acute pancreatitis was/is involved in my diagnosis.
As well as fatty foods, avoid alchohol and hot spicey foods IME.

Was woken in the middle of the night by intense chest pain, thought I was having a heart attack.

This was bad enough, but I was in a Mumbai hotel…if the pains didn’t get me, then the local hospital probably would…

Several hours later, attended to by a highly competent medical team, ultra scanned and diagnosed – and blessed with a stack of replica medicines (no restriction on pharmaceutical copyright in India, so medicine cost buttons) I knew that I’d not had a cardiac, but had had a gallstone attack.

Had just the one attack in India, then several attacks back here in the uk

Avoid chips, cheese, mayo, fat, cooking oil and alcohol. Nightmare diet for anyone living in Scotland.

I was lucky enough to have private medicinal coverage through work, so was sorted in a couple of months. Otherwise it was Damocles sword after every meal…..

Post op, stomach reacts to coffee…..quite dramatically……

Best of luck…..move quickly

Would not wish it on my worst enemy, in fact I remember saying if I had a gun at the time I would have shot myself

I think you should be fine riding, just stay off the cheese sarnies and chips

Also had mine out 2 months after diagnosis, 2 years and I would have done it myself with a bic biro and a spoon