Gallbladder and the Menstrual Cycle?

[meggowiggle]

I had gallbladder surgery September 1. I expected to start my period September 22 or 23, but I am now "late". I have had cramps for days. I assume the delay is due to my surgery rather than a pregnancy since all three hpts came back BFN.

I did some googling and read that many women have identified a correlation between their gallbadder function/removal and their menstrual cycle.

One woman stated that getting her gallbladder out put her on a strictly regular 28 day cycle, while other women said getting their gallbladders out totally screwed up their cycles. Some women found their gallbladder issues worsened during the time of menstruation (I had this issue myself). Many, many women said the surgery made them very late, or oddly early. Modern medicine does not recognize a direct link between the gallbladder and the menstrual cycle, but Traditional Chinese Medicine (uses routes such as acupuncture and other practices) does. I wonder if TCM has a better understanding of this correlation.

What are your experiences with your gallbladder and your menstrual cycle?

How were your cycles after surgery, if you had it removed? Were they normal?

[DiamondInTheRough]

I was on the pill so I can't really say! I'm sure it's due to the surgery itself (not necessarily your gallbladder). Hopefully things will get back on track soon!

[beavetm17]

The month I had mine out, I had two periods, mostly b/c I ended up in the hospital with an infection and my DH forgot to bring me my BCP. I went off BCP and didn't have AF for the first month and now I have it this month though I started DCI. Who knows, I personally didn't think that there is a connection in my case. I don't miss my gallbladder though! That surgery was horrible!

[GlitterStar]

Menstration is not a necessity of life so any time there is injury or trauma to the body that the body needs to focus more on, it will cut out your cycles if it has to in order to get extra blood flow or attention to a troubled area. It's why anorexia, bulimia, stress, illness, etc call all cause your cycles to stop.

In the instances of women who got a regular cycle after their gallbladder was removed, it could be because their bodies couldn't handle the bad gallbladder and gave it extra attention by taking away or altering the menses. When the gallbladder was gone, their periods could return to normal. In the instances of the women whose menses worsened after the gallbladder was gone, it could be that although their gallbladder bothered them, their body was still able to fight the bad gallbladder without taking away the menses, however, the surgery could have ended up being too hard on the body so the menses were forced to go for the body to focus elsewhere. In the women who still had bad gallbladders that acted up more during their cycle could be contributed to PMS. Many women experience heartburn or indigestion or stomach upset, etc as their normal monthly symptoms, but, if you have gallstones, those issues can irritate it make it worse so that could be why during their cycle they felt worse. It would be interesting to know more about these women's cases such as did they have surgery complications, infections before or after the surgery, what are their normal monthly pms symptoms, etc. Any of those things could have made the difference.

I was on flutamide for about 9 months and my cycles were perfecto! Like clockwork, it was wonderful! Then I came off of it because although it helped my cycles, it was doing nothing for my hair loss or other physical symptoms and I didn't think that staying on it and risking liver issues was worth it. I last another few months after the flutamide with normal cycles and it was around that time that my gallbladder issues started. I had the surgery and everything went very well. Since then though my cycles have been going way down hill. Sometimes I have them, sometimes I don't, sometimes they're every two weeks, sometimes every other month. It's a mess, but that's how I was before I started flutamide. It's basically my norm. So I don't contribute my gallbladder surgery to my messed up periods, I contribute it to going off flutamide and it probably just took a little while to fully work it's way out of my system.

[mrs.ray]

Meghan, when I had my gallbladder removed in '06, my period disappeared for months. I was on BCP and spironolactone at the time, which usually resulted in a clock-work period. I had complications during surgery, bled too much, and needed a blood transfusion, so I think that's what caused an absent period.

Whenever you go through a trauma like surgery or extreme stress, the body does tend to go totally out of whack, especially periods. I know that a month after surgery, I still wasn't feeling 100% better, but maybe that was just me.

Good luck!

[meggowiggle]

Thanks for your responses.

GlitterStar, what your wrote makes a lot of sense, and I think that is what is happening to me in my case.

The surgery itself went smooth a pie, and I was feeling great a week later. Even though I recovered quickly, it was still stress on my body, for sure.

My PMS symptoms completely disappeared yesterday. **shrug**. I guess it is time for Provera.

[Domas]

I had gallbladder surgery September 1. I expected to start my period September 22 or 23, but I am now "late". I have had cramps for days. I assume the delay is due to my surgery rather than a pregnancy since all three hpts came back BFN.

I did some googling and read that many women have identified a correlation between their gallbadder function/removal and their menstrual cycle. good article I have enjoy that . . Gooddy ..........

One woman stated that getting her gallbladder out put her on a strictly regular 28 day cycle, while other women said getting their gallbladders out totally screwed up their cycles. Some women found their gallbladder issues worsened during the time of menstruation (I had this issue myself). Many, many women said the surgery made them very late, or oddly early. Modern medicine does not recognize a direct link between the gallbladder and the menstrual cycle, but Traditional Chinese Medicine (uses routes such as acupuncture and other practices) does. I wonder if TCM has a better understanding of this correlation.

What are your experiences with your gallbladder and your menstrual cycle?

How were your cycles after surgery, if you had it removed? Were they normal?

Yes, gall bladder removal effect menstrual cycle. Your period cycle can become prolonged and you can have abnormal vaginal bleeding. It is called menorrhagia-Although heavy menstrual bleeding is a common concern among premenopausal women, few women experience blood loss severe enough to be defined as menorrhagia.

G o o d a r t i c l e I h a v e e n j o y t h a t . . G o o d d y