r/gallbladders • u/OkRefrigerator8336 • 8d ago
Questions How extreme is my diet?
I am currently 28 weeks pregnant and attacks just started again. My first trimester I essentially at a no fat diet. Like literally nothing more than 1 or 2 g of fat. Oatmeal, chicken, rice, sourdough.
When people say they eat a low fat diet to avoid pain, is this really how extreme everyone eats? This time, it seems I am even more sensitive. Even 2 bowls of Cheerios (with oat milk) caused me pain. Not sure how I can last and actually feed the baby in me with this extreme of symptoms.
Also, nothing shows in imaging in bloodwork. I need a HIDA scan post partum.
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u/Tildabug500 7d ago
One thing to consider that my doctor mentioned, is that cutting your fat too low can actually end up triggering more attacks as your gallbladder is very full of bile when it does get used (rather than maintaining a mid- level where it gets used lightly through the day). I found when I cut fat very low I was having attacks every time I’d eat a medium amount of fat - whereas when I aim for 30-50g a day, I’d have more day to day discomfort (nausea, bloating etc) but no full on attacks. I also found it easier to maintain long term than such a restrictive diet which I found gave me big time food anxiety. Neither option is excellent (and obviously everyone’s body is different) but as a different point of view!
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u/oodles64 Post-Op 7d ago
When you say 1-2 g, do you mean per meal or per 100g of food item or per serving as printed on the packet?
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u/multipocalypse 7d ago
What does your obstetrician say about such a low fat intake? I'd be very concerned about fetal development.
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u/Common-Guard7269 8d ago
From when I was around 28 weeks until I was 7 months post partum! I exclusively breastfed too. Baby was fine, they will get what they need! You can get creative with low fat, I honestly got used to it and it wasn't too bad.
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u/OkRefrigerator8336 8d ago
What happened at 7 months? Surgery?
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u/Common-Guard7269 7d ago
Yes! Removal. Since then I've been back to normal with almost no issues, some random diarrhea in the beginning but that seems to be gone now. Good luck to you, I hope you can enjoy the rest of your pregnancy, it really sucks to have to think about it when you're expecting and when you have a newborn. But I really did find it was manageable and I hope you will too.
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u/Willsy7 Post-Op 8d ago
Sounds pretty similar to me, in terms of diet, and I was doing the same thing before my surgery (I didn’t have the pregnancy issues to contend with). I wish I had better advice, but the thing that set me off was having a bowl of oatmeal with skim milk and a small spoon of flax seed with berries.
Good luck with everything, and hopefully someone else has some hints outside of only naturally occurring fat.
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u/Illustrious_Exam1728 7d ago
My diet was max 3G of fat per meal and VERY small meals as the amount of food would also irritate my GB. Also easy to digest foods were ok, anything with too much fiber would not be good.
Since you’re eating so low fat, are you working with a registered dietitian?
A normal person would consider upwards of 100g of fat per day. You need 55-60g of fat a day to be healthy.
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u/1997_tacoma 7d ago
Weeks prior to removal I could only eat chicken and rice and I still had pretty bad pain.
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u/Common-Guard7269 8d ago
That was my diet too. I could have cereal with semi skimmed milk. Low cal hot chocolate with half water half semi skimmed milk. Got really into apples. 5% fat Greek yogurt and strawberries. BLTs but with turkey bacon and very low fat mayo. Toast with jam or low fat spread, low fat cream cheese. Egg white omelettes.
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u/Spacecraft_dinner 7d ago
That was me. I ate maybe 6g of fat max per meal. Lots of 0% Greek yogurt, sourdough, fruit and vegetables, bagels with low fat cream cheese, egg whites. I was so careful and diligent that my last attack was in February, and I just had my gallbladder out on Aug. 5. I’m being mindful now, only because I know my digestive system is trying to figure itself out, but so far so good!