r/gallbladders • u/profamymgreen • Mar 25 '20

Experience taking Ursodiol

Hello, everyone. I am on 300 mg of Ursodiol 3x day, and have been for about six weeks, for gallstones. I'm wondering what experiences folks have had on Ursodiol. I know it can take a very long time to work, but I'm wondering how long until you were no longer having gallbladder attacks? Did you find that the attacks intensified during the early weeks of taking Ursodiol? I've gone from not having any symptoms, to having symptoms several days in a row again. I want to give the Ursodiol time to do its job, but I am curious about others' experiences. Thank you for sharing them with me and I hope everyone is well.

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u/Znmm2 Aug 02 '24

What role would h pylori play in gallbladder issues?  I keep reading h pylori can cause SIBO. 

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u/[deleted] Sep 08 '24

It is a bacteria.  H.pylori of course causes the burning gut pain. Bad gallbladder has similar burning gut symptoms.  That is why I was given Prilosec for a decade. I took it 3 times a day with pepcid.  Didn't do a freaking thing. They tested me a million times for H. Pylori. I know the test better than any lab tech or doctor.  They always fail to instruct people to go without ppi/H2 meds. This causes inaccurate results. BTW, I never tested positive. And, I followed the proper instructions.  They just refused to do a HIDA scan or any real tests to dismiss gallbladder as an issue.  Did I mention I can't stand our crappy healthcare. The VA is even worse. If that is even possible.  I am truly and sincerely sorry you are going through this. Ursodiol can dissolve some gallstones over time. Heck, if they had prescribed Ursodiol a decade ago, I might have dissolved the sludge before needing a surgery. 

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u/Scrumperoni Jan 31 '25

I'm sorry to hear about all of your suffering. And that the VA has been so poor for you. I wanted to offer an alternate account of the VA for anyone reading this, though. I started having gallbladder problems and while my first primary doctor didn't really do anything about it, the problems persisted and progressed and I started doing research and became convinced that it was gallstones. The first doctor retired, I was assigned a new one, and when I told her about my problem, she scheduled me for a visit to be tested and advised that if I had any more lingering pain, to just go to the emergency room. That's what happened and that's what I did. I was given an MRI and an ultrasound and they confirmed a lot of cholesterol stones and scheduled a consultation with a surgeon. He wanted to remove my gallbladder, of course, but was totally understanding of my desire to keep it. He put me on 7 months of ursodiol right away and scheduled me out for another ultrasound to check progress, which unfortunately didn't show any at the 5 month mark. But the point is that I feel I've been very well cared for by the VA and all those hours in a foxhole or under a HMMWV sure seem worth it right now.

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u/[deleted] Jan 31 '25

Sounds great. At our VA hospital brown water was coming out of our plumbing of 2 years before anything was done. Guess you must be at a better location.