r/Celiac • u/SuitApprehensive3240 • Aug 11 '26
Question How many celiacs here lost their gallbladder??
Gallbladder?
34
u/mira2004F Aug 12 '26
Does the gallbladder have anything to do with celiac disease? Or why do so many people with celiac disease end up having their gallbladder removed?
27
u/patience_kills_ Aug 12 '26
Ultimately, it's an absorption issue. The same happens for IBD patients as well, unfortunately.
6
u/AdhesivenessOk5534 Celiac Aug 12 '26
Some people have localized pain during flares, usually in the same area as gallbladder pain so thats part of the reason
-11
u/SuitApprehensive3240 Aug 12 '26
Yeah. R u celiac
16
u/mira2004F Aug 12 '26
That’s new to me. How exactly are celiac and the gallbladder connected?
Yes Im celiac for over 4 years.4
u/RipVanVVinkle Aug 12 '26
So from what my GI doc told me it doesn’t really cause you to need your gallbladder removed. I had gallstones that were causing issues and led to me having mine removed and told that celiac doesn’t cause gallstones.
Also, after having my gallbladder removed she said I would have to see how I did with fatty foods and that I had an increased risk of other malabsorption problems.
2
51
u/slipwat Celiac Aug 12 '26
Psh. I still have mine, losers! (Jk, I’m not a gallbladder elitist tho I do still have mine… weird feeling brag)
9
u/SuitApprehensive3240 Aug 12 '26
Hahahahha... me too but im in pain
6
5
u/undeniably_micki Aug 12 '26
Yeah mine's been jacked up for about 8 or 9 years. it's better when I don't eat any fried foods and I don't eat any polyunsaturated fats. It's better when I'm eating regular fat like meat fat and butter. Not too much of them mind you but better those than polysaturated for me. ymmv!
6
u/wickedchicken83 Aug 12 '26
I have mine, no pain, knock on wood, but I’m getting an ultrasound tomorrow to look at gallstones!
18
u/KeiylasWords Aug 12 '26
Been diagnosed for 13 years (I’m 29 now) and still have my gallbladder, suckers! 😂
7
14
u/TheWorldNeedsDornep Aug 12 '26
Almost, but GB attacks stopped when I went GF. Whew, what a relief.
3
29
u/runawai Aug 11 '26
Evicted mine in an emergency surgery. 4 years before celiac diagnosis, then 33F.
10
5
5
3
3
u/sistine_spy Aug 12 '26
Mine was evicted during emergency surgery as well but 5 years after Celiac diagnosis.
2
u/Icy-Week-6405 Aug 13 '26
My gallbladder gone 2024 with emergency surgery too. Now doctors testing me for Celiac. Will know in about a week.
11
u/JudgesJudily1050 Aug 12 '26
I had mine removed 4 years ago due to gallstones, and I had terrible nausea and pain. They took it out and the nausea didn't get any better. They kept insisting to me that I was just recovering from the surgery and would feel better soon. Well.... That never happened. And then in April 2025 a doctor finally listened to me and ran other tests and I was diagnosed with celiac disease. Now the severe nausea and gas pain are gone!
10
u/russcass Aug 12 '26
So I messed up. I was diagnosed with celiac 13 years ago, but I haven't been adhering to the gluten free diet. Bad decision. I believe that it has led to liver, pancreas, type 2 and gallbladder issues.
Celiac can cause inflammation in the liver. It can cause non-alcoholic fatty liver, which I have. It impairs the release of CCK in the small intestine that signals the gallbladder to release bile. When I had my hida scan for my gallbladder, they told me it was functioning at 30%. It wasn't releasing like it should. Celiac also increases pancreatitis chances. When I had gotten an ultrasound in the past, I was asked if I normally have an inflamed pancreas. I was there because I was having chest pain and they did an ultrasound.
I have been having digestive issues and pains, and never related them to be celiac. I was having chest pain, which felt the exact same when they injected me with the solution to trigger my gallbladder during the hida scan.
For about the past 3 weeks I have been gluten free, and I don't think I've had one gallbladder pain since. Maybe one, but nowhere near as bad.
I should've listened to my doctor. Just trying to get back on track now.
6
u/thoughtful-thorn Aug 12 '26
I was diagnosed 25 years ago. What is the correlation to the gallbladder?
5
u/SuitApprehensive3240 Aug 12 '26
Well... the idea is when a person has gluten undiagnosed.The inflammation affects not only the gallbladder , but all the organs and even the teeth and different parts of the body
1
u/SuitApprehensive3240 Aug 12 '26
In terms Of my pancreas , I wasn't producing enzymes correctly to digest fats
8
u/jonquillejaune Aug 12 '26 edited Aug 12 '26
That’s not quite correct
Bile is produced by the liver and some of it is held in the gallbladder. When you eat a fatty meal, a hormone which is produced in the small intestine (cholecystokinin) triggers the gallbladder to release the bile, which helps digest the fats. This has nothing to do with your pancreas , other than the fact that the common bile duct runs from the gallbladder, through the pancreas and out into your duodenum (the first part of your small bowel). So many people have gallbladder issues because the damaged small intestine isn’t producing the hormone like it should, leading to the bile sitting stagnant in the bladder and solidifying into gallstones.
Your pancreas produces pancreatic juice ( also partly triggered by cholecystokinin) which is highly alkaline, and also fat digestion (as well as other things). This neutralizes the stomach acid so that you don’t digest your own bowels. It’s a fairly interconnected system with lots of parts
ETA gallbladders are sometimes removed due to chronic pancreatitis, when the gallstones or the sludge of not quite fully formed stones escape and get stuck in the duct that runs through the pancreas.
3
u/thoughtful-thorn Aug 12 '26
How did you discover that that was happening or the reason it was happening? I’m just curious. I’ve been out of the loop for awhile just eating gf but it sounds like people have so much more information and knowledge.
1
u/IndependenceOld8708 Aug 12 '26
Same! I still can't digest fats well, but before I quit gluten 3 years ago my body couldn't digest fats at all.
5
u/FactoryFrost Aug 12 '26
I wonder whether my gallbladder failed due to my celiac diagnosis or my obsession with fasting. Before diagnosis, every time I fasted I felt great. I didn’t realise it was the stopping of the gluten that was making me feel better.
5
19
u/hey_celiac_girl Celiac Since Oct. 2020 Aug 12 '26
I’m pretty sure gallbladder surgery is what triggered my celiac disease lol
2
u/SuitApprehensive3240 Aug 12 '26
Really??
3
u/hey_celiac_girl Celiac Since Oct. 2020 Aug 12 '26
Yup. I had my gallbladder removed in January of 2020. About 8 weeks later, I started having awful gastrointestinal symptoms that eventually got worse and then started to include joint/body aches and debilitating fatigue over the next few months. I was diagnosed with celiac disease in October of 2020.
3
u/CoyoteProfessional39 Aug 12 '26
I had a similar timeline! I had to get emergency gallbladder surgery in December of 2021. After my surgery I was not recovering well. I kept throwing up, had digestive issues, and started getting nerve and joint pain. They did an endoscopy to make sure nothing was wrong with my surgery site and lo and behold, I have celiac disease. ☠️
2
u/hey_celiac_girl Celiac Since Oct. 2020 Aug 12 '26
😵💫😵💫😵💫 how old were you when you were diagnosed? I was 36
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
u/sjadee Aug 12 '26
Same, but had my surgery in 2021 and then dealt with it for 5 years until I seen a dr who took my symptoms seriously. By that point I had severe damage. 😅
4
5
4
u/LOUD_NOISES05 Celiac Aug 12 '26
I had gallstones in October of 2021. During the endoscopy to remove the stones, the gastroenterologist saw signs of celiac disease and took a biopsy. 3 days later I had my gallbladder out. The morning after my surgery, he called to diagnose me with celiac disease.
Didn’t know this was such a common thing among celiacs, wonder what the connection is?
1
u/SuitApprehensive3240 Aug 12 '26
Omg... so they were expecting nothing... yeah the link is on celiac.org...
Or google celiac and gallbladder
4
u/rachiedoubt Aug 12 '26
I still have mine, but not sure for how long. I found out I have stones and sludge after an awful first gallbladder attack, and my HIDA scan showed 98% ejection fraction. It is essentially overactive and may end up needing to come out. Trying to keep it as long as I can.
1
u/SuitApprehensive3240 Aug 12 '26
😆... yeah i was misdiagnosed ... now I still have loads of pain right side... ughhhhh
4
u/Undeniable-Ad-15 Aug 12 '26
Bad gallbladder is what led to my celiac diagnosis.
3
u/SuitApprehensive3240 Aug 12 '26
Geeze so doctor found the connection??? Maybe the doctors often dont
3
u/Old-Quarter8334 Aug 11 '26
Mine was removed when I was 17! Diagnosed celiac two years later.
1
u/SuitApprehensive3240 Aug 11 '26
Geeze so you think celiac did it??
3
u/Old-Quarter8334 Aug 12 '26
I have always wondered! The doctors said there was no logical reason why someone my age would have that issue. I was fairly healthy at that point, just starting to have issues with my diet but it was assumed I was just faking it to get out of school.
1
3
u/Curious-Werewolf1733 Aug 12 '26
Me. At least a decade before my diagnosis.
1
3
u/forestsprite Aug 12 '26
Gallbladder removed about three years after celiac diagnosis, four months after my second pregnancy. The gallbladder attacks started second trimester with kid two. Celiac developed eight weeks after kid one.
1
3
3
u/coleslawcat Aug 12 '26
Mine was removed a year and a half post diagnosis. It flared up badly during my pregnancy after my diagnosis and came out shortly after.
1
3
u/blurthecolors Celiac Aug 12 '26
Mine was removed (urgent surgery day after ER visit, due to infection and gallstones) in early 2023. I was diagnosed with celiac in August 2021 and have been gluten free since diagnosis.
3
u/YaySupernatural Aug 12 '26
huh, is that a thing? I had semi-emergency surgery to get mine out about four years ago.
3
u/Training_Armadillo79 Aug 12 '26
I had gallbladder issues up until the celiac diagnosis and abstaining from gluten. No more issues for me, so I still have mine.
3
u/LRose1825 Aug 12 '26
I had mine removed at age 12. The surgeon said it was the second worst scarring he'd ever seen, only one worse was a cancer patient. It took 13 more years for me to be diagnosed.
3
u/elizabethandsnek Aug 12 '26
I got a severe infection and spent 3 days in the hospital, they wanted to send me home to schedule the surgery at a later time but the infection wasn’t responding to antibiotics so they never got the chance. I couldn’t eat or drink much water for those 3 days because I was told I could go into surgery at any time and I was on heavyyy drugs bc of the pain. By the time I got into surgery and had it removed the infection had, according to the surgeons, “decimated” part of the cystic artery that connects to the gallbladder. They had to keep me overnight bc they were concerned I would have internal bleeding or go septic afterward.
Took me like 2 months to recover fully and I had a really weird change in my sense of smell that affected how things tasted I don’t think that ever went away I’m just used to it now.
Bright side is that it actually improved my digestion issues I have because of hEDS complications.
Diagnosed at age 14 and gallbladder removed when I was 26.
3
u/ratfinkmks Aug 12 '26
Just had mine removed three weeks ago by emergency surgery-diagnosed about 10ish years ago
3
u/AdhesivenessOk5534 Celiac Aug 12 '26
Why do they ALWAYS think its the fuckass gallbladder first
Like yes the pain in our intestines are in that general area but omggg 😑😑😑
2
3
u/Altruistic_Tune3535 Aug 12 '26
Gosh! It is all clear now, it was the gallbladder pain all the time, not the stomach/intestines pain that made me look for help (I didn’t localise the pain properly) 🥴 luckily the doctors were straight on testing for celiac for the reason of the constant trips to the toilet and nothing wrong with the ultrasound
3
u/duckietutupuddy Aug 12 '26
Went to the doctor for gallbladder attacks and went home with a celiac diagnosis…😂
2
u/root730 Aug 11 '26
Me, but it was pretty shortly after birth so... don't think there's any connection.
2
u/Pod_Person_46290 Aug 11 '26
Friend had the same. A few weeks post partum. One of the nurses got a pump from labor and delivery for her.
5
2
u/Ok_Yesterday_1194 Celiac Aug 12 '26
I have recently heard that it’s female, 40, fair and fat that caused gallbladder problems/removal. You’re telling me I have to add “free from gluten” to that list!?
2
u/legalgal13 Aug 12 '26
I was 13 when I had mine out, so bad I was in hospital for a month. Tube down my throat cleaning bile out of my stomach. Yet not diagnosed till I was an adult!
2
2
u/SpunkySnidget Aug 12 '26
I had mine out in 2018 after a year of "panic attacks" (which were actually gallbladder attacks - haven't had one since the surgery!). Thankfully an unrelated MRI found it chock full of stones. I had only been able to eat deli turkey and blueberries for months because everything else set off a cascade of GI signs and made me feel like I was having a heart attack. I remember thinking "maybe I'll be able to eat gluten again" after my gallbladder came out.
Hahahahaha. No.
1
u/DaWeazl Aug 12 '26
Oof. I get racing "is this a heart attack" about every other time after i eat. I wonder if this is my issue :(
2
u/ka-ka-ka-katie1123 Aug 12 '26
Lost mine in emergency surgery when I was ~20, over a decade before my diagnosis.
2
2
u/WhiteMoonRose Aug 13 '26
I lost my gallbladder first, then found out I had Graves' disease, then celiac, then ADHD and autism... and now I'm being watched for diabetes and kidney issues.
1
2
u/Economy-Surprise-115 Aug 13 '26
I had mine out due to gallstones when I was 19. Didn’t get diagnosed with celiac until I was 38, but I think I had it at least since high school.
1
2
u/kaitster2 Aug 13 '26
Had mine removed at 23, wasn’t diagnosed until 33. Also weird, I’m the only diagnosed Celiac in my family, but all the women on my mom’s side of the family (including my sister) have had to have their gallbladder removed in their early 20’s.
1
u/SuitApprehensive3240 Aug 13 '26
Suspicious for sure!!! It's hard to get a celiac diagnosis... such a mess
2
u/Gluten-Free_Miner Celiac Aug 14 '26
I don't really qualify to answer, because I still have mine, however...
I got really sick, really fast. It was only a couple days of me thinking "man, I sure am getting awfully bloated when I eat, that's weird..." before my stomach started refusing everything. I mean everything, even water.
I thought it was food poisoning. Tried some gut health smoothies (always worked like a charm for me if I had a stomach thing going on) to no avail.
I'd go a day or two with zero intake, then brave some water or broth. Nope, instant regret.
After a few weeks of this, I went to a clinic. FNP that saw me admitted me to the emergency department immediately.
Renal failure, cardiac trauma, and something elevated that pointed to liver. Talked about eating habits, they were convinced my gallbladder was the problem amd needed to come out. Imaging found a couple insignificant stones, no signs of blockage, no signs of distress at all. Not qualified for emergency removal, we'll put you on the schedule, see you in 6 months.
Went home and started with one whole food at a time, absolutely nothing processed, low fat, avoided dairy. Eventually I realized bread made me sick. Chased the rabbit to glyphosate. Kept expanding. Realized fatty, greasy, and spicy foods didn't bother me at all. Can't be gallbladder.
I have zero family history of Celiac, or any dietary/food sensitivities at all. Never would have thought about it. Got the idea from someone else, and went in for the blood panel.
TLDR: They wanted to remove mine, luckily the surgeon was booked solid and I wasn't an emergency. Near miss.
1
u/SuitApprehensive3240 Aug 14 '26
Wow sounds similar... yeah I realized that because Celiac comes in different sub types that most people are not diagnosed correctly..... crazy
2
u/missdovahkiin1 Aug 14 '26
Not gallbladder but appendix. I was rushed into emergency surgery after going to the ER for extreme stomach pain and vomiting. When I woke up they told me that there was in fact nothing wrong with my appendix, but they went ahead and took it out anyways. This was just one of the many misfortunes that happened during my misdiagnosis.
1
u/SuitApprehensive3240 Aug 14 '26
Omg im sorry... Idk how so many doctors have such minimum training for autoimmune problems
1
1
1
u/Adventurous-Course31 Aug 12 '26
Year 17 of being celiac, I am 33f. Still have a happy healthy gallbladder!
1
u/WKNJ Aug 12 '26
Had mine removed about 14 years ago after several attacks that I thought were bad heartburn and shoulder pain. Diagnosed with Celiac last year at 56 years old.
1
u/CoyoteProfessional39 Aug 12 '26
I’m convinced the surgery to get my gallbladder taken out is what activated my celiac gene 😅
1
u/aray81491 Aug 12 '26
Had mine removed at 23 from severe pain and the doctor was amazed that a female so young could have issues with her gallbladder. 3 years later I was finally diagnosed with celiac after BEGGING my doctor for a referral to a GI.
1
u/IndependenceOld8708 Aug 12 '26
Lost mine at 24. Was diagnosed at 37, though I had symptoms from the age of 2.
My dad also lost his in his early 20s. He was never diagnosed with celiac, but had all the same symptoms and issues i did.
1
u/gaymrham Celiac Aug 12 '26
Mine's yeeted, had three quarter sized stones apparently. That was their best guess as to what caused an excruciatingly painful fit that had me thinking I was about to die. This was sometime before celiac diagnosis.
1
u/OTmama33 Aug 12 '26
Both my mom and I (both celiac) have had our gall bladders removed due to gall stones. My sister (also celiac) still has hers!
1
1
u/dinosanddais1 Celiac Aug 12 '26
I have polyps on mine but they're small and haven't grown so I'm kinda just sitting and waiting for it to become a bigger problem
1
u/Hii-jorge Aug 12 '26
My husband’s grandmother and dad both had theirs removed in emergency surgeries. We asked if they could go ahead and take my husband’s out now, but they said not yet 😅
1
u/alliejc Aug 12 '26
That’s how I ended up with celiac disease. Emergency surgery and started having symptoms soon after. Was a medical mystery until my mom went mama bear on a dr and insisted on food allergy/celiac testing.
1
1
1
u/Euphoric-Target851 Aug 12 '26
I was having frequent gallbladder attacks and the scan showed multiple small stones a couple months after my diagnosis. Scheduled surgery to remove it, ended up pregnant the week of surgery and so obviously cancelled. It’s been 2 years since I originally scheduled that surgery and oddly haven’t had a single attack since. Not sure how it works but for now I’m happily living with it 🤷🏻♀️
1
u/CoderPro225 Celiac Aug 12 '26
Had a hysterectomy in 2009, then got a wound infection at the incision site. My surgeon made me go to the ER because I had a fever. They did a CT to rule out an abscess. No abscess, but they did see gall stones. Had the gallbladder out after everything healed from the hysterectomy. That was a few years before celiac diagnosis.
1
u/Latter-Reading-5002 Aug 12 '26
I just turned 37, I had my gallbladder removed in June after months of gallstone attacks, and I was diagnosed with celiac later that same week (which evidently explains the months of diarrhea). 😵💫 The surgeons said the two issues have nothing to do with each other but it’s hard to believe. Can’t wait to read everyone’s responses!!
1
u/EmergencyCloud6463 Aug 12 '26
Started up with loads of health issues at 18. Diagnosed with biliary dyskinesia at 21 and had my gallbladder removed. Still had a bunch of issues and finally got diagnosed with celiac at 23. I suspect i had celiac the whole time but nobody ever tested me 🙃 since going gluten free i haven’t had any crazy health issues
1
u/ktswnk Aug 12 '26
I had mine taken out last year. It was inflamed and only working at 15%. No gallstones. I was diagnosed with celiac in 2019. I also have lupus.
1
u/normaluna44 Aug 12 '26
We thought something was wrong with my gallbladder for years and did every test imaginable. Some twice. Then as soon as Celiac was suspected and I stopped eating gluten all the symptoms went away 😅
1
1
1
u/Ok-Lake-3916 Aug 12 '26
Diagnosed celiac at 23 symptomatic for 10 years prior, gall bladder symptoms started maybe a few months after celiac diagnosis.
I thought I was getting glutened wheni was having gall stone attacks. My gall bladder came out when I was 25 and it fell apart as they removed it. I was days away from a catastrophic event. The surgeon was going to send me home because I didn’t appear in too much pain… even though my gallstone were blocking my bile duct. He said I could have the surgery electively.
I only insisted on surgery because I started a new job the following week and wanted to be able to work (showed up to work with staples in my belly 😂). The surgeon said he had never been more wrong and was grateful I had insisted.
TDLR- celiac without a gallbladder, also advocate because it’s so easy to be overlooked
1
u/Apprehensive_Store79 Aug 12 '26
I complained of left side stomach pain to my doctor. He said I should have my gallbladder removed based on a few gallstones on an ultrasound. I pushed back because the gallbladder is on the right side, but he insisted. Had it removed. Still had left side stomach pain. Eventually discovered on my own the pain only came when I ate wheat/gluten. That was when my distrust of doctors began.
1
u/Library_Gremlin2 Gluten Intolerant Aug 12 '26 edited Aug 12 '26
Meeeee. A decade ago in either ‘15 or ‘16. And the gluten intolerance was dxed in ‘23.
My gallstones were “beyond count.”
1
u/LaSerenita Aug 12 '26
I have never head of this connection. I was diagnosed celiac 13 + years ago...still have my gall bladder.
1
u/mysaddestaccount Aug 12 '26
I hope to God I don't lose mine! First appt with the gastro is in 10 days and I am going to ask to check my gallbladder
1
1
1
1
u/Imaginary_Ibis Celiac Aug 12 '26
Here! A lot of my excess stomach bile went with it! Lol, I used tto have weird heart burn where even drinking water would trigger it. Now I can drink water like a normal person! Lol
1
u/sjadee Aug 12 '26
Lost a whole heap of weight (intentionally) prior to celiac diagnosis, didn’t realise a side effect was my gallbladder failing. After the surgery my digestion was never the same and I have full belief that the surgery and recovery triggered my celiac.
1
u/exreceptionist Aug 12 '26
Yup, had it taken out a few year after my celiac diagnosis. It had 0% motility so it had to go.
1
u/OtterImpossible Aug 12 '26
Yeeted mine a few years ago - had horrible gallbladder attacks while I was pregnantc(didn't realize that's what they were), culminating in a horrible ER trip a about 10 days post partum. Gallbladder issues are super common with pregnancy but OBs never mention it for some reason.
1
1
1
u/PhysicalCitron9957 Aug 12 '26
I had mine out 1.5 years before finding out I have celiac. I was really bummed, confused, and discouraged when my GI issues only got more complex after I had gallbladder removal.
1
1
1
u/mereknax Aug 12 '26
Mine was removed a year before I got long covid which triggered my celiac. It just stopped working one day- no stones, no infections, just useless & painful.
1
1
u/threedogsplusone Aug 12 '26
My so is the celiac in my household. He lost his in had emergency gallbladder surgery two Christmases ago.
1
1
1
1
u/overbeingadoormat Aug 12 '26
No gallbladder here. Oddly enough, it was after I lost my gallbladder that I started having celiac symptoms and thought to get tested for it!
1
u/Lasagnapuzzles Aug 12 '26
I still have mine. Late celiac diagnosis one year ago at 33. No signs or symptoms of gall bladder distress.
1
u/throw_away_smitten Aug 12 '26
I lost mine, but we don’t know what was wrong. I had no gallstones. They said it was probably cholesterolosis, but there were no cholesterol deposits. It just turned brown and stopped working. (Ejection fraction was 15%.) Tjis was about 15 years post celiac diagnosis.
1
1
u/SuitApprehensive3240 Aug 12 '26
Imagine gallbladder.... but celiac carries damage to other organs... crazy really
1
1
1
1
u/GeeseInFlight Aug 13 '26
I was told that sluggish gb is a Hallmark of celiac, the signal that triggers emptying, malfunctions, polyps and stones form as a result...
1
u/GeeseInFlight Aug 13 '26
I was told that a sluggish gallbladder is a Hallmark of celiac disease. The signal that triggers emptying, is impaired, resulting in polyps and or stones. This can lead to losing it...
1
u/Flat-Flight-4636 Aug 13 '26
I had mine out a couple years before my gene(s) were triggered by food poisoning and with the daily pain I feel now, I'm glad it happened now. My intestines are healed by my fibromyalgia is still making my core unhappy.
1
1
u/Rileybiley Aug 11 '26
My husband had his taken out a few years before diagnosis. He did not fit the standard demographic at all, but now we know why.
1
•
u/AutoModerator Aug 11 '26
Reminder
/r/Celiac is not designed to and does not provide medical advice, professional diagnosis, opinion, treatment or services to you or to any other individual.
If you believe you have a medical emergency immediately seek out professional medical help.
Please see this for more information.
I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please contact the moderators of this subreddit if you have any questions or concerns.