Gallbladder Symptoms to Indicate Varying Degrees of Sickness

The gallbladder is a storage tank for bile that is produced in the liver. Bile is discharged into the digestive system to break down the fat in the food. Since the gall bladder is a part of the digestive system, any problem with its functioning usually results in symptoms in the area surrounding the gallbladder.

These symptoms are also similar to gastroenteritis, heart disease, etc. Given below is a list of gallbladder symptoms to help you understand its problems better. Since there is a wide range of symptoms that reveal problems with the gallbladder, they can be split into two categories – mild symptoms and severe symptoms.

Mild gallbladder symptoms

Symptoms like bloated abdomen, indigestion, gas in the intestines, etc. are the most common gallbladder symptoms. Other mild symptoms are a feeling of a full stomach after taking food and mild pain in the abdomen. The affected person will feel discomfort in his midriff and will also experience stomach cramps. Almost all these symptoms can get diagnosed as gastric or stomach disorders. Hence an abnormality with the gallbladder is noticed during a routine physical examination when these symptoms occur for a long time and the patient consults a doctor.

Severe gallbladder symptoms

The most noticeable serious symptom to indicate a problem with the gallbladder is a shooting pain in the right side of the chest below the ribcage. This pain is felt from the front upper abdomen straight to the back. This is accompanied by symptoms like fever, chills or sweating, vomiting, and a feeling of nausea.

Jaundice is another symptom that indicates a problem with the gallbladder. The white patch surrounding the cornea of the eye will turn yellow as will the skin of the affected patient. Similarly, the urine will also turn light to dark yellow in color. Tests are required to confirm a problem with the gall bladder. Jaundice is a serious condition and the person affected must be placed under intensive care in a hospital.

There can be other forms of severe symptoms. These are:

• Severe nausea accompanied by vomiting. If the person vomits bile which is brown in color, then he must be shifted to a hospital immediately. Vomiting may also indicate Biliary Colic.
• Severe heartburn is felt below the sternum (breastbone) and is accompanied by indigestion. The pain is also felt as contractions that radiate from the right side of the ribcage towards the sternum. In some people, the pain may rise upwards to a region between the shoulder blades. The area below the right ribcage may feel tender to the touch. Some people may feel intense pressure at their right upper abdomen which is below the right ribcage. The pain below the ribcage will slowly intensify at first and then stabilize. But it will shoot up when the person moves or coughs.
• Bloated abdomen which makes the skin stretch tight over the abdomen.
• There is a loud belch.
• The person experiences pain after consuming a meal high in fat or which is very spicy.
• The person experiences a change in his bowel movements which can either be loose motion or constipation. Diarrhea in case of gall bladder problem may be an indication of Biliary Colic condition. The color of the stool changes from brown to light yellow or even a much lighter color. Some people may notice the clay-like color of their stool.
• Pain similar to a heart attack. When this happens the person must be taken to a doctor.

If the person complains of severe back pain located between the shoulder blades or if he has a severe fever for long periods; chills along with sweating and if his skin is turning yellow, then he must be rushed to a hospital and checked for gall bladder problems.

It is a necessity to learn to distinguish between gallbladder symptoms and symptoms indicative of other diseases to be able to take appropriate remedial measures.