Cholecystitis precautions and dietary taboos

See a doctor immediately during the acute attack period, fasting and fasting, avoid triggers to reduce the attack during the chronic stage, and conduct regular reexaminations to eliminate the risk of malignant transformation.； The core dietary taboos are to absolutely avoid high-fat, high-cholesterol, and highly irritating foods, and be cautious about eating high-sugar and gas-producing foods.

Last week, I received an old patient who had suffered from chronic cholecystitis for three years. When he walked in, he held his stomach and smiled bitterly. He said that a few days ago, his family had a birthday and couldn't help but eat half a piece of soy pork elbow. At two o'clock in the morning, he was so painful that he broke into a cold sweat. He called 120 and went to the emergency room for three days. The disease, which was originally well controlled, suddenly returned to before liberation. Clinically, we have seen many cases of this kind of "taking it back to the emergency room in one bite". Many people think that cholecystitis is just a minor problem that "just hurts and is gone". When acute pancreatitis is induced, or even long-term stimulation of inflammation induces malignant transformation, it will be too late to regret it.

Let’s talk about the treatment of the attack first. There are actually different voices in the industry on this matter: some experienced doctors will suggest that if there is only a slight dull pain and no fever and vomiting, first take a choleretic drug on an empty stomach and lie on your side for a while. If it can relieve the pain, there is no need to go to the hospital.； But more young doctors prefer that as long as the pain lasts for more than an hour and is accompanied by nausea and fever, don’t bear it, and immediately check the B-ultrasound and blood picture. After all, the gallbladder and pancreatic ducts are connected together. If a stone falls out of the bile duct and blocks the pancreatic duct, necrotizing pancreatitis can be fatal. I usually tell patients that you know your own body best. If the pain is different from usual, don’t skip the examination fee. It’s better to seek comfort than anything else.

There is no need to make the chronic plateau period feel like "serving a sentence" and dare not do anything. Don't always stay up late at night checking your phone. I've seen several young men in their 20s stay up for a week to catch up on projects, order heavy oil takeaways, and then have an acute attack and cut out their gallbladder. They lose their bile storage bags at such a young age and suffer from diarrhea after eating oil. The gain outweighs the loss. There is no need to go to extremes when it comes to exercise: some people say that if you have cholecystitis, you should run and jump more to promote bile discharge, while others say that moving too much will cause more pain in the gallbladder. In fact, to put it bluntly, it is perfectly fine to take a walk and do Tai Chi every day during the stable period. Don't run a marathon or lift weights just after a full stomach. During the attack, lying down is better than anything else. There is another point that many people have missed: patients with gallbladder stones and polyps should check for B-ultrasound every six months. Don’t be lazy. This is not to scare people. There are real cases of long-term inflammatory stimulation leading to gallbladder cancer, but don’t be overly anxious. More than 90% of people will not reach that point in their lives as long as they control it well.

Speaking of the diet that everyone is most concerned about, let me start with a rumor that has been circulating for more than ten years: Cholecystitis does not mean that you must not eat eggs. Egg white is a high-quality protein and can be eaten normally. As for the egg yolk, if you eat half of it and there is no pain or bloating, it is perfectly fine to eat it occasionally. But if you get sick every time you eat it, then just avoid it. There is never a one-size-fits-all rule in medicine, and individual tolerance varies greatly. You don’t need to listen to what others say you can’t eat and just don’t touch it, or you don’t want to make up your own mind when someone else eats it and it’s fine.

But you really need to stay away from things high in oil and fat: animal offal, fat meat, fried foods, as well as butter hot pot, thick pork rib soup, and braised old soup. When these things enter the intestines and stomach, the body will secrete a large amount of cholecystokinin, forcing the inflamed gallbladder to contract desperately to squeeze out bile, which will cause you to roll in pain. Last year, there was a girl who had a butter hot pot meal with her friends a week before her wedding. She was hospitalized due to pain and the wedding was postponed for half a month. It's both funny and a pity. There are also pitfalls that many people fall into: If you think it’s okay to be a vegetarian, why don’t you try braised eggplant and ground three delicacies? That vegetable absorbs more oil than fat, and you will still get sick after eating it.

Don’t show off too much with high-sugar foods such as milk tea and cakes. Sugar can stimulate gallbladder contraction, and eating too much can easily cause discomfort. There are also beans and sweet potatoes that are easy to produce gas. If you eat them regularly and you get bloated, don't touch them before and after the attack. A bulging belly will only increase the burden on the gallbladder. I often tell patients that they don’t have to boil vegetables all the time. It’s perfectly fine to eat light, high-quality proteins such as steamed fish and boiled shrimps normally. Long-term malnutrition has poor resistance and makes you more likely to get sick. Eat every meal until you are seven to eight cents full and chew it slowly, which is better than anything else.

Finally, I would like to say that cholecystitis is essentially a "lifestyle disease". In the past, not many people got it when they were poor, but now it is more common when they eat well. There is no need to be mentally burdened. Most people can coexist with it peacefully if they keep their mouths shut and have a regular schedule. If the disease relapses and cannot be controlled by taking medicine, gallbladder removal is a minimally invasive surgery and you will be discharged from the hospital in three to five days. There is no need to scare yourself.