gallbladder pain & tylenol 3 & pregnancy

[Guest guest]

Hello all,

Some of you may remember my post a couple of weeks ago about my

blood screen coming back positive TWICE for neural tube

defects...high AFP (alpha fetoprotein). I wasn't too worried about

the first screen. Even though only 3% of women test positive, 70%

of those are false positives.

BUT, when my second one came back positive, I was really freaking

out - I mean, what are the chances my test would be positive

twice...that I'd be in that small 3% twice?

My doc sent me to a hospital that specializes in high risk

ultrasounds. This ultrasound (like the one before it) reported all

was normal. This was somewhat reassuring but, still I wondered...

I then found online that there was a study of more than 84,000

women. This study found that when your blood screen is positive AND

you have a normal ultrasound, the risk for a NTD is less than .1%.

So, this made me wonder if perhaps my AFP was high because of

something else...

I should mention here that I've been on tylenol3 for the last 8

months for head pain due to chiari malformation - and it's very

constipating.

Sure enough, I found out by researching AFP that if men and non-

pregnant women have high AFP levels, it is indicative of liver

cancer, liver cirrhosis or hepatitis. This worried me too. I made

an appt to see my doc for a week later. But, a couple of nights

later, I'm laying in bed and notice that my right side is aching

just under my ribs. It occurred to me that this is where the liver

is. I was so upset...thinking my liver was the problem. What if it

was cancer? What if it was cirrhosis? Or hepatitis?

The pain started getting worse (with green diarrhea) so, I went to

the ER on a Saturday. They ran all my bloodwork and reported all

liver enzymes and WBC normal. They also did an ultrasound of my

entire abdomen and reported all was normal. I had no fever or

nausea. I asked if it was possible that the tylenol3 was causing my

problem. They said absolutely not...there's no way such a small

dose (I only take 2 caps a day) could do this kind of thing to me.

So, they sent me home with this abdominal pain, telling me to keep

taking the tylenol3.

The next day, I still had bowel issues but, normal color. I was

starting to feel better. But, that night I woke with a terrible

headache and reached for the tylenol3. I took one cap around 2am

and another around 8am. The following morning, my abdominal pain

was WAY worse. Now, it felt like sharp stabbing pains. And, now I

had nausea. I was throwing up green slime. I went back to the ER

again...

Same thing...all tests were normal. No temperature. Again, they

tell me that tylenol3 can't cause these symptoms. But, this time I

didn't believe it. I asked for a different script and they sent me

home.

Well, that was Monday. Today, I'm feeling much better. My

digestive system still feels " bruised " but, getting better everyday

that I DON'T take tylenol3. Some research on the net revealed that

codeine can cause gallbladder spasms that are very painful. It's

kind of like an allergic reaction to codeine, I guess. I'm taking

plain tylenol now and just dealing with the headpain. It's hard

but, it's WAY better than what I was going thru. That pain was so

bad, I was just wishing they would cut me open and take out my

appendix & gallbladder.

I do wonder if pregnancy has made my gall bladder more sensitive

than normal. Who knows... I also believe this probably contributed

to my AFP being abnormal. But, of course, I don't know for sure.

Just wanted to share in case anyone else encountered a similar

situation.