Health Topics A-Z

What Are the Symptoms?

Most people with gallstones do not have symptoms. Gallstones most frequently make their presence known when they become lodged in one of the ducts that carry bile, a digestive juice, from the gallbladder to the small intestine. When such an obstruction occurs, you might experience the following:

• Severe and sudden pain in the upper right abdomen and possibly extending to the upper back
• Intermittent or recurring indigestion
• Fever and shivering
• Severe nausea and vomiting
• Jaundice
• Clay colored stools or dark urine.

Call Your Doctor If:

• Your abdominal pain begins quite suddenly, lasts more than three hours, and is followed by a mild aching sensation in the right upper abdomen; you may have gallstones or a bile-duct infection.
• You notice jaundice; gallstones may be obstructing the bile duct, causing bile to back up into the liver and seep into your bloodstream.