Home Treatment

There is no specific home treatment for gallstones, but be sure to call your doctor if:

• You think you have symptoms that may be caused by gallstones. If your doctor finds that you do have gallstones but your symptoms are mild, it is generally safe to wait until you have more than one attack before you consider having surgery.
• You develop symptoms of a gallstone attack again, especially if they are severe or occur with fever, chills, or yellowing of your skin or the white part of your eyes.
• You have new belly pain or other belly symptoms. Pain in the belly can be a symptom of many health problems.

You may be able to help prevent gallstones if:

• You stay close to a healthy weight by eating a balanced diet and getting regular exercise.
• You avoid rapid weight loss. Intentional weight loss (dieting, as opposed to weight loss from illness) followed by weight gain may increase your risk of gallstones, especially if you are a woman. If you need to lose weight, do so slowly and sensibly.

If you have recently had surgery to remove your gallbladder:

• Watch for signs of infection. Call your doctor if the area around the incision is red and puffy or if you have a fever.
• Call your doctor if you have yellowing of the skin or the white part of the eyes (jaundice), light-colored stools, and dark urine. These symptoms may be signs that gallstones are blocking the common bile duct.

Medications

Medicines are rarely used to treat gallstones.

Medication choices

Bile acids can be used to dissolve gallstones. They usually are reserved for people who have symptoms of gallstones and for whom surgery would be risky.

What to think about

Gallstones often come back when treatment with bile acids is stopped. Over time, gallstones return in about half of those who stop taking the medicine.²

This form of treatment works better on small gallstones than on large ones. It does not work on calcified gallstones. Tests such as an abdominal X-ray may be used to find out whether gallstones contain calcium.