Health A-Z

Medical Content Created by the Faculty of the
Harvard Medical School

Gallstones

Symptoms

Eighty percent of people with gallstones do not have any symptoms and do not need treatment. When gallstones do cause symptoms, you might experience:

• Abdominal pain, usually high in the abdomen and more often on the right side ? Pain from gallstones is usually a steady pain that lasts between 15 minutes and several hours each time it occurs.

• Sensitivity to high fat meals ? Fats trigger the gallbladder to contract and can worsen your pain.

• Belching, gas, nausea or a general decrease in appetite.

Occasionally, gallstones cause more serious complications including pancreatitis or infections in the gallbladder or bile ducts. If one of these problems occurs, you may experience fever, more severe abdominal pain or jaundice (a yellow color of the skin or whites of the eyes).