Citrus juice, such as lemon juice, and oil, such as olive or vegetable oil, comprise the main ingredients in a gallbladder flush, an unproven home remedy to remove gallstones from your gallbladder. Some gallbladder flushes include Epsom salts, which can turn fatally toxic in your system. Consult a qualified medical professional before trying any kind of alternative treatment for gallstones.
Gallbladder Cleanse
If you drink a half cup each of oil and lemon juice, as required for a gallbladder cleanse, you may notice globular formations in your stool following your next bowel movement. The globular formations are not gallstones but globs of oil, according to Peter Moran, author of “The Truth about Gallbladder and Liver ‘Flushes.’” If the lemon juice and oil cleanse worked to dissolve and expel gallstones, the stones would sink in your toilet bowl, whereas balls of oil float.
Risks and Side Effects
Drinking oil acts as a laxative, so consuming an oil and lemon juice gallbladder flush may cause vomiting, diarrhea, nausea and abdominal pains, according to Dr. Michael Picco, a gastroenterologist at the Mayo Clinic. You may develop acute pancreatitis as a side effect of an oil and lemon juice cleanse, but such complications are rare, according to Quackwatch. Quackwatch, which does not endorse gallbladder cleanses, says the greatest risk with the treatments is that you may believe they work and fail to seek medical attention. Gallstones can sometimes be life-threatening.
Medications
A doctor may prescribe medication to break up your gallstones. Drugs include ursodeoxycholic acid, an oral medicine used to help dissolve small gallstones -- stones smaller than 15 millimeters, or a little more than a half inch in diameter. About 40 percent of patients who take ursodeoxycholic acid are able to excrete their gallstones, according to the University of Maryland Medical Center. Drugs such as tert-butyl and monooctanoin, which can be injected right into your gallbladder to break up larger gallstones, can take up to two years to work, if they work at all.
Surgery
Even if a drug does help to dissolve your gallstones, they may reappear. If you have gallstones blocking the duct leading from your gallbladder, you may require gallbladder surgery, as this blockage can be fatal. Gallbladder surgery involves the removal of your gallbladder. Gallbladder removal used to be major abdominal surgery that required a 5- to 8-inch incision and up to a week's hospital stay and several more weeks of recovery time. Today, your gallbladder can be removed using several small incisions and a laparoscope. This reduces pain and recovery time, according to the Cleveland Clinic.
References
- Quackwatch; The Truth About Gallbladder and Liver "Flushes"; Peter Moran; March 2007
- MayoClinic.com; Gallbladder Cleanse: A 'Natural' Remedy for Gallstones?; Michael F. Picco; February 2010
- University of Maryland Medical Center; Gallbladder Disease; February 2010
- Cleveland Clinic: Gallstones - Digestive Disease Institute Overview
- MedlinePlus: Laxative Overdose
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