Although gallstones can be very painful, most people who have gallstones never suffer any symptoms at all, and are therefore asymptomatic. This is because gallstones normally stay in the gallbladder.

However, if symptoms do occur, you may feel pain in your right upper abdomen, radiating to your upper right back. The pain, which is generally severe, may last hours and is often accompanied by nausea and vomiting. In fact, some women who have had symptomatic gallstones have compared the pain to that of giving birth.

If the situation is allowed to worsen and an infection develops due to a duct obstruction, you will experience fever, chills, and possibly jaundice. Blood tests are done and the results will usually show a pattern of abnormal liver function, which is indicative of bile duct obstruction.

There are two very effective ways of testing for gallstones, namely ultrasound scanning and a procedure called cholecystography. During a cholecystography you will be asked to drink a radiopaque contrast substance that will show, via X-ray, the path it travels as it is swallowed, absorbed in the intestine, secreted into the bile, and stored in the gallbladder. If your gallbladder is functioning, the outline of the gallstone is revealed in the X-rays by the contrast material. When ultrasound and cholecystography are used together, your doctor can identify gallstones in the gallbladder with great accuracy.

There is a popular misconception that indigestion after meals, belching, bloating and a feeling of fullness are symptomatic of gallstones. However, all these symptoms can indicate other conditions, such as a peptic ulcer, and should not be taken as signs that you have gallstones.