Update: in thread comments. Dr responses to Ursodiol

Edit: I've been informed by a commenter that the chances are closer to 35%. Don't let this post scare you away from the surgery. Also there are medications that another commenter was prescribed to prevent gallbladder issues post-op, which you should talk to your surgeon about.

I don't want to discourage people from getting the surgery, because it was one of the best decisions I've made in my life. Backstory: my wife got the surgery 2 years ago I was planning on getting it with her, but I chickened out. Soon thereafter I committed to the surgery and 6 months ago I finally got it done. I'm down over 100 lb right now and feeling great except...

Tonight I just suffered my 5th gallbladder attack. The second one had me in so much pain, I was literally getting dressed to go to the hospital for pain meds in an emergency surgery. That one subsided and I went about my day for a few weeks until my third one showed up. This one wasn't as bad but it reminded me that this is not a situation I want to deal with for the rest of my life. My wife also ended up needing gallbladder surgery after she suffered two gallbladder attacks one of which left her in the hospital on serious pain medication.

Losing this much weight apparently pushes a lot of cholesterol through your body and the body's responses to dump it into your gallbladder in the form of cholesterol stones. And let me tell you, as a man, I'm pretty sure I know the level of pain that woman experiences during childbirth. I wanted to die, literally.

So now I'm scheduled for gallbladder surgery on August 1st and can't wait to be on the other side of that surgery knowing that the recovery pain will pale in comparison to the time when I passed a gallstone.

Good luck out there!