Suspecting Chronic Pancreatitis hoping for info
Posted , 3 users are following.
So first some background info:
Current Symptoms:
Mild LUQ pain that lasts for seconds at a time. Comes and goes sometimes I don't experience it for weeks at a time. Not really dependent on food and is sometimes worse on empty stomach. I can say that the more "normal" ( not loose ) my bowel movements the more I experience the pain.
Loose sometimes floating stools ( 1/8th of the time ) that are not as dark as they used to be. More like a light cardboard tan color. My bowel movements rarely stink beyond normal ( Unless I eat something with sulfur like garlic or onions this really seems to make them stink ). They do not stick to the bowl. I have had 1 or 2 bowel movements that have been very light in the past year as well as a few normal bowel movements in the past year.
I have gained 50 pounds from last year at this time. I now weigh 215 lbs ( I am 6' male with muscular build ). I carry a fair amount of belly fat and I have always had trouble with losing my belly even at 165 lbs. I am eating approx 2500 calories a day.
I am a Male 32 Years old.
1 year ago I started a diet to lower my blood pressure ( It was the Ornish Diet which consists of max 5 grams fat / day ). I was on the diet for a little over a month and I lost a tremendous amount of weight on this diet ( 20 + lbs ) bringing my weight to 165 lbs.
I was feeling pretty great on the diet but I was spooked as my WBC came back as having a low Neutrophil count and high monocyte count. I discontinued the diet and began to eat a normal western diet. Immediately after discontinuing the diet I started to notice some GI issues such as a very mild pain on my left side ( Oblique ) as well as looser than normal stools. This continued for a month so I contacted both my regular GP as well as a Naturopath.
The GP insisted I was having a food intolerance and did no testing but agreed to do a checkup in 6 weeks. The naturopath ordered a fecal test which showed normal Elastase above 500 but elevated Triglycerides. The fecal test also showed severe disbyosis. I was also given an antibody food allergy test as well as a candida antibody test. I had a mild reaction to a number of different foods and I had antibodies for candida. I tried the prescribed diet that I was given to control the candida and food allergies for a little over a week but it was very restrictive and I was not able to continue.
My mother-in-law is the head of ultrasound for a local hospital so we were able to look at my liver, pancreas, spleen & gallbladder. The only remarkable thing to note was a good amount of sludge in my gallbladder to which my mother in law responded " You will be having your gallbladder removed soon "
I was resceduled to see the GP in March and she palpated my LUQ and I reiterated my symptoms ( mild pain, loose ribbon shaped stools, gas, bloating ). I let her know about my gallbladder sludge as well. She again insisted it was a food allergy / intolerance and refused to refer me to a gastrointerologist.
I felt defeated after the lack of cooperation from my GP and pretty much gave up hope on the subject. Since then I have just been trying to self treat my GI issues which have not resolved. Currently I am taking Digestive Advantage Intensive Bowel Support and IBGard ( Peppermint ). This has definitely given me some relief and thickened my stools some ( I very rarely have floating stools when using these products ).
I have more information and can post all of my test results if that would be helpful. I am just wondering what direction I should try and push my GP in so I can get a proper diagnosis. I have an appointment scheduled next week.
I am sure if I should pursue chronic panceatitis or possible gallbladder dysfunction or any other ailments.
0 likes, 6 replies
cale93165
Posted
Resevil cale93165
Posted
I feel your pain I have been through months of miss diagnosis and pain, but finally GI dr has a plan. I have a very tender abdomen left side just under ribs and they are looking at liver and pancreas. My pain will get sever if I eat fatty or fried food. Which points to pancreas failing. Not sure but take your finger and press on upper left and upper center abdomen feel any discomfort? I can actualy put my finger on the exact spot of pain which is my pancreas. I have only just begun this horrible ride so if you don't like what the dr tells you then get a second, third opinion or go to the ER. Im no Dr just talking through my experience.
cale93165 Resevil
Posted
Have you looked into taking digestive enzymes to help digest your food? If you are having increased pain with fatty meals then I think an enzyme could help.
I hope that you are able to find the answers you need!
kate85294 cale93165
Posted
Hi Cale
I kind of having the same pain and discomforts that you have the only diffrence is ive had my gallbladder removed four years ago. Since then I never was a same person and I kept having issues with my stomach. I've been seeing six diffrent GI specialists none could tell men what's wrong with me. I've done many diffrent tests exept colonoscopy and all were normal. I have wierd pain in my stomach my entire large colon burns sometimes and I get constipated. Then the both sides of my colon right and left get painful. Specialy when I want to turn right and left. When I have the bowl movment I can fee the moving in my colon and my entire stomach hurts. But I don't have problem with greasy food. None of the pancreas numbers came high at all. At night I should be carful where I sleep either on the right or left side I get pain. Sometimes the pain travel to my chest. I don't understand what it is that I'm dealing with.
cale93165 kate85294
Posted
Kate,
Thank you for your reply. I am sorry that you have had your gallbladder removed and had so much trouble since. Did the procedure go smoothly?
I have read that it helps to take ox bile when you have had your gallbladder removed. Your gallbladder is like a storage tank for bike and when it is missing the liver constantly secretes bile into the duodenum. I don't know whether you have tried ox bile but it is rather inexpensive and would be worth a shot to see if you can get some relief.
Have you ever been tested for chron's, celiacs or ulcerative colitis? It sounds like you have a pretty angry inflamed colon.
kate85294 cale93165
Posted
Hi Cale
Thanks for your respond. I've had numerous blood works that showed nothing and many stool tests for cancer, and other colon problems that showed completely normal. I've had special blood test that was checking on inflammation that thank god doctor told me it's perfectly perfect. 😳 But I feel inflammation in my colon or stomach. Right now I am waiting for a new test that is called Cologurd and it's more sensitive than the other stool test for checking on cancer. I had a complicated surgery my galblader was inflamed, infected and ready to burst. The Surgon had a hard time removing it. I had a week drainage attachaed on me. And now I am facing the consequences. Two years ago suddenely ive vegan having a stomach pain and burn. I've done whatever I could I diet I watch what I eat but nothing helped. I became severely constupated. Then I did not know if it was my colon or pancreas beacuse the pain was all over going to my chest and my back. I ran to many specialists I even did MRCP everything came back normal. But I was suffering from mysterious pain and constupation. I began searching on line and I kept seeing cancer or pancreas problem. So I've began watching my food to see which one hurts me more. But I didn't have that much difficulty with greasy food and my stool never got greasy or smelly. After a year the pain got little better and I could feel the problematic area beacuse whenever I had bowl movment I could feel it's moving and whenever the stool were reaching the upper left side to go down I would get sever cramp and pain. Sometimes that part was vibrating and waking nfcme up at night. That's why I can not difrenciate which one I have pancretites or colon problem. Beacuse thier symptoms are to close. I still have pain in both side of my stomach along with the large colon path. I wonder why nothing showed in any of the tests that I've done.