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Differential Diagnosis(part2)

Posted , 6 users are following.

andrew60537
andrew60537

In previous thread one of forum users reported a curious fact that mental state of depression, irritation and confusion may foretell aggravation of pancreatic symptoms by a day or two.

I have noticed similar pattern, namely a mental precursor (depression, mind fog) of relapse of pancreatic symptoms. This indicates to me that mechanism of our symptom development may not be caused by diet violation as in classic CP patients but have some additional aggravating factor that triggers both mental states and pancreatic symptoms, making our case more complicated and indicating that the culprit for our symptoms may not be malfunction of pancreas alone.

I've also noticed that a day or two prior to the onset of depression (and accompanying problems with mind for and urination frequency) my symptoms are at their lowest. In other words I feel the best just prior to depressive streaks and there is definitive cycle to this merry-go-around of symptoms: several weeks of recovery, followed by few days when symptoms are at their lowest, followed by depressive streak, followed by strong pancreatic symptoms (nausea, pain, general weakness) and then the cycle repeats.

Please reply if you've noticed similar pattern and have explanation or a theory of why it is so. This may help some of us to understand our illness better and manage it.

Are you aware of other CP forums online where a patient can get additional help? Please share.

1 like, 6 replies

6 Replies

  • DavidUK1984
    DavidUK1984 andrew60537

    Posted

    I won't go into depth on this excellent article, all I know is I had a bad mental episode last Tuesday, since then i've had some symptoms which may suggest Pancreatic cancer among other things. Depression seems to be linked to this disease, one hopes they are only symptoms of the disease and not something wrong with the pancreas.

    • andrew60537
      andrew60537 DavidUK1984

      Posted

      Pancreas is responsible for hormones and enzymes. It is little wonder that its malfunction will cause havoc with our bodies, but I have a bit too much of a variety of symptoms, some of them transient and they do not appear to be related to anything external, so I am trying to make sense of what is happening.  I hope your worries will not be confirmed. Best of luck.
  • Shortie79
    Shortie79 andrew60537

    Posted

    I think anyone with CP will have their own unique experiences regarding symptoms. In my experience stress is a huge trigger. Last year, my father passed away from cancer and I got extremely stressed out. I didn’t even know I had CP but I knew I had Pancreas Divisium (I got the diagnosis the day he passed away). I had a ton of anxiety and of course depression. I was so stressed out because of everything that was going on I had forgotten to take care of myself. I also didn’t know the proper way to take care of myself because I didn’t know I had CP yet. Once I got the knowledge from my pancreas specialist and started following his advice, my symptoms got a lot better. I also think it depends on the stage of your pancreas. If your pancreas is in really bad shape then you will feel more pain which will stress you out more. When I’m in a lot of pain, I rest my pancreas by not eating for a couple days and sticking to liquids only. Then I slowly incorporate bland foods. I use heat packs too. I try and think positive and distract my mind. I’m to the point where I have to have my pancreas removed (don’t know when) but I know I will be fine. I will be dependent on insulin and digestive enzymes but I will live a semi normal life. I’m only 38 but because I was born with two pancreatic ducts that never fused together it caused CP. I learned to let go of the things I have no control of. Once I did that, my stress, anxiety and depression got a lot better. 
  • NixKiwiWolf
    NixKiwiWolf andrew60537

    Posted

    Have you had a CP diagnosis? Because that would be interesting if you are living with CP. Any ongoing pain or discomfort is bound to trigger despression in susceptible people. Or even symptoms of disease where there is none. I’ve been lucky in that all through my pancreatic cancer journey, depression has not been a factor.
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