What's your Pancreatitis / Pancreas pain like?

i know how you feel the anxiety from this is taking over my life . I have seen two different gastrologist my primary care physician and now a liver/pancreas specialist.my family tells me I need to go to a counselor because I’m obsessive and they think this is in my head. This all started after my son was born so many of my complaints for chalked up to postpartum crazines as much as I want to believe this is gallbladder related my guy keeps telling me it’s my pancreas it is maddening.

Have you been checked for any type of internal hernia? How is your stool? Do you have nausea or vomiting?

No vomitting a little nausea. Would a CT have shown a hernia? My most recent CT was clear (other than showing moderate stool impactation). For the most part my stool is solid (im typically constipated) and when i do go it occasionally floats or is yellow. the weird thing is my abdomen is ALWAYS tender on the right side directly under my rib, the tenderness has recently moved to the left.

So there is 3 of us in the same situation. I have been searching for answers for 14 months. I dont have my gall bladder though!

have you looked into sphincter of oddi dysfunction? I have heard this is a common complication after gallbladder removal.

if you've had these symptoms for 14 months then you certainly don't have pancreatic cancer. So that's something. Frankly, you'd be seriously ill or dead.

From what I understand, it can take a long time to diagnose. Everything I have experienced started out mild and would get better for awhile. Each time it would flare up it would be worse. At this point, there is no better. For the past 3 weeks things have worsened and are persistent. I have not had a normal bowel movement in 3 weeks, constant indigestion, bloating and gas. When I eat I don't even have a few bites in me when the full feeling under my rib starts, then the pain all the way around to my back. I am seriously to the point where I can't take it anymore. My tests may be normal but this sure isn't. I have an appointment tomorrow with my gastro dr.'s physician assistant because the dr has already written me off after a normal mri/mrcp. If she can't help me I don't know what I will do.

Have you tried any over the counter remedies like probiotics or digestive enzymes to see if that helps your bowel movements?

Have you considered switching doctors (ideally to a teaching hospital or referral center that deals with more complicated cases) for a 2nd opinion, going to Mayo Clinic or something like that?

Yes, tried them all. I have seen 2 gastro doctors among many other.

Yes, PC can take a while to diagnose but not 2 years! You may well have developed something recently but I would be very surprised if its PC, particularly as your tests have all been clear and you've been seen so many times. Have you been tested for H.pylori or SIBO? Both of which ate easily treated and can cause a lot of gastric issues. I think you need to speak to a professional counsellor as well, even if you are physically ill, as you seem to be in a vicious circle that has taken over your life. Excessive worrying won't change whether you get a serious illness or not, it'll just make your life miserable and you sound like you need the mental tools to help you deal with your issues, both physical and mental. I don't think forums like these do you any good, just feed your anxiety.

Have you been tested for SIBO (Small Intestinal Bacterial Overgrowth)?

Have you had a regular Endoscopy (EGD) or Colonoscopy?

Have you had a barium swallow test? Have you had chest x-rays?

Have you had a pH monitor to test esophageal pH?

i have a counselor and a pshychiatrist. Believe me when I say I have tried everything. It hasn't been 2 years, it has been 14 months. My family has witnessed all of this. My symptoms unfortunately are very real.

Then I have no mote suggestions. 14 months of symptoms would make it extremely unlikely to be PC as once the symptoms are regular like you say they are, it has a good grip on you and would be obvious in tests. I'm sure your symptoms are real and very distressing for you but if your doctors can't find anything physically wrong with you then you're going to have to explore other avenues. Have you tried cannabis oil? That would relax you and probably help with pain as well.

No, I haven't. I have been looking into it. I had a shot from pain management today. I feel like I am running in circles.

I really appreciate all the ideas and input you have helped me with.

What kind of shot did you have? What were they trying to accomplish?

I think they call it a trigger injection. Supposedly, this is supposed to help the rib pain that they are saying is muscularskeletal. Saw the second gastro Dr. again today and after a year she is blaming IBS. I did have a ca19-9 , it was normal at 9.

Were they able to localize the pain to a single point before doing the injection? When they pushed on that point did it reproduce your pain?

They use ultrasound to make sure they place the injection and med in the right place. When the meds were injected it went into the area but tonight I have been miserable. hope it works!

How's it working out for you?

Knock on wood, it has been better today. I pray that the pain is gone for at least a little while. started new stomach medicine and hope I will see improvement with it. I am always afraid to get my hopes up.

That's great! Did you know that a lot of abdominal pain that people go to GI docs for is really from the abdominal wall? I've read that something like 30% of visits to GI docs can be for this.

What probiotic are you taking (if any)? If this injection fixes the pain, you might need something to normalize any GI upset you might have.

Just an update. My HIDA Scan showed gallbladder borderline so doc doesnt think thats it. They scheduled an EUS at my urging. Should finally figure out if this is CP or not within the next 2wks!

@ashtnren Have you had a colonoscopy?

you might have a stone or something wrong with your bile duct. Did you say you had your gallbladder out?