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Gastroenterology (Expert Forum)
6 years of Pain - Part II
This forum is for questions regarding Gastroenterology issues such as Acid Reflux (GERD), Barretts Esophagus, Colitis, Colon/Bowel Disorders, Crohn's Disease, Diverticulitis/Diverticulosis, Digestive Disorders, IBS, Stomach Pain.
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6 years of Pain - Part II
by vizfizz, Oct 17, 2002 12:00AM
Hello All. I posted earlier and asked about some various symptoms and whether or not it could be pancretitis. Here's an update on my situation.
1. Went to doc and had amalyse and lipase levels checked. The results posted as "normal". However, WBC count was elevated and Liver Enzymes were also slightly elevated.
2. Pain in the upper left quadrant of stomach which radiates to the back and center of chest behind sternum remains constant. It has improved somewhat with the advent of taking additional digestive enzymes. Now with each meal I eat, I supplement with additional pancreatic enzymes, papaya enzymes, amalyse, calcium and I think its some other type of mineral...phosphate? Anyway, these supplements have improved my digestion and alievated a large portion of my "bloating" symptoms. In turn, my sharp pains have decreased...do you think these supplements are possibily doing the job my pancreas should be doing? After 6 years of this kind of pain and problems, it seems odd to me that by adding pancreatic enzymes to my diet, I would feel better. If after all these years, is it possible for my pancreas to be working only at say 50%?
3. Tomorrow I go in for another CBC..to look at WBC and liver enzymes. Is this a waste of time? The doc says if they are still elevated, he's going to refer me to infectious diseases...whats his logic here?
4. Fever upon eating has finally stopped. I can eat without burning up with a temp.
5. Stools have improved. Better formed and less constipation. Still seeing a bit of blood from time to time and almost always mucus.
Ideas anyone?
1. Went to doc and had amalyse and lipase levels checked. The results posted as "normal". However, WBC count was elevated and Liver Enzymes were also slightly elevated.
2. Pain in the upper left quadrant of stomach which radiates to the back and center of chest behind sternum remains constant. It has improved somewhat with the advent of taking additional digestive enzymes. Now with each meal I eat, I supplement with additional pancreatic enzymes, papaya enzymes, amalyse, calcium and I think its some other type of mineral...phosphate? Anyway, these supplements have improved my digestion and alievated a large portion of my "bloating" symptoms. In turn, my sharp pains have decreased...do you think these supplements are possibily doing the job my pancreas should be doing? After 6 years of this kind of pain and problems, it seems odd to me that by adding pancreatic enzymes to my diet, I would feel better. If after all these years, is it possible for my pancreas to be working only at say 50%?
3. Tomorrow I go in for another CBC..to look at WBC and liver enzymes. Is this a waste of time? The doc says if they are still elevated, he's going to refer me to infectious diseases...whats his logic here?
4. Fever upon eating has finally stopped. I can eat without burning up with a temp.
5. Stools have improved. Better formed and less constipation. Still seeing a bit of blood from time to time and almost always mucus.
Ideas anyone?
The doc still seems hesitant to give me a CT scan. He's told me he would order it if I felt it was going to give me more piece of mind...but ultimately, he feels as if it would be a waste of money and would wind up exposing me to a considerable amount of radiation.
My question to the general audience is: What would you do? Get the CT scan done, despite the doctor's opinion that he thinks its unnecessary...or would you wait?
Secondly...if something was detected that indicated that a benign growth causing these problems...would you elect for surgery or find some way to better manage the pain. (This is provided of course that the "growth" didn't pose any life threatening conditions.)
Once again, my doctor seems to think that if it was "cancer" I'd be dead by now...considering this has been going on for 6+ years. I think his thinking process is a bit nieve...but hey...I'm just the patient.
Thanks again.
Elevated liver enzymes means that your liver is inflamed. That is not a good thing. So he wants to figure out why it is inflamed. Has he told you to stop drinking alcohol and stop taking Tylenol? These are 2 things that irritate the liver. Well, if you are a non-drinker and you already don't take tylenol then he has a bigger job ahead of him to figure out why the liver is inflamed.
As for the ducts leading from the pancreas...I've thought of that. I haven't had an ERCP done...and I doubt my doctor would consider it. Currently I'm leaning towards having the CT done to see if there was any kind of tumor or calcification in the interior and ducts of the pancreas.
I've taken my second set of blood tests...and we're gonna see if my liver enzymes and WBC count is still elevated. If they are not, I'll probably move ahead on the CT. If they are...my doc wants me to get tested for some various infectious diseases. He'll probably want to check if I picked up Hep A / B. I suppose that's possible...but when I was in the service a few years back, I was vaccinated for Hep.
Sigh...back to the unknown.