Bile Duct

I am a 34 year old female who doesn't smoke nor drink.  I had my gallbladder removed 4/2008, an ERCP was also performed because I had gallstones but unfortunately one was lodged in my bile duct so a stent was inserted and I ended up with pancreatitis and elevated liver enzymes.  Six weeks later the stent was removed and another ERCP was performed without any luck of removing the stone in my bile duct and again elevated liver enzymes.  In August of that same year another ERCP was performed and this time the removal was successful but yet again elevated liver enzymes!  Since then, I have been in the emergency room many times for the same pain that begins underneath my chest bone then radiates to my back.  I was just in the hospital from 6/28/09 - 7/2/2009 with the same pain and my liver enzymes elevated...doctors are not giving me a straight answer.  I have made many changes such as my diet and exercise but nothing seems to help...I do not know what else to do.

Please help me,
Margie Ortega

[CalGal]

Margie, the problem could be due to spasms of the common bile duct or the sphincter of Oddi. It's an unfortunate condition that many experience after GB surgery, but the problem could be compounded due to the ERCPs that you have already had. You may want to consider finding a specialist in SOD (sphincter of Oddi dysfunction) and discussing the situtation with them. Not many docs understand SOD or problems concerning the common bile duct, and your situtation may be all the more problematic if your sphincter was cut (sphincterotomy) during the previous ERCPs. If you don't know whether or not it was cut, get copies of all your reports and read them - and you should get those reports anyway if you're feeling you're not getting straight answers.

[silversissy]

I also had my GB removed mid-year of 2007. I have not been diagnosed as yet for SOD but I believe I may have it. I have a doctor ready for me when I have my next attack to give me a blood test to check my liver and pancreatic enzyme levels. He wants to do this the first 12 hours of the attack. I have read hundreds of materials on the subject, and no doctor have a cure, and at best are guessing. From what I've also read ERCP makes it worse.
I do not want any surgery so far if I can help it. I have had 6 attacks, the first one 16 hours after my GB was removed still in the hospital recovery bed, nobody said anything to me about it. They just gave me a pain shot and connected a morphine machine so that if it happened again I could inject the morphine myself. Didn't have another bout of the pain and was sent home the next day. Looking back, I was having small bouts of the pain off and on through out the days of my recovery for a couple of months.
I met with my homeopathist doctor after my second attack, and had GI ultrasound done, and they could find nothing.
I just met him again after my 6th attack which (seemed) worse not really sure if worse or the same a few days later because now I am scared to death of another pain attack. I didn't think I was going to make it through this last one.
My attacks last about 30 to 40 minutes. Something I do that I'm not sure yet that may be shortening these attacks is when I feel it coming on I don't know why, but I pour myself a tall glass of whole milk and drink it down. And it's like I'm waiting for the milk to take affect.
I asked the homeopathist could this be helping me? He thinks maybe because milk is fatty and when fatty is passing through the sphincter it forces it to open.
For right now he is studing the subject of SOD, says he learned about at the university he went to but didn't go further into it, but he is right now! He gave me a bottle of these little pellets called Colocynthis for right now, (which I'm doubtful about and told him so) but I'm to take three once a day and melt under my tongue. Then wants me to take 3 under my tongue every 15 minutes during another attack, and then to go to him for the blood testing for the liver and pancretic enzyme level.
Something else I noticed, and it could be nothing, but I noticed that when I'm under stress along with fear I have this very severe pain attack and I have somewhat (if there is any) of relief if I bend over a little, while I'm trying to catch my breath for the whole 30 to 40 minutes it's going on. Then I feel it slowly going away and then color comes bact to my face.

[silversissy]

I don't think I mentioned that the severe pain I have is also located just below the chest, upper abdomin (abdomen) and the pain radiates into the back in the same area and the spot it's coming from very sensitive to the touch. Maybe a little bloating as well. I also had my first bout of diarrhea the next day after this last attack. And because the pain is so bad, I struggle the whole time trying to catch my breath and forced to take short breaths.