Is there anything that I or rather we-- me and my team of medical doctors-- should be doing? Or should I simply resign myself to be like Beckett’s characters in his play and wait not for Godot, but for pancreatitis?
I am a white 42 yrs. male. I have been a lacto-ovarian vegetarian (I have an occasional egg or slice of cheese, however I prefer soy milk
to dairy) for almost 3 years. I have been a complete nonsmoker for almost two years, however, prior to that I did smoke cigarettes, and I have been alcohol-free for almost two years (however, prior to that, I did have an occasional glass of wine or beer).
+ for almost 18 yrs and asymptomatic. I have an undetectable viral load and a CD4 count around 276. I have also been diagnosed over the years with a peptic
. I sustained an attack in November last year and most recently another in March of this year. I have had ultrasounds, and most recently an MRI CP as well as a fecal elastase done and no significant abnormality was found. Recent blood work has indicated that my triglycerides are 377 (nothing compared to what I’ve had in the past, however, my last bout in March occurred when I had only 600 and something), my lipase is 456 and amylase is 101. As an aside, my glucose has been fluctuating around 125 for a while and my liver functions are AST 165 and ALT 226.
Despite being told that my current medications do not aggravate the pancreas, I have my doubts (since my HIV medications have always been the culprit of my physical demise).
It has been suggested that perhaps these bouts of pancreatitis are simply idiopathic, or that I have some sort of autoimmune pancreatitis. I was also informed that I could have an endoscopic pancreatic function test done in order to further pursue this problem.
What, if anything, should I do?
Thank you for taking the time to review and respond to my question.