Pancreatitis????

[MAF31]

I would like to ask anyone that has had or has this condition about the symptoms. What exactly are the symptoms of this condition? ALSO... how is pancreatitis diagnosed? How do they normaly find if this is the problem?

Thanks!
-Mark

[Nanny]

I have had acute pancreatitis and now have chronic pancreatitis, so maybe I can answer some of your questions.

Some symptoms of pancreatitis include a swollen and tender abdomen, nausea, vomiting, fatigue, sometimes a fever and rapid pulse.  Weight loss is frequent.  The nausea, pain and vomiting often follows a meal of some sort, and can be triggered more severely by foods heavy in fats.  Often there is pain in the abdomen and between the ribs at the base of the sternum.  Pain that radiates to the back is also common with pancreatitis.

There are several ways to test for pancreatitis and to reach a diagnosis of either acute or chronic pancreatitis or both.  Bloodwork can be checked to look at amylase and lipase levels, if they are elevated it is a sign of pancreatic inflamation (inflammation), yet some people who have had the disease for a while no longer show elevated a&p levels.  Other tests include fecal fat analysis, trypsinogen tests, ultrasounds, ct-scans, EUS and ERCP's.  Often one test is not enough and it takes a combination of varied tests to reach a clear diagnosis.

I hope this answers some of your questions.  Post again if you have any other questions I might be able to answer.

Nanny
***@****

[Lor]

When I had pancreatitis I didn't run a fever or lose weight.
Symptoms that I had were a severe stomach ache that spread across the upper abdomen with a more sore left side. Lower B/P ripid palse and vomiting. Pain was severe enoungh to have me walk doubled over. Unable to lay on back. Back pain felt like someone kicked me in the kidneys. Abdomenal (abdominal) bloating to where you no longer pass gas and painful to the touch.
Like the above I had blood work and also an xray.

[MAF31]

Thanks.
I've had an abnominal x-ray, 4blood tests, and 2ct-scans. I guess this would have showed it. They said pancrease looked fine and blood work wasn't just good as per the ER doc, but said blood work was perfect. I have severe gastritis so perhaps this is the problem that's causing all my pain. Thanks again.
-Mark

[tinaA]

Hello,

I had pancreatitus (pancreatitis) 6 weeks ago and spent a week in hospital. The other symptom is not being able to breath in or out or even talk to well. Movement is also a problem, Jaundice, itching and  very dark urine. That is if there is an obstruction in the bile duct I am not too sure if the symptoms of an infection are the same.
I was told for 2 years that there was nothing wrong, other than slightly high liver enzymes. Once you have had pancreatitus (pancreatitis) I have been told by the consultant that I may be prone to it again and the only was to determine if there are stones , is an MRI. I have had 3 ERCP's and many many ultrasounds all came back normal.
Nanny has already stated that the most important test is the amylase, normally it should be 150, mine at the time of the attack was 2000.  I am not sure how you read these tests, are they the same as ours here in the UK ?