Please Help

[SlovakMom]

I suffer from migraines and thus I used Advil for many years for relief. One night after taking Advil 800mg I experienced sever abdominal pain, which lasted for about 10 days. I had blood work and an ultrasound and was told I had an Enlarged Pancreas at the Head Region. I am being sent to have a CT scan and am worried sick. I am a 36-year-old female and of course my number one thought is cancer. Does anyone else have any suggestions about what this could be?

Thank you

[Banned1]

Hi there:

I'm so sorry you are suffering and the anxiety must be making you crazy.  I'm not a doctor and I know next to nothing about this stuff but I've learned a thing or two.  Doing your own research can only help.  Check out the "First Principles of Gastroenterology", http://gastroresource.com/GITextbook/en/Default.htm.  I would take special note of the biliary system, Sphincter of Oddi Dysfunction and pancreatitis.

Since you've had the ultrasound, they'll likely suggests an upper endoscopy, Endoscopic Ultrasound and MRCP-S.  The EUS is the gold standard right now as it can image the whole thing including pancreas and ductal system.  These might be able to get you the diagnosis you need to get on the healing track.

It helps to keep a journal or a blog of everything that enters and leaves your body (medication, food, drink, everything).  It's a great way to review your situation objectively and identify patterns in your foods, symptoms, medications and pain level.  Hindsight is 20/20 and keeping a log might help you look at things more objectively over the longer term.  

Many people have ZERO pain just by using digestive enzymes and pancreatic enzymes.  They don't cost much, they're natural and this is is something you can talk to your Doc about.  I'm told that they won't do any harm so really - unless you are contraindicated or have side effects - there's not a downside to trying them.  Your Doc might even have samples.  This is something you can do now and it reduces the amount of work the pancreas has to do which will also reduce any damage to the pancreas.  You can get them at the health food store, too, but make sure they only have proteases, amlyase and lipase.  I'm a firm believer in having my Doc involved with any medication that I'm taking, even when I'm just changing dosages.  Enzymes take a few weeks to work sometimes.  Oh, yeah, there are sustained-action and immediate release, so some people take a combination of both for best results.

You are not alone!  Try to stay positive and reach out for support when you need it.  Talk to your Doctor, family, friends, co-workers, church or social service volunteers or anyone you feel safe with.  

Search the web for Yahoo! groups.  Search the Yahoo! groups for "sphincter" (Sphincter of Oddi).  There are about five good onesbut Michele's is by far the best as she is a registered nurse and an uncommonly kind, empathetic and supportive woman.  Maddi's is wonderful, too.  Just put in a brief request to join and within a day or two, they'll let you know that you've been accepted.  If you can't find them, feel free to email me.

When you do find answers, it would be wonderful if you could let us know the root cause(s) and how you got rid of your pain.  It gives people on this site hope to hear success stories and hope is in short order when you're in pain and don't know what's wrong.

Take care of yourself.  Good luck and Godspeed.  All the best,

Sam