Still in Alot of Pain and Severly Depressed

[rickierex]

Last December I was hospitalized with Pancreatitis, this was the worst pain I have ever experienced in my life (I have two years of cronic kidney stones to compare to) and was seriously thinking about suicide.  After about three weeks in the hospital, they finally got me stabilized to where I could go home with an IV bags full of medications, after three weeks of that and losing over 60lbs I was finally taken off the IV.  Even though I was still experiencing severe pain.  I am now a diabetic, evidently caused by the pancreatitis and which I control by diet and a pill (kind of makes me nauseous) every once in a while I have to take an injection of insulin.  Oh, you should know I have never been a drinker of alcohol, maybe two or three beers or glass of wine a year.  I still experience pain although not as bad after I eat, since I take about six pain pills a day (vicodin ES and Norco, alternately).  I have found that if I take some pain pills an hour and half before I eat, I can eat more normally and have stopped losing weight.   My legs hurt late in the evening, my thighs feel like they are loaded down with weights.  Again, this has been going on since December.  Even though I haven’t really be able to sleep all that well since December, for the last month or two now I have been unable to sleep beyond two hours and I wake up in pain in my lower stomach needing to urinate, sometimes it is very difficult for me to urinate, I have to really concentrate and be patient and relaxed.  The pain pills aren’t really helping with this pain.  I am unable to have sex without pain any more, and lost my job.  I am getting more and more depressed.  Is there anything you can suggest to me that my doctor might be overlooking?

[Kevin Pho, MD]

If it is chronic pancreatitis, you can consider several options.  The first would be pancreatic enzyme supplements, which can relieve pain in some patients.

Other considerations would be more specialized therapy - like celiac nerve blocks and shock wave lithotripsy if there is a case of pancreatic duct stones.  

If all the more conservative measures do not help, then surgery can be considered.  Decompression, pancreatic resections, and denervation procedures can all be considered.

You can discuss these options with your personal physician or in conjunction with a GI specialist.

Followup with your personal physician is essential.

This answer is not intended as and does not substitute for medical advice - the information presented is for patient education only. Please see your personal physician for further evaluation of your individual case.

Kevin, M.D.
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