pancreatic psuedo cyst/obstructional jaundice

[Nichole2472]

I have cronic pancreatitis.  Last week I was in the hospital for 6 days where they inserted 2 stints.  One to relieve the jaundice where the cyst was blocking my bile duct, and another from pancreas to stomcach.  Then they drained the cyst endoscopically.
They said my gallbadder was huge and full of sludge and needed to eventually be removed.  I am going back in 2 weeks for a"stint exchange"?"  My problem is I have been in intense pain for the past two days.  The only pain meds they gave me was hydrocodone 2 every 4-6 hours.  That is not working.  I am taking it every two hours and the pain still lingers.  I was told I would feel so much better, and I feel worse than I have ever felt before.  Is something wrong? Should they have sent me home with antibiotics? The pain is located in my upper right side abdomen area and back.  

[royuk160]

Great to see this forum, thanks for so much information.

After 3 months of CT scans, morphine and worry, I have just been told that the 16cm Pseudo cyst which is only just attached to the tail of my pancreas can be drained. I am actually sat in Liverpool Hospital in the UK and 3ltrs has been drained over the past 7 days. I am going home to my wife is full term pregnancy and ready to give birth ( so lots to look forward to)

My drain will be in around 4-6 weeks ( so I am told) however I have no pain and the CT scan initially reveals that there is little/ no damage to the tail of my pancreas.

I am so thankful to be going home, but know I am not fighting fit again yet ( lost 3st in 3 months) I have been told by the Drs that if the cyst refills, they will leave the drain in ( down to 200ml per day now) of it continues to refill then they can insert a stent from the cyst to drain in to my stomach, if that doesn't work then operate and remove it.

I take Creon 40,000 with food ( not sure if this is a short term thing or not) my appetite is coming back and I am feeling much healthier , however I am frightened of not making a full recovery and enjoying life with my wife and children.

Any advice?

I hope my little story helps others.

R

[stratman3]

Hi,
Had psuedocysts drained and given a billary bypass last year. After 2 months in hospital and 2 ERCP's have had stints changed  and has now settled down. I still have bad digestion problems every 2 weeks and although i am taking Creon 25000 enzymes and have to inject insulin with every meal, I still take Tramadol  for pain relief. Must learn to eat a more controlled diet as many foods don't agree with my digestive systom now. But at the end of the day..... NO PAIN.  :-)
These are life changing procedures.. It certainly has changed mine. Take care

Steve (London UK)

[TaraDoyle]

Hi there. You seem to be very knowledgable with the whole pancreatitis thing, so I pose a question to you. I had Pancreatitis in Nov, spent a week in hospital, IV fluids, pain & anti nausea meds etc... found stones in the gallbladder and removed it 2 weeks later. I still had the nausea and some pain (esp. after eating) post laper. choly. and ended up in the ER again two weeks ago, enzymes and bilirubin were up, crazy pain, they did an ERCP to repair the bile duct (damage from stones I think - sphincterectomy and balloon dialation). After a horrible, painful week in the hospital (no food & IV fluids only... again), I was discharged still in pain and phone hrs. later to find out I have pancreatitits again. I was told fluids only and given antibiotics, pain and anti nausea meds for home. That was one week ago. I just started introducing food yesterday, slowly. I am curious if you see me as someone that you think is headed for chronic problems or if you feel I may get out of the woods as my Pancreatitis had a cause both times (stones & ERCP)? I am looking for this to be over and don't envision a future with this disorder and four small children. If you have a moment to give me an opinion, I would truly appreciate it.  P.S., i am working on the low fat diet. If my family is having lasagne and I have 2 or 3 bites with my bland chickn' noodle soup, is that horrible or do you do that too? Thanks. Tara

[crambone]

chronic pancreatitis is going to cause you lots and lots of pain,,bottom line its not going to get better,,sorry,,you need to get best meds out there and try to relieve the pain,and that way have a better quality of life.
they need to try to address other things with the pancreas,,like maby a cell myopathy transplant.
remove part of the pancreas that is damaged.
get you guys and gal s on enzymes to help with digestion,that way your pancreas gets to relax some.
you need to watch what you eat as not to aggrivate it,,,diet is key,,,carbs and stuff,not fats.

[KjFlicka]

Yeah, I read the other post about having bad pain after they inserted the stint, so maybe that's a logical reason, too. I was never good at convincing the doctors I needed better pain medication. They actually wanted to fix the problem (wait, I guess that's good!) instead of just relieving my pain I was having at the moment. Soooo not fun that way, though.

Good luck and cheers to those scrambled eggs and mashers!

Nicole

[Nichole2472]

Sounds like we had the same situation. My cyst was obstructing the bile duct and yes my bilirubin was high. 17 the day I left the hospital it was 5.6.  The yellowing is almost gone and I never itched.  Even though they have drained the cyst and inserted the stints I am having really bad pain. It feels like a burning, yet sharp pain. maybe I need to go back to eating small bland meals.  Maybe my organs aren't ready for regular meals yet.I am going to see my local doctor tomorrow and I am going to ask for stronger meds.  i was getting dauladin by IV at the hospital and it seemed to work a lot better.

[KjFlicka]

I also had a pancreatic pseudo cyst. They have drained it twice so far (within a year) and will put in the tubey thingy (the stint) if it needs to be drained again (being checked March). I have had the pain you speak of with the cyst, too. I was told (and it really did kind of feel like this) that the cyst was pushing on my bile ducts (like constipation with nothing to pass) and also affecting my bilirubin count. The pain was like really bad menstrual cramps but sometimes it got so bad I couldn't even sleep for days.

Has your jaundice/bilirubin count gotten better? Was your gallbladder pushing on your bile ducts also? If so, this would explain the continued pain because all the pressure is still there.

I would see a hepatologist asap so they can get a good look at what the origin of your pain is because there should be a logical explanation. In my case, they knew the cyst was big enough, but they didn't drain it until I actually started having pain and my 'itching' was driving me nuts. Did you ever itch?

Anyhoo, let me know!
Nicole (no 'h' ;-)

Also, YES, I did get antibiotics after I had the cyst drained endoscopally. I had pain really only in my throat from the actual procedure after that, but they never gave me anything for that anyway.