Could I have a problem with my pancreas? Does anyone have pancreatitis?

[navyeyelasH]

Ok I'm 25 and on new years day 2008 I was really really ill (as in being projectile sick every 20 minutes for 4 hours), clammy shaking etc. I put this down to drinking too much on new years eve (although by my standards of what I normally drink I had not drunk that much) and mixing champagne and wine.

Since new years day 2008 I have been on and off ill. Symptoms are

*pain in lower back
*abdominal pain sometimes just like period pain but other times like seriously in agony crying on the floor wondering if I should go to a&e. Sometimes no pain at all.
*pain in my ribs, can't explain it but it's the last rib on my left side of rib cage
*if you touch my ribs they hurt all over but if you don't touch it's only that one spot that is always hurting
*nausea, sometimes vomiting and (near constant) tiredness
*did have a sore throat for about 6 months but that went and now I get it on and off if am feeling especially tired.
*near constant swollen gland under right ear
*alternatine constipation and diorrhea with smelly gas and stools (never ever had this before) and bloated tummy

And then yesterday I noticed something else which may be related. When I have a drink I am always really ill the next day. I only drink socially about once every other month. So I got ill forst time put it down to drinking too much on NYE, got ill second time again thought must be drinking too much, got ill again but was drinking wine so thought maybe should stick to vodka (as thought might have wheat intolerance) and it's gone on like that with me trying to rationalise it (ie. getting older etc).

Obviusly I have cut down on my drinking a lot now but I have only just (maybe stupidly) made the connection that my body is rejecting alcohol?

The Dr says I have IBS the pain in my rib back thing is muscular. But yesterday I googled about the sickness while drinking thing and found out about pancreatitis. Could this be what is wrong or have I fallen into the google trap?

I'm sick of feeling ill and the DR saying it's IBS - it bloody isn't!

Can young people get this? HELP!

sorry i meant longer u leave it

The thing is with going to a&e by the time I get seen (normally takes 3 hours) it's probably going to be gone/getting better.

I would just feel like a total drain on their resources. Even if the pain had gone would my blood still be "deranged" - if so I may be inclined to go to a&e as my GP definately thinks it's IBS.

Can you do a test to confirm something is IBS?

forget the ibs test. that is usually diagnose thru history. yes your amylase and sugars would still be raised if thats what it is. If its gall stones then a scan would confirm that.

Thanks for all your help and suggestions ladies [I assume!]. I going off to work for a bit. One quick question before I leave; wouldn't stones show up on an ultrasound?

yes your amylase would be raised for 24 hours after a bout of pain. It should normally be between 90 and 130 units but if you have a blocked pancreatic duct it can go up to 1000. Also CRP would stay raised aswell. so it would rule out one or the other and you symptoms are virtually identical to mine.Sorry i am telling you so much info but i have worked in a pharmacy for 30 years and i am really interested in all aspects of medicine.
There are no test for IBS as it manifests itself in so many different ways. Gall stones are commonly misdiagnosed as IBS because GPs go for the simpler option first. Please dont wait til symptoms get worse. I had key hole because mine wasnt too inflamed or infected... others arent so lucky.. I had between 200-300 small lentil sized stones and 4 1cm ones so i wud have had had alot of niggly pains over the years had i not had it removed . And yes it tends to run in families

Could be gall bladder problems. Sounds very very similar to the symptoms I had.

Need blood tests and an ultrasound to check for stones. Do not be fobbed off. GPs seem oblivious to the agony of gallbladder pain as the bile backs up into the pancreas.

hi ABetaDad
Long time no speak
Much better now, playing badminton, had a curry, glass of wine and starting to put weight back on. Pain is virtually gone now and scars are almost invisible. Starting to feel my normal self which is good cos we are going on hols on thurs and the hotel food is fab..so is the sport. Doesnt even hurt to smash the shuttles any more.. Life is so much better!!! How are you

Hello there Alypaly - was wondering how you were getting one. You sound as though you are doing really well.

We are in the middle of a 3 week house move right now. Not feeling too bad. Lost anther 2 Kg in weight due to the huge amount of running about and lifting I am doing. Bit of a shock to the system but feelig really quite well. New diet is bedding in really well too, not quite ready for a curry yet but definitely enjoying a glass of wine or two and even a steak here and there.

ABetaDad
glad you are ok
Thx for all the moral support b4 .It really helped.
I cant beleieve the dramatic improvement and nothing seems to be affecting me when i eat. I had a cooked breakfast yesterday, with bacon,sausage,fried mushrooms,fried bread..the works... and i was ok. Even the choc fudge cake went down a treat. Quite enjoying the trimmer figure now although i wasnt overweight b4. Been able to retrieve a few size 10's out of the cupboard [smile}
And its off to badminton tonight and the tennis racket has just gone into the the suitcase alone with the scuba masks.. Really looking 4ward to my hols now.
BTW it was only a tikka so i will wait for the jal frezi for another day. dont want to over do it

can't believe how many of you have had this problem ; if it's so common how come mr DR hasn't even mentioned it?

Going back to the ultrasound, would that have shown it up?

some stones are radio opaque and some arent. Sometimes they miss them as they did with mine for 3 years. They start off like grains of sand and then just grow and block the duct. My neighbour showed me the one she had removed...she had it in a jar.....OMG it was the size of chickens egg...it was HUGE.It depends what they are made from. Most are cholesterol but some are from by products from a poorly functioning liver. The other blood tests that can show up if the gall stones are causing a problem with be done as part of an ordinary screening test

Ok right so I'm going to tell me dr I want these tests done - if I take in a printed sheet from NHS direct that lists gall stone symtoms will that annoy him?

Just last time he said my symptoms didn't match so am thinking if I take the paper in will have proof. Might he say he wont do the test?

Ok right so I'm going to tell my dr I want these tests done - if I take in a printed sheet from NHS direct that lists gall stone symtoms will that annoy him?

Just last time he said my symptoms didn't match so am thinking if I take the paper in will have proof. Might he say he wont do the test?

if he doesnt do them ..seriously just turn up at A and E. Is there another doctor in the practice thats more approachable. The pain in the shoulder shud tell him as long as he is knowledgeable but i have to say there are alot of rubbish GPs out there who appear to not know what they are doing.

Annoy the hell out of him. What have u got to loose. A correct diagnosis could make him look very stupid

Alypaly I admire your courage - I'm too much of a softie! He actually said last time it can't be anything too serious as I'm not dead yet

change gp then. Mind you that approach would save the nhs millions of pounds. But really if you are getting nowhere and he is being dismissive (and that comment is) then change. either to another in the same practice or phone the health authority who will give you a list of gp that are taking on. In the meantime go to A&E. They get people in for much less and if you keep telling people your history especially senior drs you should start to get somewhere.

An ultrasound scan will show gallstones, unless they are extremely small in which case they are unlikely to be causing this amount of pain, it doesn't matter whether they are radioopaque or not because this is an ultrasound scan not an xray. Pancreatitis can be seen on a scan but is more readily diagnosed with the amylase blood test already mentioned. If it has been going on this long and is this debilitating why not ask for a referral to a gastroenterologist. I think it would be more useful to list your symptoms, how often they occur and if there is any link to what brings them on, and say could this all be due to gallstones than to take a printed list of the sympotms from nhs direct to him - he will have heard of gallstones.

hel70 I've kept a diary fo food and pain for abut 8 months now and I've shown it to the dr and we can't find a correlation.

*I am only actually sick whe I've drunk alcohol

*The only constant quite bad pain is the one in my bottom right rib; sometimes the pain is more but it's always there IYSWIM

*my stool is always loose and smelly

*my tummy hurts 95% of the time like a low grade period pain - not enough for painkillers but enough to feel it. It hurts more (say 80% pain) at random times that don't seem to be connected to anything. It sometimes seems to hurt more if I haven't eaten but it also seems to hurt just after eating. And it sometimes hurts first thing in the morning. It has only hurt me with 100% pain about 3 times. It can last 20 minutes or 2/3 hours. Leaning forward/curling up in a ball/pushing in my right side makes it hurt less if that pain is at 80%

*pain in collar bone always with alcohol and sometimes at other random intervals but it hurts most with alcohol

*pain around ribs to touch all the time

Sorry to sound dumb (I am not!) but I didn't know you could just ask a dr to this that and the other. I just thought they referred you to specialists when they felt it was needed.

yes hel70u r right about the xray. I was thinking x ray not ultrasound. Mine showed up on an ultrasound as "multiple mobile calculi" ( i believe that was the terminology, and a very thin walled gall bladder. If they had stayed there much longer, could they have ruptured the gall bladder as i had hundreds and they wud have grown wouldnt they.
My amylase was raised as well but not massively

ok I'm back I've had the rib pain on and off for 2 weeks but since 3pm it's constant and so painful I have been sick!

If I lie in bed on a hot water bottle (I have 4 strapped to myself it's bearable, like period pain level pain.

Will going to a&e help really?? I will go if those with gall bladder know how really think I should.

pain on left side under rib mainly but whole abdomen hurts

going to A&E will get you some pain relief - and some blood tests that would suggest gall stones. My liver and pancreatic enzymes were just about as high as they can get when i had an attack. Was told to go to doctors to get diagnosis, went to my GP, he did what he calls a conclusive test - he pushed on my tummy and up under my ribs while i breathed in - i jumped ten feet in the air and he told me i had gallstones - i have never ever experienced pain like it in my life.

gall stones would show on ultrasound though so i am puzzled that your ultrasound didnt show anything. I would request another scan - i was at A&E three times collapsed with pain - they dont do anything except give you pain relief and tke the bloods but it gets the ball rolling.

You would expect your liver enzymes to be raised with gall stones too, but they are well known for giving strange symptoms. You shouldnt be in this much pain, go back to your doctor.

In the mean time, you can take buscopan, ibruprofen and paracetemol - all of them, at once is best. Walking around is supposed to help and i had to cut out ALL fat from my diet - i lost 4 stone in 8 weeks!

You are not that young really for gall stones, the average age is in your thirties, but i definately had them in my twenties but they didnt cause a major problem until i had dd2

to be honest, i think if you had pancreatitis you would already been carted off to hospital in an ambulance by now! But the sypmptoms of pancreatitis and gallstones are almost the same.

Often gps aren't clued up on gallbladder symptoms especially if presentation isn't quite what they might expect. I had 3 gps tell me I had a bit of reflux until 2 years later I was even more violently ill, the vomiting like you describe and the constant pain and another, wonderful, gp heard me telling him about my history and immediately referred me.
Had an ultrasound which showed no stones but there was a growth showing. Consultant at hospital convinced gallbladder problem the root of it and indeed it was a growth in the gallbladder itself causing the pain so a couple of years ago I had gallbladder removed and all pain gone, never looked back.
It may not be that but seriously if it hasn't been ruled out properly as a posssibility then you ought to get checked as can be dangerous to leave it, not to say excruciatingly painful and without a scan I wouldn't have known about the growth.
Your pain round ribs very much sounds like tender gallbladder area, the loose smelly stools also symptomatic of that area causing problems. Get yourself checked out, ask the doctors about anything you want to ask them, it's your body and if you want to be checked for something in particular then make sure you put it to them - and good luck.