Going crazy? Something I should do? Acute pancreatitis question

@anonman78
Welcome to Mayo Connect!
You are not crazy at all. I’m sorry that you still can’t function and suffering pain.
I’ve gone through similar illnesses.
I also had the common bile duct cleaned out a couple of times. The opening of bile duct and pancreatic duct was blocked by bile sludge and caused pancreatitis, acute and chronic.
A couple of weeks ago I developed excruciating pain. My doctor ordered an ultrasound- best when viewing the bile duct. Nothing seen but pain was gone. It was assumed that I passed a stone.
If I were you, I would contact your doctor again- you are not supposed to feel like this.
Has there been any kind of imaging after stents were placed? Also, the ducts’ opening may not be large enough.
When I had my second ERCP the opening was made larger and that has helped.

Pancreatic enzymes may help. Talk to a hepatobiliary expert, look for a transplant Dr.

A transplant of what?

I have had acute pancreatitis four times now. Finally diagnosed. I get it from taking antibiotics. Happens every time. I don’t know what to do now. Any suggestions would be good. I’m so sorry you are suffering too.

Welcome to Mayo Clinic Connect, @jen0314. I imagine you've been through an awful lot of pain. I'm glad you finally got a diagnosis.

I moved your post here so that you can talk with others here who have mentioned acute pancreatitis.

Hoping that in this discussion you can chat with members such as @astaingegerdm @thomhorowitz @jenatsky and others about what you might do in the future to prevent acute episodes.

Does your doctor have a suggestion about alternatives to antibiotics for you so you can avoid future acute pancreatitis episodes, jen0314? If so, what does he or she recommend?

In March of 26 my 72 year old strong, busy, energetic husband got violently ill with stomach and back pain. After trying to just “get over it” we went to our local ED. After some terrifying minutes he was intubated and tests ran showed a hemorrhaging pancreas. He was admitted to icu. And kept heavily sedated. After 3 weeks of severe pain and because they were unable to decide what course to take he was imaged where they found a huge cyst that was killing his pancreas. He was transported to Swedish hospital where he spent the better part of 3 months. At this point he has had numerous procedure to remove dying tissue and stents placed to drain them. He is still in pain. Has lost 40 pounds and can’t eat much. At what point is there another option to these monthly outbreaks of cysts? I might add he is not a
hard alcohol drinker, no diabetes no gallbladder, not genetic, not autoimmune. At this point living is his biggest obstacle.

When the pancreas has areas removed , the likely result is have the lack of digestive enzymes required to digest food.
He probably should have received a prescription for CREON. Which will help replace the enzymes. WITHOUT these enzymes weight loss will result and other factors from lack of complete digestion. You need a quality GI doc and get an elastase test. The test is a simple poop test that will tell the doc how much Creon is needed. Test result below 100 = severe EPI. My friend had similar operation to remove cysts and most of the pancreas and was immediately prescribed Creon. FYI-I have EPI that came on suddenly.

@sdsharp - welcome to Mayo Clinic Connect. Glad to see @venture had some thoughts for you on your husband.

You will note I moved your post here, so that you could chat with fellow Mayo Clinic Connect members talking about a similar topic:

- Going crazy? Something I should do? Acute pancreatitis question https://connect.mayoclinic.org/discussion/am-i-going-crazy-pancreatitis-question

If you are replying by email, I suggest clicking on VIEW & REPLY so that you will be brought to the new discussion. I suggest reading through and jumping in where you feel comfortable.

When you said "At this point living is his biggest obstacle," will you talk more about what you mean by that?

@venture he does take Creon with every meal and snack. I don’t know if he has had this stool test. I will ask about it next week. Thank you

@lisalucier When I said living is his biggest obstacle, I was referring to his state of Mind. He was so active and did so much around our large house and yard. Now that he’s not in the hospital and is in such bad health he doesn’t feel like he is worth much. He stays in bed or lays on the couch because when he eats the pain hurts when he sits up.