My 1st ever case of acute pancreatitis + hyperparathyroidism

Hi, @kona6. Having huge waves of nausea and also moving into the vomiting stage are super unpleasant. I've got anti-nausea lozenges in my desk and "barf bags" in all our vehicles. I've also had my belly hurt like crazy, to the point I could no longer sit down and do any work. The time where I needed all this is when I was on semaglutide (Wegovy), which gave me these side effects. I realize your symptoms come from something much different, but I empathize with the symptoms you've had to deal with.

What a bummer that you are now home from 6 days in the hospital and are feeling more miserable than ever.

If you've not yet read this, you might appreciate some of this Mayo Clinic information on pancreatitis and on hyperparathyroidism:

- Pancreatitis https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/pancreatitis/symptoms-causes/syc-20360227
f anyone here also has untreated hyperparathyroidism which led to hypercalcemia which led to acute pancreatitis

- Hyperparathyroidism https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/hyperparathyroidism/symptoms-causes/syc-20356194

In order to locate Mayo Clinic Connect members who might join this conversation with you who have had untreated hyperparathyroidism which led to hypercalcemia which led to acute pancreatitis - or who have seen this occur before or know anything about it, I'm tagging members from various Connect support groups to come chat with you about this topic. Please meet @kitten92 @pml @ladyaceintx1 @redhead1116 @sonic997 @fogel1960 @astaingegerdm @beachdog @lightluz @tsch @ssmab @sebutler @pah17 @4deborahrb @florentina99 @hellonewyork.

kona6 - when you were dismissed from the hospital, did they prescribe some medications for the symptoms you'd been experiencing? Does the doctor whose service you were on at the hospital know how bad you've been feeling since you got back home? If not, are you thinking about telling him or her about it?

@lisalucier

Hello Lisa Lucier. Thanks so much for this fine and useful posting for me. Lisa, just before leaving the hospital 2 days ago, I was told to take Tylenol (975 mg) for the physical pain, simethicone tablets (for bloating/gas), Miralax (for easy, softer stools), lidocaine cream (for my belly button area), and docusate (for constipation and stool softening). My MD's RN called me today to check on me and she says she'll call again tomorrow. She told me to: stay hydrated (something I'm not so good at being due to never feeling thirsty), limit sugar and fruits (these are bad for an ailing pancreas-- I'd been eating persimmon and a pomegranate), avoid starchy vegetables (peas, potatoes, sweet potatoes, corn, butternut/acorn squashes), and use moist heat on the belly button area and belly. I told her I know why I have the troubling breathing problem: my pancreas is so swollen and enlarged that it pushes up against the diaphragm and this then has a bad effect on breathing. She agreed with me.

Therefore my MD and her RN are well aware of how miserable this medical problem is, causing all that constant physical pain and makes breathing shallow and weak. The RN told me that it can weeks to recover from this but there will be likely daily slight improvements.

I made a proper high protein, non-starchy vegetables meal for me just a short while ago.

Thanks Lisa once again for your dear kindness and concern over my health.

I have hyperparathyroidism and never have had pancreatitis. My HPTH does not cause any symptoms. I probably have one bad parathyroid gland. Hope not to need surgery. My calcium is high normal. Not sure if this is helpful to you.

@tsch

Yes, I hope you can get by without parathyroidectomy. I may also only have 1 gland gone haywire. I told readers here my painful, locking RIGHT hand trigger thumb. I didn't tell you ('til now) what I had done about this a few weeks ago. I met with a plastics surgeon who said she's done many injections of a corticosteroid drug into the base of the thumb to end (maybe only for months) the trigger thumb. Just before she was about to do the 2 close-together injections she asked me if I was diabetic. I said "No" and asked her why she asked me that. She replied that the corticosteroid drug raises blood sugars. The injections were done and 2 days later the painful trigger thumb was absent! Now I'm thinking there's perhaps some strong link or connection - maybe not known by most in medicine - between hypercalemia (from having hyperthyroidism), injection of a corticosteroid and the rapid start of acute pancreatitis. If this is the case, it would be incredibly rare I suppose and MDs just wouldn't think of this link/connection.

@kona6
Your thumb was connected to HPTH? I know HPTH can take calcium from bones- maybe it is related that way. Do be careful about cortisone shots, they should not be used too often. I do not know what trigger thumb is but the base of the thumb is a common place for arthritis. Glad you were helped by the shot.

@tsch

Yes, I know that one can't have but a 2nd injection on a day some weeks or months after the 1st injection, and after the 2nd injection, only a last 3rd injection. I hope I won't need this again but was told that I could surgery to cut the pulley (sheath) that the thumb tendon can't get through due to being swollen. I also have a LEFT hand thumb having OA but I don't intend to have anything done to that bone which is deep into the palm but connected to the thumb chain of bones. With the LEFT thumb, I only rarely an ultra-sharp physical pain when I do certain simple physical things with that hand. The RIGHT thumb was important because I collect and write with fountain pens. For proper writing with a fountain pen, that outermost thumb joint has to be flexed when writing. I asked the hand therapist working with me on the RIGHT thumb why he thinks people develop trigger thumb. He said that after questioning those having trigger thumb, the common theme was that all had done some repetitive, unusually, uncommonly forceful thing with that hand.

I spend most of my Mayo Clinic Connect time in the Diabetes & Endocrinology group. Since the pancreas and parathyroid are both part of the endocrine system you might find some members who have experience with the conditions you’ve been diagnosed with and the symptoms you’ve been having. I think there is a group pertaining to joints and muscles where there would be interesting discussions regarding your trigger thumbs.

@kona6 - how did your weekend go? How are you doing?

Hello Lisa,

Last night was my 1st having some good sleep. I'd not slept 1 minute before last night and 'no sleep at all' was true for me for ~ 11 consecutive nights. I continue having awful, constant belly pain but I've not vomited nor felt super nauseous. My MD's RN told me most people recover well though it takes time. I told that RN that I figured this AP (acute pancreatitis) suddenly began because of my hypercalcemia (from my still untreated hyperparathyroidism). Hypercalcemia's known to be a cause of AP. But then I looked into the other reasons for AP and saw, at various websites, that 'certain drugs cause AP'. I looked up those and saw the one I "took" soon before this AP started: it was 2 corticosteroid injections < on Wed. 5 Nov. 2025> into the base of my RIGHT hand thumb which was afflicted with painful trigger thumb since mid-June 2025. I looked up corticosteroid drug problems and one is that it can cause AP. This made me abandon my thought that it was the hypercalcemia (from my hyperparathyroidism) that caused the AP. You see, I've lived for at least 3 years (if not longer) with hyperparthyroidism-caused-hypercalcemia and *NEVER* had AP. It was that corticosteroid drug injection earlier this month that soon led to AP. I told this to my MD's RN and she says I'm wrong about this. In reply to her, I re-stated that, before the 5 Nov. corticosteroid injection, I never had AP while living with hypercalcemia for 3 years and said that maybe a level of hypercalcemis *PLUS* a corticosteroid injection suddenly or quickly pushes one into the ugly times/days of very painful AP. I *LOVE* medical mysteries but *NEVER LOVE * my own.

Update on my last posting in which I told you my MD's RN did't agree with me on the cause of my AP:

After reading the RN's rejection of my thought that I have AP due to the corticosteroid injection early this month, I contacted her again reinforcing my statement that the corticosteroid injection was the cause of my AP. I did say that maybe my elevated hypercalcemia *ALONG WITH* a corticosteroid injection can lead to AP. She liked that and said I'm correct in my understanding of cause.