Since my parents live next door I can dump the kids off with them and go to the ER if the pain gets so bad that the pain meds dont help much. Or I go to the ER when the nausea is so bad I cant take pain meds to decrease the pain if the pain is bad enough that Im unable to tolerate it anymore.

I cant imagine having to take the kids to the ER. That would be so hard! I feel for you because as a mother I know how hard that would be.

Because I know that if I go to the ER the only thing they can do for me is take me off all food and put me on an IV, and them giving me pain meds, I decided I would try to do the same at home, I take myself off all food and only drink liguids, and I continue taking the pain medicine they gave me both for all the time pain and for break through pain. I also try to rest as much as I could. I watch my granddaughter when she is not in school so sometimes it is hard to rest. but this does help. I hate the hospital so I try everything in the book to stay away from them. I will pray that the pain will subside and that you will be able to be a peace with what is going on in your body. I know how hard it is with that pain. Nancy H

Tarabunny, please call your doctors office and ask them that question. Your doc needs to know that you are having difficulty controlling the pain. Do you have something for the nausea? I hope that you are feeling better this morning. Let us know.

My GI doc said when the pain starts to stop eating and drinking everything. If the pain stops, then I can try drinking water. If I cannot drink water without pain, if the pain lasts longer than 8 hours or if I have to take more than 2 doses of pain medication (or I can no longer stand up), then I have to come in. And, yes, you can have a life threatening episode of pancreatitis. We all hate the emergency room and the idiot doctors there, but you have to go.

thanks everyone. typing onehanded as i keep kinking the iv cord.

i am in the hosp. but the dr says it is not pancreatitis and i never have had it, despite my previous dx. he says it is ibs and gastoparisis.

He made this decision without having seen me, this is not my regular dr but the one on call.

i cannot get answers because i have not seen him. all communication is thru a nurse.

he admitted me and has me on pain medication and nausea meds. he has me on a liquid diet, but i refuse to eat. even water hurts, even a small amount.

he wants to refer me to a pain clinic and do a nerve block,

none of this makes sense.

in the morning, i am demanding to see my real dr.

I'm getting the same run around from doctors. First I have pancreatitis, then another said I don't, then gastro says I do not have it, but now he says I do. The health care world really makes a person wonder.

I just hope you start feeling better soon. Please keep us informed. Take care

Tara,

It is my understanding that you need to go to the ER to get your blood tested to see what your amylase and lipase levels are and to make sure you don't have an infection.

Pancreatitis attacks can be life threatening. Please read the post I just left Re: My second attack.

As you will see, I had severe complications that were life threatening on my very first attack. At the time it happened, I didn't know what it was. I had never had an attack before. So when it happened I laid on my bathroom floor alone for 17 hours, vomiting and with diarrhea before i let someone take me to the hospital.

It resulted in a 21 day stay. I had developed a pancreatic pseudocyst and phlegmon.

Again, it is just what I have experienced. Everyone is different, but everytime I think I am having an attack, from now on I will at least have someone at the ER or doc's office check my vitals and do blood tests.

Big hugs to you.

Thanks tropical, I did go to the ER.

I am still here, hanging out. Unsure what they are doing. I definitely have gastoparisis and I think that is complicating the pancreatitis.

They have me on a liquid diet but I cannot tolerate it. I just tried to eat some broth with bad results.

They are keeping me filled with IV fluids, dilauded for pain and Zofran for the nausea. They are also letting me take my phenegran for the in between times when it is too early to take the Zofran.

I have seen 6 different people and still have 2 to go, the 2 that actually makes the decisions, so really, no answers yet.

Where is your regular doctor? Is he/she not affiliated with the ER that you've been admitted to? If your doctor isn't returning your phone calls then have a family member go to your doctors office and request to speak to him/her on your behalf. I find that a lot of the time you can't get past the receptionist or nurse so the doctor never knows what's going on. Hang in there. Hugs!

You definitely have to have a doctor on a regular basis that ubderstands the disease and that is very thorough. I am moving 5 hr away from my internal med dr , but I plan on continuing to see him because he actually gives a damn and never leaves a rock unturned looking for answers. Take care, hugs, and I hope you feel better soon.

The doctor just walked in. Never seen this doctor before. He did not touch me or ask me any questions. He simply said he looked at my chart and that there is nothing wrong with me, it is psychosomatic.

But the nurse just came in and said he is like that and NOT to listen to him.Gotta go deal with this crap, update later.

Tara,

You have not mentioned if they have given you any result on your enzymes levels. That would be the best way to determine pancreatitis.

Has any of your blood work come back? I'm assuming they did blood work.

BTW if your kinking your I.V. trying to communicate with us, insist that they move it. The same thing happened to me last week. I wasn't able to move my arm at all. They put the I.V. in my right arm where I bend it so I was supposed to kept it perfectly still, which is impossible. If they refuse to move it, they are being lazy and ask to speak to someone else. Once they moved my I.V. I was able to communicate with my family and that was very comforting to me.

Can you call your G.I. guys office and insist on getting through to him to let him know you're in the ER? If so, will he come see you today? Does he have hos. privledges there?

One more thing Tara, has anyone mentioned sphincter of Oddi dysfunction to you?

I am NOT a doctor, just someone who has gone through this process with doctors. It is my understanding that you can have sphincter of Oddi dysfunction which will cause severe cramping and it may not show up in your enzyme levels.

It is crazy to me that a doctor that just met you and who has not spent any time with you would tell you this is in your head.

I have learned to have all my medical records related to my pancreatitis ready to grab in case I go to the hospital.Once they glance at the records, they know my history and they immediately get down to treating me and taking me serious.

Just trying to help...

Tara,

I just found this info for you. You will see that in one tyep of SOO dysfunction there are NO ABNORMALTIES except for spasms/pain.
Hope this helps.

Here it is:

In category III of Spincter of Oddi dysfunction, there are no clear-cut lab findings or abnormalities, and the only evidence of the dysfunction is the abdominal pain. The pain is believed to be caused by a sudden spasm of the sphincter of Oddi. Type III dysfunction is much more difficult for doctors to diagnose.

Thank you tropical.

Looks like I am being released. The hospitalist said this is a chronic disease and I have been dealing with it for 20 years so I can deal with it now.

I hate doctors and have no use for them anymore.