I am a 23 year old male and am deeply concerned about some symptoms I've been having. Earlier this year, I was treated for possible acute pancreatitis. The cause of it was not determined, but I personally suspect that it was related to Paxil, which I was taking at the time. My lipase reached about 150 a week after the abdominal pain disappeared and then it began to return to normal. The doctor ordered both a CT scan and an ultrasound, but, except for a minor inflammation in the tail of the pancreas, nothing significant was revealed.
I don't ordinarily drink, but I did so one night at a party about 3 or 4 weeks after the symptoms had disappeared. I think I drank a bit much that night. Five days later I went to the hospital with abdominal pain and was hospitalized for 2 days. My lipase was measured at 586 and increased while I was in the hospital. My amylase levels were somewhat high also. The doctor put me on an IV and ordered another CT scan. The CT scan showed nothing abnormal. The symptoms disappeared within a day or so and I was discharged from the hospital. Follow-up appointments elsewhere revealed that my lipase reached about 2400 a few days after hospitalization. As no symptoms remained, however, except for occasional gas and light-brown stools, I did not seek further medical treatment. In time, even the gas and the stools returned to normal.
Two weeks ago I began to feel a mild and unlocalized pain in my abdomen. Three days into it, I went into the doctor and a blood test revealed that my lipase was at 91 and that my amylase was normal. The doctor suggested that I consume only clear liquids for a day, which I did. I returned for a follow-up appointment with no major symptoms and the doctor told me to eat again. A second blood test was taken but I did not receive the results. I did, however, have a somewhat low blood pressure reading.
In the past week, I have had occassional discomfort- mostly on the right side of my abdomen. I have had a little bit of gas and have had few bowel movements. A few times I have felt what seemed like air bubbles in my intestine. I cannot tell if eating or diet is the direct cause of this.
I am very nervous that I may have a chronic form of pancreatitis, since I have read that some of the symptoms of it resemble mine. Yet, I have only been drunk a few times in my life and never had any problems before April of this year. I have not touched alcohol or Paxil since my visit to hospital nearly six months ago. The doctor suggests that I may have a gallstone, but previous doctors had ruled that out as a likely possibility. One suggested that I had a peptic ulcer, but another said no. For five whole months, until two weeks ago, I had been fine.
I have a career in which I must be physically healthy. It may be months before I can get to a gastroenterologist. I generally feel all right, but am nervous nonetheless of what is going on. What do you think of it?