4 attacks of acute pancreatitis...still no answers

[Sks262]

Hi

My name is Shannon and I am 24. I had my first attack of pancreatitis in August with my lipase level in the 2000s and had a CT scan and ultrasound. They said I had a gallstone so they removed my gallbladder and said there were two stones and some sludge. In October I had the same pains again and went into the ER and my lipase level was in the 2000s again. They did another CT scan which was clear. They said that they believe it was probably just a stone that had fallen through and wasn’t removed during surgery which had irritated my pancreas but I had passed it. The beginning of November I had the pain return and my lipase was once again in the 2000s. This time around they did an MRCP and checked for autoimmune disorders. The MRCP came back completely clear and the test for the autoimmune came back negative. This one was my fault. The doctors and surgeon never told me I had food/ alcohol restrictions so I had consumed a fair amount of alcohol Halloween weekend and ate a good amount of pumpkin seeds and the pain came while I was eating the seeds. They then told me I needed to be on a low fat diet and absolutely no alcohol. Since then I have been on a strict low-fat diet. I don’t eat anything over 3g and I have not touched alcohol since that Halloween weekend. On the 23rd of December I woke up and was having a low-fat fat breakfast of lean turkey sausage and egg whites when I felt a really sharp sudden pain. I thought it wasn’t the same since I’m the past it’s been more gradual and progresses from discomfort to pain. This time it was very sudden and more painful than before. I go into the ER and my lipase is once again in the 2000s but this time around the pain is much worse. I am calling the nurses in every 20 minutes because the morphine had worn off and I can’t stand the pain anymore. They up me to Dilauded and the pain starts to get better. In the morning they do a blood test again and my lipase rose to 9000!!! They did a test a couple of hours later to see if there was a lab error and my lipase was in the 6000s. This has never happened with any of my other attacks they always went down over night. They did another MRCP which is completely clear and just recommend I go see a specialist for a EUS. The pain I have experienced hasn’t been horrific. I know I have a higher pain tolerance but the first 3 attacks were not bad at all and I felt better within 3 doses of pain meds. The 4th time I was more painful but still it was not agonizing or excruciating and I started to feel better after 12 hours or so. Never had any other symptoms with my attack besides upper abdominal pain first three times it was center left but the last time was center right. Never had issues with nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, fever, or increased heart rate. Even though I did drink on Halloween weekend I’ve never been a big drinker at all. I would have 1 maybe 2 drinks a week so they do not think it has anything to do with drinking. My cholesterol is good. I don’t take any medications that have a correlation with pancreatitis. I have no family history of pancreas issues. I am having the EUS next week but I am just worried that it wont lead me to any answers. The doctor said 20% of people have idiopathic pancreatitis and that you just learn to manage but I don’t want to keep getting pancreatitis every month to month and a half. All the doctors and surgeon have said they are certain that the first attack was because of gallstones but if it was and then the second attack was because a stone slipped through and the third attack was because I didn’t know you weren’t supposed to drink while the pancreas was healing why did I get it the 4th time? I was trying really hard with my diet and doing well. I am overweight but since this has started happening I’ve been trying to be healthier eating and excercise wise and have lost 35 lbs since August. I was wondering if anyone had any insight or any thoughts on what could be happening. I am scared of this turning into chronic pancreatitis.

Also I know I am being a worry wart but if there were tumors or anything on my pancreas that would have shown up on the CT scan or MRCP, right