Re: imuran/pancreatitis

[Guest guest]

Harper,

I began having attacks of pancreatitis in Jan 2000, 3 years prior to being diagnosed with AIH and 3 1/2 years prior to going on Imuran, so it's doubtful that the imuran is to blame for my current attacks. After I had the first attack, they did an ERCP and found that there was sludge in my common bile duct and that the bile wasn't flowing well. They did a procedure called a sphincterotomy, which opens the sphincter of oddi and allows the bile to flow better. That seemed to make things better for a short time. I had a second ERCP done in Aug 00 and again the bile wasn't flowing well so they did a second sphincterotomy, opening the sphincter of oddi even more. The second one didn't really seem to help much. My current GI does think that part of the problem is that the bile doesn't flow well, that's why he put me on actigall. I do think the actigall helps, but he told me that since I now have chronic pancreatitis I have to realize that I will have pain and I will have attacks and some will be severe enough to land me in the hospital. One of the reasons I think he may be right about the flow of the bile having something to do with the attacks is because on about the 3rd day after a bad attack, I have major diarrhea for about 3-5 days and much of the diarrhea is nothing but bright yellow bile. Sorry for the graphic description, folks!

I do think I am on the mend. The pain and nausea hasn't been as bad today and the diarrhea is getting better. From everything I've learned, the repeated attacks are just a fact of life once you've had enough attacks that the pancreatitis has become chronic. It could be a lot worse. I am blessed to have a wonderful supportive family, good doctors, and lots of pain and nausea medicine! Oh, yeah, also blessed with wonderful health insurance!

Hope this finds everyone having a great evening.