Re: To: Bull

[Guest guest]

Cheryl,

If the Elavil works for you I wouldn't worry about why they might

have prescribed it though I believe that your pharmacist is correct

since 25mg would be on the far low end to be therapeutic for

depression. From my browsing of this site though it seems that you

certainly wouldn't be alone if you were depressed.

Standing and walking for a reasonable period of time doesn't seem to

have a negative effect on me. Most of my nausea occurs at night while

lying down, simple physics I guess with the stomach lying on top of

the pancreas. The pseudocysts are a result of the inflammation during

the acute pancreatitis. My pancreas was still inflamed on my last CT

scan which was 3 weeks ago which surprised my gastroenterologist. I

have been able to do most of my daily duties and using the pain

during the acute phase as a 10 my pain most days now is around 4. My

abdomen also is really sore with the central point of discomfort

being just left of midline substernal which is where the 4 x 6

cm " appendage " shows up on CT . Pancreatitis can be pretty rough but

there are things far worse that I am glad that I don't have.

As far as the stent is concerned I don't know that I would go for

another ERCP at this point but only you know what is right for you.

Good luck.

Bull

> Bull,

> I, too, have a lot of pain & nausea as soon as my head hits the

pillow. The dr. put me on Elavil 25 mg then upped it to 50mg. I'm

soooo concerned that they are pulling a fast one on me with regards

to depression. However, the pharmacist has assured me over & over

that the dosage I am taking is definitely not for depression but

chronic pain. I must admit, the elavil has made a definite

improvement in my sleep. I take the elavil, a pain pill & compazine

before I go to sleep and it seems to work for me. Getting a good

night's sleep is probably one of the most important things with even

a healthy body. I'm a little groggy in the a.m. when I wake up, but

it's nothing that doesn't wear off within an hour or so. What I find

so interesting is that some in the group of spoken of pain when

sitting--that getting up & walking around seems to help. It seems to

be the opposite for me. If I stand for too long a period, I start to

hurt & have to sit down. I've been taking short walks every other

morning (used to be an avid walker) for about 15-20 minutes; just

trying to build up my stamina. My husband works out & is going to

help me do some very, very light work out with weights/equipment. I

haven't started yet, but am anxious to try it. I used to work out,

too. Guess that's true for just about everybody here--we all used to

do this or that!!

> As for your acute attack, I'm sorry that you developed the

pseudocysts. Do they feel it was actually caused by the ERCP? THAT

is really scary! As for myself, I'm feeling better for the most

part. However, my abdomen still feels like I was in a boxing match!

I think I'm going to call to set up the appt. for the stent placement-

--maybe. Just not sure I'm ready for another ERCP just yet, but the

carrot has been dangled, so to speak. My husband thinks I should &

part/most of me says go for it, but there's this little voice that

keeps saying, " Are you sure about this? "

> Well, I hope you're having some relief this weekend. Good luck

on your travels. I, too, carry my little satchel of meds wherever I

go. It's like that old commercial: " Don't leave home without it! "

Take care,

> Cheryl from Illinois

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