Pooped Out Pancreas?

[vbecton]

Went back to the GI doctor yesterday for test results. I'm steadily getting worse. My bowels are in full-attack, military distress, calling all cars mode!!! Can't hardly leave the house for fear of "D" as I never know when it's going to strike. It's the sneak attack D, the kind without much warning.

The doctor thinks my pancreas could be the problem, but he's treating me currently for SIBO (& Giardia for good measure), then he'll do my colonoscopy in 10 days to check for colitis.

Here's the deal, I'm dropping weight, but eating 3500 calories per day. All food makes me sick, I eat anyway. My bowels contain large chunks of undigested foods. My malabsorption continues to be a major problem (amino acids, some vitamins). I turned in a stool sample today to test for parasites (that was my request ), and a Sudan Fat Stain, which I think my doctor wants as a baseline?

What tests do you know of that could test for a faulty pancreas? One that obviously can't supply the right enzymes to break down food? My GI said something about a 3 day stool sample that would measure fat dumping. I'm determined to find the culprit...so bring on the suggestions!

[ravenwoodglass]

Here is a link to a WebMD page on pancreatic testing. Hope it helps.

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[Roda]

I just did a 24 hour fecal fat quantatitive test. Very similar to the 3 day. It tests how much fat is in the stool. If over a certain amount then you have "malabsorption". Mine was 25.8 with a reference range of 0-6. However it did not differentiate what kind of "fat" it was. THe lab where mine was run I found that there is a fecal fat qualitative test that can tell whether it is neutral fats or spit fats. This seems to me that whichever it was it could direct them to the pancreas/gallbladder as a culprit. I wish I had that done also, but at the time I didn't know anything about it. I am thinking my problem is either one just don't know which one to blame right now. I am taking some pancreatic enzymes I bought at the health store (I did discontinue them for about a week before testing) and they do help. My loose/diarrhea yellow stools have gotten more normal and are not yellow anymore. However I still continue to see visible fat, but not as much. I'm thinking maybe a rx strentgh enzyme might help but I also get a pinching/ache sensation in my right upper abdomen too. The nurse called me yesterday and said the doctor wanted me to take prednisone for a month and follow up. I said I didn't want to do anything especially steroids until I discuss some things in person. I have an appointment next Tuesday.

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[vbecton]

Here is a link to a WebMD page on pancreatic testing. Hope it helps.

Open Original Shared Link

Thanks ravenwood, I guess we are on the right track with the stool testing. My GI said the blood testing was too non-specific to really give us anything to go on. He also said the pancreas isn't easy to diagnosis. There are lots of things to rule out first, unless it's an acute problem.

[vbecton]

I just did a 24 hour fecal fat quantatitive test. Very similar to the 3 day. It tests how much fat is in the stool. If over a certain amount then you have "malabsorption". Mine was 25.8 with a reference range of 0-6. However it did not differenciate what kind of "fat" it was. THe lab where mine was run I found that there is a fecal fat qualitative test that can tell whether it is neutral fats or spit fats. This seems to me that whichever it was it could direct them to the pancreas/gallbladder as a culprit. I wish I had that done also, but at the time I didn't know anything about it. I am thinking my problem is either one just don't know which one to blame right now. I am taking some pancreatic enzymes I bought at the health store (I did discontinue them for about a week before testing) and they do help. My loose/diarrhea yellow stools have gotten more normal and are not yellow anymore. However I still continue to see visible fat, but not as much. I'm thinking maybe a rx strentgh enzyme might help but I also get a pinching/ache sensation in my right upper abdomen too. The nurse called me yesterday and said the doctor wanted me to take prednisone for a month and follow up. I said I didn't want to do anything especially steroids until I discuss some things in person. I have an appointment next Tuesday.

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Good info! My doc did mention there was a qualitative and a quantitative test. There was so much information talked about during our meeting that I can't remember my head from my tail, but I do remember him saying he wanted a full 3 days of specimen to get an average of fat. But, I'll email him to make sure he's looking for both types of fat.

Did you have undisgested food in your poo? I am just noticing this myself. I usually don't inspect my goods, I just check the color, the size and flush .

[ravenwoodglass]

Thanks ravenwood, I guess we are on the right track with the stool testing. My GI said the blood testing was too non-specific to really give us anything to go on. He also said the pancreas isn't easy to diagnosis. There are lots of things to rule out first, unless it's an acute problem.

Glad the info was helpful. You asked in another post about seeing undigested food. when I had pancreatitis from an adverse reaction to a drug I was seeing undigested food. Everything looked the same when it came out as when it went in. Sorry for the TMI. The pancreatic enzymes helped with that pretty quickly. Make sure to mention the undigested food to your doctor if you haven't already.

[Roda]

Did you have undisgested food in your poo? I am just noticing this myself. I usually don't inspect my goods, I just check the color, the size and flush .

Yes, and more so when not taking the enzymes. It also would get very, what I consider acidic, because it caused irritation and burning in other areas that I had to get a steroid/nystatin cream from the gyn. At my worst I was fearful of not making it to the bathroom in time and was having a seeping problem. UGG! THe other thing that has me thinking gb/pancreas is the fact I'm not loosing weight and I do not have impared absorption of nutrients. Everything in that catagory is A.O.K. When I eat no fat at all my BM are almost normal.

[kayo]

My loose/diarrhea yellow stools

I'm glad this was mentioned as it describes my symptoms too. I'm also seeing undigested food. Well, hello carrots! I googled yellow stool and the pancreas was mentioned which scares the dickens out of me. A good friend of mine who also had RA and took the same RA med as I do died of pancreatic cancer a few years ago.

The pain I get is in the front just under my last set of ribs, if that makes sense. It's lower than my stomach which I would estimate is under my ribs but closer to the base of my breast. So I can't tell which organ it is - pancreas or colon?

I'm on a histamine blocker which seems to be helping but the D hasn't subsided yet. The improvement is the pain is less sharp, less annoying and even though I have big D it's not the 'OMG, I need to find a bathroom now' kind of D. It's still yellow though.

The other reason I think it might be my pancreas is I can't handle sugar on an empty stomach - I get severe pain in that spot. I've had to experiment to find a non-sweet breakfast that wouldn't give me pain (sweet potatoes work best). I'm not a breakfast person at all and hate to eat in the morning but need to take the med at breakfast time 15-20 mins before eating.

At last check my vitamin levels were all good. I'm perplexed unless this is all symptoms of too much histamine and/or recovery from SIBO.