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Posted 7/17/2017 11:50 PM (GMT 0)
Has anyone here experienced, or know of someone who experienced, pancreatitis?
I read some stuff online about how lyme or co-infections, babesia in particular, could cause this.

In the seemingly never-ending saga of "what will go wrong with my body today" I went to the ER back in April with what I thought was pancreatitis. I am a germophobe with a high pain threshold, so I was basically half-dead by the time I gave in and went to the hospital. ER doc said just IBS and gallbladder, even though my symptoms were characteristic of neither of those. My gallbladder checked out ok with a later test. I've had IBS since 2001 and my pain/symptoms were nothing like I've experienced from past IBS spells. (I recently read that chronic pancreatitis is sometimes misdiagnosed as IBS, which I find very interesting.)

For the past ten years my digestive problems have gotten progressively worse to the point where my body is having a hard time digesting anything, even liquids. I have a terrible time with sugar, and in 2007 I could no longer digest grains or complex carbs. Now I can't digest meats and most proteins. I think I've most likely had chronic pancreatitis since 2007, but every so often [like now and back in April] it becomes acute.

My LLMD was convinced it was my gallbladder, and since it's not he doesn't seem to care about what it is.
Gastros just stare at me and say I'm too young for pancreas problems [not to mention I'm a female who doesn't have diabetes or drink alcohol]. They tell me to eat bagels and cereal and sugar.

Is there anything I can take to help my pancreas? Any kind of herb, or any kind of cleanse I can do?

Also, if my pancreas were completely shot from the lyme/co-infections, I'd most likely have diabetes, right?

Any advice or input would be much appreciated!
Posted 7/18/2017 1:33 AM (GMT 0)
Hi hollsya -

I don't know if this is helpful - not sure what kind of pain you're having and what other sx or patterns are involved. But I'll share my GI woes, as the journey was long and arduous and ended up in a very different place than where I started, and I'm 90% better now.

My GI problems started about the time I think I contracted Lyme & Co nearly 20 yrs ago and became really bad about 5 yrs ago. I was unable to digest solid food without a lot of pain and was on a liquid diet for almost 2 yrs. I finally found a naturopath specializing in GI and thryoid, which were my main issues (or so I thought).

She did some good testing - I had SEVERE leaky gut, yeast/fungal overgrowth, hypothyroid, severe neurotransmitter imbalances and I also was given the typical diagnoses of fibromyalgia, CFS, and "stressing myself out, not taking care of myself, not sleeping or eating enough..."

Then I figured out my Lyme & Co situation, got diagnosed w/ Lyme, bart, babs - who knows what else, we stopped testing. The following symptoms popped up or got worse after starting Beyond Balance A-Bart - I started with 5 drops once/day and worked up to 30 drops 2x/day:

- gave me bouts of diarrhea alternating with constipation--literally flip-flopped every couple of days

- insomnia - problems going to sleep (I usually crash the minute my head hits the pillow) and significant problems staying asleep (this is likely connected to adrenal imbalances and a cortisol surge in the middle of the night) but bart is notorious for causing insomnia

- increased GI problems - problems digesting food, increased issues with food, and disruptions in moving food through system which in turn causes increased toxin buildup.

- horrific GI attacks where I would start feeling pulsating cramping in my stomach, which then would radiate outward and through my entire torso, front and back... And over the course of a few hours they would get worse and worse and be so painful that I would be crawling to my phone to dial 9-11 but would pass out before I got there... and after about 12 hrs and a lot of dry heaving this would culminate in projectile vomiting a few times - then it would all be over. One episode landed me in the ER on Christmas Eve.

I didn't realize it at the time - took me about a year to draw the connection but these attacks would occur every 4-5 wks while on A-bart, and never occurred when I was off A-bart. This was how LLMD and I were able to diagnose the Bell's palsy of the gut.
www.lymenet.de/literatur/vtsherr_gut.htm

I was already on IV Rocephin so she started me on IV Vancomycin and the episodes have never returned. I've been on it a year and I'm going off this/next month. Success. I've never had much success with any other herbs for bart except CSA, which I'm going back on this week, in fact.

So... long story short, I would explore a microbial origin of your GI mechanical problems.

Hope that's helpful -

-p
Posted 7/18/2017 2:52 AM (GMT 0)
I have a rather large cyst on my pancreas and I just get a scan annually to see how it is doing.

I have pancreas pain once in awhile, but I just ignore it and wait for the CT scan.

My gallbladder doesn't have any stones but I can get sludge. I get that when I don't eat good healthy foods. If you don't have stones, have them do a Hida scan and that will tell if you have sludge.
Posted 7/18/2017 7:25 AM (GMT 0)
Have you ever taken Creon, Pancrease, or OTC digestive enzymes?
Posted 7/18/2017 12:31 PM (GMT 0)
Thanks, Pirouette, for sharing your journey. That is some intense stuff. I'm so glad to hear you are doing so much better now, it gives me hope that I can get better too. I have a few of the symptoms you mentioned and suspect I have Bell's palsy of the gut.

My GI symptoms have always been my worst symptom, but the LLMDs [and I've seen three] basically ignore this. I guess they don't think the lyme & co. is causing it but regardless of what is causing it, they don't attempt to treat it. I can't find a doctor who will give me iv abx--doctors all say to just take orals, which I do not think is a good idea at this point with my digestion so messed up. My current LLMD says everybody has leaky gut [like it's no big deal], and he doesn't believe I have a candida issue because my tongue isn't white. Right.

I'm looking for another LLMD, I have an appointment with a new guy next week, hopefully he will address my digestive issues. In the meantime I'm eating purees and trying not to lose my mind.

Georgia Hunter, I've taken digestive enzymes in the past but I'm not sure what they were. An acupuncturist gave them to me and I got sick from them, not sure what was in them.
Posted 7/18/2017 5:13 PM (GMT 0)
Pancreatits is seen in blood and urine amylase levels. Î hope it helps.
Posted 7/18/2017 6:27 PM (GMT 0)
When someone gets pancreatitis is serious enough that they end up in a hospital. Is not that usual to have this and still be walking around.

However there are millions of peopel with gallblader problems in the USA a pretty high rate, from all ages, and that can cause all kinds of havoc.
Ask me how I know. I had all symptoms you described. I didn't have lyme or gotten lyme at the time.
Seven years ago I had some crazy things happening to me leading up to have the galblader removed.

But, to check your galblader and gut you really need to go to a specialist, to have a Hidda scan done, or other tests.

Some people have their gallblader but is malfunctioning, others have it really so bad that the pain gets unbearable and they need the surgery.
Posted 7/19/2017 9:16 PM (GMT 0)
dmonica,
I had a hida scan and it came back normal. The surgeon I met with said he wasn't gonna take my gallbladder out as he believed my symptoms were not gallbladder related.

finisului17,
I'll ask my primary care doctor to test my amylase levels. I doubt he will want to do it, but he did tell me he'd order pretty much any test I wanted. He believes I have lyme, but he won't treat me for it. The llmd I'm seeing will treat me for lyme, but doesn't wanna order tests I request. If only I could find one doc who would do everything...
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