Pancreatitis caused by UC Meds??

Hi all,

I am writing from the comfort of my couch for the first time in three days. The past three I was in the hospital due to pancreatitis. The cause the GI doctors at the hospital determined? That's right, our good friends Asacol, Bentyl, and Cipro!

This past Sunday after breakfast and my first round of meds, I started to feel off, not nauseous, but just altogether blah. An hour later I took a probiotic then progressively got worse. Eventually where I had intense sharp pain from my upper abdomen and could not move or walk or lay down. I subsequently went to the ER where they put me on an IV and had a CT. Eventually I was admitted due to high pancreatic enzyme levels (They were at 5000!!). They gave me some morphine and some antibiotic through IV and eventually the pain lessened.  I met with the GI team where they thought the pancreatitis was from my meds, because once I was off of them, my enzyme levels drastically lowered to where they should be. "I never seen levels drop from that extreme so quickly!" One of the GIs mentioned. So, now I am home without any meds to take and am curious to what will happen.  One thing the GI doctors at the hospital mentioned is that they recommend i go on remicade to eliminate the need for all the other pills, but we shall see about that one.

Just curious if anyone has heard about the link to pancreatitis and UC?

I also ended up in the er with pancreatitis from Asacol. It is listed as a side effect, although rare. We tried other meds, but those didn't work. I am now on imuran, and while no side effects, it isn't working either. I am waiting on blood work to find out levels and that will determine my next step. It may be remicade for me. Good luck!

Post Edited (Gottago!) : 5/9/2012 7:35:17 PM (GMT-6)

Hi turtlepower
Yes my daughter developed pancreatitis as a direct result of mesalamine - when she stopped the oral drug her amylase dropped quickly. Then when she came out of hospital we tried the rectal meds (limited absorbtion) to control severe bleeding but her amylase started to climb again. She is now off all mesalamine and doing well on adjusted SCD and 6MP.
Pancreatitis is a rare side-effect but people should be aware of the possibility if they develop sharp pain just below the ribs combined with nausia that jumps in just after eating.
Sue

     My pancreatic enzyme levels were 4x the norm when I was on 6MP and admitted to the hospital in a bad flare.  My doctor took me off the 6MP only for two weeks and that quickly, the enzyme levels returned to normal limits, go figure.

Hello everyone. Here is an update: I spoke to my GI about this latest episode. He's convinced it's not the meds so he told me to go back on the Asacol. However, I took my usually dosage but the next, the cramping started up in the morning (Although not as severe), enough for me to stop taking my Asacol. So, the only med I have been taking is the Bentyl which doesn't curtail the urgency, but at least keeps my insides feeling somewhat normal.

This Friday i am scheduled for an MRI of my abdomen because my GI wants to see if i suffer from either chronic pancreatitis or autoimmune pancreatitis (did some bloodwork for that last week). Honestly, I am a little nervous about the MRI, I have done them before, but what happens if I get the sudden urge to go while I am lying there?? :)

I'll provide everyone with an additional update once I get one.

They give you a little bulb to squeeze in case of emergency when you are in the MRI. Once, during an MRI, I felt like I was going to throw up. I squeezed the bulb and told them how I felt and they immediately stopped the scan and ran (literally) to let me out.

It's an expensive machine- they really don't want you to make a mess of it.

Mary,

Wow, I am so sorry.

And they're telling you the damage is irreversible?

So what's the solution in your case?

And how are they now treating you?

InSoFla:
Yeah, its irreversible. There is no solution really, other than waiting to see what happens. They can always take it out I guess. They do that when the pain is constant and the organ is non-functioning.
The pancreas guru's at the U of MN, where I go, tell me its a waiting game.
I trust these guys as I've finally found the doctors who will really listen and take action. FINALLY.

So, the "treatment" is to take fish oils, Prilosec, Vit's with selenium, and I throw in an extra 500mg of C
for good measure.
I have a bottle of pain medications, Tramadol and also some Percocet, that I carry with me at all times
as this disorder has a tendency to attack at random moments and it is super, horribly painful.

So on top of pooing in my pants and having this UC flare that won't go away, and all that entails, I have all this pancreas stuff to deal with.
It's a lot and we are raising two kids, age 15 and 10 as well.

I'm doing my best, taking my Lialda, Canasa, Rowesa, gluten free, low fat diet, low residue because I have to
and exercising regularly. I'm still on long term disability and hope I can return to work as a nurse, but maybe at a desk job?? I've been off work for over a year now. Oh, and I also see a hypnotherapist via my pain clinic and am enjoying that a lot.
Thanks for asking. It helps to share.

Yeah, I get that a lot. I haven't had any alcohol in like 10 years after my first attack. They never believe me.

It gets really, really old and moldy.

Im currently waiting on some tests for pancreitis after suffering for 8 days with severe pain in my abdomen. the only thing ive taking orally for long period is asacolon.

     Back in 2008 I was hospitalized for ulcerative proctitis....symptoms...severe urgency, no control at all over my BM's, bleeding.  My blood pressure was also 216/110 and even though I doubled up on my BP medicine, it would not come down.  Hubby took me to the ER at 1am.  After being admitted, they ran the gamut of blood tests and my doctor was upset when my pancreatic enzyme levels were 4x the normal limits.  He took me off the 6MP immediately.  However, I had no symptoms of pancreatitis!  No pain in the stomach at all!  Can you have pancreatitis without symptoms?