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Posted 10/10/2012 9:51 AM (GMT 0)
I was wondering if anyone has experienced pancreatitis symptoms?
For the last few days I have been having upper abdominal pain and it appears to come and go during the day. I was also having a bit of back pain....not sure if this is related. The back pain appears to be on my right side, feels like kidney??

Does this sound like something anyone else has experienced. Just concerned about Imuran side effects. I will be seeing the doc tomorrow, but thought I would ask in the mean time.
Posted 10/10/2012 11:32 AM (GMT 0)
When I experienced pancreatitis due to Asacol, the pain was probably the worst I ever had in my life. It was a sharp stabbing pain below my ribcage. The pain was so intense I could barely move. 

With that said, obviously I am no doctor, but the pain your describing sounds a lot like what my sister was going through when she had kidney stones. Let us know what your doc says and hope you feel better.

Posted 10/10/2012 11:35 AM (GMT 0)
Agree with Turtlepower. The pain is horrible. I was in tears and went right o the ER. Feel better!
Posted 10/10/2012 12:12 PM (GMT 0)
Having the same issue over the past week and a half, its not horrible to the point I am bent over, but it is rather uncomfortable, and this morning it seemed a lot worse. To be it kind of feels like a cramping sensation, annoying. Been taking more bentyl, and that seems to somewhat help, but it hasn't gotten rid of it yet. Going to give it another day or two, and then gall my GI.
Posted 10/10/2012 2:37 PM (GMT 0)
I do not recall any pain but that was the diagnosis few years ago and it went away.
Posted 10/10/2012 8:23 PM (GMT 0)
Thanks all...I am just about to leave to go to the doctor this morning (Australia time).

We will see what my blood test results show ( I had this over the weekend). I will keep you posted.
Posted 10/11/2012 7:21 AM (GMT 0)
The doctor wasn't sure but advised to wait a few days and then try pariet for a couple of weeks in case is is gastritis. Of course he did say if it got coniderably worse to go to the ER.

For the moment, the pain under the ribs is not there, but i still have some pain in my back.

We will see how it all goes.
Posted 10/11/2012 10:20 AM (GMT 0)
Yes this is probably pancreatitis. I had to quit using imuran because of this.
Its a pity because imuran was actually pushing my body into remmision.

A blood test can confirm it if you are really worried. (i.e amylase, lipase, trypsin)

A simple test is to stop taking imuran for two days.
Your pancreas will settle down if it is indeed the imuran that is upsetting it.

**you** choose what to put into your body. Maybe its time to discuss your other options (6MP?) with your GI.

I am trying 6MP (mercaptopurin). There is a chance that the pancreatitis will return.
60% of people who are intolerant to imuran will be ok with 6MP.
Posted 10/11/2012 11:15 AM (GMT 0)
Hi jovana
I'm experiencing similar symptoms but with no back pain. I have upper left abdominal pain (more like my left chest and right under it). My GI thought it could be my stomach (acid reflux?) so he also prescribed me Pariet and some Chinese herbal meds. Some pain did go away but not all - it comes and goes throughout the day and especially if I eat hard solid foods such as banana (if I don't chew it enough). I did have some blood work done for which I'm still editing for results. Hope you feel better soon and hope they can figure out what's going on.
Posted 10/12/2012 10:23 AM (GMT 0)
Hi all I decide to start the pariet today (couple of hours ago).We will see how this goes. The doctor told me to take it for two weeks to see if it settles, assuming it is gastritis. He didn't rule out pancreatitis, but did not want to send me for any scans. He has booked me in for that special blood test mid next month to see how imuran is working. What was rather odd, was that he had prepared the form for the imuran blood test before I came into his office, but he said that my usual blood tests came back fine. So my question is, why would he schedule this specific test unless he suspected something was wrong. This was before I even told him about the pain.

At the moment, I dont have any pain in the fron...stomach area however, last night the pain in my back (right side, but more towards the centre), felt like it was deep within. It was making me feel nauseous. I will wait it out as I dont want to over react, but I am still concerned. Should I still be concerned?
Posted 10/12/2012 11:16 AM (GMT 0)
Hi Jovana,

Your doctor is not being very informative about their procedures. This is infuriating/intimidating as we are already concerned enough with having the IBD.

So it is time to blow the lid on whats happening. I am fortunate to have an informative and empathetic GI.

Some doctors will assume the patient is incapable of comprehending their disease/treatment.
One way to jump this hurdle is to use the proper drug names. i.e say azathioprine instead of imuran, mercaptopurine instead of 6MP. Using their jargon may send the message that you are switched on and smart enough to learn more details.

If any doctors are reading this I hope you are taking notes and begin engaging fully with your patients. After all, we pay for your lexus.

Imuran is a fairly toxic drug. Once you begin to take it you are automatically enrolled for 6 weekly blood tests. It can wreak havoc on critical blood components and make you very sick (as if we wouldn't notice)

The first blood test is a baseline, to check your blood status before commencing imuran. Then they will be able to see if the imuran is doing damage or being tolerated. As your recent bloods came back fine, this was probably your baseline test. You passed, well done.

Insist on a copy of each and every blood test. Its your blood, your data. You have automatic rights to it. This also sends a message that you are interested in procedings.

If you are really curious you can compare your bloods to the reference ranges published online.

I experienced pain in the center of my chest , behind diaphram. Pain went up to left shoulder and through to my back. It felt like a sword had been pushed through from front to back. On a scale of 1 to 10 the pain was 7/10 (migraine =9/10, fractured elbow = 10/10). It would begin 5 hours after taking imuran and last for 8 hrs. This was bad enough to keep me awake all night.

All the best.
Posted 10/13/2012 6:36 AM (GMT 0)
Hi rikkidan

Thanks for your comments. So what you are trying to say, is that the usual blood tests can come back normal, but it is still possible (due to borderline numbers) for me to have effects on my liver, pancreas, etc.

This is the first time he is sending me for the specific imuran test. I did mention to him that I know it converts to 6mp. I think he also realises that I know a bit more about the disease and the effects of the medication. However, like everyone else here on this forum, we are always looking for other's input and their experiences. It appears that we get more information and advice from each other

How soon after you were on imuran, did you get pancreatitis and what amount of imuran were you on. I have actually been on imuran from October last year however I have been on my current dose for two months now.

Penny471,

At the beginning of my dose of 175mg imuran, I too developed a pain at the time of eating my dinner, in particular, it was so sharp that I had to stop eating and change my position to try and aleviate the pain. This occured a couple of times. I have not had this pain since however, now it has changed into the back pain and nausea at various times during the day.
Posted 10/13/2012 6:50 AM (GMT 0)
Hi,

I was on 100mg imuran for 2 months before pancreatitis set in.

Also lost appetite.
Your bloods will be different each week but will hopefully remain in range
Posted 10/13/2012 6:57 AM (GMT 0)
Hi rikkidan,

did your pancreatitis come on straight away or slowly with symptoms being varied ?

I too seem to lose my appetite when I am feeling nauseous, but it is not constant.
Posted 10/13/2012 7:15 AM (GMT 0)
Hi Jovana,

The pancreatitis would begin will a mild subtle pain.
This would gradually build to the awful pain as described.

This pain would slowly fade as the imuran was eliminated from the body.

The loss of appetite was more constant taking a few days to return to normal.

Coffee multiplied the general misery of my symptoms.
Posted 10/13/2012 11:47 AM (GMT 0)
Jovana,

Has this abdominal pain ever gotten severe enough to warrant a visit to the emergency room?
Have you ever noticed a change in the color of your urine? Has it ever looked orange or red? Have you ever noticed dark stains on the toilet or under the seat from urine residue brown/purple in color?
Posted 10/15/2012 2:17 AM (GMT 0)
Colicky

The pain has subsided but now I am left with almost constant nausea. I also have a throbbing headache over my left eye.

Yes, the underside of the toilet always gets stained as you describe.

What does this mean ?

Posted 10/17/2012 3:05 PM (GMT 0)
I had this exact same thing, although pain was in my upper left abdomen.  I had an MRI Enterography which didn't show anything.  Then I decided to get my Lipase and Amylase numbers checked which turned out to be just slightly high.  GI suggested I stop the Imuran for about 4 days and see if the pain went away, and it did. So he said it is possible it was causing mild pancreatitis and to stop the Imuran.  My levels still haven't went down though so he was having my old biopsies tested for autoimmune pancreatitis. That was a few weeks ago though and I haven't heard back from him so who knows, guessing it showed nothing.

This all happened after I had been taking Imuran about 3 months, but only about a week or so after I upped the Imuran dose from 125mg to 150mg.

Posted 10/17/2012 3:47 PM (GMT 0)
Hello!

I wanted to chime in here because I have been having the ***E X A C T*** symptoms you described... I have been dealing with this off and on for months if not years... I am curious if could be a gallbladder thing? My brother just had his out and he had pain from the right side rib area that seemed to go through to the back, (kidney area) and sometimes it felt like a burning pain, which mine does do sometimes. Mostly lately though it's just a dull ache in the right side underneath my right rib and it is deep inside, and can radiate through to the back kidney area..

If you find out what is causing your pain, I'd appreciate a reply as I don't have health insurance now and I am afraid of the costs to go in and get an abdominal ultrasound to see what's going on in there. ugh!

I am also flaring, although not badly, been flaring now for about 3 months with slight bleeding and fatigue.. Other than that I'm okee dokee...

 

Posted 10/17/2012 4:30 PM (GMT 0)
Just an update...have been on mercaptopurine (6MP) for 8 days now.

Pancreatitis should have set in by now if intolerant....but nothing yet. My body is used to seeing 6MP in circulation so it would have begun a serious protest by now.

Mild pain in center of chest behind diaphram if 6MP taken without food (possiblity of panreatitis returning so being very careful with tablet schedule)

Current flare is being managed by 5mg prednisolone + 3600mg mesalazine /day.
6MP takes 2-3 months to kick in so cannot credit it for gaining remission just yet.

Now normal BM once every day.

Real test is if I can quit prednisolone in 3 months time and remain in stable remission on 6MP.

FYI bloody diarrhea colour would range from bright red to purple.
Don't know why that is but this happened way before any meds were prescribed.

Curious fact....the metabolite of azathioprine is 6MP.
azathioprine = pancreatitis
6MP = well tolerated (so far so good)

Metabolite of prednisone is prednisolone.
prednisone = never tried
prednisolone = well tolerated

Metabolite of sulphasalazine is mesalazine
sulphasalazine= never tried
mesalazine = well tolerated

my body seems to be be coping well with the pre-metabolized version of UC meds.
Posted 10/18/2012 6:05 PM (GMT 0)
The pancreatitis would begin will a mild subtle pain.
This would gradually build to the awful pain as described.

This pain would slowly fade as the imuran was eliminated from the body.

This is what happened to me in a little as 15 days! I had to stop it, my lipase levels were sky high!

I felt nervous, couldn't even concentrate, extremly tired.

 

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