Pancreatitis blood testing
Common Questions and Answers about Pancreatitis blood testing
pancreatitis
You may have chronic pancreatitis. Find a biliary specialist soon. You should get testing to determine if you have this or not. If you do they will advise you what to do to help.
I was just in the hospital for gallstones and pancreatitis. My blood pressure was as low as 71/34! And it usually is low- but more like 110/65. Isn't low blood pressure just as concerning and dangerous as high blood pressure?? Should I be concerned? I am always freezing cold, even need a sweater on most summer days! I am overweight and have always thought that meant I shouldnt be cold!
When you've got elevated levels of pancreatic enzymes in your blood, it means that for whatever reason they're not being released into the duodenum as they should. Therefore, you're probably not digesting your food properly and putting undigested materials through your system could easily give you diarrhea and discomfort.
My chocolate lab "Skip" is about 10 years old and developed pancreatitis for the first time. We took him to the doctor he never vomited or diahrea until the day after he got to the vets office. His amalyse was high like 8000 and his glucose and white blood count low but we got an ultrasound to make sure not cancer. He started to show improvements with the IV and antibiotic. Now a week later he is starting to decline and the vet has tried everything.
In fact, diagnosing chronic pancreatitis is challenging because testing may yield normal results, even when the disease is present. So doctors typically rely on a battery of tests to come up with the final result.
or it could be pancreatitis.. if you've been drinking or hitting NSAD's really hard lately..the pain is pretty high with pancreatitis and you'd be doubled over..but not always. A blood test for pancreatitis can be used if you've been drinking a lot.. either way with an ulcer i'd avoid alchohol/tylenol/asprin like the plague. That'll kill your stomach.
Dogs, like humans, need a certain amount of fat for good nutrition, but sudden spikes in fat can bring on an acute case of pancreatitis - particularly in a dog who has already had it. Chronic pancreatitis is darned difficult to manage in humans as well as dogs.
Please post back and let us know what your vet has to say about the urine sample and your dog's general condition.
My son is 10 years old. He was diagnosed with acute pancreatitis on March 7. Follow up CT showed less inflammation of the pancreas. An MRCP was normal. Through all of this, his lipase and amylase are still very elevated. They have decreased some since his hospitalization, but they are far from normal (last blood work had lipase at 14 times normal and amylase was 4 times normal). He does not have any pain. He is eating an extremely low fat diet and has restrictions on his activites.
He has gone through massive blood testing throughout the month and everything is normal except for the elevated Lipase levels, had quit drinking a month ago, had an Ultrasound, CT Scan, and MRI which were all normal. I have noticed signs of depression, anxiety, and his stomach discomfort for at least the past 6 months. His specialist told him that they didn't believe at this time it was Pancreatitis because they stated the levels would have gone down to normal by now.
However at my second to last ER visit (about a month ago) for the first time I had an elevated d dimer value of .90. They continued further testing performing a CT scan of the chest and lungs and said I was not suffering from a pulmonary embolism and sent me home with the same anxiety speech. Ever since this elevated d dimer result I have been unable to continue my daily life, I feel rather depressed and anxious.
I am struggling with several issues associated with management of kidney disease in my 18 year old terrier mix rescue dog, who was diagnosed with stage 2 kidney disease 5 weeks ago, on the heels of an episode of acute pancreatitis. He had been on metacam for osteoarthritis (elbow, spine, hips) for about 2 years, so we have been monitoring his blood work at least every 6 months. His creatinine had been creeping up slowly, but entered the abnormal zone at 1.
All were normal except for slightly elevated lipase which led the gastroenterologist and surgeon to believe I may have still been having mild attacks of pancreatitis. My last two blood tests have been normal, but I have read that one may still have mild pancreatitis with normal enzyme levels. The gastro thinks that since my first pancreatitis was so severe there may be some scarring which has led to an enzyme deficiency.
In order to progress to chronic pancreatitis, you would have had a number of episodes of acute pancreatitis before that. The symptoms of pancreatitis are so miserable, you would have known you were experienicng 'something.' Elevations in pancreatic enzymes should be checked out.
Probiotics are wonderful products. Many find they can help to bring bowel habit problems back into line, but they're no replacement for testing.
H.
Ask your doctor to do a blood test for amylase & lipase levels.
ultrasound, bloodwork, and urinalysis and allergy testing, all of which came back neg. for anything. I am on a strict diet and using PPi's for multiple months, but the symptoms haven't gone away. symptoms: stomach problems (stomach burning), mild diarrhoea (which i've had for some years already on and off. Its specifically notable that i still have it now because I take lots of fibre on my diet).
harold2222,
Hey there! Sounds like we have a lot in common. My health problems started out as pancreatitis and catapulted from there. I've had all of the very same tests that you have had and most recently I have been diagnosed with gastroparesis. I am unable to digest food at this point. During all of this testing, it was discovered that I have Sjogren's syndrome, Sarcoidosis, chronic pancreatitis and now this new digestive issue.
I am not familiar with diverculitis but I do know elevated lipsase and amylase is a sign of pancreatitis which can come from many things like meds, cystic fibrosis, genetics, alcohol, or high tryglicerides. Did you dr mention this?
It sounds like your husband has at least pancreatitis based on CT, but it is unusual that the other blood work was normal. Usually pancreatitis presents with elevated amylase and/or lipase. Significant weight loss is concerning for cancer. Jaundice, dark urine, and light stools would also be concerning if present.
I assume they did blood work? The results should be some indication if it is pancreatitis. What is normally done is all food is pulled for at least 24 hrs and fluid therapy and possibly some meds are given. Do you happen to know why they thought he needed a blood transfusion? Sorry, this could even possibly be Cushings or Addison's but blood work should indicate something in that direction.
The doctor thought I might have a problem with my pancreas today with pressing and ordered blood testing and x-rays.
I've had extreme pain in my stomach on eating in the past and was diagnosed with gastritis, advised to follow a clear liquid diet I think it was for 72 hours. With drastic weight loss, along with your other symptoms, you really need to get into a doctor who can refer you to a GI specialist ASAP. Sometimes even cancer can cause weight loss.
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