Tummy Diagnosis- Pancreatitis!!

Well, I was at work on Friday feeling pretty tired. I wasn't really feeling it but I got to work on time and was in my chair pretending to work but just didn't feel good. Then the room started going dark and I felt much weaker. My stomach had been bothering me for a while and was doing it's bloating thing. I thought the bloating was the reason my back was hurting too... like pregnant women feel from the size of their stomach. Yes, I bloat pretty bad... I got up to stretch my back and almost collapsed. Room started getting dark again and I realized I was really sick. I wasn't in any real acute pain though. Mainly tired and uncomfortable and unable to focus. I figured I was having another stroke so went down to employee health and took my blood pressure. It was really low with a diastolic of 57 and my pulse was very low too. I'm crashing! Took it again and it was even a bit lower! Told my boss that I almost fainted and was crashing and I was going to take myself to the minor emergency clinic. She said "OK, I have a meeting at 3 that I'm getting ready for, sorry." Awww! Isn't she compassionate! She should have called 911. So I drove all the way to my house and went to the minor emergency clinic in my neighborhood instead of the one in the med center where I work. I did not want to be stuck in the med center and that was a great (although dangerous) decsion on my part. At least I didnt faint while driving!

Realized that I was at the same clinic that Barry was at when he almost died from a GI bleed and that started the whole downhill spiral for him. He couldn't drink anymore and didn't want to live if he couldn't drink. The nurse was very nice and offered me a different room right away when I told her that was the one they put Barry in...

Blood pressure and pulse continued to drop. Then the doctor came in and said "You're going to the hospital!" I said, "Why?" Pancreatitis! I had already had my gallbladder checked out and they said it was fine even though all my symptoms were that of a gallbladder attack. I knew I couldn't eat fatty foods but even healthy foods were making me sick now. Ugh! So I got my very first ambulance trip to the hospital. I couldn't eat or drink at all, which gave my pancreas time to rest. My enzymes went down to normal levels on Sunday so they released me at 10pm that night and I was at work on time on Monday morning. I had an event that day so skipping work was out of the question. They dropped three of my four BP meds since they were on the list of ones that can cause pancreatitis. Guess the poor thing was being assaulted for years. I have actually been having GI symptoms for eight years and have been going to the GI docs for about 5 years. Different docs too after I got the feeling the first one couldn't help me anymore. So now I am taking pancreatic enzymes now orally before meals. I've taken two doses so far. Let's hope this works and that I don't develop diabetes or pancreatic cancer from the damage.