Oily stools and urine

[Guest guest]

Hello

I am a first time user of this site and am currently seeing a

gastroenterologist (2nd one) for suspected chronic pancreatitis.

I have had blood tests (CBC, LFT, ESR) which appear within limits, an

endoscopy that led to a diagnosis of gastritis and oesophagitis. A

gall bladder emptying study with CCK was also listed as clear. An

ultrasound taken in early 2003 (in conjunction with the gastritis

investigation) showed my gall bladder, pancreas etc to be clear.

However I did not start having right hand (near the rib cage and in

the right flank) until 6 or so weeks after the endoscopy but another

ultrasound has not been done since. I have learnt to recognise the

gastritis symptoms but cannot identify the right hand side pain I

suffer from. This pain is daily but can flare up and become acute.When

I have a pain attack the only thing that alleviates the pain is to

stop eating, lie down, breathe shallowly and wait for it to pass (with

the worst attack this lasted for 2 & a half days). A recent lower

abdominal laparoscopy ruled out appendix and ovarian issues (other

than a cyst that was drained).

I am suffering from malabsorption and whilst I can loose weight I

simply cannot put it back on again (I'm currently underweight at

present but not too badly ie 50kg and 166cm height). I pass oily

stools (large, malodorous, ill-formed) and the gastroenterologist has

put me on Creon R Forte as he said this is symptomatic of a pancreatic

condition. I do not drink any alcohol nor suffer from hepatitis, have

never been overweight, nor eaten a high fat diet so it is hard to

understand how I could have a pancreas problem. As I am normally have

a low fat diet my dosage is 1 Creon R tablet with breakfast and lunch

and 2 with main meals. I haven't noticed much difference in my pain

symptoms except I haven't had a 'flare'. I have not gained any wieght.

Perhaps my dose is insufficient. I now have an oily film to my urine

on a daily basis rather than just my stools - but not with every

urination. I cannot identify this oiliness with any food/time of day -

there is no pattern to it. A naturopath took a urine sample and

advised that I had bile in my urine but the doctors test did not. The

GP said they didn't know what it was and that it was perhaps something

in the toilet bowel causing contamination. Unfortunately this cannot

be the case as it has happened in many different toilets! I will ask

the gastroenterologist when I see him next but I wondered if anyone

else who has been diagnosed with a pancreatic condition has

experienced oily urine in conjunction with it? The oily film appears

on the surface of the urine and for some silly reason it is causing me

more anxiety than the pain I suffer from! I feel like my body is

simply breaking down.

I have also read about bacterial overgrowth syndrome and how some of

the symptoms I have match this condition (not the oily urine, stools

though). Did any one out there get tested for this and is this related

to pancreatic insufficiency?

Sorry to be so long winded but I am quite tired of puzzling over this

alone and felt that it would help to ask for others insight.

Bye for now

[Guest guest]

Hi Tuttersweetpea, yeah, I am oily like that. I have always been slender, taken

great care of myself, rode my bike 10 miles a day, served in the Army, I thought

I was in great shape, etc...and like you, there is no reason for me to be sick,

well, inagine everyones suprises when during my first ercp and eus, they found 2

pancreases and some crazy duct work! LOL..My first urine samples were full of

blood and tisssue...so much so that the nurse said , we needed a urine sample

and I said yep, and that's it! LOL it didn't even like urine! It was brown with

some red and lots of tissue and it was a little oily. Not as oily as the bowel.

I have malabsortion too and the enzymes help A LOT and I mean A LOT!! I hope to

God you don't have CP, you think your body is falling apart now, holy smokes,

when you have CP you KNOW its totaly betrayed in ways you have not even

inagined. I wish you the very very best. Take care and I'll be praying for you

-Kathleen

tuttersweetpea wrote:

web.

[Guest guest]

Sweetpea,

For lack of a real name, that will have to do. Welcome to our family.

While I'm sorry for the reasons that caused you to seek us out, I do

believe you've come to the right place to find some answers to your

questions and some friendly faces to offer you support.

You were concerned about the fact that you have not been able to

regain or maintain your former weight since you've developed

malabsorption, (steatorrhea), from your suspected chronic

pancreatitis. I have done considerable research on malabsorption

because I've suffered so from it myself for the past 5-6 years, even

since before my official diagnosis of chronic pancreatitis. One

thing I have learned from the research is that the specialists say

it is necessary for us to have a minimum replacement amount of at

least 30,000 units lipase in order to reverse weight loss effects

of the malabsorption. If you are only taking 1-2 capsules of Creon,

this does not provide enough lipase supplementation. In the US,

each Creon 10 capsule contains only 10,000 units of lipase. If your

Creon R Forte capsules are different from those we have here in the

states, please disregard, but I believe that your dosages are the

same as ours.

I take 5-6 tablets of Viokase-16 enzymes with each meal, which means

that I am getting 85,000-101,000 units of lipase each time I eat.

My pancreas has burned out so therefore, I may require more

supplementation than other patients, but for any patient with a

malabsorption problem it is felt that at least 30,000 units are

necessary. It wasn't until I began this higher dosage of enzymes

that I finally began to regain the substancial weight that I had

lost. If you would like further information that verifies this

research, I would be happy to email it to you, or post it on the

board.

While I have never noticed oily urine, I did suffer from large, oil

stools or horrible diarrhea on a regular basis until I began using

pancreatic enzyme supplements. The only time I have a distinct

problem with these complaints now is just before an accute attack.

I'm sorry that I can't help you with your unusual urine complaint.

Bacterial Overgrowth is related to pancreatic insufficiency, and

while I'm not familiar with the specific test that determines

whether or not a patient has this problem, I know I was diagnosed

with it on one occasion, and the treatment was a heavy course of

strong antibiotics to be taken over a 6 weeks period of time. I

believe this dx. was incorrect, because I was hospitalized during

that time with DKA, and suddenly not another word was mentioned

about Bacterial Overgrowth.

Many of us have been diagnosed with Idiopathic Chronic Pancreatitis,

meaning that we don't fall into any of the more commonly known

reasons for pancreatitis, such as alcohol related, gallbladder

related, heriditary, caused by trauma, prescription medication,

surgery or auto immune disease. While there may be no explanation

for your Chronic Pancreatitis, the treatment is much the same for

all.

Having a good specialist that understands this and is willing to

dedicate himself to proper treatment for you is paramount. Your

physical and mental well being should be this doctor's first

priority, and if you don't already have a specialist who fits these

requirements, I do urge you to look for one immediately.

I hope this answers some of your questions, and look forward to

hearing many more. Please feel free to join in with comments or

questions at any time.

With love, hope and prayers,

Heidi

Heidi H. Griffeth

www.pancassociation.org/anthology#Heidi.html

Bluffton, SC

SC State & SE Regional Representative

Note: All comments or advice are personal opinion only, and should

not be substituted for professional medical consultation.