still having some pain

[Guest guest]

Hi I just got out of the hospital on wednesday and am still having

some residual pain in my upper left quadrant. is this normal??? i

think that the stomach muscle pain is from rolling around in the

hospital bed, getting up and down which i am not use to. But i still

feel a small lodged pain where my pancreas is and was wondering if this

is normal after an attack. I have been using vicodin for pain

reliver. that is all i have. please someone let me know

thanks

Richland Washington

[Guest guest]

Hi ,

As you know it is hard for one person to determine what is

normal for another but I can suggest that it isn't abnormal for you

to be feeling pain as you describe as part of a " normal " recovery

from a flare / attack.

For many people pancreatic pain sticks around for months after

an event, or stays forever or just comes and goes. I have had my

pain almost continuously since July 2005. Sometimes it is

unbearable for weeks at a time and other times it is just a dull

discomfort - but it is always there. One thing to consider if you

are thinking it could be muscular is that your abdominal wall

muscles may spasm when an underlying organ is inflammed.

This is a natural reaction of the body to something that is

endangering the organ. The muscles clench up to protect it and

they can become fatigued over time and spasm or get knotted.

Think of it has having a clenched jaw for days or hours on end

and how those muscles get sore. So you may want to try a

aspirin type med if that is something that is ok for you to take - to

see if you are having some kind of inflammation contributing to

the pain mechanism (tylenol in the vicodin is not an

anti-inflammatory). Heating pads can also relax the muscles as

well as a very gentle suface massage of your abdominal

muscles.

The best indicator of how you are doing is if you are able to eat

and drink adequately at home. Becoming dehydrated or

disoriented from pain, nausea and other symptoms means that

you may need to get re-assessed by a physician.

Each time you get a flare, it may take a little longer for you to get

back to your baseline level of pain. And for some people each

flare re-sets the baseline to a new higher level.

I hope you are able to manage this adequately with your pain

meds.

Laurie