Hi my name is Lucy I am a new member.

[Guest guest]

Hi Everyone, The first time I knew I had pancreatitis was on Dec 6th

2003.I had such bad pain they put me in the hospital for a week and

told that is what I have. So right after that my dr. told me to go

see a pain managment dr. so I did well they tryed a block on me they

tryed those alot did not work. They did a trial morphine pump that

seemed to cut the pain. So they ordered me a morphine pump so I

have that and I really don't like it they didn't tell me all the side

effects it would have the dr. told me It will control your pain and

you can lead a normal life and you can drive maybe even go to work.

Sure he said that to me now he said he never told me I could drive. I

don't know what you all know about morphine pumps but they turn it up

1mg a week so I started my pain was so bad that I had got to 18 1/2

mg. That was alot and then when I had pain still I had to take pills

Dilaudid 4mg I took 2 at a time you can only take it 4 times in a

day when the pain didn't stop I had too go to urgent care they gave

me ontop of all this 200mg Demrol which finally would kill the pain.

Now my pump is at 9mg I had it at 6mg and did good for about a month

I went to a speclist at ucla Dr. Farrell. He did a block of

the nevers around the pancreatits and I knew the next day it did not

work. I called the dr. he said it sounds like it didn't work. Wow So

now what I left the dr.messages everyday for 30days never calls so 2

times I called the administrated office and he finally returns my

call all he tells me is go back to your pain dr. so he never calls

again I thought maybe he would be my dr. and help me. No. so all I

have is a pain dr he just deals with pain. He tells me if you have to

much pain go to ER our ER is a 8 to 12 hour wait. But he don;t care.I

have had such bad attacks lately once I made to urgent care they

close by 7 " 30 pm then you are stuck going to the hostipal which I

will never go again. Morphine at high dose makes me have frozen

shoulders when I wake up I can hardly get out of bed I am so stiff It

is not good I don;t want to feel that way then the pills I mentioned

make me itch all over really bad I have scratches all over I look

like a tweaker. Another dr. told me I was alergic to that pill. but

he still gives it to me. So I don't want the pump for thease

reasons. I would like to know what other people do for thepain that

could work. Does alot of people have morphine pumps? Do you have a

dr. that you could go to for your pancreatits. How do you handle

this are you on a special diet to help you they told me eat anything

you want. Also I forgot to tell you the pump made me gain at least

40lbs which I can't get off, cause it even causes very deep

depression. I also go to my shrink for anita depressents and even

they didn't work. so I am still depressed and I usally stay in the

house all alone while my husband works. I watch tv all day. if I try

to clean the house I can only do little things or my back starts up

My pain is from my stomach thur my back nasa, sever pain can't move.

Is yours like that too? Anything I do to bend usually sets it off. I

would like to know am I the only one like this or are some of you

like me. Do you know better dr's I live in Lake about 45 min

from santa clarita. I don';t know if you know where that is. to start

I would like a dr. who I can go to not just a pain guy. can any of

you tell me some things what I can do. I heard people take enyzems i

don't no one gave them to me. Lately I am a mess agin in pain alot

cause I don't want to turn the pump up cause of side effects. My

depression has been a little better my doc changed some things my

weight depresses me so much. I was heavy all my life struggle to get

it off and was at a decent spot before all of this. Does that happen

to people too? Any in put you can give me woould be so good. My

friends told me to look into groups so thats what i am doing I hope I

haven't bored you all to death. I really need to get off this pump

but I want to make sure I can deal with this alone. Please help.

Thank you so much for reading this. Lucy

[Guest guest]

Lucy,

First you need to find yourself a gastroenterologist. I am not from CA so I

cant help you there. Second you need to watch what you eat. A LOW fat diet

is essential. That will probably also help with your weight. I am on a

duragesic patchfor my pain. I put it on and leave it for 3 days. I also have

hydracodone for break thru pain if I need it. I think there are a few people on

here from CA so they might be able to help you find a GI. Enzymes help you

digest your food I take pancreas but there are a lot of enzymes out there. I

hope

that this has helped at least a liitle bit. If you have any other questions

feel free to ask some one here is bound to be able to find you the answer.

IA

[Guest guest]

Dear Lucy,

It is a problem that you don't have a gastroenterologist to monitor your regular

pancreatitis health care. That might be your first project to accomplish, to

find

a gastroenterologist in your area who can treat you with any problems that

exist now and in the future. This doctor could be the one to refer you to a

Pain

Mangement doctor. The regional representative for California is Kimber

, her email address is: hominid2@.... Kimber may know of a

specialist in your area of California.

Another place you might look for a doctor's name would be in our " Database "

section on the left side of the PAI message board main page at yahoogroups.

There is a lot of information in our files, database and links that may interest

you. Another good place to go for information about pancreatitis and all of

it's

related subjects would be our library at: www.top5plus5.com/

It sounds as though you are unhappy with the morphine pump and interested

in other types of pain management. There are a few members here that use a

pump, hopefully they will read your message and share their experiences

with the pump with you. I've had no experience with it myself.

Other methods of pain control are oral narcotics, as I'm sure you know. There

are narcotics that provide long term pain coverage like MS Contin (Oxycontin)

which lasts 12 hours, or a Duragesic (Fentanyl) patch, which can provide

coverage from 48 to 72 hours. Both of these narcotics have different dosages

that can be used to meet a person's individual needs. Most people on one of

the long acting pain medications still has to take a short acting oral med for

breakthrough pain, something like Oxycodone, Morphine, Oxycontin IR or

Percocet. I am not suggesting any particular medication as being what you

should use, just reviewing some of those that are used by CP patients. It

would be your doctor's recommendation, with your cooperation, to determine

what medication would be best for you. That's why it's so important that you

be under the regular treatment of either a gastroenterologist or pain

management doctor. You could also address the problems that you're having

with Dilaudid, as it appears that you may have an allergy to this medication.

There are several other short acting medications that would probably be just

as effective that you may not have a sensitivity to.

This doctor could also prescribe the pancreatic enzymes for you that most of

us take to help with our digestive pain issues. Not everyone takes them, but a

good majority of us do, and we find them very helpful. Most of us also adhere

to a low fat diet as a way of helping to control the pain we feel that's caused

by

the digestion of fats and protein. An impaired pancreas has difficulty

digesting fats and proteins, since the enzymes normally produced that would

make digestion take place (lipase and amylase) aren't functioning. That's why

the low fat diet is so helpful, because it doesn't make the pancreas try to work

to produce those pancreatic enzymes. The oral pancreatic enzymes that we

take substitute for the loss of those in the pancreas.

Many of us have to deal with depression on a daily basis, as you do. Kimber

just wrote about it in one of her posts, and she was quite observant of the fact

that the depression seems worse when we are housebound, as you are.

Getting out of the house to a movie, or for a walk, or to meet someone for

lunch, is so important. It helps us to forget about the depressing things which

we labor about too much if we are always home alone. Many of us try to do

this as often as possible, in addition to having to take an antidepressant.

Some other things that help ward off the depression is to get involved in a

hobbies, such as sewing, reading, painting, crafts, etc. and moderate

exercise. There again, walking is excellent, and not stressful on the

pancreas. If you feel that your antidepressant isn't working well for you, you

might try to give it a boost by involving yourself with a hobby and/or exercise,

or getting out of the house. If none of this helps, it may be time for you to

consider a change of medication or dosage. Your doctor could help with this,

also.

Lucy, finding yourself a good gastroenterologist really seems to be the key to

open the door that will help you with most of your problems right now. If you

can do this, you may find that good medical care with solve much of what's

distressing you at this time. Having a good support system is crucial, too, in

helping you to learn how to help yourself. I think you'll find that support

system here in this group if you want it. We've got a fantastic group of people

here that understand your problems because so many of us have had similar

ones ourselves, and everyone's so helpful to each other. Having someone

who understands, to talk to, can make a tremendous difference in how well

we do with our disease.

I'm afraid I didn't address all of your questions, but this is a start for you

to think

about. Please feel free to discuss or comment on anything here that's of

interest to you.

With love, hope and prayers,

Heidi

Heidi H. Griffeth

South Carolina

SC & SE Regional Rep.

PAI

Note: All comments and advice are based on personal experience or

opinion, and should not be substituted for consultation with a medical

professional.

[Guest guest]

Hi Everyone, I just want to thank all of you for your support and ideas and

doctors to see it has been great all the mail I got. If anyone out there has a

morphine pump please let me know how you are doing with it and if you have any

side effects. I guess I am unhappy with mine it has been a year. Thanks Lucy