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Hi there,

My name is JT, I'm 23 years old, and I'm really scared. Last spring

I got sick, off and on, for about a week. I didn't think a lot of

it but, after vomiting one time, a friend became concerned and took

me to the ER. The docs there thought I had gastroenteritis and they

sent me home. I let it go and eventually the pain just went away

completely. A follow-up appt some time later, however, showed that

my lipase (which at that time I had never heard of) was elevated.

The doc ordered a CT scan and an ultrasound, both of which showed

nothing except a possible mild inflammation of the tail of the

pancreas. After a few weeks the lipase dropped and the doc told me

that I was probably okay.

I am not a regular drinker, but on one occasion at the end of May I

had a little bit too much to drink and threw up. It was actually

the first time I've ever thrown up from drinking. I had more

abdominal pain about six days later and I went to the ER (a

different one, as I was in the process of moving at the time). My

lipase was significantly elevated, and I was admitted to the

hospital. The docs did a CT scan and kept me on an IV for two

days. The pain went away almost immediately and I was released,

even though the lipase hadn't settled. For five months I had no

real problems, and I thought I was fine.

I went to the doc about a month ago with some very mild and sporadic

abdominal pain on my right side. I thought I had contracted a

stomach flu that was going around. My lipase was measured at 96 and

I panicked. While I have not have, nor have ever had, any

debilitating pain through all of this, my lipase has remained high

for over a month now (although it drops a bit each blood test- last

week it was 74). Amylase has been normal. I have felt some

discomfort in my back, and a little near my belly button and in

other random locations, but not a whole lot on my right side anymore.

I have been absolutely in a panic, and lately I have been becoming

depressed. I read an awful lot of awful stuff about pancreatitis on

the internet, and am now terrified of the future. The doc wants to

do a CT scan in Jan. I don't know if I'll go through with it

because I neither like nor trust the doc that I'm seeing- I'm kind

of limited in my medical options though. My mental state has been

far worse than my physical state has been- I have aspirations of

going back in the military after college and of doing a whole

plethora of other things with my life. I have not been diagnosed

with anything as yet, but I can't help but think of the worst-case

scenerios.

I don't know what is causing this either. There were no gallstones

on my CT scans last spring, I'm not an alcoholic by any means (or

even a regular drinker- won't touch the stuff now), I don't smoke,

and there's no history of this on either side of my family. I was

taking Paxil for over a year, and I chucked the stuff in May even

though all the docs I've met swear that it doesn't cause

pancreatitis.

I don't know what I'm looking for really, but maybe some

encouragement, advice...anything really. No one around here has

even heard of pancreatitis, let alone has it. I've been feeling

kind of alone in this, and certainly scared.

I was referred here by someone I met through researching on the

web. I've been e-mailing him lately and his help has been

tremendous.

Thanks for reading.

- JT