Symptoms (and Signs) of SOD attack

[Guest guest]

Hi Pam,

I had SOD at the same time as I was developing my chronic

pancreatitis problems so it may be hard for me to distinguish the

two pain process apart but I think I have a fairly good idea of what

each one is.

When I had the SOD attacks the best way to describe it is that

they were the quintessential " colick " attacks that you see

described in textbooks regarding gallbladder disease. In my

case it started abruptly , it felt like my back - at the level of the

lower edges of the rib cage - was run into by a n 18 well semi

truck. Slammed is the best way to describe it. Made you fall to

your knees. Then within a matter of seconds it reverberated to

the front and was a hot swordlike piercing from the xyphoid to the

ROQ just beneath the lower edge of the rib cage. It pulsed,

ached, burned, gnawed, twisted, was heavy - I describe it as a

heart attack of the abdomen. I would be extremely nauseous,

begging for anything that would make me throw up. Pacing for

the first hour helped the pain a little but sitting still was an

impossibility at this point. Once the acute phased settled

(usually an hour to two hours) I would be able to lay on my back

with my knees raised to my chest supported by pillows. But

movement at this point was hard. I felt bruised and sore as if that

semi truck had dragged me for a few miles. For the next week or

so, I would continue to feel bruised, have no appetite at all and

be very sick with diarrhea and peeing dark (only at first with this).

When I had my liver enzymes run within 24 hours of the attack

the values would always be quite elevated. However, if I waited

too long (3 days or more) then the values were usually normal or

just slightly abnormal - that is why it is important to have them

run within the first 24 hours. Also the dark urine would

disappear within the first day too. In between this attacks, I

would basically have the pain levels that I still have now, which I

attribute to my chronic pancreatits, not my SOD because since I

had my sphincterotomy for the SOD I have not had one attack like

this (and it has been over a year now).

So basically, it seems as if SOD hits abruptly and severely and

slowly recedes. You can think of it like the symptoms people get

with a kidney stone as in a way it is the same process (a

blockage to fluid flow) and in a way, like a heart attack (a

blockage to blood flow). It is usually intermittent and once the

blockage to the sphincter is removed, the pain will lessen and

you are left with the after effects of the damage that was done

while it was blocked. However, in my case, the attacks started to

come more often with less time between attacks and they

became more severe over time too.

Now those that experience just a decrease in flow as opposed to

the complete blockage like I just described, may experience

different symptoms. My symptoms were caused by the abrupt,

unexpected and total blockage of the sphincter, not a gradual

impediment to flow (think of an embolism vs atherosclerosis

analogy to the heart - the atherosclerosis affects the patient over

time whereas the embolism gives that abrupt " heart attack "

chest pain that is often described).

Hope this helps.

Laurie