Dr. Muhammad Majid Hanif
Cardiology
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Patient's Query
Hi doctor,
I was diagnosed last week with a dysfunctional pancreas but further tests are needed. Yesterday, I had a couple of beers and I woke up today with pain in my pancreas (I am quite sure). In the pain scale, it is about where I should take a Paracetamol, but I am afraid to put something down in my stomach. It is not severe. What should I do? Eat lean food and drink water till it goes away or is another treatment needed? I have been on Nexium, Ranitidine for four years and my pancreas gets worse when I take that medication. I stopped Ranitidine one week ago. I had endoscopy last week and esophagus and stomach looked fine. Could it be gallstones blocking pancreas? Hope you can help me here.
Hi,
Welcome to icliniq.com.
I have reviewed your query and can well understand your worries. I would recommend combatting this situation without medications as these medications will also affect your stomach. Try not to take pain medications as much as possible. In severe and unbearable pain you can take though. You already had fundoplication and taking pain medications can cause gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD) or gastric ulcers along with hyperacidity in the stomach. Without having a look at gallbladder it is difficult to say anything about the origin of issue that may have caused pancreatic insufficiency. For diagnosing gallbladder issues (sludge accumulation inside or gallstones) we need to go for an empty stomach ultrasound study of the abdomen. It can show most of the gallbladder issues along with any correlation between the gallbladder and pancreatic issues like gallstones and pancreatic insufficiency.
Alcohol is not good for the pancreas. It is the single most dangerous threat to the pancreatic normal functions. It may also lead to pancreatic cancer along with smoking, age, and infection of the pancreas. It is not severe. Yes, you should deal it like this conservatively, as aforementioned in detail. Hope it helps. Please go ahead for further pancreatic studies as advised by your physician and avoid smoking and alcohol as these are like a poison to the pancreas in this scenario.
Patient's Query
Hi doctor,
Thank you for your answer. I read that hypochlorhydria might give symptoms of lack of pancreas-enzymes. I have now quit Ranitidine for 10 days and I feel much better. The digestion is also better. Could it be that pancreas will get back to normal? I mean if low stomach acid had made pancreas underactive for a couple of years and maybe that is why I got a low level of enzymes on stool test? I am taking a new stool test tomorrow, so hopefully, it will be better. Everytime I take Ranitidine I get severely bloated and get flatulence. It goes away when I quit medication for a couple of days. But I get burning in my pancreas after 5 to 7 days without Ranitidine, could the burning sensation be signs of pancreas starting to work again? I have read that pH need to be 2 or lower when it leave stomach to make pancreas-enzymes active. Could this be making my pancreas-problems when taking Ranitidine?
Hi,
Welcome back to icliniq.com.
About your query, that whether pancreas will get back to normal? It depends on the extent of pancreatic damages, a primary cause of the main issue (the underlying disease, etc.,), lifestyle changes and a lot more. If hypochlorhydria was the sole cause, then yes pancreas may return to normal to some extent based on the damages already there (if any due to any reason). The physiology behind acid in stomach and pancreas is that the stomach acid triggers the pancreas to release its important digestive enzymes. No acid-low functioning pancreas. Once this trigger is restored, the pancreas may get back to normal. No, the burning 5 to 7 days after stopping Ranitidine is not due to the pancreas. It is from lot more acid in the stomach that causes issues like this.
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Cardiology
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