Hello,
I read this with great interest, since I once had an acute attack of pancreatitis. Besides experiencing some memorable pain, my most vivid recollection of that time is the incompetence of the physician who attended me as an emergency admit in the hospital.
I don't drink. Back then, maybe I had a light beer once or twice a month. However I do have an autoimmune disease. Instead of considering the latter as a possible diagnosis, the doctor went straight to alcoholism. He mimed someone drinking deeply from a bottle and smiled broadly at me. The obvious suggestion was my habit of drink.
It took me about an hour to sign out of that hospital, against medical advice. My acute symptoms had abated. All I wanted to do was get to a proper doctor/hospital. This turned out to be a very good decision.
Follow up visit with an excellent gastroenterologist confirmed the pancreatitis diagnosis (I had a CT scan and lab reports). There was never a definitive diagnosis. It was all hindsight at that point. However, as time passed and the character of my autoimmune disease became more clear, this was the obvious culprit.
The way going forward? Low fat diet. Conservative consumption of food. Keep the autoimmune disease quiet.
Just thought I'd add one case history to this very well-written, and even entertaining write-up. Thank you for that!
Hi @agmoore, I'm sorry you had to live through that, sometimes some physicians stick with one diagnosis, or in your case one etiology, and become blind to other alternatives. It can be hard to keep an open mind because it implies that one sometimes may be wrong, but one should always strive for the truth, unfortunately some prefer to defend their mistakes even when lives are at play. We're seeing it right now on a daily basis with many supposed cures for Covid-19.
May I ask, what is your condition? Have you had any other manifestations?
Hello @mike961,
Thank you for that response and for your kind words.
My experience wasn't so bad. It came and went quickly. At least I had the presence of mind to assert myself and the sense that I could assume control of my own treatment. A lot of people are more submissive.
Because you are a treating physician and this may help you as you deal with patients in the future, I will share more details. I have SLE--mild SLE and yet this is a tricky animal. Once things go south they go south pretty rapidly. Usually, it's difficult to say what's going on, exactly. In my case, one of the suspected causes of the pancreatitis was prednisone. For a while I was not allowed to take this very effective remedy because of the fear that it might cause another attack. However, in the fullness of time it became obvious that my episode was SLE related, as other GI manifestations (equally mysterious) appeared. So, if you meet a patient with SLE, please know that GI manifestations are more common than most physicians realize. It actually seems that in some cases a GI manifestation may be the first sign of SLE. (see, for example: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4602607/)
As I explained in my original comment, the trick to treating the various manifestations of SLE is to keep it quiet. Once it acts up, it can do all kinds of mischievous that may defy understanding.
Please know that I've never revealed my SLE status on Hive before. I do this so that maybe someday the information might help in the treatment of patients you encounter.
You have a delightful writing style. This is rare in a person with your technical skills. It's a great combination.
Here's hoping, for your happiness and for your patients health, that you are successful and effective in your medical career.
Regards,
AG
No doubt your experiences will help me in my medical practice, while I've had some patients with SLE, and I've indeed noticed that GI (and cutaneous) symptoms are common, I haven't read anything about it as in-depth as that article, thank you for sharing it, I can say I learned something new today thanks to you.
And know that I really appreciate you sharing your condition for the first time in the comments of one of my articles, it's that kind of feedback that keeps me coming back to Hive almost 4 years after I first registered, comments like yours keep me going and making time in my schedule to keep posting, even now when we've never been busier.
I admit that I don't have as much experience with autoinmune diseases as some others here in this community, even if it's a topic I find really interesting, but if you ever need some advice, medical or otherwise, feel free to hit me up on discord, I'm there under the same username. I'm on the StemSocial server, as well. I wish you good health, and the best of luck.
Thank you. You are gracious, and kind. I think your patients must be very lucky! Continued success in your work, and your life.