the ongoing saga of my guts. my trip to the gastroenterologist went fairly well. he was iterested and concerned about my symptoms. he recommended an
MRCP instead of an immediate
ERCP. the
MRCP is similar to the
ERCP except that they use an
MRI machine instead of an endoscope. it shouldn't hurt. what i don't understand, though, is this: if they see stones or stricture, cool... they need to do an
ERCP to fix it. if they see nothing, they will assume it is spasm of the biliary sphincter, which will also require a
ERCP. i really wish they would do the
ERCP now, since the pain is so bad in the mornings. but the
doctor knows best, so i listen to him.
i asked him what i could do to maage the pain in the meantime...
pain in the mornings is so strong, but goes away within 3 hours. by the time
vicodin kicks in, the pain may have already gone. if it hasn't, the
vicodin doesn't help at all. so he gave me hyoscyamine, a sublingual intestinal
muscle relaxant which should take effect within 30 minutes. he said it would only help the pain if it was related to digestive problems, NOT if it is stones or stricture of the
bile duct, but that it was worth a try. he also gave me an acid blocker in case there are ulcers causing pain rather than stones. this is also said was a long shot.
so tomorrow moring i go through the
MRCP. i hope it shows SOMETHING. i want to figure out what this is and how to fix it. i'm 24. i shouldn't have such constant
pain.
wish me
luck.