Amylase levels?

[November90]

This is a bit of a random one, but I was wondering if anyone could give me any pointers?

Rheumatology requested that I get some bloods done, and one of the things tested was amylase, which I'd never heard of before! It came back high yesterday (about double the high reference limit!) and my GP was concerned and gave me a form to go back to the hospital and have it rechecked. I've just got the second test result back and it's actually higher than the first.

I looked this up and it seems as though the high levels can indicate pancreatitis - but I don't have any abdominal pain, fever, or in fact any feeling of being unwell whatsoever! Can amylase levels be randomly raised in autoimmune conditions for no specific reason? Or could this be a sort of benign anomaly?

*Confused*

[Jmiller623]

Amylase can be high in pancreas or GI problems even in some infections. Lipase is more specific to pancreas. Pancreatitis is only suspected if levels are 3x higher than normal and sustained. Sometimes my lipase is elevated when I get abdominal pain but this is part of my lupus? Who knows. I’ll wait until I get digestive problems to iron it out. My father has silent autoimmune type 1 diabetes. I’m sure the same will happen to me given my luck. Autoimmune pancreatitis is very very rare and usually not without some type of pain.

Why did they check your amylase?

[November90 in reply to Jmiller623]

Thank you both! I'm going to assume it's nothing to worry about until told otherwise! I don't really think it could be anything because I'm feeling fine, no pain, etc.

As for why they have checked it, I have absolutely no idea!

[Jmiller623 in reply to November90]

Yeah. I’d say trend it. If you start getting nausea/vomiting or bad diarrhea then I’d start to show concern but amylase is so nonspecific. Maybe they meant to check aldolase....that’s for muscle breakdown. The mix up wouldn’t surprise me.

Hope everything works out!

[Roarah]

could it be your kidneys are still not up to snuff and are not filtering your enzymes quite as well as they should? I believe amylase can be elevated in renal patients. Hope your next tests comes back lower

[November90]

Roarah , I did wonder if it could be that, but I couldn't find anything about it in my (admittedly brief) online research! I was worried that my feet and ankles look swollen, but I think it's just the heat...

[Hidden]

All chemical substances ending in “ase” are ENZYMES which are secreted by the body. They are what is known as biological catalysts ie substances which “encourage” chemical reactions to take place.

More specifically if what we are talking about is SALIVARY AMYLASE then that is secreted by the salivary glands in the mouth which starts off carbohydrate digestion in the mouth. Eg when you start chewing 🥯 🥖 🍞 bread you will notice that this food type is being broken down...

Not sure about reference values for amylase concentrations in blood!?🤔...but it’s definitely in one’s saliva!

Check out Sjögren’s (lupus cousin) indicators eg sufferers have difficulty producing saliva.

[Hidden]

I think I’m pretty robust about pain, including abdominal pain. But in 2015 I was hospitalised with acute abdominal pain, assumed to be gallstone related. I was 3 weeks into taking Azathioprine. When they discovered it wasn’t gallbladder - I was diagnosed and treated for a UTI sepsis.

I was finally discharged after 10 days but then readmitted with same vomiting and pain a few weeks later having restarted Aza as instructed. The thing that stopped them thinking of pancreatitis was that my Amylase was normal although they knew something was going on because my CRP was over 160. Eventually my Amylase did rise to mildly elevated on second admission and by then they worked out it was the Azathioprine causing active pancreatitis.

At the time I was diagnosed with RA but now rediagnosed with primary Sjögren’s - which is associated with pancreatitis. The pain returns periodically but a recent MRI of my pancreas was found to be normal so I’m none the wiser.

I know chronic pancreatitis and autoimmune pancreatitis usually do not show in Amylase and I also know that acute pancreatitis would be impossible to miss because the pain is very intense with nausea and vomiting. So I would think it’s unlikely that your high Amylase is due pancreatitis - but the renal suggestion makes sense perhaps?

Hope they get to the bottom of this soon as it’s a worry for you.

[overnighthearingloss in reply to Hidden]

Utis can cause really extreme pain. I had a case where I was worried I might have ovarian cancer or suchlike due to unbearable pain that also extended down into my legs. I didn't even consider a UTI as I had not had any specific burning sensations.

I went for all the investigations before it was discovered it was UTI related.

********

With regards to the high amylase, it's worth checking if there are any side effects reported with your current drug intake. Drugs given for one problem often produce side effects in other areas.

[Hidden in reply to overnighthearingloss]

Thanks yes I know this too as have been terribly ill with kidney infections even when young. But in my case this was Azathioprine induced pancreatitis as the vomiting and extreme pain only started up again when I restarted the Aza. Also pain was in upper left flank where pancreas is located and my Amylase finally corresponded.

[Chris21]

I’ve been hospitalised with pancreatitis twice and a night in a&e, this was how they discovered I had lupus. My amaylase is always higher than normal, it apparently is raised by inflammation in the pancreas and surrounding area. My rheumatologist said the blood test has to be over a thousand before they start to worry, I am under the gastrology team who review every year. They found my liver was playing up by routine bloods, have more pills to pop but all under control (I didn’t have any symptoms that made me feel my liver was at risk) Now when the blood results go to the GP one test always says abnormal, higher than normal but expected! Try not too worry, they are just being cautious which is not a bad thing.😉

[NeuronerdDoaty]

Some medications can cause this. It’s usually high with pancreatitis. Maybe you’re just tough and you’re not hurting👍

[Angelann69]

Hmm, that's interesting. I have chronic pancreatitis and it's extremely painful 24/7. I wish I had the non painful type. Did they check your Lipase too? That's one that they go by when checking for pancreas problems.