Further results

[Luac]

I was referred to a gastroenterologist by the gp for suspected malabsorption issues due to recent changes in my bowel activity and some bowel issues that I had over a few years that i suspected to be ibs caused by anxiety.

Endoscope revealed hiatus hernia, oesphagitis and gastritis. Im on a two month course of omezaprole which i think has made improvements with no side effects.

Biopsy results have not been returned.

Colonoscopy and 24 hr urines were clear.

Stool sample showed faecal elastase to be abnormal at 124 where it should be higher than 200.

This indicates an issue with my pancreas. I have had a ct scan and I am guessing that I will need to see the gastro when all results are back.

Has anyone had any experience with this? I'm supposing the pancreas issue is the cause of the b12 deficiency.

Should i be requesting tests for other deficiencies? Folate has been fine.

Im taking b12 injections every three days now, self administrating, and these are doing a good job.

At the moment i have had bad fatigue, weakness and body pains for a couple of days last week and this week with general feeling run down in between. I think laboured breathing is causing the fatigue and i have a chesty cough which is causing a wheeze in the right lung. I was sent for an xray but wont get results til next week. Im lumping this together as seasonal illness that i'm on the cusp of succumbing to, exascerbated by over doing it a couple of times.

Ive had the flu jub and pneumonia vaccine.

[Gambit62 Administrator]

the pancreas won't have anything to do with the B12 deficiency - it could result in problems with diabetes though as it is the organ that produces insulin.

More likely to be the gastritis that caused the problem. Did they say what type of gastritis it was? Have you been given any antibiotics to clear up infection - eg h pylori?

[Luac in reply to Gambit62]

I've read about connections between pancreas issues and low b12 and other nutrients, I still think there is a connection.

H pylori came back negative and I am not on antibiotics although I have not had my follow up appointment with the gastroenterologist yet. I will ask him about that, thanks.

[fbirder in reply to Luac]

Ask about the extent of the atrophy. If it’s autoimmune gastritis then it should be confined to the fundus and corpus and absent from the antrum.

[Luac in reply to fbirder]

Im sure the antrum was fine, i was given an analysis with pictures.

[fbirder in reply to Luac]

In that case it is almost certainly autoimmune gastritis. The biopsy samples will probably show signs of metaplasia, where the Gastric Parietal Cells are getting replaced with other cells.

[fbirder]

Problems with the pancreas can cause problems with B12 absorption - ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/223...

B12 in the stomach is bound to protein. Either protein in the food, or haptocorrin in the saliva. To release to B12, allowing it to bind to Intrinsic Factor requires pancreatic proteases. dm5migu4zj3pb.cloudfront.ne...

[Hidden]

Exocrine Pancreatic insufficiency CAN cause problems with B12 absorption. I have EPI and my last elastase was 76 (below 100 is severe, between 100 and 200 is moderate insufficiency). Your pancreatic scan may show nothing or it may show mild atrophy. Atrophy is a normal progression of pancreatic disease. I have this. I was told not to worry about it. I take Creon tablets which replace pancreatic function and deliver the missing enzymes. You need to get these urgently. Good luck.