Having Abdominal Pains, Loss Of Appetite, Weight Loss And Severe Stress. Remedy?

Posted on Mon, 10 Jun 2013

Question: I have a question about some blood results that I received recently. I have been having abdominal pains for approx 1 month, loss of appetite, weight loss, severe stress/anxiety over this entire issue. I am concerned either my kidneys or pancreas are not working as they should be. I was on Lipitor 40mg for 6 weeks and began feeling generally ill. I then got an upset stomach that would not go away until I avoided foods for about a week. Since that time I have had 2 complete blood tests and the results have differed. I had an ultrasound of my abdomen and they saw a growth on my right kidney. They were unable to view the pancreas due to overlying gas.

Levels of concern for me:
Fasting levels
Glucose 93
Creatinine 1.28mg/dL
Sodium 145mmol/L
CO2 27mmol/L
Calcium 10.5mg/dL
Total protein 7.6g/dL
Albumin 5.2g/dL (5.0 two weeks prior)
Amylase 66U/L
Lipase 48 U/L (27.5U/L two weeks prior)
TSH 1.40 mIU/L

I am concerned that my kidneys or pancreas is damaged from the lipitor. Any advice? I am waiting for a CT scan of my abdomen. Is it possible a thyroid or parathyroid problem?

Also relating to this topic. Three weeks ago I got a finger test for cholesterol and blood sugar. The level was 31 with fasting. Two weeks later it was 93 with fasting. Is it possible for there to be that large of a discrepancy within two weeks?

Answered by Dr. Anantharaman (31 hours later)

Hi
Thanks for writing into XXXXXXX Regarding your symptoms of loss of appetite it may definitely be related to lipitor .Drug intolerance varies from
person to person it may be just that the drug or the higher dose doesnt suit you. There doesnt ap

pear to be causing any kidney damage. Please get your liver enzymes done they may get elevated with lipitor and may worsen your symptoms. What I do not understand is why yiu are on statins at such a young age. Do you have a family history of premature (less than 55 yrs) cardiovascular disease and what is your lipid profile.please write in for further clarification
Regards
Anantharaman

Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Chakravarthy Mazumdar

Follow up: Dr. Anantharaman (21 hours later)

At this point, I do not know why I was on statins in the first place either. Doctor put me on them because of high cholesterol. No family history of premature cardiovascular disease.

Liver enzymes are within normal range.

AST - 21
ALT - 37
Bilirubin 0.9 now. (1.5 two weeks prior)

Relating to kidneys:

GFR of 72

Isn't that pretty low?

Answered by Dr. Anantharaman (51 minutes later)

Hi.
If there is no clear indication ypu could discuss stopping with your doctor. Thanks for sharing the GFR it indeed is slightly low.have it repeated and see if it has changed. Many conditions could cause an increase in creatinine including dehydration using pain medications etc.Your creatinine would reduce quickly if these ate the cause improving the GFR XXXXXXX a neohrologist if creatinine is high persistently
regards
ANANTHARAMAN

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Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Chakravarthy Mazumdar