Diagnose: Sweat breakout after fatty food ? Ultrasound - Cotton Ball (slightly long) - Digestive Disorders Message Board

AlanPi · 04-26-2008, 12:14 PM

HELP, Can someone please help diagnose this problem? I just had the Abdominal Ultrasound done on Friday and it's the weekend and I have nowhere else to turn to.

For 5+ years I have experienced a weird phenomenon. Randomly, after having a relatively fatty meal, I will breakout a cold sweat before the end of the meal. The sweating will not stop for a few minutes. This wasn't really an issue of concern until recently.

During the years, I will occasionally (every 6 ~ 9 month) experience a period of awakening at night with extreme thirst, and urinate often. My family doctor would say they may have been caused by stress or allergy, give me a blood test then tell me it's all fine since I look so young. The blood tests all have a high Total Bilirubin (2.0, normal is 0.2 ~ 1.2) but my PCP never mentioned about it.

Recently I experienced the same symptoms again, but this time experiencing diabetic symptoms with constant thirst and fatigue after meal. I went to the doctor and she gave me the same routines again, with a blood glucose tolerance test, it came back normal. I decided to do some research on my own since the discomfort won't go away, and arrived with gallbladder, gallstone, or pancreas issues. This time the doctor finally determined that a spot about 3~5 inches right of the navel will hurt if pressure is applied. She said that's the gallbladder and ordered an ultrasound for me.

During the ultrasound, from my perspective on the bed, the frontal scan looked OK with the gallbladder and bile duck. Then the technician moved the scan to the right side, between the ribs. She seemed to have found a spot on the Monitor, colored white looking similar to a cotton ball. I suspect this is the region around the gallbladder/pancreas. She wouldn't comment on the results of the ultrasound.

I am optimistic, and yet at the same time prepared. I do not suffer from severe pain and extreme tiredness, and for that I am grateful.

Whatever it is, I have a need to know. So far I have looked up all the info I can find on gallstone, liver, pancreatitis, tumor, cancer, and no one else have similar symptoms so far. I have had gallbladder attacks years ago, but the pain quickly went away. I just breakout a cold sweat now after the meal.

Please, if anyone have similar issues or experiences, kindly offer your comments/suggestions! They are greatly appreciated!

-Alan

AlanPi · 04-28-2008, 12:44 PM

Just a little update on this, so the information hopefully could be useful for others in the future.

Turns out the white spots are bowel gases. But because of the gas the common bile duct and pancreas, IVC (?) were obscured in the ultrasound. The ultrasound's impressions were: 1. no gallstones, 2. extensive bowel gas.

So the symptoms still persists and my PCP is puzzled. She is sending me to a HIDA scan because of the gallbladder, and I will be seeing my Gastroenterologist soon and perhaps have some CT scan.

I hope I am not turning into a hypochondriac or already am one, but somehow I still need to find out this health issue's causes and hopefully find a way to deal with it. Below are the symptoms I am having:

Frequent cold sweat breakout after fatty food (not always, maybe allergy related)
Frequent thirst, need to sip on water constantly, 3~4 times during sleep hours, dry lips
Fatigue after meal, not extreme fatigue where I can't function normally, but tiredness and crankiness
Frequent urination after meal
Pain of gallbladder when pressed
slight sharp back pain mid-lower back
slight jaundice
slightly high bilirubin(2.0)
occasional diarrhea yellow that float in water (steatorrhea), weird foul smell

Symtoms I am NOT having
a. loss of appetite
b. fast weight loss (some weight loss because of change of healthier eating habits)
c. abnormal blood test, except for slightly high cholesterol and bilirubin.
d. diabetic glucose tolerance tested negative

I was told I may have some Liver infection or Liver LST (sp?) in the past, I wonder if they are related...

-Alan

AlanPi · 05-06-2008, 06:34 PM

Got HIDA scan done. Result came in at 7% for Gallbladder ejection fraction, which is really low.

I don't have gallstones however. Maybe had 1 single gallbladder attack 10 years ago. What could be causing the gallbladder problem? Can anything be done without going through the Cholecystectomy?

hopesprings2 · 05-14-2008, 02:05 PM

glad you found out the problem
im thinking ony getting it out is the answer
ask the doc

Bailey 56 · 05-14-2008, 06:01 PM

I had 3 ultrasounds in 6 years. I've had a colonoscopy and many blood tests. This time I strongly requested a hidascan. Ejection rate turned out to be 10% (and yes it does take 2 hours for the test). Doc thanked me for pursuing the pain. Sent me to a surgeon who insisted on a CT scan cause the hidascan is considered "soft findings" for gall bladder problems, vs. gall stones being rather obvious. I had surgery 2 days ago. Surgeon said the gallbladder has definately been my problem over the years and that it had adhered to some surrounding tissue (but was not tangled with the liver or anything that dramatic).
I would never have known about the hidascan except that is how they found my daughter's gall bladder was only functioning at 14%. We are our own best advocates.