Can Celiac cause Pancreatitis? Need answers!

[Mama-Bear]

My 8 year old son had high lipase levels which indicated pancreatitis. After an ultrasound and MRI and MRCI, the results are “unclear”. He doesn’t have typical symptoms of pancreatitis (not sick, no vomiting, no fever) and there is no seen cause (gallbladder or trauma) for pancreatitis. Aside from occasional stomach pain, and a little fatigue, he is totally happy and healthy.
We are supposed to “wait and see” and do a second MRI in 6 weeks.
Because everything about this case is atypical, they are using the MRI to rule out a tumor. Is there anything else this could be? Six weeks seems like an eternity and I am sick with worry trying to find any information.
I have read a few studies where pancreatitis was caused from celiac disease. Please! Any help or similar stories that can lead my investigation to finding answers would be appreciated. I am a very scared mom right now. Praying that it is all just a random fluke of his body but I will take celiac over a pancreatic tumor any day. 

[cyclinglady]

Yes, celiac disease has been linked to pancreatitis.  

Consider asking your doctor for a complete celiac blood panel:

Open Original Shared Link

I hope your son feels better soon!  

[Posterboy]

Mama_Bear,

Deezer had a similar question in this thread recently.

https://www.celiac.com/forums/topic/35894-elevated-lipase-anyone/?tab=comments#comment-996735

In short there is a 1 in 4 chance that undiagnosed celiac is elevating your son's Lipase enzyme levels.

Here is the research (it also linked in the above thread) to Lipase levels in celiac's.

I  had high liver enzymes that normalized on a gluten free diet.  So it is not uncommon for seemingly unrelated non GI problems to get better after going gluten free.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/16616350 entitled "Unexplained elevated serum pancreatic enzymes: a reason to suspect celiac disease."

and their conclusion.

CONCLUSIONS:

"We demonstrated a frequency of about 25% of elevated pancreatic enzymes values in celiac disease patients, including subjects without gastrointestinal manifestations and apparently asymptomatic subjects. The finding of elevated serum amylase or lipase level, in the absence of signs of pancreatic disease, would appear to suggest a need to screen for celiac disease."

I hope this is helpful but it is not medical advice.

good luck on your continued journey.

2 Timothy 2: 7  “Consider what I say; and the Lord give thee understanding in all things”, this included.

Posterboy by the grace of God,