What exactly are elevated amylase levels?

Hey everyone, I wanted to reach out because a colleague of mine has been feeling pretty rough lately. She’s dealing with this constant, dull ache in her stomach—kind of a localized, sharp pain—and she’s also running a slight fever off and on. She has gone through the ringer with testing, though. We're talking blood work, urinalysis, thyroid panels, abdominal scans, endoscopies, and even testing for H. pylori. She hasn't had a colonoscopy yet, but she says her bowel movements are totally normal and she isn't dealing with any diarrhea.
The only thing that keeps popping up in all those tests is that her amylase levels in both her blood and urine are elevated—like, double the normal limit. Everything else seems perfectly fine and within range.😕
The worst part is that none of the doctors can actually give her a straight answer or a diagnosis. It’s honestly frustrating to watch.
Has anyone here dealt with something similar, or does anyone have an inkling of what might be going on? Some days she feels absolutely terrible—she gets these bouts of heavy sweating and feels incredibly weak.
Any insights would be appreciated, or if you could recommend a good specialist in the Washington, D.C. area or maybe somewhere in California, that would be a huge help.

amilazy (I think)

Probably amylase. It’s a pancreatic enzyme.
Most likely pancreatitis, though there are plenty of other possibilities—diverticulosis in the colon, for instance.

banderas said:Probably amylase. A pancreatic enzyme.
It’s likely pancreatitis, though there could be a whole host of other things going on—maybe something like diverticulosis in the colon, for instance.

It was probably amylase, though I can't say for sure because she didn't actually show me the lab results; she just told me. So, it's a pancreatic enzyme? Okay, yeah, that makes more sense now.
👍

Bryan Castillo6 said:Plus, none of the doctors can tell her anything... it's just awful.

Lately, I’ve noticed I’m getting seriously annoyed by people posting stuff like that all over this forum.

Like, you have someone complaining about having a massive bloated stomach saying doctors don't know anything—but they haven't even seen a gynecologist. And now you're saying the same thing here—that a whole group of doctors looked at those results and still don't know what high amylase levels are supposed to mean!!!! 😲 😲

A quick five-second Google search for "high amylase" brings up dozens of links explaining that it's one of the primary indicators of pancreatitis! Look, I don't know anything about your "friend" or whatever her medical situation is, but there is no way a specialist doctor wouldn't know how to interpret elevated amylase... I just don't buy it!

Jose Miller3 said:...but I don't buy the idea that some specialist wouldn't know what to make of elevated amylase levels!

Neither do I. No doctor is going to see high amylase in blood or urine tests and not immediately think pancreas. It’s basic stuff; there's no way "none of her doctors can tell her anything."

Jose Miller3 said:Lately, I've noticed I get incredibly irritated by people posting sentences just like this one on the forums.

For instance, you have someone with a massive gut claiming doctors don't know anything, despite never even seeing an OBGYN. Now you're making the exact same argument, saying that multiple doctors reviewed the results and none of them can figure out what elevated amylase is actually a symptom of!!!! 😲 😲

A quick Google search for "elevated amylase" brings up at least 50 links explaining how it's a primary indicator of pancreatitis! Look, I don't know anything about your "colleague" or her medical history, but the idea that some specialist wouldn't know what elevated amylase indicates? Yeah, I'm not buying it.

Wow, okay, why did you have to get so worked up immediately? I mean, I don't even know what's wrong here—I might have even misspelled a word, but what's the big deal? Nobody asked for your opinion on what you personally know; the point is to see who actually knows something that can help in this situation. If people want to help, fine, but if they'd rather stay silent and go vent their personal frustrations at a psychiatric clinic, then whatever. Sorry, honey, but unless you're the doctor who failed to recognize meningitis in a two-year-old with a 104 fever and a rash, or maybe you're related to that surgeon in Manhattan who sliced through a boy's aorta and "accidentally" ended up costing him his leg... then honestly, good for you.👍

Doctors couldn't figure out why my amylase levels were spiked. Everything seems fine, but they just stay high. It's probably just the extra weight... I don't get why they're showing up in my urine but not in my blood, though I guess the blood levels are what actually matter if there's some kind of issue with my pancreas.

Lisa Moore7 said:They couldn't figure out why my amylase levels were high. Everything else seems fine, but those numbers just stay elevated. I'm guessing it's probably just extra weight, but I don't really get why they show up in my urine but not in my blood serum—though I assume the serum levels are the real indicator if there's actually some kind of issue with the pancreas.

Yeah, I actually just called her to check in. She's staying home right now because she can't stop throwing up; she feels absolutely terrible. They already ruled out pancreatitis after some initial tests, so they're pretty sure that's not it, but she's planning to head to a private specialist as soon as she's feeling well enough to move.

Actually, she’s pretty thin—not even remotely overweight.

Jose Miller3 said:The shortest Google search ever. You type in "elevated amylase" and boom—fifty links hit you instantly.

But try typing "amelaze"? You get maybe three hits. Two are some random sites from overseas, and the third one is straight-up porn. 😁

Hey.
Look, what you wrote there was honestly just nonsense. Amylase levels aren't really your area of expertise—and thank God for that—but if a doctor doesn't know what elevated amylase in blood or urine actually indicates, then we have a massive problem. I don't know what your profession is, but this is like me walking into a tailor shop and telling them a seam is crooked, only for them to tell me they don't even know what a seam is. As for the meningitis situation, you're totally off base there too. None of us actually knows what happened to that child in those critical moments or the exact condition they were in when they were admitted to the hospital; all you know is what you read in the papers or saw on the news. We all know things can go wrong, but look at it this way: someone can fix their own mistakes, but we can't fix ours. You probably messed up a hundred times at work today and just crumpled up the paper to fix it, but we don't have that luxury. It would be great if you’d think before you post, because you really botched this one right from the start. Why?
Don't ever go dragging an entire profession through the mud. If you've got beef, take it up with specific individuals, and only if you actually have the facts to back it up!!!