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Hello. I'm new here and have a question

Posted , 9 users are following.

loonachic
loonachic

Hi All,

Thanks for being here. I feel lost.

Last week I was diagnosed with acute pancreatitis. I went to the ER after vomting and in severe upper abdominal pain for hours. They gave me IV fluids and pain meds and a med to stop the vomiting. The ER doc sent me home with anti nausea medicine and pain medicine. 

After a week I'm still having upper abdominal pain and nausea. It comes in waves. I can't get an appointment iwht a gastroenterologist for another month. I'm afraid this will get worse before I can get in to see a doctor. Should I go back to the ER or should I try to wait it out? I don't want to do any more damage to my pancreas. :-(

What do you think?

0 likes, 17 replies

17 Replies

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  • CrystalRostad
    CrystalRostad loonachic

    Posted

    Waiting is horrible, I know the pain and its the worst pain ever and there is nothing you can do to releive it. I was diagnosed with chronic pancreatitis March 2014 and since have been hospitalized several times for weeks at a time. I am now on a ton of medication that seems to help mask the pain. Creon or viokase are medications that help your pancreas digest and work better than it is on its own, domperidone is another that helps your stomach with nausea and eating in general. I am also on high doses of dilauded for the pain. These are a few of the medications I am on that you may want to ask your doctor about. If you need to go back to the ER than do. This might speed up the process for you. I know all to well the pain you are in so whatever you need to do to relieve the pain as quickly as possible just do it. It's really unfair to have to live like this. It might mean a hospital stay with a lot of tests, tubes and ivs but it should get you help faster. I sincerely wish you all the luck with this.

  • chriswb
    chriswb loonachic

    Posted

    Hey Loon,

    I don't know if anyone told you but pancreatitis can often flare up due to over activiation. I would take a look at your diet, reduce the amount of animal fats you eat, so go with lean meats and fish. Reduce the amounts of hard digesting foods, like food really high in fibre or uncooked complex starches, drink lots of water (obviously) and if you can handle try reducing the overall amount food your ingesting. Other than water whenever you eat something your pancrease says" time to go to work"  and if you keep eatting too much (relatively) then the pancrease says " gotta go work" over and over, causing flare-ups and pain. The best treatment for acute pancreatits is resting the pancrease.

    Hope this helps. Also I'd like to note i am a nurse not a Doctor, so if they tell you anything different than what i am saying, go with the doctor.

    • CrystalRostad
      CrystalRostad chriswb

      Posted

      That is a good point Chris, I have noticed that I f I get worked up, stressed out, nervous, excited etc...I will feel an attack come on almost instantly. It is so hard to try and give any type of advice as everyone is different but these (among many other things, food, sleep, diet and many more) are a few I have noticed that I try to keep under control which is obviously not always possible. It will also just come out of nowhere which is what happens most often. I have no idea how to keep it under control and I'm sure none of you guys have an answer either or we would all be fine. I throw up every day but my pain meds have helped a little bit with the attacks. I just wish there was one simple answer for all of us but unfortunately there isn't. Good luck and best wishes to everyone on this site and to the people who aren't and are suffering from this horribly painful disease. I wish nobody had to go through this but it is nice to know I'm not alone. 😊

    • loonachic
      loonachic chriswb

      Posted

      Thank you so much for the reply. This helps a lot! I have barely eaten anythignin the past five days except for broth and a small amount of pastina. i also have been eating applesauce and steamed vegetables.

      I'm considering going back to a vegetarian diet. Any words of advice?

  • wanda31096
    wanda31096 loonachic

    Posted

    GO TO E.R.!!!! My niece had sevier stomach pain with vomiting and she went to the emergency room . That was 18 days ago. She has been in l.c.u. all this time . Her kidneys are failing, she has internal bleeding , pneumonia , breathing problems , and she is so swollen she looks 9 months pregnant . She is on a venalater, a tube is pumping her stomach through her nose., and she has to have dialysis every other day . They aren't expecting her to live! Please go back to the er!!!! .

    • bonnie29
      bonnie29 wanda31096

      Posted

      Y would you post this? It has nothing to do with ap or cp. Are you trying to scare the crap out of him? He clearly can not develop these things over night. I pray for your niece and family if they are real but shame on you.
    • lors23
      lors23 wanda31096

      Posted

      WHY??? thats not fair posting that like bonnie l would say l am.sorry about your family situation but it does not mean it is happening to everyone. Please be careful. What you post as it cld make someone go into a right panic for nothing!!
  • pete70517
    pete70517 loonachic

    Posted

    Hello Lunatic,

    Sorry to hear that you are in so much pain. Did you stay in the hospital or did you just attend the ER and then return home? I was also diagnosed with Acute Pancreatic last Jan. I spent about a week in the hospital. My pain came and went but has been diminishing recently. As you probably know you need to avoid alcohol completely. A low fat diet is necessary. I stopped eating red meat and ate white fish instead. I gave up butter and cheese etc. My diet is boring but this damned pain is making me eat a lot less. I have lost 12 kilos. Drink water a lot. Add lemon juice to it. My pancreas was inflamed as we're my kidneys and also my stomach. I'm still having tests. But, I'm being positive which helps. Get a good gastroenterologist and you should make a speedy recovery. Regards, Pete

    • bonnie29
      bonnie29 pete70517

      Posted

      Eating drinking anything with cirtus or high acid levels is not recommended as it raises the acidid in the stomach often times leading to naesea and vomiting. Just fyi. Other than that yes you are spot on with diet changes.
    • Reefsider
      Reefsider bonnie29

      Posted

      Sorry Bonnie29 you're wrong re lemons being acidic in the body.

      Lemons are acidic to the taste but are alkaline forming in the body. In fact, they are one of the most alkaline forming foods; this makes them great for balancing a highly acidic condition in the body. regards Reef

       

    • bonnie29
      bonnie29 Reefsider

      Posted

      I only passed it along from my medical team. Including a panky specialist gi and dietitian. They all told me to avoid lemons limes soda vingar and anything with a high acid level because of the upset stomach and heartburn they can so often cause for people. Im glad they dont bother you.
    • loonachic
      loonachic pete70517

      Posted

      Hi Pete,

      I went to the ER and they sent me home after pumping me with pain meds and anti nausea meds. Like five bags of any vomiting medicine. 

      Luckily for me I don't drink alcohol at all. Not even beer. 

      I was eating a lot of dairy (butter, cheese etc), but I think I need to cut waay back if not altogether. I'm considering going back to a vegetarian diet, but I'm not sure. I'm still a little shocked that this happened to me. 

      Fo rnow I'm resting my pancreas as much as I can by not eating a lot and eating very small bland meals.

      Thanks for responding to me. This helps so much.

      - Michelle

    • Reefsider
      Reefsider bonnie29

      Posted

      Well who knew!  It seems there is much debate even though there seems to be a lot of scientific info to back up what your team told you Bonnie.  Was good to read your comment and have read a lot of info since.  I'm still torn, long held belief verses scientific reality, it bites lol.

      I have severe gastritis as well as CP issues and yet I don't have issues with lemon juice.  I only squeeze a little in my water, more to disguise the taste of it than any other reason.  I also use lemons when cooking and squeeze over steamed veg and salads.  I don't understand why it doesn't upset me.  Perhaps because it's such a small amount overall, I cooked chicken breast with fennel seeds and lemon juice last night for dinner and poured the jus over the accompanying vegetables, delicious.  Weird how we can all differ so much. 

  • bonnie29
    bonnie29 loonachic

    Posted

    Going to the er will help your symptoms. However it will have no bearing on any damage done to your pancreas. The hospital can not make the inflammation go down. Depending on where you are from and how knowledgeable the hospital staff is they may see you as a drug seeker. Im not saying this to scare you or try and imply anything. It is just something may of us run into and beings you are new to this its just an fyi. But they can keep you hydrated and comfortable.
    • loonachic
      loonachic bonnie29

      Posted

      Thanks for the info, Bonnie. I just learned that this disease occurs a lot with alcoholics. Luckily I don't drink at all. Not even beer or wine. I can't imagine having an addiciton and dealing iwth this at the same time. 

      I have an appointment with a gastro doctor, but the appointment is almost amonth away. I'm afraid of doing more harm to my pancreas while I wait, so I have drastically reduced my food intake and only eat broth with rice and applecauce and really bland stuff. vegetables with nothing on them.

      I'm still shocked that this happened to me. :-(

      Thanks for writing. All of these responses helps with the stress. Just knowing I'm not alone helps

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