1. Community
  2. Gut, bowel and stomach
  3. Pancreatitis and Pancreatic Disorders

Coming up to six months since acute pancreatitis diagnosis

Posted , 26 users are following.

arron92036
arron92036

Hi,

Looking for a bit of adivse/share my experiences with people.

In October I was rushed to hosptial where I found out I had acute pancreatitis from too much alcohol.

I was a heavy drinker from the age of 18 and I'm now 25. I was kept in hosptial for 6 days.

I was advised by one doctor to never a drink again where as most others suggested not to drink for 6 months.

I thought I new better than the doctors and had a couple of drinks at the weekend a month after getting out of hospital. This was a bad mistake.

On the Sunday evening it started with a stomach ache which lead to diarrhoea and being sick all night and was in a lot of pain throughout the night. The pain died down the next day and I stopped being sick so didn't go back to hospital.

I learnt from my lesson and have pretty much stayed away from alcohol up in until the last couple of weeks. I have had the odd shandy on the occasional evening and have been fine.

Those who are unsure about whether smoking has an affect- I have taken up smoking weed in the last month or so which has helped with craving having a beer,especially at my age where all of my mates like a good drink. I have had no problems with my pancreas since smoking weed.

Has anyone started drinking again more regularly since being diagnosed with acute pancreatitis and if so how have you been?

6 months is coming up for me in 3 weeks and I have a stag do mid May so want some suggestions on whether people think il be alright to drink over the weekend or not?

Thanks,

Arron.

0 likes, 43 replies

43 Replies

Prev Next
  • jimmy1986
    jimmy1986 arron92036

    Posted

    Hey man. I'm 30. Have AP. I'll keep it short. Every time you drink, you're basically putting a gun to your head and hoping the barrel doesn't have a bullet.

    It's complete crap and it sucks to drink, but it also sucks to die. not drinking is likely one of the biggest tests of willpower you will endure, but you CAN do it!

    Good luck.

  • anthony71881
    anthony71881 arron92036

    Posted

    Aaron, what's the latest since you posted this? Did you drink again and if so what happened? I'm coming up to 2 months now and am keen to know how you are getting on.

  • mary_kate1973
    mary_kate1973 arron92036

    Posted

    Hi Arron, just finished reading your post from 11 months ago. Having similar issues and very interested to see how things are going and what you decided to do. My doctors have given me the same conficting advise. One says don't drink and other says keep an eye on things and I will see you in a year like this is not a big deal. Was misdiagnosed for 7 years... Had high lipase in some general blood work about 5 years good with no pain or anything whet to a GI and his response to me was " Hey, some people just have elevated lipase don't worry about it" At that point I didn't even know what pancreatis was???? 2 years later had pain and went to the ER- and the rest is history. Over the last year and a half have had 4 incidents, one 2 days hospital and the others home with pain meds and around 3 days of uncomfortable pain. Lipase level one time at 1200 and the rest are around 400-500. I still drink socially and have never been a binge drinker. When these incidents happened it seems to be after eating something really greasy and late at night. If this were alcohol induced I would think I be getting sick all the time? I don't know what to do.... Quitting smoking now but would like to have the occasional drink with girlfriends during week. This sucks and I wish I could get some advise on why I don't get sick when I drink but around every 6 months when I eat something really bad? Hope your well- female 43

    • Rolkel
      Rolkel mary_kate1973

      Posted

      Hi MaryJane

      I find your post interesting as I have the same concerns, i.e. what actually caused the acute severe pancreatitis. I drank a glass of wine with my food 4 times a week and ended up with severe acute pancreatitis and 4 weeks in hospital of which 2,5 weeks was in ICU to monitor the lipase levels which started at 2400. The trigger for me was dinner at a Thai restaurant and one glass of light beer.

      I have been doing some reading on the causes of pancreatitis of which alcohol and gallstones makes up 80% of all causes. Reading the various posts it looks like a few people were moderate drinkers and still got pancreatitis, so maybe fatty foods are also adding to the cause?

      I have stopped drinking since July 23rd, but it is early days yet and I have had no setbacks. I am however, keen to hear from others who believe that their pancreatitis could have been caused by things other than alcohol or gallstones. I know each person's body is different and one glass of alcohol per day could be too much for some, like me, but I also stress that maybe that was not the actual cause.   

      Of interest in my case is that I had three 'incidents' and all three involved a glass or two of light beer, not wine. The first incident I just felt slightly sick for a few hours, the second incident I was diagnosed with food poisoning and spend a day in hospital (this incident was accompanied by vertigo and my GP mentioned afterwards that it could have been labyrinthitis and the last incident was the pancreatitis. I also had no clue what pancreatitis was.  

  • sharon1285
    sharon1285 arron92036

    Posted

    Hi I too drink a lot and now have a burning sensation on my left side was this a diagnoses you had ?
    • anthony71881
      anthony71881 sharon1285

      Posted

      Go and get your bloods done and get them to check your Amylase/Lipase. My pain was right side but lots get left. Yours could be acid or any number of things but your levels in your blood work should start pointing your doctor in the right direction.
  • Opaque1
    Opaque1 arron92036

    Posted

    Bottom line, Never drink again & smoke as much weed as you like, not a drop of alcohol though EVER... I binge drank from ages 18 to 31 heavily, it was my life, partying is literally all I did.  A week after my 31st birthday I was diagnosed with acute pancreatitis and in the hospital 12 days with no food or water, being pumped with dilauded every 2 hours and lost 25 pounds.  The pain was unbearable and unforgettable... I'm 35 now & haven't taken another sip of alcohol, first year was rough, had to literally cut all ties and reinvent myself.  This is not an easy task given all I really knew was how to drink to have a good time for so many years.  The day I got out of the hospital I went and got a sack of dro. I have smoked everyday since I've been out with no issues what so ever, I also smoke concentrates too, no issues.... bud won't kill ya, alcohol will and if it doesn't and you get chronic pancreatitis, you will want to die anyways.  Don't f**k around, good luck

    RC

  • drew99485
    drew99485 arron92036

    Posted

    Aaron I know this a year old post, but was just wondering how you were doing? Iam 38 and have had an acute attack 3 times and been hospitalized 3 time for a total of 30 days. I quit drinking for the first time for 1 month and got it again without drinking. Then started drinking 4 months later and didn't get it for another 20 months. I was sober for 8 months then got cocky again. I started to get the pains again a few weeks a go and stopped on my own without getting it this time. You will get it again, but it's roulette. Take care mate.

  • joseph70277
    joseph70277 arron92036

    Posted

    I went to the ER in 2015 with necrosis of my pancreas after years of just beer drinking. I was moonlighting at a liquor store for six months before my attack and im sure that did not help cause we drank spirits like water. After 45 days in ICU and them telling my mum I had a 40% of getting out alive I went on the wagon. But six months later had a flare up and then six months after that another. Kept drinking till this August till the artery to my spleen blew up so now im done. So if you have had it and beat it do not roll the dice.
  • phil-lfc
    phil-lfc arron92036

    Posted

    Hi sorry to bring back a 10 month old thread but didnt want to start another for the same topic, just over a year ago i was admitted to hospital for 10 days and diagnosed with acute pancreatitis, mins fir being taken down to icu through it, was told that the cause was gallstones, and about a month later had my gallbladder removed, now apart from the odd digestive issues alls been pretty well, my question is once you have had this attack once, is it likely to come back?, i dont drink havent for about 10 years, even before that only used to have a drink on a weekend, im 30 now dont smoke either, just wondering if anyone knows the possibility of it returning, its a scary thing to go thru as most of you know, hope you are all well
    • artist2015
      artist2015 phil-lfc

      Posted

      Hello,

      I wanted to share my experience too.

      I am not a drinker. I am also not a smoker. 

      But I too was diagnosed with Acute Pancreatitis.

      I went to the ER 4 weeks ago because of abdominal pain. After so many tests, doctor told me I have AP. I stayed in the hospital for 6 days.

      When they first admitted me, my lipase was really high, it was at 30000.

      I lost 24 lbs in 1 week after I got discharged.

      Just a little history about me.

      I got my gallbladder removed 4 years ago. I was 23 years old at that time.

      4 years later, I am now 27 years old, i got another attack, but this time doctor said it is AP.

      They found a stone in my bile duct that blocks the tube that goes to my pancreas. And this caused my Pancreas to be inflamed. I had ERCP done. They removed that stone and 2 weeks after I got discharged from hospital, I am now feeling a lot better.

      I guess for me, the question is how do we get stones? From my research, looks like we get it from high cholesterol food. I have been following a non-fat to low-fat diet and so far I am okay. I have the same question, is it likely to come back? how can we avoid it to become chronic?

      I hope everyone here is well..

    • Rolkel
      Rolkel artist2015

      Posted

      Sorry I cant help with info, but you guys are seriously too young to be getting these problems!

      I had Severe Acute Pancreatitis from alcohol apparently, so I cannot help with the gallstones queries. I hope someone comes up with answers as we all tend to live with the anxiety of wondering when the next attack will happen.

      From what I have read, the pancreas does become damaged and the cells can repair itself to a significant degree, but I assume it remains damaged in my case as I am 57 years old; I have to continue to watch it with a low fat diet although I pretty much ignore this and eat cake, scones, rusks or muffins most days.

      I find that if I feel the pancreatitis coming (it happened twice in the past year) I starve myself for 24 hours by drinking only a lightly sweetened juice. In South Africa we have these low calorie sweetened juices which works for me. That helps a lot. I get a back pain which alerts me to the oncoming disaster.

      Another thing I started recently is to 'fast' daily and start eating only from 12h00 onwards. I normally stop eating at 08h00 or 09h00. So far so good.

      The one good thing about pancreatitis is that you lose one hell of a lot of weight quickly......there is always a silver lining..

       

    • phil-lfc
      phil-lfc Rolkel

      Posted

      Believe it or not thats what caused my gallstones apparently by losing a lot of weight quickly, before I started getting all the symptoms last year i had lost about 5 stone in around 4/5 months, and the doctors put my gallstones down to that, was just unlucky and one got stuck and caused me to get acute pancreatitis, the doctors here in the uk told me the main age of people that suffer with this are 35+ i was just unlucky I suppose 
    • phil-lfc
      phil-lfc artist2015

      Posted

      From the research i have done, its basically dont drink, dont smoke (which you dont anyway) and stick to a fairly healthy diet, just have to hope it works, never want to go through that again 
    • Rolkel
      Rolkel phil-lfc

      Posted

      Interesting that the loss of weight caused the gallstone. Hopefully people reading this can learn from it. 
    • artist2015
      artist2015 phil-lfc

      Posted

      It reminded me of a scenario where I lost 20 lbs in 3 weeks. I was fasting at that time.. I only drink fresh pressed juice for 21 days. Losing 20lbs in 3 weeks is a rapid weight loss too i think. Then 4 months later, I had that attack where I had my gallbladder removed.

      I just hope that it won't happen again. Trying my best to stick with the non-fat to low-fat diet as much as I can..

      Best of luck to all of us..

       

Back to top
Prev Next

Report or request deletion

Thanks for your help!

We want the community to be a useful resource for our users but it is important to remember that the community are not moderated or reviewed by doctors and so you should not rely on opinions or advice given by other users in respect of any healthcare matters. Always speak to your doctor before acting and in cases of emergency seek appropriate medical assistance immediately. Use of the community is subject to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy and steps will be taken to remove posts identified as being in breach of those terms.