help I'm worn out

Conrats for your 5 years of sobriety Corinne, well done.

A lot of people are ignorant including doctors, education doesn't seem to eliminate bias unfortunately.  I've never been a drinker and was verbally attacked by a loud, aggresive doctor when I was diagnosed with chronic pancreatitis.  In fact I was told I had it and abused at the same time, in the waiting room full of people!  I had no idea about pancreatitis and was in shock when he went on and on about me being a drunk when I've never had a drink in my life because of another hereditary disease I have.

My specialist pancreas guy is wonderful thank goodness.  He told me we had to get all my symptoms sorted to help prevent a presentation to the ER because all they'd do is give me painkillers and send me home.  Perhaps that's the norm, I don't know.

So, what can I tell you?  Not much other than speak to your doc about having that comment on your file removed first up.  He could write a letter stating that you're 5 years sober to be tacked onto your file perhaps.  I had an error conveyed by an ignorant junior intern which was taken as accurate and spread far and wide once so I know how it feels.

Are you in pain?  Can you drink at all?  The treatment quite often is to fast for a couple of days, and not drink anything either, but that's when you're in hospital and receiving IV fluids.  Do you think you'd be admitted if you go to the ER?  If not perhaps see your GP first, if he/she thinks you need to be admitted he/she can organise it.

It can be depressing having pancreatitis, it's part of the deal sometimes and anti-depressants won't magically rid you of your pain and other symptoms relating to it.  Deal with those before considering jumping on the mental health see-saw.  Buck passing at it's worst.  Next you won't have pancreatitis at all your symptoms will be blamed on some other deep seated angst resulting in drinking.  Deal with what you know you have and don't muddy the waters.

This disease seems to attract so much ignorant negativity from within the medical fraternity and it makes me angry.  I used to work with stage 4 AIDS clients and what astounded me initially was how no-one, medical, nursing, other healthcare professionals, or AIDS sufferers themselves ever, EVER mentioned how they came to have the disease.  No blame, no angst, no sneers or abuse, no anger.  Blame achieves nothing.

Hi - I've been ill with pancreatitis since May as well and yes, my consultant wants to pin it on drinking because I have a healthy gallbladder and no stones. I have never been a big drinker and have had long periods with no alcohol. Needless to say I haven't had a drop since my illness started but he doesn't believe me! As I have a vomit phobia I don't get drunk - my alcohol

intake used to be a glass of wine with dinner or a couple of G&Ts when out with friends.

Agree that there seems to be a lot of ignorance around this condition. If it can't be pinned on gallstones or alcohol, the doctors seem a bit baffled if they can't put you in either box. The only sensible doctor I've come across is my GP who said I was just unlucky to have come down with it, as the body is a complicated thing and sometimes, no matter how well we take care of it, things just sometimes go wrong. Before this, I was very healthy - good diet, excercise, etc - so it was a shock.

Good luck with everything. Take care of yourself - eat as low a fat diet as possible (when you can eat), drink plenty of water (minimum four pints a day) and rest when you need to. The pancreas takes a very long time to heal, if it ever does, but you can manage it. By being really strict I am keeping the pain under control and rarely have to take medication or go to the hospital. It's tough but it works for me.

Hi, I have been suffering from pancreatitis for a long time but it became unbearable about 2 years ago. Of course doctors told me to cut down on drinking but that wasn't what was causing it. I was 40 lbs underweight and could not eat or barely move. I'm a single mom and had to work full time and I could barely breathe on a daily basis due to the pain, even with pain killers. It was so horrible. My GP was giving me pain meds so I could function but it was absolutely miserable. My insurance didn't cover specialists and Everytime I went to the er, they would tell me the same thing- don't drink. The whole ordeal of chronic pain broke my spirit. It was a living hell-bent waaaay worse than childbirth. I don't think people understand how bad it is! Anyway, Finally, a gastroenterologist who saw me at the hospital (when I was in the ER) figured out what was causing it! I had a congenital defect (condition) called pancreas divisum. I was born with it and over the 40 years of my life, my pancreatic duct (which was too narrow) and bile duct had become blocked. They put stents in (starting with the smallest stents) and for the past 2 years, I have gone in every 3 months for an outpatient ERCP where they have been putting larger stents in. After about 6 months I gained 30 pounds and the pain has been gone!!!!!! I cannot tell you how grateful I am to my gastroenterologist- he saved me physically and emotionally. I'm sure you guys understand how miserable life is with pancreatitis pain. So for me, I

t the was the divisum that caused it. The stents aren't a permanent fix and I actually saw the surgeon last week. Unfortunately I have to have a pretty major surgery to fix it for good but I cannot tell you how much better life has been since I got the stents and the pain went away. As you guys said, a lot of Drs just attribute pancreatitis to drinking and blow you off BC they don't believe you. (I was a moderate social drinker btw but I cannot drink anymore- which is difficult. Congratulations on your sobriety- that is really really something to be proud of!)

Anyway, I finally found a Dr who took the time to find out what was really wrong. Pancreas Divisum isn't very common but perhaps that's what you might have, if they have ruled out every thing else. A CT scan revealed the problem. Good luck- I know how you feel. I hope you can find a solution!!!!