Just diagnosed w/acute pancreatitis

Let me begin by saying I've never been a blogger, however, I hope that interaction with others with a similar ailment will help me with the anxiety I have associated with this disorder.  I am a 45 year old male that has approx. 3 drinks per year for the last 8 years.  prior to that I was definately a partier "binge" drinker.  About 8 mos ago, i would awaken with the most excruciating pain just below the center of my rib cage.  I would grunt and bear it, take a handful of tums and it would finally subside several hours later.  I might also add--I work in a high stress environment, was eating fast food daily, drinking approx 10 cups of coffee and another 10 sodas per day.  Also, would eat my second meal (supper) around 10 or 11 PM just before bed.  I know, sounds like I was begging for this to happen right?  Anyways, 2 mos ago the pain was horrific, but I continued to work until my coworkers looked at me and stated that I was yellow (skin and eyes).  I had my wife take me to the ER where upon blood testing, Ultrasound and CT the doctors found that I had gallstones and some of them were blocking the bile duct.  I was schedule for surgery the following morning and everything went well.  I was home in a couple of days and quite honestly, could not remember the last time I felt as well.  I had energy, no nagging tightness under the ribcage, solid bowel movements and my anxiety had subsided.  I felt I had a new lease on life.  Dr. told me that I shouldn't have to change anything about my diet and that this was a very common problem (Although, I may have neglected to disclose to him how much I loved fatty foods).  So life went on, however, I began to notice that the pain was coming back, my stomach sounded like a warzone after eating--and I began having arrythmia and weird palpitations (It always went hand in hand with the nagging tightness and bloated feeling).  About a week ago, I experienced the worst pain I have ever felt (It felt like a gorilla had a grip on my heart and was squeezing it).  I was out of breath--was convinced I was having a heart attack.  My wife took me back to the ER, they did blood work and discovered that there was a cardiac marker (Tropinin i think it's called) and said I needed to have a catheter procedure done to see if I had clogged plumbing in my heart.  I'm thinking, "that's got to be the reason for my sudden onset of arrythmia".  Not the case.  Heart came back in good shape.  I was then informed that my lipase was slightly elevated and that I had acute pancreatitis.  I was told to remove most (if not all) of the fat I possibly could from my diet and was prescribed a Lipase enzyme as a meal supplement.  So, I am going to follow doctor's orders and give up the bacon burgers . 

I am wondering if smoking contributes to recurrent attacks?

​Has anyone ever noticed arrythmias with this disorder?

​Any discussion would be greatly appreciated as I am just now learning about this disorder through experience.

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