Not new to PC but new to trying to deal with it.

[Guest guest]

Well just comming in here to see how others deal with it. I was told

I had it back in 1994. Had the ERCP and all. Love to drink on

weekends and smoke and have fun. I am 31 years old and am now comming

to terms with it. Just want to know if people out there have my

symptoms. When I get a attack it lasts maybe a hour and coems with

bloating and pain. My attacks are like clockwork. I goto the

bathroom and unrinate once and I know it is ending. After two more

with in a hour of unrination I know its over. Then the back pain

comes. Does anyone else have increased attacks in the summer? Can

this stuff kill you? I have 4 kids and a wife. Just want to start

thinking of them instead of me. How do you let you family know you

have something serious? Also do the enzymes actually help? I never

take pain meds because I do not want my wife or kids to see me on

them. Would rather bite my lip and act like I am all good. but

sometimes I can't. Sorry for rambling just not good at this stuff

yet. but thank you for listening.

k

[Guest guest]

k,

Hi! I would like to ask first off if these episodes occur anytime after you

drink. If you have pancreatitis you should not drink alcohol. It is the 1st

and one of the BIGGEST things us cp people cannot do. It will send you into

and attack and cause more damage. I use to drink alot and miss it very much but

if I start drinking again with my CP the doctor told me I would die withing

5years. I was diagnosed in 2002. I am 37 and a single mother of 2 ages 18 and

15. If you are having pain it is not good for you to suffer. You need to see a

GI doctor as soon as possible for a consultation to see if the pancreatitis has

progressed. Once you are diagnosed with it there are definite changes you need

to make as far as diet. I was put on a 40-50gram fat diet. I can't eat red

meat at all. About the only things I can eat is Chicken, porkchops, fish,

cereal, oatmeal. Anything that is not fried but baked. Ice cream even bothers

me. What you need to do is keep a food journal to see if certain foods cause

pain. I am also on enzymes. That was the first thing I was put on and it

really did help. I don't want to sound gross but do you have diarrhea and gas

after eating a meal? Sometimes when I eat something I shouldn't I get very

bloated and look very pregnant. I just recently (May 9, 2005) had a thorscopic

splenec nerve division. I was on Oxycontin 80mg bid for a long time. Now I am

completely off ALL pain med and will take only Lortab prn. If your pain is bad

you shouldn't make your self suffer. Pain means something is WRONG. See a

doctor ASAP.

Sincerly,

Patty Duley,

Office Coordinator

L. Doering, MD

Louisville Oncology

3991 Dutchmans Lane, Suite 405

Louisville, KY 40207

(502)899-3366 ext. 142

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[Guest guest]

Hi k,

I notice too that when my pain levels go higher than normal that I

have more frequent urination. However, I have not noticed any

kind of connection with the flares being over. It is an interesting

observation and I will keep it in mind to see if that occurs with my

disease. I do not notice a difference in the summer but your

increase could be due to getting dehydrated more often in the

summer. Dehydration can be a big trigger for attacks as the fluid

in your pancreas may become too viscous and cause a

" blockage " in your ducts. Also, you just may be that much more

active in the summer and physical exertion can be another

trigger, as well as an increase in appetite (too much food always

causes me to have problems). Basically, from what I

understand, alcoholic pancreatitis can kill you if you do not stop

drinking. If you do stop, you may be at an increased risk over

your life time to get certain associated problems (like liver

disease, cancer, etc) but that the pancreas problem itself

shouldn't drastically affect your life span if your progression is

slowed. However, if you ever have another acute attack, there is

always a small chance that this acute attack can evolve into a life

threatening situation. But there is no way to predict any of this if

you stop drinking. If you do not, then some doctors say that the

person will most likely die fairly soon after they have been told

that they have CP (years maybe?). As far as not seeking pain

relief with narcotic pain pills, that is your decision but the more

pain you are in, the more likely you will suffer other health

problems. There is considerable opinion that chronic untreated

pain evolves into a disease of its own and is shown to shorten a

person's life span. Regardless, no person should suffer this

type of pain without relief, in my opinion, and this may be

something you should look into. If you are worried about losing

control or becoming too sedated, there are some good websites

on chronic pain that can offer you reassurance and knowledge

about the safe use of narcotics for long term pain relief.

Basically I deal with my pancreatitis with diet modification (try to

eat low fat, no meat, small meals, avoiding all alcohol, etc),

medication (narcotic pain medication, anti-nausea pills) and

activity modification. But while I was trying to figure out the best

way that I could deal with this, I did seek medical attention to rule

out any kind of " fixable " cause. Once this was ruled out, I pretty

much have worked on this on my own, with the exception of my

pain clinic doctor. So I guess the main ways I deal with this is

lifestyle changes, frequent visits to my pain clinic doctor and

learning strategies to keep my mind from obsessing over what I

am missing or about the things that I cannot do.

Laurie