Alcohol and CP

[Guest guest]

Hi everyone, especially Cindy,

You're quite right, Cindy, we tend to hear of alcohol being

associated with liver problems but it's much less widely known about

the pancreatitis connection.

It's very important not to feel guilty about this. First of all, the

majority of frank alcoholics never get pancreatitis, never mind

people who just drink socially. Doctors don't know exactly why some

people's pancreas reacts badly to alcohol but they are researching

this very question at the moment. I know that the pancreatic team

here in Liverpool is not too far off a clear understanding of the

mechanism which leads some people to develop pancreatitis from

alcohol and not others.

I have had CP since I was 5 years old. I didn't drink then!! I have

had terrible periods of time in the course of my life (59 now) when

very severe pain, malabsorption, diarrhoea, steatorrheoa, weight

loss etc. have been my everyday life. This was especially so in the

1980's. I didn't drink very often, just special occasions.

In 1988 I was diagnosed with coeliac disease and did improve a lot

when I went on the gluten-free diet. My CP remained undiagnosed,

although suspected at one time. I still had attacks.

In the mid 1990's, like a lot of British people, I did start to

drink more wine. I would say that by 1996/97 I was having a glass of

wine most evenings with my meal and sometimes a second one. It is

true that my pain increased and, by 1999/2000 I was in a very bad

way again with regard to severe upper-abdominal pain...exactly the

same pain as in childhood but not one or two weeks a year as then,

but about a third of every single week, at least. I did not know

that alcohol could make the condition worse and my glass(es) of wine

helped me to relax in the evening!

In 2003 my condition (hereditary chronic pancreatitis) was

diagnosed. I have certainly been better since going on my low-fat,

no-alcohol diet and taking Creon enzymes. (My pancreas is atrophied

and has extensive calcifications. It was already slightly atrophied

in 1988, I discovered later.)

Now, I have obviously always had CP, undiagnosed. My teetotal mother

died in 1965 of acute pancreatitis after many years of horrendously

severe CP which they couldn't treat at all in those days...no

alternative feeding methods, for example. I only ONCE saw my mother

with a drink, a small glass of port in someone's house on Chtristmas

Day. She didn't want to offend them but couldn't finish it anyway!

I am quite prepared to accept that my more regular drinking in the

second half of the 90's may have aggravated my condition. No docs

have suggested it did, by the way, but, obviously, I wouldn't be

surprised if that was the case. HOWEVER!! I am certainly not going

to feel guilty even if it was so! The condition was going to

progress anyway. I didn't know about the link. Drinking alcohol is a

part of most people's lives today. Most people remain unaffected

health-wise if they just drink in moderation. Even heavy drinkers

don't usually develop CP. There are no warnings about it as there

are about alcohol and liver disease or smoking and lung cancer.

And here's a final point. Even if someone " brings on " their own

illness by some sort of excess, I do not believe it is up to others

to sit in judgement, blame them or deny them the best treatment.

Nobody fully understands what makes people drink too much, smoke or

take drugs. People can get into situations beyond their control very

quickly and easily.

NO BLAME!! We have an illness and we deserve for it to be treated as

well as possible.

Of course, it makes sense to stop all alcohol consumption, whatever

the original cause of the CP. We need to try to help anyone who has

difficulty with that.

In any case, Cindy, you're not responsible for your illness! You

acted no differently from other people in your group but you are,

sadly, unlucky from that particular point of view. It is unlikely

that alcohol was the actual cause of your CP. There can be many

causes and docs quite often don't find out. This is ideopathic

pancreatitis. There may hereditary links which you don't know about.

Do NOT blame yourself.

I wish you the very best in your treatment. Don't worry about the

ERCP! It will probably go just fine or you may have a short

reaction. (I've had one of each!) Everything passes! Hopefully ti

will give them the info they need to help you.

Good luck!

Fliss (UK)