Re: Welcome to

[Guest guest]

Dear ,

Hopefully you will see this welcome before you appointment on

Monday. I've been out of town since Friday and have just noticed

your message this evening while going through the stack of

posts, so many that it's taken an hour and a half just to catch up

on three missed days!

I see that many have already welcomed you and sent you in the

right direction to find information about pancreatitis. The

Hopkins site, which is located here on our webpage in the

" Files " section is an excellent source of information, as is Mark

Armstrong's Pancreatitis webpage at: http://www.top5plus5.com/

As you see, your pancreatitis may have been brought on by

causes other than alcohol. The reason that is always one of the

first causes mentioned is because such a high majority of acute

pancreatitis cases are either alcohol or gallbladder disease

related, (about 70%), so these two issues receive the most

attention.

I read that your tests so far revealed that your gallbladder was

fine, so if they are able to determine that there are no stones

which may have created an obstruction in the ducts, then it

narrows the field down to other causes; such as idiopathic

(which means they have no idea of cause), genetic

abnormalties, (such as pancreas divisim or sphincter of oddi

dysfnction), heriditary, (which would be that other blood relatives

in your family also had pancreatitis), pancreatitis caused by

heavy prescribed medication usage, scorpion bite (but not a

species of scorpion found in this country), or from an ERCP.

Your doctor will probably start running a series of tests to

determine which of the above is the culprit. The locations of your

upper abdominal pain and pain that radiates to the back is very

typical of this disease, as is the fact that it bothers you much

more during the night. I find this quite identical to the way my

chronic pancreatitis first affected me when I was diagnosed

nearly three years ago. One thing that I've found of great comfort

for that disturbing night time pain is liberal use of a heating pad.

I keep one at the side of my bed, and use it to sooth both my

back and upper abdomen, alternating between the two areas

with it set on a medium or low setting. If you don't have a heating

pad, try to make that one of your first purchases to help you on

the road to better sleep.

If the Donnatol only helps with making you drowsy, talk to your

doctor about a pain medication that can help reduce your pain

levels so that you can sleep. I do remember that the night time

pain kept me up for weeks during the first months after my first

acute attack, and resulted in so much day time fatigue that I was

unable to funtion without a nap every day. The lack of nutrients

and vitamins that was caused by the chronic pancreatitis only

made day time exhaustion more severe, so you need to ask

your doctor about vitamins and supplements that can help to

replace those that you are losing through malabsorption. We

can suggest many of these for you, but it would be best that you

discussed this with your doctor first, and found out what he

recommends.

Also ask him about your diet needs, most of us follow a strict low

fat diet, usually no more than 30 grams of fat daily, to help

reduce the pain caused by trying to digest higher fat foods and

protein.

There is a lot of information for you to research and learn that will

help you to live more comfortably with chronic pancreatitis, but

it's too much to try to list tonight....oops....this morning! Please

post to us again after you see your doctor tomorrow to let us

know how your appointment went, what your doctor plans to do

to test you and to treat you. We're here to help you through any

way we can, and you couldn't have come to a better place for

support and understanding.

With hope and prayers,

Heidi

Heidi H. Griffeth

South Carolina

SC & SE Regional Rep.

PAI, Intl.

Note: All comments or advice are personal opinion only, and

should not be substituted for consultation with a medical

professional.