Acute Pancreatitis

Question: How long do I have to wait to consume alcohol after acute pancreatitis? I just suffered my first attack of acute pancreatitis and was advised to lessen the amount of alcohol I consume. How long do I have to wait to have my first drink again?

Answer: I would NOT drink again. Pretty much EVER. I have this too - and it could turn chronic if you consume alcohol. Try an alcohol-free lifestyle with mocktails and O'Douls. Life is better sober.

Question: Does anybody know a good diet for someone with acute pancreatitis? My boyfriend is 27 years old and has acute pancreatitis, hes had it for a couple of years now. He was just in the hospital the other day and its really scaring me because it is serious. It seems that some foods seem to trigger it. Does anybody know any good foods (I mean foods that you wouldn't mind eating) that would be ideal for him?

Answer: It's not acute pancreatitis any more. You didn't mention whether he has chronic pancreatitis or recurrent bouts of acute pancreatitis. We don't feed people with acute pancreatitis, since the food stimulates that pancreas and often makes the pancreatitis worse. We put patients with acute pancreatitis on IV fluids until their serum lipase comes down. People with chronic pancreatitis should be evaluated and treated by a gastronenterologist for the best results.

Question: What to expect from acute pancreatitis? My dad went to emergency yesterday and they diagnosed him with acute pancreatitis but they aren't really sure. What to expect from this? Is it serious?

Answer: Acute pancreatitis: Sudden inflammation of the pancreas. The pancreas abruptly becomes inflamed and then gets better. Some people have more than one attack but recover fully after each one. The cause of acute pancreatitis is most often alcohol abuse or gallstones. Other causes include use of prescribed drugs, trauma or surgery to the abdomen, or abnormalities of the pancreas or intestine. In rare cases, the disease may result from infections, such as mumps. In about 1 case in 6 or 7, the cause is unknown. Symptoms usually begin with pain in the upper abdomen that may last for a few days, is often severe, and may be constant, just in the abdomen, or it may reach to the back and other areas. The pain may be sudden and intense, or it may begin as a mild pain that is aggravated by eating and slowly grows worse. The abdomen may be swollen and very tender. Other symptoms may include nausea, vomiting, fever, and an increased pulse rate. One often feels and looks very sick. In about 20% OF CASES, THE DISEASE IS SEVERE. The patient may become dehydrated and have their heart, lungs, or kidneys fail. In the most severe cases, bleeding can occur in the pancreas, leading to shock and sometimes death.

Question: Is Severe Acute Pancreatitis really correlative to nightmares? or is it just a myth? cause i've heard a number of times that people who are known to have died from "nightmares" actually died from Severe Acute Pancreatitis. how true is that? thanks for the answer, Neka. but I just need a clarification, not a rhetorical question. Thanks dr. shahriar, but how come there was this incident in my friend's country wherein a person died from it yet had no symptoms at all? it was declared in the autopsy that such condition killed him instantly.

Answer: yes you are right

Question: if someone have acute pancreatitis,they really have to go for operation?what are the chances of survival? my brother have acute pancreatitis,is this illness can cure just taking drugs or proper medications? if he will go for operation, he can work again like before?in the phiippines how much is the operation?

Answer: Acute Pancreatitis can be caused by a Gallbladder difunction or problem It is very common. Antibiotics can cool it down, but his gallbladder may need removed. Its a very easy surgery to recover from. I couldn't tell you how much it would cost in Phillipines. Recovery takes about a week, if he has surgery. He will recover fine from this kind of surgery.

Question: Is it ok to smoke after having acute pancreatitis? My friend has recently got out of hospital after having acute pancreatitis at level 3.3 and was smoking today. I was wondering, is this harmful to him other than the obvious fact that it's smoking?

Answer: The American Journal of Gastroenterology Volume 99 Issue 4 Page 731 - April 2004 OBJECTIVES: We studied relationships of cigarette smoking and coffee drinking to risk of pancreatitis. METHODS: This was a cohort study among 129,000 prepaid health plan members who supplied data about demographics and habits in 1978–85. Among 439 persons subsequently hospitalized for pancreatitis, probable etiologic associations were cholelithiasis (168/439 = 38%), alcohol (125/439 = 29%), idiopathic (110/430 = 25%), and miscellaneous (36/439 = 8%). Cox proportional hazards models with seven covariates (including alcohol intake) yielded relative risk estimates for smoking and coffee use. RESULTS: Increasing smoking was strongly related to increased risk of alcohol-associated pancreatitis, less related to idiopathic pancreatitis, and unrelated to gallstone-associated pancreatitis. Relative risks (95% confidence intervals, CI) of one pack per day (vs never) smokers for pancreatitis groups were: alcohol = 4.9 (2.2–11.2, p< 0.001), idiopathic = 3.1 (1.4–7.2, p< 0.01), and gallstone = 1.3 (0.6–3.1). The relationship of smoking to alcohol-associated pancreatitis was consistent in sex and race subsets. Drinking coffee, but not tea, was weakly inversely related to risk only of alcohol-associated pancreatitis, with relative risk (95% CI) per cup per day = 0.85 (0.77–0.95; p= 0.003). Male sex, black ethnicity, and lower-educational attainment were other predictors of alcohol-associated pancreatitis. CONCLUSIONS: Cigarette smoking is an independent risk factor for alcohol-associated and idiopathic pancreatitis. Coffee drinking is associated with reduced risk of alcohol-associated pancreatitis. The data are compatible with the hypotheses that smoking may be toxic to the pancreas or may potentiate other pancreatic toxins while some ingredient in coffee may have a modulating effect.

Question: Is it normal to discharge an ER patient with Acute Pancreatitis? My husband had to go to ER, after a CT and blood test he was diagnosed with Acute Pancreatits. He had 3 shots of Morphine, than they gave him Saline IV and sent us home in the middle of the night. He is now taking codeine for pain, we don't have our Dr. appt until Mon AM, he is running a fever(101.3) Is this normal treatment for this sort of thing. He does not drink alcohol, and they said no cancer or stones were found.

Answer: "normal" is not the right word. Is it done...of course. In pancreatitis where by labs is not severe, patients are often sent home with analgesia and follow up with their doctor. I would mainly judge the pancreatitis by the pain rather than the fever. During pancreatitis, a whole bunch of pyrogens get dumped into the system and can produce "fever" even though there may not be an actual infection. Goto the ER if the pain is not controlled by the medication. Otherwise, f/u with your doctor as sheduled

Question: what can i expect with acute pancreatitis? i have had acute penetrates for one year (jan 3 2008) my doctors give me little info even when asked. could some one help me understand what it is and what to expect? i am in the dark.

Answer: Acute pancreatitis is a sudden inflammation of the pancreas. Depending on its severity, it can have severe complications and high mortality despite treatment. While mild cases are often successfully treated with conservative measures, such as NPO (abstaining from any oral intake) and IV fluid rehydration, severe cases may require admission to the ICU or even surgery (often more than one intervention) to deal with complications of the disease process. source:http://en.wikipedia.org and visit the following site,you may get more help

Question: Can I feed my dog vegetables if the pup has acute pancreatitis? Other than low fat, what types of food can I feed my dog? Cottage cheese and egg whites were suggested. Are they OK in this case? I am trying canned Wellness Fish and Sweet Potatoes. I cannot find out what the expected fat content of Wellness is exactly and I need to know. Also how much can I feed my dog each day -- lots of low fat snacks still adds up to more fat. But my dog is very hungry.

Answer: Your vet should be able to tell you what kinds of foods the dog can have. I wouldn't try to second guess it. Just ask the vet,

Question: Would you treat acute pancreatitis pain with Meperidine or Morphine? Meperidine causes less spasms but can cause seizures. Morphine has a longer half life. Which would you order and why?

Answer: actually the seizures caused by meperidine attributable to the metabolite 2,3 nor-meperidine is in fact a rare complication and is only seen with very large cumulative doses. either one is safe if prescribed in appropriate doses. meperidine does have more drug interactions than morphine however, such as with monoamine oxidase inhibitors.

Question: Acute pancreatitis ????? I was just in the hospital for about 3 weeks with acute pancreatitis. I have another scan in a few days then at the end of the month I'll have an gastroscopy. Has anyone been through the same thing? I like a drink and am very hesitant - I was told to not abuse it but it should be ok- any advice?

Answer: I have a friend who has this. He likes to drink too and not in moderation either. He keeps having relapses and he also has developed serious diabetes. He's only in his 20s. The hospital have told him that he must change his lifestyle or the outlook is pretty grim. The choice is yours but it is so worrying for the people around you who love you to see you doing this kind of thing to yourself. Honestly, you can still enjoy yourself without booze otherwise you might not be here to enjoy anything.

Question: My daughter died of acute pancreatitis due to ethanolism. but had only start abusing alcohol about a year ago? Her problem started at about 21 when she started abuse vicadin, which she did for about 10 months, she was then clean for about 8 months and then started abusing Tussinex which she was weened off of. 4 months later she turned to alcohol. Could the other drugs have affected her pancreas, or do they just assume it was cause by alcohol because of her history(which they where told about)?

Answer: I am so sorry about your child I can only imagine your pain, may I suggest you talk to the doctor in charge and he will tell you the exact cause of death. I know you looking for more answers because is hard to accept. I will pray for you. Good luck.

Question: What is the reason behind a decrease in calcium serum levels in a case of acute pancreatitis?

Answer: Hypercalcemia or high calcium levels produces AP through calcium-mediated activation of trypsinogen and subsequent glandular autodigestion. Hypercalcemia-associated AP may occur in the setting of primary and secondary hyperparathyroidism, malignancy, and metabolic bone disease. In recent years, numerous genetic mutations have been associated with the development of acute and chronic pancreatitis. That's why calcium level is lower than 8 mg/dL because of the underproduction of the pancreatic enzyme of trypsinogen.

Question: can a person play sports if he has acute pancreatitis? my brother is vomiting, nausea, pain in adomen, the nurses placed a tube in him to relieve of fluid and air. his blood pressure is high and he has a rapid pulse. Is this a mild case or severe case. Can a person play sports after something this serious?

Answer: Not until a doctor gives him a clean bill of health. Getting hit in the stomach or spleen could be very serious. Just from having a severe case of mono in high school, I was not allowed to play contact sports or take gym class for the whole year, because they said my spleen could rupture. Pancreatitis is pretty disruptive to the whole body, and until everything is healed up, he shouldn't be overtaxing his strength. Since a tube had to be placed in him to remove excess fluid and air, it sounds pretty serious. Until his blood pressure and pulse are normal for several weeks he should stick to more rest, light exercise like walking, and really take it easy. Hope he is getting better soon.

Question: What is the name of the cell type that replaces damaged cells of acute pancreatitis?

Answer: Damaged cells in the pancreas are not replaced.

Question: How and why does alcohol consumption cause acute pancreatitis? And will future alcohol consumption guarantee a recurrence?

Answer: wow paw, what a helpful answer. According to the Merk Home Medical Journal, Your pancreas makes acids and enzymes the body uses to break down foods. It then passes these chemicals into the intestines through a valve. Alcohol can damage the valve, causing these chemicals to remain in the pancreas. Too much of a back-log, and the pancreas itself is damaged. So, logically, yes, drinking more alcohol is a good way to have another backup.