At first it felt like a horrible case of indigestion with a gas bubble that would not go away. There was no outright pain, but lots of abdominal tenderness that eventually turned into nausea and vomiting. At one point, my blood sugar shot up to 270, and I was so restless that I was thrashing about on my hospital bed, contrary to instructions to keep my leg still because of the thrombolysis I had had the night before. The dye used in the thrombolysis also led to acute renal failure (contrast nephropathy). A combination of insulin, IV antibiotics, and IV fluids brought the acute pancreatitis under control, but I could not tolerate any food except clear liquids for about three days. I haven’t had a recurrence since then (three months later). Published: October 06 ::

I have had chronic pancreatitis since 1986 and have found that stress is one of the causes, for me. I avoid fatty foods and alcohol. During my six years of being sober, I only had two attacks, one of which hospitalized me for 30 days! No fun! I'm still sober now and choose to live the rest of this beautiful life that way. I would also add to be careful with the medications you take. Published: September 24 ::

The cause of my pancreatitis is still under investigation. I almost never drink, and both a CT scan and MRI showed no gallstones in the duct (my gall bladder was laparoscopically removed in January). I had previously had several esophageal spasms severe enough to take me to the emergency room. These spasms had been relieved and prevented by dicyclomine, an anticholinergic. This time I had a very tight feeling in my abdomen that wouldn't go away, and that awakened me. My internist had prescribed Donnatal as an alternative to dicyclomine, and I thought the Donnatal was what made me begin to vomit violently and keep retching even when my stomach was emptied. I was taken by ambulance to the hospital and admitted same day. I spent 4 days there and am still on antibiotics (Flagyl & Cipro) to prevent the inflammation from developing into an infection. I am scheduled to see a gastroenterologist for follow-up. Published: September 11 ::

I had increasing back pain for a few days and general malaise. I thought it was a kidney infection. I called my primary doctor and asked if he could see me or call me in antibiotics, but he told me to go to the ER. My co-workers thought it was silly to go for a kidney infection, but I had vomited once and the pain was getting a little more intense. I told the nurse I felt silly for being there, that I thought it was a UTI and that I had pain in my back on the left side and vomiting. They did a urine test and gave me some fluids and mild pain meds. Two hours later I was in extreme pain, could not stop vomiting and they came back and told me I had pancreatitis, and they were admitting me. As it turns out, I had sphincter of Oddi dysfunction causing the pancreatitis. Published: September 11 ::

I have had upper abdominal tenderness since May 2009. I also have very bad heartburn and when I went to my family doctor, who found that my amylase and lipase levels were sky high and sent me immediately to get a CT scan. They didn't find any major swelling but they did see some fluid around my gall bladder which suggested that there had been some inflammation. My doctor’s thought that I just passed a gall stone and that I would be fine. Later on in the summer I went to the ER because the discomfort was still there and my blood levels were still high. I was admitted diagnosed with pancreatitis even though my pancreas looked normal--with my elevated amylase, lipase and pain they kept me in the hospital. I had my gallbladder removed even though the HIDA scan came back normal. It wasn't my gallbladder-I am still having the discomfort, bloating, tenderness & bad heartburn. It's been weighing on me mentally as well, I can't concentrate in school (I'm 21) and I just feel stressed out a lot. I have an appointment with a pancreatic specialist in a couple weeks and I'm hoping he'll find a diagnosis. I don't want to live with this anymore and I don't want to be that 15% of pancreatitis patients who go undiagnosed. The whole thing is extremely frustrating. Published: November 20 ::

My daughter complained of abdominal pain for a couple of weeks. The doctor requested blood work and an ultrasound but before it was done, she was in so much pain that we got her to urgent care on a Sunday. They did blood work but could not do a ultrasound as they did not have one. So, they sent her home with an appt to have one done the next day. Well the next day, she could not get out of bed, so I called an ambulance. She spent 5 days in hospital on antibiotics, morphine and Percocet. The blood work suggested pancreatitis. She is a teenager and does tend to drink at parties. She is slim to begin with. She was doing better after hospital but got worse. We finally got her back to the doctor who advised her of the low-fat diet, but I can see she needs to go on a liquid diet again. It's been hard on her. She has quit drinking and smoking and she's losing her job because she hasn't the energy to work, but she has a sweet boyfriend. Thank you for your time and attention to this. Love, Mom Published: November 19 ::