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).

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.

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.

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.

When I had pancreatitis, I had severe pain in my abdomen. I was also belching excessively and I also had a swollen stomach and intense itching in my back.

January 2010, my father of 83, had acute pancreatitis. He got up in the morning and felt some chest pain. Thinking it was his heart, as he has a dissected aorta, he took a nitro spray. It didn't help. He went to the hospital where they took some blood tests which reviewed that he had pancreatitis. He was admitted that night and they gave him oxygen as he was having difficulty breathing and his abdomen was swollen. His breathing got more difficult during the night and they put him on a respirator and heavily sedated him. In the morning he was not responsive due to sedation. His blood was not taking on the IV and his kidneys were starting to fail. They did a CT scan around 4 in the afternoon which revealed that he had an abscess in his pancreas. At this point, there was very little they could do as his major organs were shutting down. His blood pressure continued to drop. He died around 9:45. The onset and deterioration was very quick (36 hours). Due to his age and health condition, there was very little that could be done. We received realistic prognosis and my father was made comfortable and did not suffer. I found this website helpful for knowledge and to understand and pancreatitis.

I felt as if a hot arrow had been shot through me and then an unbearable burning sensation started. I vomited, swelled up, and felt weak and lightheaded, and my breath got very shallow and rapid. My heart was racing. I collapsed and was sent to ER and admitted, they gave me an IV, morphine, and insulin for 4 days.