I have had pancreatitis as well, except I've had it 3 times. First time when I was 21, and you weren't going to tell me I couldn't drink, I just turned 21. Needless to say I got sick again. I am 30 now, and I took a long break from drinking, I'd say like 3 to 4 years. I do not recommend taking any shots ever! I can drink about a six pack, once or twice a month, but do not overload your body with too much alcohol at once at your pancreas can't break it down fast enough and in turn you will get pancreatitis again. This will kill you if you get out of control. I have done a lot of research, and red bull and vodka use to be my drink, but that is exactly why I got sick in the first place. Stick to the beer and drink in moderation and you should be fine, but remember, this illness is nothing to mess with, as it can take you life just like that.
I woke up one morning, last year, and had extreme pain in my stomach. I wasn't quite sure what to do so I went to the hospital. The pain became increasingly worse as I waited so I told them I needed to see a doctor right away. I don't remember anything after that other than waking up two weeks later with a tube in my nose, a tube in my arm, a trach, and so on. I had some dialysis and some blood transfusions at one hospital which I almost died at due to their lack of a specialist. Four months later I found out that they had a specialist at another hospital in Hollywood so they transferred me there. They put tubes in my side to drain the fluid. I think they had up to 3-4 in one hole in my stomach. I still have stretch marks from my stomach being so bloated from the fluid building up in my stomach. I mostly remember having weird dreams non-stop throughout my 6 month stay at the hospital. All of this from drinking too much to escape. I still want to have a drink sometimes...especially right now for reasons. All I can do is not try to find peace in escape anymore and trust God despite all I am dealing with right now.
In my day I was a party hound. I didn't have a reason just wanted to have fun. As time went on it was really interfering with my life. Family, events, personality. After drinking for 25 years stopping was the only answer. Cold turkey or what ever you want to call it, I did. 17 years into sobriety not one sniff of beer or any beverage of alcohol content did I do. The social events as weddings, graduations, funerals, everything you can imagine was and still is unnerving but that's life, right? One day on the final year of working for a living I woke up at 1:00 am with bad pain in my stomach. Struggled a little to get out of bed and wondered what the heck is this about. Sharp, very sharp pain persisted. I drank some water and went back to bed. 7:00 am on the job and nothing. I couldn't figure this out. I never said anything to my wife and went about my job as usual. 3 weeks later 1:00 am same thing. This time I had to get to the bathroom fast. After throwing up several times I couldn't stand up straight. My wife woke up and said were're going to E.R. right now. 16 days in the hospital, tube down my nose to my stomach, pic in my arm pit, I suffered. My Lipase was over 2,000. They said we are doing all we can for you. You just have to tough it out. Leaving the hospital after my 16 day stay I had my gallbladder taken out. No stones found.....2 weeks later I had an ERCP done. 3 samples of my pancreas were taken and a stint was put in my bio-duct. Samples came back negative for cancer. I did see my pancreas from a picture they took putting in the stint. Very abnormal was printed on the picture. Time heals and they said I was lucky. I did my research and it says I fell in that 10% that they never find out what caused it. It's been 19 years this year and no alcohol and my advise to all who think they want to drink again. NUTS! If I would have went through this early in life I would never considered for one sec. of taking another drink. I am amazed how many times I was asked are you drinking. The truth really feels good and 19 years to back it up is very special also. Pancreatitus is no joke. People die...........Listen to me:)
poor you, pancreatitis is regarded as one of the most painful illnesses-you can have and can be very dangerous if not treated immediately. Thank-you for sharing your story with us, hopefully it will act as a warning to people who drink too much, without thinking of the long term consequences. It sounds like you have made a good recovery from this and now have a much healthier lifestyle.
OMG! I have sat hear for over an hour reading all these posts and I get to the very last one and I finally found someone that went thru what I went thru. They say that the severe side of this illnesses the pain is one of the most severe. I have also been on powerful pain medications for many many years. They tried to give me 1mg dilaudid even after explaining to them my situation. It did absolutely nothing. An hour and half later when I was admitted they gave me 1.5mg. Still nothing. I have never felt that much pain in my life. And I call BS on there is nothing more we can do.Number 1 you could let me take my normal meds that would work a lot better Not to mention by day three not being able to take normal meds and only left to there minuscule pain med level leaves you to start withdrawals on top of the worst pain you have ever been in in your life.I also left the hospital after day 3. Many days earlier than they wanted me to. When I got home and took my regular med especially after it had now been a few days and I was a little better, I was fine. Even though 1 hour earlier still at hospital with them doing all they can do , I was still in severe pain. Do the math. This is definitively not rocket science.
OMG! I have sat hear for over an hour reading all these posts and I get to almost the very last one and I finally found someone that went thru what I went thru. They say that the severe side of this illnesses the pain is one of the most severe. I have also been on powerful pain medications for many many years. They tried to give me 1mg dilaudid even after explaining to them my situation. It did absolutely nothing. An hour and half later when I was admitted they gave me 1.5mg. Still nothing. I have never felt that much pain in my life. And I call BS on there is nothing more we can do.Number 1 you could let me take my normal meds that would work a lot better Not to mention by day three not being able to take normal meds and only left to there minuscule pain med level leaves you to start withdrawals on top of the worst pain you have ever been in in your life.I also left the hospital after day 3. Many days earlier than they wanted me to. When I got home and took my regular med especially after it had now been a few days and I was a little better, I was fine. Even though 1 hour earlier still at hospital with them doing all they can do , I was still in severe pain. Do the math. This is definitively not rocket science.
drinking alcohol is the equivalent of sniffing glue, its a pathetic, childish diversion which most should outgrow by the age of 18 or not indulge at all.
My family introduced me to alcohol one christmas , when they had forgotten to get me any presents, my father compensated that evening at christmas dinner by pouring me a big glass of wine . I was nine or ten.
I would see the ads for beer promising "Great Big Taste" or ads claiming that the beer was brewed using mountain spring water and all the other BS, but when I first tasted beer I almost vomited. From the age of 13 I trained myself to be able to drink beer without feeling ill.
Seriously, anyone over the age of 25, give it up already . Been dere, done dat. Where's the novelty in several glamorous trips to bathroom to urinate at some stupid little dance palace charging exorbitant prices for rotting grain alcohol? Young women really feel high status if men go there to buy them urine-inducing liver poison? OOh , the glamor . The glitz. The urine. The social pecking order of your move groove blah blah blah. Grow the * up.
So I created an account just to write about this issue.I stumbled across this when I googled how long I should wait to drink again... even though I know I shouldn't. This thread reassured my impulse.Anywho, I am 26 now but I had my first and only attack at the end of 2012 at 23. I was in ICU for about a week and a half.. Had full kidney dialisis amongst other things I'm sure. I was a pretty heavy drinker for a few years. It had come to the point that I was finishing almost a bottle of Vodka almost every night. As much as I didn't want to admit I was an alcoholic.. I was an alcoholic. I too enjoyed the feeling of being someone else when under the influence. It was my blanket as someone else mentioned.I was hospitalized on New Years Day 2013. The pain on my abdomen were extremely sharp and it would come and go every minute. If any of you ever had a gullbladder attack.. it was quite the same or worse. I knew it wasn't my gullbladder because I had it removed like 2 years prior. Anywho, I was hopsitalized and the feeling was one of the worst feelings. They told me I had acute pancreatitis. I had no idea what that was either... so I was admitted for a week and half which feelt like literal torture.I eventually was realeased and healed and had to work so hard to recover (I have diabetes too). That hospital bill was a nice $75,000 btw. Keep that in mind if you want to continue drinking to go through it again.My point of this story is I stopped drinking. My last drop of alcohol was New Years Eve 2012. I have not touched a drop since then. I went full cold turkey after being an alcoholic. I won't lie, it did suck at first, but now it is an amazing feeling. I am amazed how a lot of the people on here continue to drink and disregard medical advice. What kept me off alcohol was the fact that I cherish my life more than anything and would like to live as long I can. I also could never ever make my parents go through what I put them in for those 10 excruitating days. My mother and father cried endlessly because I could have died. I cherish my parents and would never put them through that again.Yes, I had cravings. I still do once in a blue moon just because some drinks look really nice. Nowadays I admire the way drinks look and smell but I don't usually crave it or give into it.I hope you guys think hard and well to see if continuing to drink is truly worth your quality of life. It's a shame to die from something that can be prevented.I understand alcohol is so hard to give up and sucks to see other people drink at social function, but try an alternative. I sometimes smoke marijuana when I want to be apart of the social crowd. It helps.
Can I ask, If you still drink with no problems?