Hello! Has anyone heard of "pancreatitis"??

[Fabi76]

My sister is in hospital (went there with bad abdominal pain) and the doctor said she might have pancreatitis. I don't know anyone who has had it, so I would like to get information from people who actually had it or know somebody who has. Is the recovery quick and complete? what should we be careful about? She is of course following everything the doctors said. Many thanks!

Ok first of all shes in the right place to get it looked after properly though so don't worry toomuch, but pancreatitis is very serious.

My ex had a sudden attack of it just before xmas, (due to gallstones) is lucky to be alive and won't be fully recovered for another 4 months. He was in ICU with an oxygen bubble/cap thing over his whole head, as the swelling in his abdomen was crushing his lungs. He has lost 3 stone and has to have his gall bladder and part of his pancreas removed, once other complications have been dealt with.... he can barely swallow due to scarring in his oesophagus where the 'juices' from the pancreas attacked it, along with other organs.

His case is possibly worse than some as the ambulance didn't show up and so it was ages before he got to hospital and got seen

Hope your sister has an easier time of it than he did, but in my experience it's a long recovery and I can only relay what I know of it

Thanks so much Lubey - God, that sounds terrible, I hope your ex recovers soon. In the case of my sister, the ultrasound didn't find any gallstones but they are going to do an endoscopy to see if they can find the cause.

I thought that pancreatitis was serious but since she is young and otherwise healthy I hope she will recover. Thanks a lot for sharing your experience.

Fabi - I've had pancreatitis several times; caused by a medical mishap during keyhole surgery to remove my gallbladder.

(I had an ultrasound for gallstones, and none were visible, but my gallbladder was full of tiny stones and sludge)

Each time I've had a flare up, I've ended up in hospital for about a week, with drips to hydrate me and a naso-gastric tube. I tend to have to take a week or two after to recover before I can do anything remotely strenuous.

Much would depend on the severity of your sisters pancreatitis, I have my fingers crossed for her and you.

I had panceratitis following a camera down throat procedure for gall stones (can't remember the name, sorry). It was excruciatingly painful, took about 5 days for the worst of the pain to subside and for me to be able to sit up, then another month for it all to settle properly (plus several course of antibiotics). No problems since.

It really depends on the cause and severity but your sister should expect to be poorly for a little while.

Hope she feels better soon

Dear Bear and Pheebe, thanks so much for sharing. I'm much relieved now knowing that it is not that uncommon and above all that she can recover from it. She was given strong painkillers so at least the pain has subsided.

Bear: the doctor said that even though the ultrasound didn't show any gallstones they will do an endoscopy to look for sand-like matter (it cannot remember the exact name)that could also cause it. So it sounds similar to what you had.

Thanks again!

(waves at Fabi) Hope your sister is getting on better today.

I had pancreatitis in October last year after an endoscopy to remove a gallstone obstructing my bile duct.

It was intensely painful, not at all helped by the fact I had 5 week old DS2 with me, who was breastfeeding, so no painkillers other than paracetamol and ibuprofen.

I was in hospital for a week, on very strong antibiotics, blood tests twice a day to check the CRP was going down, as it was over 700 at one point.

Pancreatitis can be life threatening but it does depend on the severity, mine was obviously not a severe case.

It took a few weeks for the CRP to go down and the pain to go, but then it was fine, Drs told me there would be no permanent damage caused.

Hope your sister gets well soon.