My brother was hospitalized two days ago with acute pancreatitis caused by alcohol. He is still admitted but getting better and will hopefully be discharged soon. We are all unsure what to do next. Being told all the sudden he can never drink again is very shocking to hear for him and overwhelming. I don't think he ever expected to live a sober life and is a very social person - all his friends and family drink and it's hard to picture this new lifestyle that's different than what he's always known. We don't know what to do next when he gets out of the hospital. We have never known anything about pancreatitis and are trying to get up to speed quickly. Any advice folks have would be greatly appreciated. I'd love to hear from others who have pancreatitis due to alcohol. I want to support him the best I can to avoid drinking and this turning into chronic pancreatitis.
Thanks for your help!
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DahliaMae
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I'd suggest AA. I'm newly diagnosed with Pancreatis and the assumption I've had I must be an alcoholic or heavy drinker. Quite the opposite in fact. I hope it's a wake up call and not too late for your Brother.
So sorry to hear this, I am afraid he will have to accept his drinking days are over or he will soon be back in hospital. It is going to be hard for all of you. I also have pancreatitis, luckily not through alcoholism, but do not drink at all anymore & do not miss having a drink but it sounds as if he will. Good wishes to you all
Hello DahliaMae. All this advices are exellent. AA and so on.. But i see no answer from ex alcoholic. I was alcoholic and ended in hospital with acute pancreatitis almost 13 years ago. Bearly stayed alive. It turned in chronic pancreatitis immidietly. I have no words to describe what a hell is life with CP. Your brother can not even imagine what is life with CP... When they let me out of hospital, they said to me that if i continue to drink alcohol i will be dead very soon... But i could not imagine my life without alcohol... All my friends were drinkers. My social circle was full of alcoholics. First months i continue to drink beer here and there and my pancreas start hurt bad again.. God, what to do? Alcohol is social poison.. I could not be in company with my friends in bar and not to drink and of course glass of vine home to calm me down.. I decide one day to stop it.. I ordered my favorite botlle of beer in my favorite bar. I was alone.. No need for company, you have to be alone in moment like this.. I slowly sipped glass of beer and looked that golden beer and asked myself do i want to die or live... I don't know what happens to me in one moment. I ve grabed my half full bottle of beer and crashed it on the floor. I think i ve had a need to show to world that i don't need to drink any more. I apologised to waiter and guests, paid for beer and broken bottle and go out of bar... From that moment i ve never drink alcohol again.. It is a some kind of cold turkey method and if it worked for me it will work for your brother too. No alcohol craving, nothing... But i ve noticed kind of emptyness.. Next days i ve met old friend and he offered me medical cannabis. Medical cannabis can be extremly helpful in CP and it helped me a lot with apetite, nausea, pain... And helped me to distract from thinking of alcohol too.. Very much.. Your brother dont have CP, so maybe he dont need medical cannabis at all. All he need is decision. Of course, we all are different, so for one AA aproach can be succeful.. But i highly doubt.. AA is spinning in circle.. When i left hospital, nobody mention smoking at all.. So i continue smoking for years. Now i have problem with lung emphysema and accelerated CP.. So, if he smoke, he have to stop it too.. Cold turkey too.. Dear DahliaMae. Life with CP is horrible, i cannot live normal life. In hope that my expirience will help your brother i wish you all the best. Please show him this message. Sorry for long post and my bad english.
Hi i experienced the same thing 3 months ago...first hospital visit and diagnosed with Chronic Pancreatitis. I made the same mistake and ended up drinking for a short period and now im really regretting it, fearing ive shortened my life even more. I know it was 17 years ago but do you remember how much you drank after being diagnosed?
Dear Rgee. When i left hospital, i ve continued with drink for a 3.months or so... Maybe 3,sometimes 5,6 beers a day... I don't think that you have ruined your health too much if it is 3 months ago... Just stop it now. Most important thing is change of social circle. Alcoholics are not your friends, just victims... Best wishies.
I am one of those who developed pancreatitis as a result of heavy alcohol consumption and was hospitalized for about a week in the early 1971. My father, a recovering alcoholic himself, enrolled me in an alcohol recovery program in which I was ready. Had my last drink on March 31, 1971. After graduating from the program, I started attending AA meetings, which proved to be supportive, encouraging, friendly, and good company. As a result of pancreatitis, I was diagnosed with Type 2 Diabetes in 1996, and Chronic Kidney Disease (CKD) in 2018. Both are well controlled through diet and medications. At nearly 83 years old, my over 50 years of sobriety has had more ups than downs, and certainly better than lying in a grave at an early age due to heavy drinking. One thing that helped, DahliaMae, is that my sobriety started in a new city where I started AA and new job alone, without the influence of former drinking buddies. Let me know if I can help in any way.
Yes, Rgee, I remember experiencingquite a bit of pain until I was admitted to a hospital. Soon after recovering from pancreatis, I stopped drinking alcohol and began my road to sobriety.
Thank you everyone for your good wishes and for sharing your experience. It is helpful. Hopefully we can get him to AA, therapy and potentially look at outpatient treatment. He is supposed to start business school a week from monday which I think we will encourage him to go forward with it. It will give him a schedule and will be less challenging and stressful than his job was. It will also give him a new environment than what he was doing before, getting him out of his house. Hopefully it will help him look forward and think about more exciting things than drinking. It is a bit nerve wracking that he only has a week to recover before school starts though. And not drinking is a huge lifestyle change, then starting school is another massive change. He is still in the hospital but we expect him to be discharged tomorrow. Does anyone remember how long it took after hospital until they were back at their job? Will a week be okay? Thanks!
Hi DahliaMae 👋 I'm so sorry to hear about your brother. As everyone else has shared, it is important for him to completely avoid alcohol to avoid another attack.
AA is a good resource, if avoiding alcohol will be challenging. I have a number of family members who go to AA, and there are plenty of opportunities there for social activities and to make friends who don't drink.
In addition to avoiding alcohol, it's also recommended to refrain from high-fat foods. We have some information about nutrition for pancreatitis on our website: mission-cure.org/nutrition/
We also have a number of toolkits, webinars, and resources that may help as he makes this transition.
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