Pancreatitis

[wolfsoul]

My great aunt was just diagnosed with it. I've heard it's painful... Anyone have any tips or info?

[stacwase]

Is she in the hospital?

It's usually, but not always, caused by drinking too much alcohol. On rare occasions it can be caused by other things such as abdominal surgery or an accident, or it can just pop up for no known reason.

She'll need a lot of pain medications and she needs to avoid fatty foods and alcohol. Now that she's had it once, she's likely to have it again even if she's careful. It is sometimes dangerous, so if she does have symptoms make sure she goes to the Dr.

Hope I've been of some help.

[wolfsoul]

Thanks for the info!

I'm not sure if she's in the hospital; I'll ask my mom.

Don't worry, she already doesn't eat anything bad lol. It's very odd, because she's the only one of my great aunts who has always taken very good care of herself. She's always taken really good care of her skin and stuff and it shows because she's pretty and looks young for her age. My grandma and her other sisters take/took horrible care of themselves and yet they live/lived healthy lives.

[wolf_Q]

Yes, I've had it twice...caused by a weird reaction for medications. The last time I was in the hospital for several days without any food or drink, just IVs to get the enzyme levels down. It can be very painful, depending on how severe it is.

[mahayana]

So sorry to hear about your aunt, hope she is getting better.

We learned all about pancreatitis in dogs after our miniature schnauzer Jojo almost died from it a few years ago.

In her case, too much fat in the diet was the factor that caused her pancreas to shut down.

The vet put her on an IV, and for a week no food or water was put into her stomach. That was the main treatment.

Jojo has been on a strict lofat diet ever since. She now weighs 14 pounds (she was over 25 pounds when she was down), and she has been healthy since recovering.

Have you tried searching 'pancreatitis, human' on the web?