My son was recently hospitalized for alcohol induced pancreatitis. After 13 days in the hospital- 3 in ICU- has was released back home to recuperate. He is taking his vitamins, and now only Advil but continues to rest in bed and rarely moves about. The doctors all say to ambulate frequently- go outside and get the mail, “mosey” around the house, but he doesn’t have much interest. Plus, his has a lot of gas ( he was treated with IV- no surgery was required) which adds to his already anticipated abdominal pain. What have others done to ease the gas pain? Is walking overrated or is this a quick fix? THanks for your responses!
I don’t know about other people experiences but whenever I’m hospitalized and on an IV I’m bloated for at least a week. I have chronic pancreatitis due to a congenital abnormality (I was born with two pancreatic ducts that never fused together). Sometimes it just takes a matter of time for it to calm down. Walking will help get the gas through and so will drinking fluids. The problem may be the lack of energy, we can feel very fatigued but that also tends to go away as we recover from an attack. There’s no quick fix. If he’s having abdominal pain, I would suggest that he rests his pancreas which means not eating for a couple days. Stick to broth or Ensures. His diet should also be low fat, (no fried foods) eat six smaller meals rather than three big ones because it’s easier to digest and he should see a pancreas specialist or a GI specialist that specializes in the pancreas. Those doctors will go over everything that will help prevent future attacks.
I also have chronic pancreatitis from a divisum. I find that I cannot drink anything carbonated and also I cannot use a straw as you duck in extra gas. Also chewing gum can increase gas. Over the counter gas x helps. Keep moving and lay on your back bend your knees towards your gut and let the gas fly. Better to feel good then to smell good.
How was your experience getting diagnosed? I went through over a year of tests before the doctors found the Divseam. You would think two ducts would show on an ultrasound, endoscopy or CT but not in my case. Even after I received the PD diagnosis my GI doctor thought my symptoms were IBS related. I knew they weren’t so I asked for a pancreas specialist. After seeing the pancreas specialist I had an ERCP and was diagnosed with chronic pancreatitis. Now I have to get ERCPs every other month to widen my ducts.