Can we talk pancreatitis?

Has a pretty awful night maybe 6-8 weeks back where I had severe severe abdominal pain, throwing up, rapid heart rate, sweating... the worst of it was over in 2 hours, but did a liquid diet for a few days due to residual pain and trying to rest the digestive system. Flash forward to the dr. appointment that was scheduled as a result and one of the things that came up was pancreatitis. I was surprised, but did have my gallbladder out a while back and apparently there is a connection there. Anyway, waiting on getting an EGD done in December to try and see what is what, but until then was wondering what folks new here and any tips. We didn't go into much detail about since I have test results pending and the future Egd. So, some questions

• if I drop down to very low fat, would it help? I had steered clear of fat for quite a while post gallbladder removal, but over the summer up until now started putting it back in and using more of Questran to deal with the lack of digesting fat. Not sure if that is a coincidence, but for sure started having more digestive trouble. On a side note, I added fat in because some nutrients need fat to absorb.
• I rarely drink alcohol, but is that a thing for pancreatitis? It wouldn't be a big deal at all to forgo the occasional half of hard cider or what have you, but not sure if it is even a thing?
• Any tips on reducing issues?

I went in thinking the hiatel hernia is back (again) due to the big spike in acid and belching. He is checking on that as well, but some of the symptoms may overlap?

I have no answers, but the same thing happened to me twice, a month apart, and after eating the exact same food. I've avoided that food since and haven't had the problem again. For me the food was Grandy Oats Coconola with yogurt. I think it was something about the coconut shreds mixed with the slider action of the yogurt.

alcoholics do have a lot of trouble with pancreatic, but it is incorrect to say that pancreatitis "mostly happens to alcoholics."

ppl who have never touched alcohol can have pancreatitis.

I do (did) drin****asionally- average about 2 drinks a month overall... but rarely more than half a hard cider or something at a sitting. Still eliminating it though to be on the safe side.

After having my gallbladder out I've had acute pancreatitis a few times. It is a serious condition, and it's miserable! Avoiding alcohol is important, as is limiting fat. I find that I can eat things sautéed in olive oil or with avocado with no problem, but animal fat and/or deep fried food cause problems, so I stick to plant-based fats. Not sure what the research says about the source of fats, that's just my experience.

That can't be a coincidence I suspect- I have noticed more problems with some fats over others. Olive oil is my go-to (allergic to avocado). Higher fat dairy is an issue too for me.

happyteacher, I too would avoid alcohol and most fats

..Have you tried coconut oil? it can cross blood brain barrier and nourish the brain... it and olive are my go -to oils.

Unless your diet is fat free you should get enough oil to carry and absorb vitamins. D3, E,A,K ,K2,CoQ10 are fat solubles and are all in gelcaps..they have fat in them in suspension..My DH has to be careful and not take all of these in pill form in one day. or the fat bothers him and he has NOT had intestinal surgery.

As far as the alcohol, as long as you are going into gastric distress your pancreas does not need the additional stress. You only have one. and you need it for insulin production...sure beats taking shots.

I have family members that each time they eat lettuce they have a pancreatic attack within 36 hours. there are many trigger foods for pancreatic attacks and as someone else mentioned passing stones..

..milk thistle is often recommended by endocrine specialists..anti inflammatory herbs ginger and tumeric will reduce some inflammation, and may give some relief... .helped my daughter get thru full gall bladder stone episode..she used 1/8 tsp of each and put in a capsule used about q4h. because she did not like as hot tea.

Thank you for your comment- I will look into the thistle and other items you mentioned. I don't tolerate tumeric supplements very well, but maybe the others could work. Didn't realize that lettuce could trigger so I will pay attention more to all foods and not just the fat-inducing ones.

IMO - but what you had to me looks like food intolerance or even bad case of food poisoning. I had very painful episode yesterday. The pain was so bad, that I had problem walking, breathing and talking. I had severe cramps, runs, and I was nauseated. But my pouch was empty so there was nothing to throw up with. My episode lasted more than 2 hours. But after to drank lots of warm water and took some meds for the intestine, and muscle relaxers and some pain pills, I just passed out, wrapped in a blanket as I was having a cold sweats that left me freezing. I woke up at midnight, still in moderate pain, but drank more minerals in a rather warm water, took my meds, got a hot shower and wen back to bed. Today my abdominal area is tender, but not really hurt.

As far as I know acute pancreatitis would last longer, not just 2 hours. It may be a stone trapped in a canal. We still can get stones from a liver, even with GB removed. After I had my GB removed, I slowly introduced fat into my diet. I can eat relatively a lot of fat in one sitting. i.e a whole avocado. Or a nice handful of olives, or butter, etc. Not getting enough fat can cause bile stagnation in the liver and stone formation. I believe that a healthy dose of fat helps our liver to flash the bile and keep it going.

As for belching and GERD - if I had a food poisoning, my body often tried to release more acid to make sure bacteria got killed. It was as the system got really irritated and it took a while for things to calm down.

2 hours was just the insane part- whatever it was took days to resolve. I am loaded with food intolerances and severe allergic reactions to food and have experienced the cramping/projectile vomiting associated with it. That was not what was going on. I have only "dumped" a few times, and not in the more extreme form I see rny patients describe... but I also don't think it was that as well since I have a tad bit of experience with it. The belching and acid is relentless and unrelated to the episode described above and a daily occurrence.

I do wonder though if it might be a blocked duct or stone. Post gallbladder I have always had intermittent flare ups of pain similar to the attacks prior to removing the gallbladder. I am pretty sure that is one of the things he is scoping me for though, although I did not go into great detail of what he was looking for other than he mentioned inflammation and such.

I am a little reluctant to omit fat completely (or to the greatest extent I can) due to absorption issues of vitamins. Didn't think about fat helping to keep away bile stagnation and such.

I think I will just completely avoid alcohol since that is so easy and short-term drop fat down since I for sure feel better when doing it. Hopefully, I will have more answers after the test, and at the very least I will be better prepared for questions. Just wasn't expecting pancreatitis to get thrown out there as a possible contender. When I read up on it though, the symptoms were spot on with what I experienced.