Hello. I used to be on this site a couple of years ago.. I'm back because I relapsed in a big way with alcohol. Without going into my whole story right now I can say that I've had pancreatitis twice. the strange thing is what brings mine on is the withdrawl from alcohol and pain meds.. especially methadone. I swelled from head to toe for months and was in and out of the hospital 7 times in about 2 months coming off of methadone because I kept getting the pancreatitis. I have seen a couple of other stories with similar issues. That disease is certainly nothing to be casual about. I was afraid too when I read about how serious it is... I'll be praying for your son and everyone else who struggles with dependence/addiction, what ever it is called.