Yes you can have CP episode without pain. It is supposedly rare (unless you are at a really advanced stage). Enzymes should help with digestion and absorption. There are several kinds and what works best is different for different people. I cannot eat without taking Creon. I don't know about Nexium or Prilosec. I take Carafate and it works great. All of these meds seemed to take time for my body to adjust to though.

Hi Paula- thanks for your response. I was taking Creon when I came home from the hospital. Since no one explained to me what I would experience when I got home from the hospital with acute pancreatitis, I had noidea what to expect. No one explained the importance of enzymes, just to take them...No one explained about pain, just gave me Dilauded pills. They explained I needed puree my food but never said for how long and to eat low fat but no one gave me an amount of grams...they gave me a list of foods I should and shouldn't eat. So I thought the pain was from the enzymes. GI dr ordered an MRI to see how my large pseudocyst was doing and seemed surprised they gave me enzymes (10,000 3 x day) She said to try taking 2 a day and see how that works...but never said how I would know if it worked. I read about floating stools and looking for oil slicks in the toilet from the internet. I slowly weaned myself off the enzymes. I don't have pain after I eat anymore. For such a serious disease, no one really gave me any guidance. But from what I've read here, that's par for the course. Everything I learned so far is from the internet. Sad! After my first EUS and stent to drain the pseudocyst I was told by Dr Binmoeller in SF that I to promise to stay on antibiotics. I was convince the CIPRO was making me sick. So I switched to Bactrim. Still felt sick. After my 2nd EUS and stent, Dr Binmoeller said I had an ulcer and THAT was where all my pain was coming from . So He put me on Nexium 2 x a day and after a few days the pain went completely away but then this awful awful nausea and acid in my throat made me so sick, I thought it was the Nexium so I was switched to Prilosec by my GI dr and after two days, all pain, nausea was gone. I also take Carafate for my ulcer. But Dr Binmoeller says I do have pancreatitis. I suppose if you have an unresolved pseudocyst, you have Pancreatitis. I guess my question now is, how does one really know if they are having problems with digestion and should be on the enzymes? Stools look normal, I go once or twice a day, no pain after I eat? The weight loss is the only thing that concerns me. OH..my hair if falling out like crazy and my eyesight is crazy. Got new glasses a month ago and now everything is blurry again. I'm waiting to see if I need a 3rd EUS and stent to resolve the pseudocyst. I'm looking for any information on Pseudocysts that any of you can offer. Thanks so much for listening.

I won't even attempt to answer everything on here and you do need to bug your gi doctor more about some of this stuff as the hair falling out and blurry vision are classic effects of an acute attack or the aftermath of one very recent. Been there done all that none of it is nice. I would suggest if your not having pain after you eat that perhaps you might consider some sort of over the counter digestive enzyme that is usually made from fruit, pineapple papaya, that sort of thing, it won't hurt you and if there are any lingering digestive issues it might be enough to help you past them, but I must stress again the need to let your gi doc know about these symptoms and it will say alot as Paula suggested by his response. I do hope your ulcer issues have resolved, fought those damned things for years, then got this, oh joy...lol

Hi tsj444 --is it Troy?
I went to the opthomologist about my eyes. I told her all about my stay in the hospital, the drugs I was on, the acute pancreatitis. She checked my eyes, did all the tests, all was good, except I was now nearsighted. She had no explanation for it. Wouldn't you think a specialist in the eyes would know something about what illnesses or drugs could cause this? I'm thinking because the Prilosec has side affects like - inhibits absorption of manganese, calcium, and interferes with the digestion of proteins, and Carafate coats the stomach so again, poor absorption, that this is likely the reason. I'm hoping soon the ulcer will go away and I can get off the Prilosec. Not sure what kind of damage being on antibiotics for 2 months does other than totally destroy all the good bacteria that keeps things working properly.
Thanks for your help Troy.

Cipro and bractrim both cause me to have awful stomach pain. Just a guess, but that may be why you were feeling worse when taking them. I've been doing this for about 45 years so your comments about doctors not telling you anything is not at all a surprise. I've learned more from the support group than I ever learned from my doctors. I don't know anything about pseudocysts, but the Cleveland Clinic's web site has a lot of information on CP. The weight loss and hair loss could be a lot of things, but maybe it is malabsorption. If your doctor didnt take you off the enzymes, you should really go back to taking them. Before you dismiss that comment you should know why. I promise you do not want to get malnutrition. It is the worst thing that has happened to me through all of this. And it isn't what you think it is. You see the pictures of the little kids with swollen bellies on TV, and for me, I thought that they just needed good food and they woud be ok. Its not that simple. Malnutrition is horrifically painful and scary and extremely life threatening and for us with CP, it happens because of malabsorption. All of the water was leaking out of my organs and into the paratineal cavity. Google images of Ascites and I'm pretty sure you will go back to the enzymes. If one kind doesn't work for you, ask for another one. But until you doctor tells you to quit taking them, you should really not stop them. I take at least 8 24,000 Creon a day and there are others here that take much more.

Hi Paula - thanks for your comment. I'm still taking the Bactrim because I still have the pseudocyst- Dr Binmoeller said to keep taking it till its gone and it isn't.
My CT scan on May 1st showed it is much much smaller. CT scan showed other things too that the GI doctor said not to worry about. It showed mild Ascities in pelvis.
it also showed:Evidence of parenchymal edema and/or necrosis of the body and tail of the pancreas. Adjacent fluid and inflammatory stranding are present. The findings may reflect the sequela of prior
inflammation however current pancreatitis cannot be excluded;
please correlate clinically. When I asked GI she asked me if I was having any pain and I said no, so she assumed this was probably from the acute attack Jan 30th.
It also showed Evidence of splenic vein thrombosis. Significantly narrowed
superior mesenteric vein just proximal to the portal vein, may
reflect nonocclusive thrombosis and/or extrinsic compression by
inflammatory changes. The portal vein is unremarkable. Dr said this is not the kind of clot that travels to heart or brain and will most likely dissolve or go away when my pancreas heals.
She didn't seem concerned about the results. Actually she didn't even explain each detail of the report. I had to say.."well, what about this?" She is very very young -33 I think she said. I actually asked her how old she is and how much experience she has. I think I will switch to the other GI assuming that one is older with more experience.
Have a nice weekend - Thanks for your help.

Wow in english next time girl, hee hee hee, most folks on here would have to get out a pdr and get online just to figure out what you just said, lol, except Diane of course, and I'm sure there are a couplle more out there but anywho, I did forget to mention earlier that I had a pseudo cyst also which they drained when they did my ercp(nasty test)anyway I did the old antibiotics thing your doing but strangely enough they haven't done any follow up on that, but I practically lived in the er while I was on oral pain meds and the docs in the er used any excuse they could think up to do a ct scan so for awhile there I was glowing in the dark, hee hee hee, finally convinced them that I already had a good chance to get leukemia due to my profession which I worked in for almost 40 years. Imaging Specialist, working on equipment like they had just used on me, hee hee hee. Oh and yes it is Troy...

I just copied and pasted from the CT Scan. I didn't understand a word of it either, that's why it's so scary. I copied and pasted things from the report and did google searches and some of the stuff I came up with sounded so serious. Actually I have access to my test results through a website, so I can view the report before the Dr. calls me. I'm not sure that's a good Idea because I was terrified of the report.
My pseudocyst was quite large 13 cm long....and was told he WASN'T going away on it's own. Its much smaller now but still a problem till it's gone I guess. I don't want to be on antibiotics forever!!

hey my name is dave the thing that i hear is that your losing a dangerous amount of weight take it from someone whos on afeeding tube the weight is a critical factor in this disease i drink choc ensure plus with herseys syrup added 4 taste and calories if i had started drinking it two years ago i wouldnt have feeding tube i gained more weight in 2 months than my feeding bag did in a year my weight is the biggest factor that disabled me it will make u to weak for normal activticy good luck any questions feel free to message me TTYL

Hi Dave, thank for your response. Because I feel pretty normal now and my kids, friends, family tell me to be positive I can reason that my weight loss is obviously because it's hard to maintain weight on a diet with no fat. Honestly, let me have pizza and I'd put on the pounds, or some peanut butter sandwiches. mmmmmm Oh, how i miss some foods. Pizza the most. I did gain 1.5 pounds the last 2 days, but have done that before, then it drops down again. I'm only 5'3" and started out at 138 Jan 30. Two days ago, 116. Haven't weighed that since before my kids were born in 1976. (I'll be 60 in June) By the way, I drank Ensure and another like drink and 3 times it made me sick. I gave the rest to my friend- her husband has esophageal cancer and could use it more than me. And I'm surprised you can have chocolate!!! I thought that was a big no no. I'm so afraid of trying new foods. I read old posts yesterday for about 1 1/2 hours till my eyes hurt. I learned about a stool test you can do to test for malabsorption. Read you have to eat 100 grams of fat for 3 days before. I wonder ....wouldn't that cause an attack? But that would be a great excuse for pizza LOL...

I had a pseudocyst with my AP that was drained by a stent. I'm on Zenpep enzymes. I take 2 before each meal. They are not a drug and they won't make you sick. I would definitely continue taking them.

hey when i 1st got this everyone forced low fat and i started eating raw veggies i think your better to eat a peice of pizza than 2 stalks of celery u have to look at how soft the food is and how easy it is to digest i eat peanut butter every day with no prob i drink alot of milk to coat my stomach evevry one is different white meats tend to go easier beef is harder and greasy pork like pepperoni

Hi Lee -WOW - you eat peanut butter???? I want some.....
I don't understand how you can do that? Doesn't that go against everything we are told..LOW FAT....
So when you first got CP ...at what point did you introduce peanut butter....

I eat peanut butter too. I just don't eat a 2 tablespoon serving. I buy whipped peanut butter and make sure I keep it under a tablespoon. I can handle the 6 grams if fat and keep my fat intake at under 30g a day. I also have PB2 which is a powder that you mix with water. It's a good substitute to satisfy that craving and is 1.5g per serving.

for some reason ever body seams to think low fat is rabit veggies i eat white meat like chiken turkey fish i have been eating peanut butter all along and even pizza without pepperoni but no more then once a week i drink milk to coat my stomach or i pay for it ihave had cp for 20 years it a lot of hit &miss and ever body diff you have to see what work for you one day you can eat something and next you can have problems with it that why this disease is so screwed up