Pancreatitis Support Group

Chronic pancreatitis can present as episodes of acute inflammation in a previously injured pancreas, or as chronic damage with persistent pain or malabsorption. Patients with chronic pancreatitis can present with persistent abdominal pain or steatorrhea, as well as severe nausea. Some patients with chronic pancreatitis often look very sick, while others don't appear to be...

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pancreatic enzymes

Shoelace
Shoelace
Sounds like it is important to take pancreatic enzymes. I would like to get some over the counter, if possible. I looked online and there are different ones with different ingredients. Which ones and how much do you take? When do you take them? Do I have to order them online or are they sold locally?
deleted_user
deleted_user
This is my first post here. Hi Shoelace. You can get OTC enzymes (which is what I use) from health food stores. But some work for you and some don't. The one that works the best for me so far is "Doctor's Best Digestive Enzymes". I'm a vegetarian, and those are vegetarian. There is another one from Cell Nutritionals called "Pancreatic Enzymes 4X. Also, plant-based. Amazon.com is a good place to get them from.
Sesser
Sesser
Whole foods has pancreatin-they worked awesome for me, I may go back on them-seemed to be better than the freon
lynette2
lynette2
hi,
i use combos of over the counter and Rx. Enzymes depending on how much and what kind of fats/foods I am eating. I also take a generic Pepcid with the first one's in the moring (my GI wants me to take a proton pump inhibitor instead of antacid but I didn't like what I read about them). I take Essential Enzymes by Source Naturals (it is vegetarian). My GI did't think they would be strong enough. however, I was /am a very low fat diet person even prior to CP and with some of my "grazing" they seem to be enough. When I eat animal based fats (butter,milk,cheese)even in small amounts, I take 20,000 Zenpep (porcine/pig! derived) enzymes. These are coated for timed release in gut and NOT supposed to require taking an antacid, but I need to. The over the counter pills are generally not coated for timed release in the gut. However (maybe because they aren't as strong) I can take them without an antiacid. I did try to take all and only what the GI doctor told me to do for awhile and I had what felt like heartburn (different from the pancreatic burn). As others have said on this site, we are all so different, AND each of us is different from day to day. I wish you the best of luck in finding some success in your search for getting good nutrition.lynette2