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...
Hello fellow sages of pain and digestion,
I need some info.
How do you use your enzymes?
Do you take a PPI?
an antacid?
both?
How do you take them?
I dont want to take anything I dont have to take til I hafta! Who gives you guidance on such things?
My MD is a nice guy but can't get it through his head that I cannot eat like everyone else and just pop pills. Maybe that is the AMA recommendation??? but my pancreas doesn"t know it!
One thing I know is I HAVE to eat very low fat diet (say 5g a meal) (with or without taking enzymes) or I have pancreatic pain or attack. Now I think that means I should not eat a regular fat diet then???
Right now I take ZenPep (encapsulated and says you don't need to take other meds with it to protect the gut) and have been trying an antacid some. The PPIs are more expensive and I understand can permanently affect gastric juice production. would like to avoid if possible.
Anyway, I am early acute on recurrent/chronic with SOD origin. I would love to have some input on early stage enzyme management with folks still" tolerating" a very low fat diet when not symptomatic.
Wishing you comfort in the body, joy in the spirit,
Lynette2
I need some info.
How do you use your enzymes?
Do you take a PPI?
an antacid?
both?
How do you take them?
I dont want to take anything I dont have to take til I hafta! Who gives you guidance on such things?
My MD is a nice guy but can't get it through his head that I cannot eat like everyone else and just pop pills. Maybe that is the AMA recommendation??? but my pancreas doesn"t know it!
One thing I know is I HAVE to eat very low fat diet (say 5g a meal) (with or without taking enzymes) or I have pancreatic pain or attack. Now I think that means I should not eat a regular fat diet then???
Right now I take ZenPep (encapsulated and says you don't need to take other meds with it to protect the gut) and have been trying an antacid some. The PPIs are more expensive and I understand can permanently affect gastric juice production. would like to avoid if possible.
Anyway, I am early acute on recurrent/chronic with SOD origin. I would love to have some input on early stage enzyme management with folks still" tolerating" a very low fat diet when not symptomatic.
Wishing you comfort in the body, joy in the spirit,
Lynette2
I take enzymes to help with malabsorption and anything else that they might help with. I take Zantac as I am allergic to the PPIs, they cause me to have a migraine. I also take anti-oxidants, all recommended by my GI doc. I am 18 months past my first AP attack and still have to eat very low fat or I get a major stomachache. I used a little butter in cooking over the weekend and got very sick, lots of pain. When I say little I mean less than 1/2 a tsp. My usual diet is 20 GMs or less of fat per day. I have been able to get my pain to a manageable level & get my energy back with this regimen. I also take OxyContin for pain mgmt & so far I am doing ok. I was able to go back to work recently, yay. I am seeing a 2nd GI doc, the 1st one did the ERCP that caused my first acute attack and didn't hae any suggestions on diet, pain mgmt etc. When he told me he was baffled, I knew it was time to find someone who specialized in pancreatology.
I hope ths info helps you.
GG
I too am struggling with the very low fat diet. About 5grams a meal seems to be my limit before I can begin to feel some distress. One of the things that I have done to help make my fat grams count is to use non-fat greek yogurt, Pam - Nonfat spray ( it comes in many flavors, including a butter that I marinated mushrooms and onions with some soy sauce and turned out perfect for the lean meat that I had grilled), low fat cottage cheese as substitutes for mayo, butter and other fat laden staples.
I am not on any prescribed enzymes but have discussed in an earlier post my use of the enzyme in Beano and a lipase enzyme - both over the counter and plant based. So far they are helping me with digestion - I usually only take the Beano ( alphagalactodaise - spelling) unless I am calculating that my fat intake maybe 5 or more grams at a meal.
I know this support group has been a real help, because as you noted MDs are not alway willing to share views outside of what they consider their tiny expertise ( as in endoscopic, nutrition, infection)..somehow you have to have one doc for each, it would seem more useful and patient friendly if they set up teams of docs for what the patient will or may need - Good luck!
Kathy