A pancreatitis diet needs to be as fat free as humanly possible which means a very, LOW fat diet. Unfortunately the body requires some fat content in our foods but you’ll need to learn which fats your damaged pancreas can tolerate and in what quantities. Your pancreatitis diet needs to be tailored to you just like a fine suit of clothes. And …
Many people who suffer from pancreatitis believe what their doctor tells them regarding what should be safe for their pancreatitis diet. They believe the nutritionist, the nurse, the sick people in their favorite support groups, the guy down the street that can’t even spell pancreatitis let alone give competent advice concerning a pancreatitis diet.
That is a HUGE mistake.
Pancreatitis is nothing to play around with or take lightly and neither is your pancreatitis diet.
If you have been diagnosed with chronic pancreatitis and want to prevent recurrent attacks your pancreatitis diet – what you put in your mouth and swallow – is very important because …
Chronic pancreatitis can turn ugly at any time and result in acute pancreatitis. The death rate of acute pancreatitis reaches as high as 30% in severe cases complicated by infected necrosis.
“Mortality rates for hospitalized patients vary from 5% to 10% in most series. In patients with interstitial pancreatitis, mortality is close to zero. Mortality is substantially increased in necrotizing pancreatitis (less than 1% for interstitial pancreatitis, 10% for sterile necrosis, 30% for infected necrosis).” – Acute pancreatitis, Cleveland Clinic
Motality death rates and Radiology info
The above informational links should leave you with the knowledge that there is no doubt how serious your condition is or can become and that doing anything to promote recurrence or that may lead to a recurrent acute pancreatitis attack isn’t real wise. It simply isn’t smart to fool around with what I call acute pancreatitis triggers.
Pancreatitis Diet NO-NO’s
Pancreatitis diet no-no’s or acute pancreatitis triggers are anything proven to lead to acute pancreatitis but in this post we are dealing with what goes into your mouth via your pancreatitis diet.
The acute pancreatitis triggers found in a poorly planned pancreatitis diet consist of two things:
- Fat
- Alcohol
Those two triggers are OUT when it comes to a pancreatitis diet.
We have already discussed alcohol and why you should never allow it in your mouth so I am not going to belabor the subject except to say it is never to be allowed in your pancreatitis diet. If you drink your risk of dying a hard, painful death is greatly enhanced.
I’ve found there is risk in eating. Food is NOT your friend when you have recurring acute and/or chronic pancreatitis so it is important to make sure you include in your pancreatitis diet only the foods that can be considered at least somewhat safe. The list is short. Now …
Right upfront I’m going to tell you that what you have read, heard or been told by just about anyone is probably wrong. This includes your doctor, dietician (I don’t care if he or she is a PhD), your mom, Mr.AnswerBag down the street, some YouTube video or the author of some book on how to survive pancreatitis. If the information is written or produced by:
- A doctor
- A dietitian
- Someone who has never had pancreatitis
- Someone who is now dead
- The surviving spouse or relative of a dead pancreatitis victim
- Anyone who has pancreatitis, is still sick and has NOT been pain-free for at least 5-10 years
The information, from any of the above sources, on a diet for acute or chronic pancreatitis and how to heal your pancreas is in all probability WRONG.
Pancreatitis Diet Foods to Avoid
When choosing foods for your pancreatitis diet the following foods should be avoided like the plague. These foods are dangerous.
- Red meat
- Pork
- Lamb
- Duck
- Cheese (all kinds)
- Cooking oils (includes olive oil)
- soy sauce (usually contains alcohol even if not listed on the label)
- Margarine
- Butter
- Cream
- Regular milk
- Egg yolk
- Nuts (all kinds)
- Peanut butter
- Cool whip (any other fake crap made with oil)
- Coconut
- Mayo
- Salad dressings
- Ice cream
- Potato chips (any kind of greasy chips)
- Processed foods
- Trans fats (palm oil, cottonseed oil, coconut oil, hydrogenated oils or partially hydrogenated oils)
If it is oily, greasy and/or full of fat it’s out.
Yep, that means pie crusts made with lard (pig fat) are out. Shrimp Scampi, lobster dripping in butter are out. The lobster and shrimp are fine it’s the butter, oil, and fat that needs to go.
Rich cream sauces, gravies and the skin of chicken and turkey are all out. Yep, that means no biscuits and gravy, no mashed potatoes and gravy, no hollandaise sauce, no pasta primavera or alfredo.
If it is rich, creamy and or tasty it is most likely off the list of safe pancreatitis diet foods.
Are you beginning to get the picture?
If you are a steak and bacon lover like I was adhering to a pancreatitis diet is not going to be an enjoyable experience for a while. But the good news is, after a while it gets easier. You will become used to going without certain foods and cooking in certain ways in return for feeling like a half-way well human being.
If you enjoy pain, nausea, vomiting, diarrhea and possible pancreatic necrosis, cysts, hemorrhage and death by all means disregard anything I am telling you. Afterall, it is your life.
What Are Safe Foods For A Pancreatitis Diet?
When you think about solid food for your pancreatitis diet when you are NOT yet healed, think VEGAN until you no longer have pain. In fact I suggest a modified VEGAN diet (no meat, no dairy, no oil or fat) for 6 months or until you are healed enough to where you have ZERO symptoms. Once you no longer have symptoms (pain, nausea) you can begin to add in safe protein sources such as poultry and white meat fish.
Safe foods for a pancreatitis diet are few but include the following:
- Fish (white meat fish such as cod, halibut, bass, crappie, pollack, orange roughy, talapia, catfish)
- Seafood (lobster, shrimp, crab, scallops, clams etc)
- Poultry (skinless chicken, turkey, grouse, pheasant, quail)
- Egg whites (4 grams of protein per egg white, ZERO fat)
- Legumes (beans, lentils, peas)
- Vegetables (all kinds – leafy greens, tubers and cruciferous)
- Fruits (all kinds EXCEPT avocado and coconut)
- Whole grains (wheat, barley, oats, rice etc)
- Spices (especially good are cayenne, garlic, turmeric, black pepper, ginger because all are anti-inflammatory)
If you are in pain (you haven’t healed) the above meat protein sources may also contain too much fat so tread carefully. When choosing from the above safe foods for your pancreatitis diet try to go organic to avoid GMO’s, chemical pesticides and other unwanted additives. You can buy organically raised poultry and wild fish. Both are harder to find and more expensive but in my opinion worth it.
More Pancreatitis Diet Tips
As you can see the list of potentially safe foods for your pancreatitis diet is short. It took me quite sometime to figure it all out. It’s a complete diet change for most people and isn’t easy but if you want to heal and stay healed you’ll do what is necessary. Again …
Think MOSTLY vegan.
The body needs at least 40 grams of protein per day and when you are sick that is difficult. You are going to lose weight until you heal. You will also most likely lose some muscle. Hopefully once you have been on a well planned pancreatitis diet for a time, have healed and are able to eat 3 meals a day again without pain, nausea and vomiting you’ll regain your weight. Here are more pancreatitis diet tips:
1- READ LABELS. Watch out for things like turkey sausage (any kind) because they use pork intestines for casing. I made myself very ill for three weeks eating turkey sausage cuz I didn’t see the pork casings on the label.
2 – Don’t fall for 99% fat-free bacon and bean soup, ham with split pea, or anything else that contains beef, pork, lamb or duck in any way shape or form and that goes for lunch meat – anything! Read labels. If it contains forbidden meat pass it by.
3 – Don’t Whine! Instead be glad you are alive. I personally can no longer eat wheat, barley and rye products or any type of food that contains them due to Celiac Disease. So if you think your pancreatitis diet is going to be difficult – try mine. Due to my situation my pancreatitis diet list of safe foods is most likely at least 100% smaller than yours. At least you can have pasta and good wheat bread while I have to eat them only in my dreams.
4 – Be sure to cook everything WITHOUT using fats or oils.
5 – Here’s a tool I use online to determine what foods have the most nutrient density and how much fat. Use it. If you read about broccoli you will see it is an excellent choice for a pancreatitis diet. It is loaded with vitamins, minerals, fiber, cancer fighting phytochemicals and has almost 7 grams of vegetable protein in a large stalk and only 1 gram of non-saturated fat.
A Pancreatitis Diet Does NOT Include Fast Food
No you can’t eat Kentucky Fried Chicken, burgers at Carl Jr’s, french fries from McDonald’s, burritos or tacos, or oriental foods made with soy sauce (contains alcohol). If you eat red meat, pork, lamb, duck, potato chips, foods containing alcohol and other high fat foods I’ve told you are dangerous – you deserve to be sick. In fact …
Eating out is dangerous, even at 5 star restaurants because short order fry cooks and even top chefs are probably not concerned with how your food is prepared, except that it looks good and tastes good. For example …
You order poached eggs on toast, no butter, and hash browns cooked without oil. IF you forget to have your hash browns cooked in a clean pan, not on the grill, you may become ill because the hash browns were cooked on a grill that had residual bacon grease or beef fat from the breakfast done before yours. A few hours or a day later while you are puking in the toilet and suffering pain you may wonder why.
Here’s a Fat Lesson
Keep in mind fat is NOT just fat when working out your pancreatitis diet. There are several different kinds of fat.
1- Saturated fat comes from meat sources (meat, broth, soup) and dairy (milk, butter, eggs). It is totally different from fats found in vegetables and fruit. Meat and dairy fat, saturated fat, is the most detrimental to the pancreas when one has chronic pancreatitis and that is why they don’t work in a pancreatitis diet.
2 – Monounsaturated fat is found in olive oil, nuts and cooking oil. Yes nuts are extremely good for health but maybe not yours, especially in any amount over what could be considered extremely small. IF you are NOT healed avoid these fats.
3 – Polyunsaturated fat is plant-based fat. It seems to work fine as long as you are not in or just coming out of an acute attack. Nothing by mouth but water while in an acute pancreatitis attack and nothing for about 72 after it resolves. Then juice, only juice and water. Vegetable or fruit juice, until you feel like you are starving.
Post Acute Pancreatitis Diet
If you are just coming off an acute attack and you have had no pain or nausea for at least 72 hours and you are hungry try some organic vegetable juice. If you tolerate vegetable juice for 72 hours with NO symptoms then try veggies or some type of whole grain like brown rice or a combination of both in a small amount to see how it works out. This would NOT be the time to eat a triple-decker turkey sandwich!
How much daily fat should be in a pancreatitis diet?
Great question, glad I asked aren’t you? This is going to be a wishy-washy answer because you may be able to tolerate less than me or more than me depending on your amount of damage. After years on MY pancreatitis diet and the supplements I became able to eat almost constantly without any ill effects as long as I did not eat anything that was not on the list.
Heck, I felt grrrrreeeaat again! Then …
I screwed up.
I felt so good I said to myself: “Self, why are you still swallowing all these dang supplements? You are well, healed. Life is great!”
So I quit the supplements.
Bad choice.
The bad decision to stop taking my pancreatitis supplements took awhile to show up, about one maybe two years and one food choice screw up.
I think it was 2006 when I screwed up and ate smoked turkey sausage without reading the label. It is an experience I really don’t care to remember well enough to correctly date it. In fact …
I thought I might die.
It was one hell of an acute pancreatitis attack. It lasted for over 10 days. Recovery took another 2 – 3 weeks. The horrible pain would come on fast, I’d swallow 800 mgs of Ibuprofen and the pain would go. Next day, for no reason, it would be back with a vengence and …
I hadn’t eaten a thing.
Nothing by mouth but water.
I’d take my nausea meds and slam 8oo mgs of ibuprofen. The pain would recede in an hour and I’d just feel like I was gonna die but without the pain. I mean I felt rotten. Then it returned (11 episodes of acute pain all told) so I tried aspirin. That is when I found 1300 mgs of aspirin worked almost as well as 800 mgs of ibuprofen.
One time during the siege I had to take 2600 mgs of aspirin in one day (2 horrible episodes of acute pain that day). I would NOT suggest taking 2600mgs of aspirin in a day. It worked but I thought maybe I’d taken to much. All I could taste was aspirin, and I felt weird but that ended the acute pain attacks. However by this time, about 12 days into one of the worst times of my life …
I again had a lump in my gut that was very tender but after about 12 days of sometimes excruciating pain, I started to get better. Frankly I was close to giving in and going to the hospital so I am really glad that shit ceased. I still felt like death warmed over but I dragged my ass out of bed, got dressed and …
I went to the health store and bought more grape seed extract, curcumin and vitamin C. I’d have done that sooner but I was too sick to drive. Soon I was feeling much better but that last acute pancreatitis attack did more damage and now I can’t eat some things I could before the episode.
It’s been what probably 6 years since that acute pancreatitis attack and most times I feel pretty decent but it isn’t as good as it was before. I sure the hell wish I had kept taking my supplements and had read that label. But …
I also started drinking grapefruit juice again since I found (from researching) that it may have initially been what stopped my acute attacks in 1984 – 1985. The real healing didn’t begin until I started taking the supplements. That is when my abdomen healed the first time and the supplements have healed it again. Anyway …
I got off track, didn’t I?
How much fat daily in a pancreatitis diet was the question before I got off on a tangent.
15 grams of fat in 3 meals (5 per meal) is optimum with up to 25 grams total daily maximum. In other words you are going to set your daily fat consumption target below 1/2 the average American’s fat consumption in only one meal. In fact your target goal of 15 – 20 grams of fat per day, including snacks, will be less than 1/2 of the LOW end of fat gram consumption recommended by the Mayo Clinic for an average human which is 44 grams.
One stalk of broccoli and a skinless chicken breast (broiled) will provide tons of vitamins, minerals, phytonutrients, about 58 grams of protein and do it all with only 7 grams of fat. Eat the same meal with only 1/2 a chicken breast and you drop the fat count to 4 grams and still have a meal boasting 33 grams of protein. If you choose wisely you can eat nutrient dense, high protein, low-fat meals 3 times per day and stay around 15 – 20 grams of fat each day, including HEALTHY snacks and that IS what IS necessary. So …
Here’s the pancreatitis diet summary:
No bad, high fat content foods (red meat, pork, lamb, duck, mayo, butter, avocado, coconut, oils, etc). Keep fat content of each meal at 5 grams or less and have most of that fat come from plant-based foods. No alcohol.
Charlotte Gerson on Cancer and Disease
Eat right, be cancer free!
Each of us who have suffered long-term with pancreatitis are, unfortunately, more prone to cancer of the pancreas. Even though the above video is geared towards cancer 89-year-old Charlotte Gerson, Max Gerson’s (who founded the Gerson Institute in 1977) daughter, has a lot to say. All of it good and all of it can be applied to pancreatitis and a diet for pancreatitis.
This video contains a fascinating 48-minutes of great information and perspective from someone who has dedicated her life to helping others overcome serious illness. Gain valuable knowledge by watching this video. It is 48 minutes of some of the best information you will hear.
Now I have said this before but let me say it again. A modified, highly anti-inflammatory, vegan diet which means no oil used for anything, no oily or high fat content foods like nuts and avocado should help you receive measurable relief but as you can see it wasn’t just the diet that helped me it was also the pancreatitis supplements because it wasn’t long after stopping the supplements that I made ONE mistake and had one of the worst acute pancreatitis attacks I can remember. So for me it takes BOTH diet and supplements in order to avoid being very ill.
I wish you wellness!
Ibuprofen has not been kind to my sister and her daughter who both have pancrentitis, just a thought.
Vanessa – In what way has Ibuprofen been unkind? How do you know it’s the Ibuprofen?
Hi, I’m 21 years old and had an attack Saturday at 2 am and went to the ER due to the pain and vomiting. I was seen within 45 mins to an hour from the time I had an attack. I was then admitted to the hospital for my lipase level was 2950. Prior to this happening i had been following a paleo inspired diet and had been doing okay and I say Okay because I had some tenderness and occasional slight flare up that was manageable with no medication which is probably caused from in between cheat meals. Then that Friday night I ate a greasy fatty meal. And was fine when I went to bed but was woken up with extreme pain that Saturday morning. I went on the no food or drink by mouth for 3 days. And for the first day had morphine for the pain but the remainder of my hospital stay i no longer took any medications, actually I took oxy codon twice for the headaches I developed from fasting during the second day. But after that none. I did an MRI and a CAT scan and they showed I had pseudocysts, something is surrounding my pancreas and inflaming it. And their is excess fluid. I don’t drink often at all or take medications or any of the common causes so doctors could not figure out the cause of acute pancreatitis. I’ve probably had 3 to 4 attacks in the past 2 years and my swelling normally goes down within a few hours. I always thought it was Gerd because of doctors telling me so. I’ve been to the ER and urgent care each of those times and never had my blood drawn so If I had it earlier I wouldn’t have known. As well as no gallstones or anything showing up out of the ordinary in the three ultrasounds ive had. I have an appt scheduled in two weeks for GI to do more tests on what’s going on. But in the meantime I would like to follow your diet. I love to eat strawberries , grapes, sweet potatoes, salmon with fresh herbs,cous cous and I eat a lot of bell peppers with onion and broccoli. Hardboiled eggs without the yoke. Are these foods okay to eat? I really would like to rid myself of this condition as well as supposed Gerd I have, Im average weight and height btw but losing weight still. Idk if that helps.
Thank you
Hi Emily – sorry to hear you are not well. “strawberries , grapes, sweet potatoes, salmon with fresh herbs,cous cous and I eat a lot of bell peppers with onion and broccoli. Hardboiled eggs without the yoke. Are these foods okay to eat?” All of those foods should be fine EXCEPT the salmon, right, now, while you have inflammation and cysts. Salmon contains a ton of fish oil. Good for most but not so good for those with an inflamed pancreas. After you heal you could try small amounts of salmon. A better choice for now (AFTER you are completely over your AP) would be white meat fish like pollock, cod, perch and bass.
I hate to be the bearer of bad news but with what you have said “I did an MRI and a CAT scan and they showed I had pseudocysts, something is surrounding my pancreas and inflaming it. And their is excess fluid.” there is little chance of healing to the point you are normal again. What I mean by that is normal as in never having had pancreatitis. You will most likely need to be on a low, low fat diet for life.
I have had 3 very painful episodes of pancreatitis since December last. Go through the clear juice and saline IV. Home in 3 days — stay on diet as best I can. I am very very thin 122 lbs 5’10 so a real conflict arises
Just returned from the E.R. @ 7:00am Tuesday, had back pain and stomach pain since Sunday afternoon. The E.R. doctor treated the pain, not the cause or effect of the pain. Had blood work done(everything’s fine), had CT scan, X-rays, etc. Was given morphine ( 4 times)and 2 30 minute bags of IV solution. Left with still pain in the stomach. Had an attack in Nov. 2015, the doctor( my doctor) gave me approx. 16 hours of IV solution, clear diet for 2 meals and when I checked out (after 24 hours), was 100% perfect. Didn’t have medication for pain, etc. No nausea, vomiting, etc. I guess it all depends on the Doctor and the treatment. I am back to work, about 95% pain-free, but some pain and keeping myself on clear liquids until the pain is gone. Hopefully by tomorrow! Thanks for the blog, very educational.
Ibuprofen is not good for the stomach ,I asked my doctor if I can take for pain she say not , I don’t think myself is any good taking those pills for stomach pain anyway!
Maria – everything is totally up to you. You have to do what you think is good for you.
Hello Health Guy : I would like to find recipes for pancreatitis sufferers. I am in a limbo , I am eating, fruits, soups, vegetables, juices, salads , but I would like to prepare food especially for me ,been trying in Google but not luck ,for example I prepare eggs (whites only) not yolk ,but how can I fried? I use PAM coconut oil is a spray no stick , 0 calories,0 fat,0 cholesterol 0 sodium but I am scare of another flare up, ,I had lost 13 pounds since I went to the ER ,I had a flare up one month ago, went to my DR. she told me to eat with moderation I try to avoid grease , spice foods, beef etc . but I still like to have the recipes ….is any book for us pancreatitis sufferers?
Hi Maria – I have never seen a good cookbook for those who suffer with pancreatitis. IF I were a chef (or even a good cook) I’d think seriously about creating one but what i do now is simply use any good cookbook and simply take out the ingredients I know make me sick. Of course that often ruins the recipe and food but what can I say. I’d rather feel good than eat well. 🙂
Hi Maria,
I found a site that has some decent recipe ideas for us AP people. Hopefully I’ve copied this right for you to find. But DO keep an eye on some… there is oil used here and there and I won’t even attempt those ones.
http://pancreatitissupport.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/05/Cooking_HintsRecipes_For_Pancreatitis_by_Bill_Sankey.pdf
I hope I didn’t cross any lines by doing this Health Guy. If I did, I apologize and won’t do it again.
Jane – we’re good. Just remember these people have never had pancreatitis and IF I recall correctly had a parent who died from pancreatitis. I only read a small portion but read something about it being ok to eat red meat but if it bothers you to try something else – that along with some other stuff like instead of NO alcohol period I saw it say Little/No alcohol so in other words it’s ok to drink a little alcohol in some cases according to him/them/ whoever. Stuff like that is dangerous and makes me cringe. It seems their book is out of print (according to Amazon) so all I can say is YIPPEE!
Only one customer review on Amazon for the book and here’s what it says:
Top Customer Reviews
1.0 out of 5 stars Worthless
By johnnyforest on November 11, 2011
Format: Paperback
The book has no valuable information in it. It is a compilation of useless information with some personal stories. You can find more valuable information on the Internet.
No real solution to this serious problem.
Click here to see it on Amazon
Hi Maria,
You have to do a lot of recipe reading. You can search web for fat free vegan also to get ideas. I made a vegetable lasagne last week with only vegetables, ie spinach, pumpkin, zucchini layered with home made tomato pasta sauce with garlic, onion and basil (with some tobasco sauce) and lasagne sheets. I topped it with nutritional yeast instead of cheese. It was awesome. I also do vegetable, honey & garlic stir fry with turmeric boiled rice, also very tasty.
Breakfast. You can also have oats with molasses or a little honey. We have a practically zero fat cows milk here in Australia and I don’t get sick from it at all. I have no fat Greek yoghurt too no troubles. Also egg whites, mushroom and spinach omelettes are another good one, or pancakes with blueberries and banana.
I also do a big bake of vegetables on a Sunday night to snack on through the week such as potatoes, sweet potato, bell peppers, mushrooms, cauliflower, I use egg white instead of oil and flavour them with herbs, salt n pepper or and paprika.
Plus I eat 2/3 serves of fruit a day. Just not over ripe.
Try not to get overwhelmed I know it’s hard in the beginning. Once your starting to feel better you can eat these more solid foods rather than juices and soups.
Take care,
Stacey.
Stacey – you’ve taken usually safe foods and made meals that sound awesome! Bravo 🙂
Thank you ? Happy to help others if I can in any way. Food can still be enjoyed fat free, just means no more packaged or take away foods. Those foods are really bad for anyone anyway, not just Pancreatitis sufferers.
Thank you for the lasagne idea Stacey!
Just trying to figure how you do your “big bake” because you mentioned using egg whites instead of oil. I just can’t get this into my head how to do.
Hello Health Guy: when I went to the ER , I had a Endoscopy they took some stones from my Pancreas (acute pancreatitis) my liver was infected, swollen too, ready to erupt,they keep me 3 days at the hospital, the only medication the gastroenterologist prescribe was Ursodiol 300mg, cost me $300.00 for one month doses ,I took it for 3 months spend $900.00 it is very expensive for me ! I can’t afford to buy not more ! I am taking Digestive Enzymes and the Grape Seed extract ,also drinking the White Grapefruit Juice , all that is helping me indeed, I thanks you so much and God Bless you ….
You’re welcome Maria! I am glad to hear you are maybe feeling better. 🙂
Thanks Jane Hall : I found that site couple of weeks ago I even make copies of the recipes, 88 in total….. but I was disappointed, it was what I was looking for ,I found those at the Pancreas Foundation ,thanks anyway Jane. ..Maria
Same for me too. I can only take naproxen/aleve. Tylenol (ibuprofen) causes me major stomach pain–feels like it “eats a hole” in my abdomen. I have chronic pancreatitis and have had my gallbladder and part of colon removed. Lots of medical problems! I’m going to give this diet and supplements a try. Thanks so much for sharing!!
You’re welcome skarlettweb – let me know how the diet and supplements work for you. By the way Tylenol is acetaminophen. Ibuprofen is Ibuprofen but is also sold under various brand names e.g. Advil and Motrin. I hope you get well soon 🙂
Hello,
My friend’s husband is suffering from acute pancreatitis- he’s very, very ill. His spleen, left lung, left kidney, bladder and upper colon, duodenum, and abdominal cavity have been impacted, and his pancreas is full of pseudo cysts that are quite large. He’s anemic, malnourished, filled with edema and dehydrated. He’s only in his mid-30s and basically has no quality of life at this point.
I myself have an auto-immune disorder, however I decided to go against the traditional medical establishment, and 4 years later, I’m doing quite well. To that point, I believe my friend’s husband can get well, but only if he’s willing to change. Can someone this ill still heal their body to a degree? Are there any good support groups out there for people in this kind of situation? Any advice you can provide would be really appreciated.
Sincerely,
Anonymous
Hi Anonymous 🙂 Sorry to hear about your friends husband he sounds like he IS very ill. There was a guy who was sicker than a dying dog, on a feeding tube and his wife was extremely worried. I don’t recall whether the story is somewhere in the comments on this blog or my other one at http://overcomingpancreatitis.blogspot.com but it is on one of my blogs. Anyway it was sometime before thanks giving a year ago, not this past one but about a year but the one before if I recall correctly. But she started giving him grape seed extract (it may have been my whole cocktail) via his feeding tube. To make a long story short he ate Thanksgiving dinner with his family! It was an awesome story of God’s saving grace and answer to prayer. So do I believe it is possible to heal? You bet I do. Everything he needs to heal can be found somewhere on my two blogs. IF his healing is God’s will it’ll happen. Prayer, belief, the right diet and supplements can and do heal. It’s all up to your friend’s husband. Some people simply don’t believe they can heal and sometimes it really does seem like healing is not possible but anything is possible.
I Found the testimony and it is somewhere on the other blog but here’s the story that I posted on my facebook page:
Man On Feeding Tube Eats Thanksgiving Dinner!
This is what I’d call a cool blog comment:
Anonymous July 10, 2013 at 6:50 PM
My Husband has a feeding tube and cannot take anything by mouth. He had a pancreatitis attack on 2/10/13. In and out of hospitals, now diagnosed with chronic pancreatitis. He experienced nausea & vomiting so bad, that they finally put a drain tube in his stomach, so that he would quit vomiting up so much bile, it can be drained out of the stomach into a bag now. His stomach is not working right now. My question is, can I crush up the “C” & empty the grape seed extract capsule into his formula to be absorbed through his small intestine? That is the only way right now, or I could inject it through his feeding tube directly with a mixture of purified water? Would this be okay? Thx, Susan
The Health Guy July 11, 2013 at 8:39 PM
Hi Susan great questions and I have to admit have never had it before. I would go with crushing the C and putting the C and the grape seed into the formula. It should absorb, don’t know why it wouldn’t but I guess you’ll find out. Let us all know how it works out. I wish you and your husband good luck and him better health smile emoticon
Anonymous December 15, 2013 at 10:21 AM
Hi Health Guy, I just want you to know that I was praying to the Lord so hard about my husband, when He guided me to you sight. I know this wasn’t by chance! My Husband was litterally dying. He couldn’t quit vomiting. I got the C Caps, Turmeric Curcumin & Grape Seed like you suggested. I emptied out the said amount into a little bowl and added purified water. I used a syringe to slowly inject into my Husbands feed tube, as putting it in formula didnot go over so well, clogged the tube line. Once we got going on this 4 times a day, it only took less than a week to start seeing a difference. First thing we noticed, is that the vomiting slowed way up. After a couple of weeks we noticed that he was not vomiting or feeling nauseated for the most. Steve kept saying that he was going to eat Thanksgiving Dinner with the rest of us, but I felt sick to my stomach wondering how he was going to take it when he finds out that he will never eat again. I was wrong and so were the Docs!!! To make a long story short, Steve ate Thanksgiving Dinner with the rest of the family and I have to say I’m still in shock. Now Steve is making up for lost time. I really thought I’d never see this day come, I only hoped for him to live and stop vomiting and feeling sick, so he could have a better life. Everyone thought that Steve was going to die. Now we see that he is going to live, thanks to God for sending us you!!! Can’t thank you enough, you truly were God sent… Susan
I hope you all had a safe and happy Thanksgiving and will also have a blessed, safe and Merry Christmas smile emoticon
296 people reached
read Dr Sircus’ article on pancreas, bicarb and diabetes.
I read it. Interesting article.
what if ur on a budget eating healthy is kinda expensive things are not so cheap. i cant afford some of the healty stuff
Anthony I know it is tough. But it will become worse (your health) if you don’t change your diet dramatically. It would be better to live on beans and rice every day (cheap, safe food) than die a horrible, painful death is this not true? If you sit down and map out a feasible cost effective plan, eliminate any unnecessary expenses (you don’t NEED 200 tv channels etc) and then reallocate that money towards your diet you’ll get there. Where there’s a NEED there is also a way to supply that need.
What if you are having reactions to grains. Right now I’m only eating white meats and vegetables and fruits. I have celiacs
Hi Jennifer – if you have been diagnosed as a celiac then you shouldn’t be eating grains, at least not wheat, barley and rye. I had to give up all grains (wheat, barley, rye, corn, oats, and rice) to become symptom free of celiac disease.
Hello,
I was diagnosed with ap at the beginning of 2014. I have had 5 or 6 attacks since. I finally found your website, (thank God). Anyway, was wondering about consuming a few things after the fasting and v-8 days, which I completed. What’s your advice on skim milk? Soda pop? Candy with no fat or oils? I have been chewing gum the last couple of days, and read that it has 2 grams of sugar alcohol? Is this bad? What about other drinks, such as orange juice, and fruit juices?
Thank you, any info will help.
Justin
Hi Justin! Congrats on completing the fasting and V8 term. I am assuming this is the cleansing step before creating your food diary? Or just trying to resolve pain and nausea? Anyway …
IF it were me I’d go even further and try “fat free” milk. They didn’t have that years ago when I was really sick so I don’t know how it will work for you. I drink it occasionally now and seem to be fine with it.
I used to drink soda pop as well but not a lot. No ill effects.
Candy with no fat or oils should work.
The gum with “sugar alcohol” may not be a good idea. I’d steer clear of the sugar alcohol and read the labels on anything sweet, especially sugar free stuff (dried fruits, candy, gum, etc) to check for sugar alcohol. Manufacturers use it as a cheap sweetener like they use hfc (high fructose corn syrup). If you see a weird named ingredient that ends in “ol” like sorbitol that indicates alcohol. By the way 2 grams is about 1/2 teaspoon. So that means each stick of that gum has 1/2 teaspoon of sugar alcohol. Doesn’t sound like much but sometimes it doesn’t take much.
Fruits should be fine. All except coconut and avocado (way to much fat content). I’ve been meaning to write a post about fruit and the possible reason some folks say they do not tolerate it. Of course many folks in the support groups I used to hang in, usually the ones who complained about fruit, were still wolfing down steak, bacon, fries, and pizza so how they could tell with any degree of certainty that the “grapes” were the bad guy I have no clue anyway, bear with me …
To me a pancreas is a pancreas. They are usually the same shape, size, weight and reside in the same area of the body. The function is the same. The only difference between yours, mine and someone elses’ pancreas lies in genetics, rare defects such as pancreas divisum and damage. One person may have the gene variant that makes them at risk for alcoholic pancreatitis, another the variant that causes high blood fat levels and then it is the actual damage done from pancreatitis that determines food tolerances depending upon severity and location of the damage.
It’s the damage that may determine fruit tolerance. For someone with severe damage they may not tolerate RIPE fruit. Now when I say RIPE fruit I am talking about the time when a peach is absolutely incredible and juicy, when a banana is absolutely perfect and sweet because that is when the sugar may be turning to alcohol. When bananas start to spot you can peel them and sniff the fruit and actually smell the alcohol. Peaches make peach wine and brandy and we can go on and on but the point is fruit sugars turn to alcohol once they become what may be termed “nice and ripe.” So …
Those people who have had a tremendous amount of damage from necrosis and/or surgical procedures may find “nice and ripe” fruit to be a problem but that can’t be anywhere near proven while eating high fat content foods. What I am alluding to is this: IF someone were to do what could be termed as my “cleanse routine” that needs to be done before creating a food diary and then tested one food at a time and wrote down the results they experienced for an entire week after eating that food (nothing else new can be introduced) and then experienced discomfort from eating a nice juicy peach I’d have to begin to think it may be the peach was producing some sugar alcohol and the sugar alcohol was the cause, not just the peach but the VERY RIPE peach with ALCOHOL content.
Hopefully that made sense. I can be really long winded at times.
Thank you so much for responding so fast. I never thought about the fruit turning to alcohol. I’ll be sure to be careful with it. Yes everything did make sense. I can’t begin to tell you how much I appreciate your expertise. It’s so sad that we have to be put through this with no help from these people they call doctors. When I was in the hospital in January, once 4 days went by they told me I could eat. Having no idea where I stood with this diagnosis, and starving to death, I ordered a hot roast beef sandwich, mash potatoes with gravy, (gravy on the sandwich too), and a chocolate milkshake to wash it down. (Same for dinner 4 hours later before the kitchen closed.) Needless to say by midnight I was going into another attack. I told the doctor the next day what had happened, and he said “I told you to eat soft foods, it has to heal.” The nurse told me “soft foods is anything on the menu.” 5 minutes later the dipshit says I can go home, and my discharge papers say, “regular diet.” Unbelievable! So, needless to say, I was petrified to eat when I got home. I was eating pretty “clean” when I started eating again, not one drop of alcohol, and exercising 10 times a week. I had pain everyday, thinking it was healing, but every time I would “cheat” with cookies on a Saturday, it was pain on Sunday and an attack would start on Monday. So I would go backwards every7-10 days. Anyways, I’m rambling on, but I am finally talking to someone who understands what’s going on and is not telling me that I need to go to a doctor. Ha! Thank you so much again, and I’ll talk to you soon.
Justin
Hi Justin – I have to say I have seen the medical community do and say some really STUPID things when it comes to preventing another acute attack of pancreatitis or even enabling healing to begin. I can’t believe these people go to school for years and don’t have enough common sense to figure out that allowing a patient, like you, who is just coming out of an acute pancreatitis attack and has been NPO (nothing by mouth) for several days eat a meal that is just asking for HUGE problems. Being told to eat “soft foods” is nothing less than dangerous because …
FAT and alcohol are the major food triggers. Soups, broths, mayonnaise, butter, gravy, milk, soft boiled eggs, protein shakes, milk shakes, ice cream, yogurt, avocado and a myriad of others things one could eat, that could certainly be classified as “soft” foods, are or can be so high in fat content as to induce another acute pancreatitis attack, especially in those who are already inflamed.
I’m not a doctor. I have said that many times however common sense should dictate to “educated professionals” that an acute pancreatitis patient coming off of NPO should never be allowed to eat fat filled foods anytime soon let alone as the first meal.
You should have been tested with vegetable juice. EVERY hospital I have ever visited carries V8 juice. That should have been the first introduced food coming off of NPO. And you should have been told to stay away from fat and alcohol but your experience is repeated so often it is no wonder people have recurrent attacks until they are damaged enough to where they have chronic problems, I.E. chronic pancreatitis even if it is minimal change and doesn’t meet the “9 point criteria” for a classic chronic pancreatitis diagnosis. Some of the docs I have met in my life are so incompetent I swear they graduated from Cracker Jack University.
Thanks for reading my blog and I wish you better times 🙂
i just want know if pasta sauce with meat flavoring there is no meat just the flavoreingin it
Anthony I wouldn’t but that’s me.
This is my mother’s experience. Three tours at the local House of pain! Soaking I. This valuable blog! Praise Jesus for you Paul!
Thanks for the kind words Colleen. The glory is God’s and I hope your mom improves. 🙂
I am interested in the supplements that should be taken. Thanks in advance for any help…
MatK, You can find all the info on supplements on this blog
Can you resend the blog address please. I read so much here and I can not find it.
I have a very long history about all by gut’s health. I started at age 2 and many surgeries and procedures to remove gall bladder stones. Then a bypass on the bile duct which worked for almost 20 years without any single problem (of course always avoiding deep fried and oily stuff but even alcohol. Unfortunately for the past 7 years I have been having stones and pancreas attacks. They thought the reason was the bypass, I had a huge surgery 2 years ago where they removed my bile duct and redid the by pass and now… 2 years later in a routine blood test I found lypase at 900. No pain or nausea neither vomiting, I actually live very well, working, exercising and enjoy a meal out here and there. However enzymes this time would not come down so I came back to my surgeon they found stones again, which they removed by ERCP and lypase counting are normal 3 days after procedure.
Doctors says my pancreas look good for inside and does not look that I had so many pancreas attacks in my life. My diet is pretty clean since my first surgery at 9 years old,I rarely have dairy, no meat what so ever and lot’s of vegetables and fruits. I have a very sweet tooth so, try to create recipes with raw cocoa but I LOVE chocolate. Nuts and coffee are also part of my intake but after reading this all I guess I have to reduce it.
I really trust God is a healer and he has sent his son to die for us. So I’m still hanging on my faith and believing my time to be healed will come.
Well.. after that quickly description of my long history all that I have few questions:
1- I have a dream to be a mother. Does anyone had experienced pregnancy after having pancreas issues? doctors say it should not be a problem. but I have a question mark in my had.
2-what about coffee? how do you feel when taking it?
3-I love chocolate as well, I don’t eat as much as I use to but hard to stay away for too long. Does any one take it?
4- How do u feed the sugar cravings?or what is comfort food?
5-Popocorn with done at home with almost no oil, sometimes I do even with water… should be a problem?
6- Fibers are a problem?
7-Grains? I love oats with cinnamon in the morning with my coffee… I eat a lot of quinoa as well.
8- legumes? it bloats me big time, anyone else experience that?
Looking forward to hear from you, good to know in a way that this is more common then I thought. Just wish doctors, nurses and nutritionist could now better about the diet.
Every single time I’m in hospital I have to teach people what I can and what I can not have.
God bless you all.
Renata
Hi Renata – Wow you have certainly had some trying times. It sounds like Almighty God has certainly protected you. Trusting Him is always a good thing 🙂 Before I get started answering questions it sounds like you are new to this site so I will share what I know. Fat and alcohol are the two major enemies. You may want to consider adjusting your diet since you said “Unfortunately for the past 7 years I have been having stones and pancreas attacks.” Ok, did they take your gallbladder out? If not why not that usually gets rid of any gall stone problem. Bypassing the common bile duct, interesting – why was that necessary?
Question #1: “I have a dream to be a mother. Does anyone had experienced pregnancy after having pancreas issues? doctors say it should not be a problem. but I have a question mark in my head.”
Answer: I’m not a good person to answer since I’m a guy but there are some ladies that have been to this site that have mentioned being pregnant. Some have mentioned difficulties if my memory serves me correctly but I am gonna bow out on this one and let someone who is female and has actually been pregnant discuss the issues that concern you. I hope you find answers 🙂
Question #2: “what about coffee? how do you feel when taking it?”
Answer: I feel great while drinking coffee. I feel great after drinking coffee. I’ve never experienced a problem with coffee.
Question #3: “I love chocolate as well, I don’t eat as much as I use to but hard to stay away for too long. Does any one take it?”
Answer: I love chocolate too! It’s full of fat so I usually stay away 🙁
Question #4: “How do u feed the sugar cravings?or what is comfort food?”
Answer: You can create all kinds of goodies without using oil, fat, lard etc. It is possible to use applesauce in place of oil in cookie and cake recipes. It doesn’t always work perfectly but it does work nicely quite often.
Question #5: “Popcorn with done at home with almost no oil, sometimes I do even with water… should be a problem?”
Answer: Can the corn be popped without oil? YES! It can! Just add popcorn to a flat bottom pan, cover and pop it making sure it doesn’t burn. It’s exactly like popping it with oil but no oil lol
Question #6: “Fibers are a problem?”
Answer: No, fiber (fruit and veggies and legumes) is good!
Question #7: “Grains? I love oats with cinnamon in the morning with my coffee… I eat a lot of quinoa as well.”
Answer: ALL grains are fine.
Question #8: “legumes? it bloats me big time, anyone else experience that?”
Answer: Normal. Beans, peas, lentils etc often cause bloating in folks who are not used to high fiber foods. They are excellent, safe (cooked properly with any fat) sources of protein for those who have pancreatitis. NO PEANUTS! Or SOYBEANS (peanuts are legumes and high in fat. Soybeans are also high in fat.)
Thanks for visiting! 🙂
P.S. Blog address is in the address bar above
Hi friends this is hemant from india and am 28 years old.I got attack November 6th 2015.
From November 2015 to till now am in diet( low fat).no non veg and no coffees and teas and main thing is no curd rice.
I dont have habits of drinks and smoking.
Boss plz share with me
Diet must continue for life long?
In November 2015 in treatment my weight is 68kgs,in treatment itself reduced 9kgs and
Now my weight is 54kgs so its normal or any problems in feature?
Regards,
Hemanth
Hi Hemanth – it all depends on how much you were damaged as to whether you’ll need to do a low fat diet for life or just a few months. You should check with your doctor to find out exactly how much damage you sustained. If you have had only one mild attack you could heal up completely and never have another problem. That would be a good thing. 🙂
I am sooo confused
My doctor said no fruit, no dairy, no wheat diet. I am allowed veggies and all meats
Than i was told if you only eat veggies but no carrots, peas, corn and all meats
I’ve been using pure virgin organic coconut oil for years on my skin, teeth, cooking and now its not good for me…. this is hard
Your doctor is an idiot when it comes to a diet for pancreatitis. The ONLY thing your doc got right was that dairy should be avoided and veggies are good. I’m right, your doc is wrong. Your doc probably never had pancreatitis, I have. Your doc is guessing, I’m not. So that’s about all I can say. It isn’t all that confusing. FAT and ALCOHOL are the two enemies. Wheat is only bad if you are a celiac. Here’s the real deal: Do what you want it’s your life, your pancreas. You need to make your own choices. If you do what your doc, your buddy down the street, that sick girl in your support group or your cousin Sally recommends I can tell you this: You’re gonna stay sick, maybe worse. Good luck Christina 🙂
Hello Healthy Guy: same here , after I went to the hospital , the Gastroenterologist the one who took some stones from my pancreas (I had acute pancreatitis) my liver and pancreas were swelling and with infection, ready to burst ,it was a emergency ….he told me I can eat everything….really Dr.? sometimes you can’t follow orders form them, in my case I didn’t believe it and thank goodness I choose to do my own research ,is when I found your column and here I am not cure but feeling much better , hoping soon I will be much better .Thanks I learn a lot form you I had a lot of info. Bless you ,Maria
Maria – feeling better is good. Much better would be even gooder lol so I’ll look forward to the “much better” report 🙂
Hello Health Guy: I hope so too! you right feeling gooder will be great lol , it is just flare ups ,but I have faith I am going to be well soon . Be good to yourself …..
Dear Health Guy, I have been keeping to your diet. Oats & yoghurt for breakfast, provitas with bovril and apple & banana for lunch and then fish or chicken and veggies all steamed for dinner. But for the last few days have started getting a terrible pain under my right rib just after eating. Have been abdominal pain free since 18th March now when last hospitalised. Was diagnosed with CP due to fatty layer across pancreas due to eating fast food, alcohol abuse over the years, stones and calcification early January 2014 and am on Creon and taking pain meds too as well as supplements, i.e. grape seed extract, anti-oxidants, vitamin c, etc. Please can you help me. Professor and dietician says I can eat beef and lean pork but have decided rather not!!! Please can you assist me as I am not sure if the doctors here in S.A. know what they what they are talking about?
Hey Heather – ok yogurt is not on my diet list. Nor are provitas (crackers) with bovril (beef extract spread). 🙂 Chicken must be skinless and cooked in a manner that it doesn’t sit in the chicken fat. Veggies only with salt, pepper or other spices (no butter, margarine or other mystery oily fat spread). Now pay attention if you want to have any chance of healing.
1) Forget everything your doctor, nutritionist, preacher, rabbi, best friend, or the sick dude in your support group has told you it’s ok to eat.
2) Forget what foods people think makes them sick. Most have no clue.
3) Follow the yellow brick road one step at a time: Step 1 find the post that explains how to do your own pancreatitis food diary, do what it says. Step 2 re-read the above post about a proper pancreatitis diet. It’s simple, straight forward and there isn’t any maybes or what if’s. Step 3 get the correct supplements. Step 4 is actual application. You do it.
The answers to all your questions and how to heal are on this blog but you have to read it, then do it. Just reading it doesn’t work. Just doing some of it doesn’t work. It’s an all or nothing kinda thing and that isn’t me dictating that it’s your damaged pancreas. So you only have one choice. Either do what works or look forward to being sick every month, every other month, whatever. It is all up to you. And remember …
I’m not a doctor. I simply happen to know what works for me and seems to work for others who do exactly what I do. Not part of what I do, not half, not almost all, but everything, exactly like I have it lined out. if you can do that you have a chance of healing. If not well, good luck. And …
Please refrain from doing two or three posts regarding the same info. I know you were diagnosed in January of this year with CP. I know what your doctor said you could eat. I know you are taking a combination supplement that has 360 mgs of grape seed extract. Now …
Your grape seed extract should be ONLY grape seed or grape seed with vitamin C or grape seed with maritime pine back. NOTHING else should be with your grape seed extract. NOTHING no, b vitamins, no minerals, no other herbs. NOTHING but what I said. Once you have the proper grape seed formula you can increase your dosage without the worry of being poisoned with to much of something that is toxic.
The next supplement is curcumin. The next is vitamin C. All of this info is on this blog already if you’d just look for it and read it.
Wow, you are the man. Where were you when I lest the hospital!! My story is like most others, 100% mortality rate. ;most organs shutting down, life support, I could go on and on. The treatment was torture, lol. We all know that. I was at a great hospital and they saved me, Drs call it a miracle(how do I take that). Anyways , I got enzymes and my diet was fat free(pretty much) in the hospital. And them you go home, I felt way better, gained strength and weight back, taking my enzymes and I started cheating a little on the diet.
Present time, I’m having an attack now, not sure what to do? I’m tired , no appetite, stomach discomfort(tolerable)radiating to the back, vison blurred.
Do I ride it out? When do o go to the ER? Its so so hard to describe my symptoms , . Now I’m very sure I’m having some flare UPS.I’m trying to rest and
Eating very low fat foods
Water Gatorade
YOUR INFO IS THE BEST EVER
You are a lifesaver, for real
So.. do I ride this out? Or and when to go back to the ER
To all of us: strange disease, we are all in this together , ill be on here forever.
Thanks again Health Guy and to all others in the PANC FAM.
Darren cheating on diet doesn’t work especially when there has been a lot of damage. I can’t tell you what to do, ride it out or go to the ER. The ER might be the prudent choice since you have already had organ failure and been on life support. No sense in playing with something that can turn dangerously ugly in a heart beat.
Thanks for the response..
I just had blood work last week, Dr said I was fine. So I assume IT can get bad in a week. Ill see doc soon for a CT scan and we will go from there.
Sounds like a plan 🙂
Hi Paul ,
My mom was doing well when i started this treatment of grape seed , curcumin and vit c …. She still on it but from last 1 month the pain is not subsiding ..i have tried putting her on strict liquid diet , even nothing by mouth etc . Note: she is following strict vegan diet with no oil .
Now , i am kinda stuck she is on 4 pain killers each day .
But the strange thing is that , she is hungry with no nausea or other symptoms “only pain”
and sometimes eating food also helps in reliving pain .
What do you think i should try ?
To tell you some thing about her :
Diagnosed chronic pancreatitis about 6 months back , have high triglycerides level
she uses insulin as she is diabetic and she takes enzymes and supplements
Her chronic pancreatitis was confirmed from the reports which showed a little shrinkage in pancreas , hence there were no other symptoms like calcification , gall stones etc
Thanks for helping us !! God bless.
Aakash ( India )
Aakash you said she is taking enzymes. Is your mom on creon or another pancreatic enzyme med? The reason I ask is maybe they have her taking too much and that is causing the pain because eating sometimes relieves the pain, right? Just thinking outloud. Eating can also reduce pain in ulcer patients. Eating usually doesn’t reduce pain in pancreatitis patients, usually the exact opposite. If she is on a prescription enzyme med you may want to ask the doc if a lower dose may not be warranted. If it is OTC (over the counter) enzymes like I take maybe reducing the amount might work. Those pancreatic enzymes, especially prescription doses, are strong. Too much can be almost as bad, sometimes worse, than not enough. That is about all I can think of right at the moment Aakash. I hope your mom gets to feeling better. 🙂
WOW its a lovely article…. i suffered acute pancreatitis just returned home after 10 days in hospital here in Pakistan now a days doctors have suggested me to take the diets u told …. i am still under way to be completely fine …. how many more days will it take me to be completely fit? i have 10 days of pain and treatment … in addition i have gall stones …. docs have said my gall bladder will surgically removed after i recover completely from acute pancreatitis …. ??
Sorry to hear you are ill. Wouldn’t wish pancreatitis on anyone – it sucks. I can’t say how long it will take for you to heal. Everyone heals at a different pace and damage is never identical which means there is no way of knowing whether you will become completely well and fit. Sounds like you had gallstone pancreatitis? Hopefully your damage is not to bad and once the cause (gallstones) are removed you’ll heal up as good as new. You’ll know whether that is going to happen or not once the original cause is eliminated. Good luck to you! 🙂
yeah … i have been effected due to the gall stones … docs says once i will be completely fine .. they will remove my gall bladder .. lets c tommorow i am going to have a checkup again with CBC glucose fasting FSH and PTH test results ….
I hope it works out for you just as your doc says. Stay in touch.
just returned from doc … he checked my ultrasound ct scan etc reports … he says i am recovered … now i can go for surgery to remove gall bladder … today after few hours i have setup a meeting with the surgeon … lets c … keep praying
I hope for your continued recovery and success with the GB surgery. Good luck to you 🙂
Hellow … The Health Guy .. I have got surgery couple of days ago to remove my gall bladder through laproscopy … it was full ov stones, i hope the pancreatitis may never return now … after 8 days i will go to doc to remove the stiches … my GI specialist has suggested to keep taking enzymes suppliments and low almost 0 fat/oil diet for another week… then he will monitor and suggest more … i need your prayers … i do not want another episode of pancreatitis ever …. i have never taken alcohol … but i used to eat a lot of spicy, food and fast food …. do u think taking spicy and fast food and eating too much of that at one time … can trigger pancreatitis???
I hope you heal up completely from the surgery and never have another problem. In the event that isn’t the case …
Spicy food? Depends on the food not the spice. Spices are usually good. It’s the food they are in that is most likely the problem. Fast food (junk fries, burgers, tacos, that sort of thing is asking for trouble IF you have continued problems with your pancreas. The main enemies are food and alcohol. Since you don’t drink all you have to do is watch the alcohol content that may hide in various foods (vanilla extract in baked goods, alcohol in cold and flu remedies) and fat content.
i am also surprised to know only a very few males gets gall stones, and even fewer gets pancreatitis due to gall stones ….
Yep, for some reason males seem to get gallstones and gallstone pancreatitis a lot less than do females.
Hello Usman : I had the gall bladder surgery gallstones too, very painful indeed, ,and a year later I had acute pancreatitis , I know how you feel .hope you feel better …Maria
Hi Health Guy, hope you are keeping well. I have been keeping to your diet but am struggling to go to toilet as there is not enough fat in my diet and am also struggling to pick up weight. I did see a homeopath as you suggested regarding the calcification (chelation) and am on her meds. Any suggestions regarding the weight gain would be appreciated. Still get pain from time to time in my lower back and under the right rib but not as extreme as it used to be. Regards
Hi Heather – so you are seeing some improvement in the pain. That is good.
Does your homeopath have you on edta chelation? IV or oral? If so, I am really curious to find out whether it helps you or not.
Constipation can sometimes be an issue when the diet is extremely low in fat. Drink more water, eat more fiber. Legumes such as lentils, beans and peas are rich in fiber, protein and b vitamins. The fiber should help but – You may have to try a mild laxative but it is more important to heal that pancreas by avoiding fat than it is to be a regular, easy pooper 🙂 Good luck.
Hi health guy,
Thankyou for all the information. Here’s a question for you. I eat as you say fresh vegetables, fruits , lean chicken, white fish , beans etc., everything organic if possible. I understand that it’s very important to have fat for brain health though and that chances of getting Alzheimer’s disease greatly increases when the brain is deprived of healthy fat so I was wondering what you think about taking an omega 3 fish oil supplement. What are your thoughts on this matter?
It would be an awful thing to have chronic pancreatitis and not be able to care properly for yourself and eat the diet you need.
Hi Tina – Krill oil is better. Even better is to simply eat some fresh, wild Cod. Cod contains quality fish oil just not as much as oily cold water fish like salmon, trout, mackerel and sardines. I really wouldn’t worry about Alzheimer’s disease, especially if it doesn’t run in your family. If you are young, even early onset Alzheimer’s is years away whereas severe acute pancreatitis could be tomorrow with a 10% – 50% chance of death in hours or days due to infection and/or organ failure. I have a tendency to deal with the most deadly or potentially deadly threat at the time. I’ve been on the diet for what 32-33 years? I haven’t got Alzheimer’s yet but if I screw up I could have a severe acute pancreatitis attack tomorrow or the next day and be dead within a week or two or be so damaged I’d just as soon be dead. I personally worry more about pancreatic cancer than I do about Alzheimer’s or another form of dementia. Chronic pancreas inflammation increases the risk of pancreatic cancer. That is a death sentence marked in months but, I try not to worry about stuff that may never happen. 🙂
Now I’m confused. I read contradictory things about coconut oil. I read it a MC fat, and the pancreas is not needed to digest. Any ideas?
Hi Missy 🙂 – I know there is confusing, even dangerous info out there on the net. Everybody is an expert when it comes to pancreatitis, especially regarding diet and how to treat it successfully in a non-emergency scenario. Most haven’t had pancreatitis or they have it and are sick. Most doctors I have met don’t know it when they see it (can’t diagnose it) and even if they recognize it do not know how to stop it. Me I have it, I know how to stop it and I’m not sick. I seem to be pretty well healed up. Hopefully I won’t screw up and I’ll stay well. So …
Here is what I think, actually know. Coconut is full of OIL. Oil is fat. Fat is bad. Fat is the enemy. ALL fat is bad, especially if your pancreas is still inflamed BUT damage also plays a factor. You may not have as much damage as me and may be able to tolerate more fat or you may have more damage and be able to tolerate less fat. Feel free to give it a go. Tell me how it works out for you. By the way I’m not trying to be rude or obnoxious. Everyone has to make their own choices. You can try it or not try it. I wouldn’t but that’s my choice. Good luck Missy, stay well. 🙂
Thank you for your comment. Apparently I got a virus a 6 years ago that caused my husbands appendix to go, and my pancreas to swell. *multiple misdiagnosis later* After an EUS, it turns out most would have healed fine. But, I have a curly duct. Now it has a stone “growing” in it. They can’t get it out with an ERCP (they tried), went to Mayo clinic. My “organic/natural” folks say that coconut oil and cinnamon can heal the pancreas. They said to use it in place of butter/oil as a better alternative. But, I got the jar it says 63%.fat!!! The EUS/ERCP says my pancreas doesn’t have much damage in terms of insulin areas. But, they did see evidence of moderate to severe attacks. It scares the heck out of me! The surgeon got all “happy” when he said yes you have a 7% greater chance of pancreatic cancer then non-chronic. 🙁 He said chronic pancreatitis, they believe, is cancer in disguise. It doesn’t help my great grandmother died of pancreatic cancer. I see my 7 kids (11 and under and cry). Thank you for your website it gives me much encouragement. After my last attack and they kept trying to dope me up (I refused hospital treatment). I saw you said use Ibuprofen during the flair up. It worked SOOOOO much better then the Tramdol/Tylenol 3 stuff. They just made me sleepy didn’t take away that fullness feeling. THANK YOU!!!!
Missy – don’t let surgeons scare you about pancreatic cancer. LONG-term inflammation found in chronic pancreatitis patients does increase the risk but it isn’t so much of an increase that you can figure you are going to get pancreatic cancer. Surgeons want to make money. They don’t make the big bucks unless they are carving on someone. Since long-term pancreas inflammation has been linked to an increased pancreatic cancer risk it only enforces the the common sense solution of eliminating the inflammation, as soon as possible and of course keeping it from coming back. That takes a proper pancreatitis diet (low in fat, mostly plant based), anti-inflammatory supplements (grape seed extract, curcumin, vitamin C) and Ibuprofen or aspirin when needed.
I am glad Ibuprofen worked for you. You’re welcome. 🙂 Ibuprofen isn’t safe. It can cause high blood pressure, heart attack, stroke and bleeding (ALL RARE), so use it as sparingly as possible. In my opinion, anything with Tylenol (Acetaminophen) should be avoided. Acetaminophen causes liver failure in even smaller doses and it is in so much stuff that it is easy to take to much and totally ruin the liver. It is a real toxic substance endorsed by doctors, nurses etc BUT … the truth is finally coming out. IT IS DANGEROUS and destroys livers. The problem is that Acetaminophen is a very weak pain killer for anything more than a moderate headache. It may work to reduce fever and help a little headache but it’s not a powerful anti-inflammatory like Ibuprofen. The medical community thinks it is better than sliced bread but they don’t have to suffer the pain of pancreatitis and liver damage gives them another source of revenue. Yep I said that. I really do think that the whole mission of mainstream medicine is to make money – no matter what the cost. They don’t cure anything anymore – they “manage” disease and conditions. If they cure something, revenue stops. If they “manage” disease and conditions revenue flows. I personally don’t think that the medical community cares about quality of life, whether we live well or not. They don’t want us dead because revenue stops but they don’t want us well either because revenue stops. I could go on and on but I don’t want to bore you.
Coconut, coconut oil and coconut milk all contain too much fat. As far as I know there isn’t a real good substitute for butter or cooking oil. You just need to learn to cook and live without butter and oil. Pam cooking spray, the original, claims to have ZERO fat. You could always try it and see how it goes. Stay well!
Wow … This info is positive and scary at the same time. My new Dr says that food doesn’t cause Pancreatitis! How are we supposed to trust these people that we give our money to? My 3rd bout of Pancreatitis this year landed me in ICU for 2 weeks. I am still trying to recover and it is very hard to trust anyone.
Sonda – Your doctor is right in one instance and wrong in another. Food doesn’t CAUSE pancreatitis originally BUT high fat content food will cause repeat attacks once damage has occurred. ONCE your pancreas has been damaged many foods with fat content become the enemy. Alcohol (can cause original pancreatitis and repeat attacks) and fat are the enemies when one has been diagnosed with pancreatitis.
as u know from my earlier posts i had a severe pancreatritis attack 3 months ago … been hospitalized for about a month and removed my gall bladder which was full of stones … etc .. but now my doc is bringing me back to normal diet …. i am very confused he says fatty food in less quantity will cause no problems … he also asked me i do not need to be over concerned about food … he asked me not to use grapefruit … while i have read on net every where theat grapefruit is best …. how cant i trust him? when he brought me to life when i was almost died???? by grace of GOD … i am taking some oily food in small quantity … so far no problems … got my Amylase levels checked couple of times … they are normal …. i am very confused ….
I understand your confusion. I can’t help you make a decision. You have to do that. If you can tolerate some fat, great. Whatever you do I wish you good luck and better health. 🙂
Your website is very much help full.. i had acute pancreatitis….
sir can i drink green tea.? it has caffeine..is it bad for me ?
secondly can i take fruit juices ? which are found in the shops branded as “Tropikana” or “Real” etc etc….these packed fruit juices are good or bad ?
Green tea is good stuff. It is full of anti-inflammatory antioxidants. Caffeine doesn’t bother me but if you can locate decaffeinated green tea (we have it here in the states) you could use that instead if the caffeine worries you. Fruit juices should be ok. 🙂
Wow! finally someone with sense. After bouts of illness all of my life, gallbladder removal,etc. They discovered I have pancreatic divism. 4% of people with this have trouble…lucky me! This year I have been in the hospital 5 times..the last my lipase was 15,000. I have an appt. with the Cleveland clinic next month.i hope and pray they have ‘the fix’ ! Thank you for understanding what it’s like and voicing the severely of this issue. Wish me luck!
Hi Kim, thanks for visiting. I wish I could tell you there’s a “fix” for pancreas divism but to my knowledge (which is limited) I don’t recall ever reading about a complete fix. BUT I do wish you luck and who knows maybe they have figured out how to rectify pancreas divism and it simply has not been published in an online format accessible to me. This site was last edited in 2012. As of that time there weren’t any quality strategies for fixing pancreas divism so think carefully before allowing a surgeon to start cutting. You could end up worse off than you are now.
I would imagine you have done some research on your condition and know the basics or a lot more but here is on of my favorite “go to” sites for medical stuff cuz they are affiliated with med schools and the the info is used in training prospective med students. Unfortunately, after doing another search for “new” treatment regarding pancreas divism I found nothing new.
I got diagnosed with acute pancreatitus in june 2014. Prior to this I had been to the ER, in April, July and december of 2013. Every time I went they made me feel like I was after pain pills which I never took before ,because I am so against pain pills. Or I was until they relieved this pain.
during the visits to the ER All they did was take an xray and say they could’nt find anything. On one visit teh Dr said it was constipation. Then I heard him say the same thing to the patients in the two beds beside me . You know the pain I was in. I was throwing up for days . The throwing up caused my pain to go away, All I got was that its constipation. I realized that every time I went to ER they followed a protocol, doing the same thing and finishing with just a pain pill RX.
So I went to a different ER in a major hospital and I was really happy to finally have a diagnoses. Up until then I had never heard of pancreatitis but soon read as much as I could about it.. it wasnt a diagnosisto be happy about. But at least it identified the cause of my pain and gave me a chance to manage my pain. They still dont know the root cause.
I have stuck to your diet but i am Diabetic so on top of watching the fat I also have to watch the sugar. Its very dificult finding things I can eat. I had been managing my pancreatic pain pretty good.
But when I went in to the ER the last time when they finally diagnosed me, I was having this great pain in my right leg . they ignored the leg and took care of the pancreatitis.So right now I have great leg pain . My pancreatic pain is down to a 2 on a scale of 1 through 10.
I want to thank you for this post cause it gives me guidance . I Know the diet you posted has helped me manage my pain.
Hi Joe – You’re welcome to the info. I hope you continue to improve. You may wat to get the 3 supplements as well. those coupled with diet should result in vast improvement. PLUS since you are diabetic the grape seed will help protect your eyes and posiibly other organs from the effects of diabetes. It reduces cardiovascular risk associated with diabetes. Then there’s the problem of diabetes affecting the kidneys and eyes. Grape seed seems to help with both in some studies using rats as a model.
Thanks again .i will get the supplements
I am using a grape seed cooking oil , it’ says no fat
Hey Joe you are welcome. About that grape seed oil. No fat is interesting because it is oil and all oil contains fat. If you go to this page and look at the info on the right you’ll note that grape seed oil contains some saturated fat and a fair amount of monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fat. In fact it is 97% fat. I’m not sure how one could have an oil that doesn’t contain fat. The interesting thing to note is that grape seed oil does NOT contain the beneficial flavonoids that grape seed extract contains because of the oil content (the polyphenol flavonoids are not fat soluble) and cold processing. You may want to use caution.
Hi Health guy , Thanks again for the reply. I am using a Pompein Grape seed oil spray . The label says no fat of any kind..
http://www.pompein.com
But Yes its not
an extract
If it is working for you Joe then that’s a good thing.
Hey guys, I bought grapeseed oil because it does say 0 fat on the bottle. I read the whole bottle at home, and there’s a chart on it that says “spray time” 1/4 second 0g fat 0 calories. 1 second spray, 1.5g fat, 15 calories, 2 second spray 3g fat, 25 calories, Crazy, isn’t it?
Interesting and ya crazy. Thanks for the info Justin
Hi, Health Guy, thanks for the info in the article, it’s really helpful and timely for a person who was diagnosed with a chronic pancreatitis a day ago.
I have got 3 questions:
1) I am lifting weights in a gym, been lifting for 1.5 years now – but i had panc. attacks long before this so i don’t think it’s connected. I am using creatine as a supplementation – 5g a day – if you heard anything about it’s negative effects on your pancreas, please let me know.
2) Also, since i am trying to make all kinds of gains, i am really interested whether i can eat the food from your list BUT high amounts of those foods – 3.5 kcalories a day for example – 300-400g of white chicken meat, and tonns of complex carbohydrates to get those 3.5 kcal – since i cant eat lots of fats. For example, my daily diet would be 400 g of wheat, barley, oats, rice, 400 g of white chicken meat and ofc some fruits/vegetables.
3) You didn’t mention buckwheat in your list but i guess it’s also applicable
Thanks for sharing your experience thus helping lots of people – i hope i gonna get rid of this disease and will be eligible to teach other people how to deal with it, using your and mine experince
Cheers!
Max
Hi Max – sorry to hear you have CP.
1) Creatine supplementation alters insulin secretion and glucose homeostasis in vivo, at least it did in rats lol. Whether the same happens in humans or not has yet to be determined. I have read where there is some concern that creatine supplementation may cause kidney, liver and heart damage in high doses but that has not been proven. Other than “possibilities” with no proof it seems that prudent usage is safe. However, keep in mind there is always a possibility that it isn’t so just keep track of what happens in your particular situation.
2) In regards to your question about amounts of safe foods. Fat and alcohol are the nemies. An unhealthy pancreas (inflamed) may not tolerate large amounts of food at one time. You’ll have to “experiment” if body building is really important to you and any experimentation could have unwated consequences. I am NOT trying to scare you, just being realistic.
3) Buckwheat should be perfectly fine. Any grain, vegetable, legume should be fine.
Good luck!
HI Health Guy:
Is Fat free yogurt ok for pancreatic diet ? Can yogurt contain alcohol ?
Thanks
danny
Hi Danny – you can always give it (fat free yogurt) a shot and see how it works for you. I’m not sure if yogurt contains alcohol. Some manufacturers may use sugar alcohol as a “sweetener” but you’d have to read the label and look. Sorbitol is a common sugar alcohol.
Hi! It is my understanding sugar alcohol does not contain ethanol, which is what is found in alcoholic beverages. Are you saying sugar alcohols should be avoided?They occur naturally in foods and are from plant products. Thank you for your information.
Hi Dana – yes sugar alcohol is still alcohol. Exactly what kind of alcohol I don’t know so I’ll take your word for it but it still causes problems. I learned that the hard way from eating ripe bananas. Peel a ripe banana (one that has a lot of spots and the peel is turning brown and sniff it. I can smell the alcohol and you will too. ANY over ripe fruit can technically be a problem due to the sugar turning to alcohol so it is best to eat fruit just before or as they become ripe – over ripe is not good.
I can’t believe I’ve found this website! I had pancreatic attacks and CIC since 1997. Finally after being “streeted” by the local ER many many times they diagnosed me with chronic pancreatitis in 2012. Calcifications to the head of the pancreas – unknown cause. I have a huge intolerance to fats and desperately need advice on how I can take a gel capsule of vitamin d or even grape seed oil without having a pancreatic attack!
I seem to be able to add a small amount of oil to a large amount of a tomato based veggie dish, as long as it’s mixed well into the dish. But… these fat supplements seem to cause huge pains and I don’t know what to do. My vitamin D level has dropped to a critical 8 (30-100 is best). I began taking one 1,000 IU supplement 5 times a day, per doctor, and got very sick with abdominal pains and what felt like sludge in my colon that didn’t pass for endless days.
Oh previously mention was made to the “spray” type fats. The reason they say 0 fat per spray is simply the FDA guidelines don’t count fat under a certain amount and they assume you will only use 1 or 2 sprays. A friend of mine buys 20 bottles a week and pours it on his food, believing it’s fat free:) Not. Just gov’t rules.
Is the food supplement “Boost” safe? I’m at the point I need to replace fat soluable nutrients. It hasn’t caused me a pancreatitis attack but I never feel well anyway lately. I’m afraid I began to try different foods about a year ago. In 2012 I ate fruits and then made a dish with Hunts diced tomatoes, zucchini, kale, 5 black olives broken up in it and finally diced pre-baked white chicken breast. That was all I ate and it seemed okay. Then again my doctor had me on Tramadol and also valium to counteract the hyperactivity the tramadol caused. Now I’m on no medication, have moved to a place where there isn’t much of a kitchen and the appliances don’t work well (I’m broke!) so I’ve been eating bread with lettuce, tomatoes and turkey breast, ham (no additives in them), a hard boiled egg since they have health benefits (especially the yolk) and Bush’s vegan beans (probably too many additives). I feel like hell now and don’t know if it’s the change in diet. I still eat fruit and broccoli and brussel sprouts, other veggies.
Is that an unsafe diet in your experience?
Again, how can we take a capsule of fat? Isn’t fat safer for us if it’s spread throughout a large amount of food? In other words, when a “glob” of fat leaves the stomach doesn’t the pancreas sense it and send out too much Amylase and/or Lipase? Whereas 1 gram of fat in a piece of bread isn’t going to set off the pancreas. (i do feel bread isn’t helping me feel better but I was worried about lack of the B vitamins.)
One last note. Above, someone mentioned that his or her Amylase levels were normal. It’s my understanding that the Only Time the Lipase and Amylase levels rise is during an Acute Attack and they can and will drop to normal within 3 to 5 hours of the attack. That’s why it took so long for me to be diagnosed! By the time the ER doc saw me and blood was drawn the labs had normalized.
Love your advice. Help please.
Janine
Hi Janine – sounds like you aren’t very well. Every now and then I take a vitamin D3 suplement (1,000 IU). It is called Natures Blend and is gluten free. It’s a tablet not a gel cap. Vitamin D is a fat soluble vitamin, like A, K and E and so it does need to be taken with a meal that has at least a little fat in order for the body to absorb it. So I take it when I have some chicken or fish. I do NOT add oil to anything when I cook and I don’t use any kind of oil for “greasing” the pan or pot or to enhance flavors. OIL is always fat. Fat and alcohol are the enemies. All meals and or snacks should contain no more than 5 grams of fat, preferably polyunsaturated fat (plant fat). Adding oil to your food is not a good idea and it doesn’t take much oil to make 5 grams of fat (1 tsp or less). Obviously you need to get your vitamin D levels up. 5,000 IU is a healthy dose. Is your supplement gluten free? It is necessary to check because it doesn’t take much gluten to cause a problem. Many prescription and OTC products are NOT gluten free. Here’s a resource I use to check. Be advised not all supplements, OTC drugs and prescription drugs are listed. Sometimes I have to google the product and manufacturer to find out what is used as “binders” and “fillers.”
I checked out Boost. The original chocolate has 4 grams of fat and should be ok for one snack or one meal. The high protein version has 6 grams of fat which is pushing the envelope. Boost Plus has 14 grams of fat in that dinky 8 oz bottle. Boost Calorie Smart has 7 grams of fat and so does Boost Glucose Control. Boost Nutrition Bars have 7 grams of fat per bar and are NOT gluten free. By the way all of the other versions have “gluten free” indications, however, all but the original version have to much fat.
To answer your question:”I’ve been eating bread with lettuce, tomatoes and turkey breast, ham (no additives in them), a hard boiled egg since they have health benefits (especially the yolk) and Bush’s vegan beans (probably too many additives). I feel like hell now and don’t know if it’s the change in diet. I still eat fruit and broccoli and brussel sprouts, other veggies. Is that an unsafe diet in your experience?”
Ok ready? Here we go …
The ham has to go. Pork is one of the worst meats you can eat with pancreatitis. If the package said 150% fat free I’d never eat it. Pork, beef, lamb, duck all have way to much fat but red meat and pork just don’t work at all. Turkey breast without skin should be ok unless you bought a “basted turkey.” Those puppies are not gluten free. IF you see anything with “hydrolyzed vegetable protein” (“The manufacturing process for HVP varies depending on the desired organoleptic properties of the end product. In general common vegetable raw materials used in the production of HVP include defatted oil seeds (soy, rapeseed), and protein mainly from maize, wheat, pea and rice.”) OR you are buying it as lunch meat or from the deli. That stuff is usually “pressed” meat which is turkey all beat apart and glued back together. The glue most always contains wheat which is gonna cause you, as a celiac, problems. Sashimi (fake crab) is the same. It is full of glue made with wheat. I learned all this crap the hard way (making myself sick) and researching for hours to find out why I was sick lol. The egg yolk may be a problem too. One yolk contains 5 grams of fat. One egg equals one whole meal. Bush beans, I love’em can’t eat’em cuz they are NOT gluten free (unless they have changed) and didn’t say “gluten free” on the label. IF the label does NOT say “gluten free” it may not be no matter what someone says. I liked bush beans so much I called the company to find out. Supposedly they were going to change some things so their beans were “gluten free” BUT I have never seen “gluten free” on a Bush label.
The fresh lettuce, tomato broccoli, Brussel’s sprouts and other veggies should e perfectly fine. Anything canned, processed, pre-cooked, deli food are always suspect for gluten (unless noted as “gluten free” on the label).
If I missed a question yell.
Oh heck! Disregard the stuff about celiac disease and gluten. I mistakenly thought you were another lady who has pancreatic calfication and celiac disease. The rest about fat is highly applicable. By the way I also just noticed you said you were using grape seed oil. Again grape seed oil is oil and has 5 grams of fat per tsp. It also has very little nutrient value and is not the same as grape seed extract.
Amylase and Lipase usually take 4 – 6 hours into an attack to rise. They often stay elevated for up to 7 days. Those with chronic pancreatitis can have slightly elevated enzyme levels without an acute attack. Once the pancreas has been destroyed enough, either by acute attacks or chronic inflammation, the enzyme levels may not rise at all due to the fact the pancreas is no longer able to produce them. This is called pancreatic insufficiency. When PI occurs most patients need high doses of creon at each meal.
Again disregard the celiac info. The fat info is mixed in with it and I don’t want to rewrite this comment so I apologize you received more info than you asked for and doesn’t even pertain to you. The good news is that the Bush Vegatarian Beans should be just fine for you! Egg yolks, ham, oil not so much lol
I had an attack a couple of weeks ago, and have been sticking to a liquidy sort of diet: pureed fruit (mostly pears seem to be ok) in juice, sometimes with “Boost” (is this a “no-no”?), and homemade broth with some pureed carrots and sweet potatoes. I also tried adding egg white to the broth after about 10 days, and that seems to sit well, too. I’m afraid to try anything else, and have lost 30 lbs! I had terrible pain the first few days, but now it’s just unrelenting acid that comes up my throat and nose. I’m taking metoclopramide, which is controlling the acid, but it’s a scary, scary medication that can only be taken for 12 weeks maximum; I’d love to get off of it as soon as possible. My big question is: the pancreatitis seems to be the result of some pain medications that I was taking for a kidney stone and subsequent surgery (I don’t drink alcohol, and had my gallbladder out 10 years ago) – am I going to have trouble with this the rest of my life?! Am I going to have to watch my diet this closely, or am I going to be able to go back to eating “normally” once I’m healed?? I’ve never eaten what I’d consider a high fat diet, but it was definitely higher in fat than the meal options listed here! Advice and info, please! Thanks,
Wendy-Lee
Hi Wendy-Lee 🙂 hopefully you are feeling better by now. Original Boost is ok it has 4 grams of fat per serving but you are reaching the 5 grams fat limit per meal. The other Boost products have to much fat content coming in at 7 – 14 grams depending upon product. The home-made broth, pure vegetable is fine. If you make your broth with any kind of meat it may have to much fat. If it is beef or pork broth that is not a good thing. Chicken broth may even have to much fat.
I don’t know if you’ll have to eat a restricted LOW fat diet forever. I don’t know your situation but if your CT scans, EUS etc showed pancreas damage you may have a whole new eating style to look forward towards. IF you have had more than one acute attack or if that attack was severe acute which usually always causes some real damage that sure isn’t a plus. I tried eating normally for awhile after I was all healed up – didn’t work out well. That probably wasn’t what you wanted to hear. You can always role the dice and test your luck. Like I said, a lot depends on how much damage you have sustained. I’m just guessing from what little you’ve said that you should get used to eating differently. It isn’t that bad. I don’t miss steak or roast or prime rib or bacon or a myriad of other things that don’t work. After a few years your desire for those foods will pass. Ok, maybe not lol
Hi! Thanks for your reply. I am feeling much better but am still on a liquid diet in week 3 now because my pancreatic enzymes weren’t quite back to the normal range yet. I’ve only been dealing with a GP to this point (have an appointment with a GI specialist – the only one in our small town – in 2 months!); he said that the enzyme level was supposed to be around 50 (I’m not even sure which enzyme) and mine was over 80, classifying me as a very mild pancreatic attack. At the last blood test, the level had come down to 61. I took Flagyl a couple of weeks ago, for a suspected Giardia infection, and I’ve since read that this medication can also set off pancreatitis. I tried to eat some pureed yam with broth yesterday (Dr. said to start introducing pureed foods), and although it didn’t cause any pain or discomfort, there was a bit of bloating, and I could only eat about 1/4 cup and felt very full. I’m worried that my stomach doesn’t seem to be emptying properly (which I’ve read can also be a result of a pancreatic attack??) and bowels don’t work right either, leaning toward very sluggish almost constipated bm’s. I had a CT scan done several weeks ago, when they were checking for my kidney stone, but no one mentioned any problem with my pancreas; I was also told at this point that all my “enzyme levels” were fine, so who knows what that means? Perhaps the ER doctor didn’t think that “80” was high enough to class it as pancreatitis? I really only had bad pain for about 2 days. In the meantime, I’m feeling sorry for myself because I can’t eat anything, and fretting that it might be something more serious. Not much to do, I guess, until November when I see the GI specialist. I’m already on a restricted diet because I have interstitial cystitis, so am not relishing the possibility of adding super low fat to the mix. I appreciate your comments and advice!
When multiple conditions come into play it certainly does make life more challenging.
Oh dear …. just read all the info on this site (all of it, this time 😉 ) I’m surprised at the use of onions and garlic in the veggie broth … don’t know why I thought this would be a bad idea. I will add some to my own broth, thank you very much! I’m feeling a bit down about the juicing and supplements because of the diet I must follow for my interstitial cystitis, which includes no citric acid – vitamin C supplements and grapefruit juice are a big “NO!” or cause a lot of pain and spasms. The rest, I think I could do. I still have teenagers at home, and love to cook, so this will be an interesting transition. Are spices/seasonings off limits? I’ve read that “spicy” foods are not good … what kinds of spices are ok, and which are not? What about chicken or fish “crispy style” by coating in egg white, bread or cornflakes crumbs and baking?? I’m wondering about asking to speak to a dietician, but you don’t seem to have much faith in them … what should I look for/avoid in a diet made up “for me”? I also have recurrent oxalate based kidney stones which means no spinach, beets, blueberries, and a myriad of other “good” things …. this is going to be an interesting journey for this Canadian-German, loves to cook and eat, Mama! Thanks so much for all the info here …. invaluable. Blessings.
I’ve personally never found any spice to be a problem. In fact many are down right helpful. Ginger, curcumin, cayenne (chili powder etc), paprika, rosemary are all anti-inflammatory, black pepper (helps curcumin absorption), the rest all seem to work with no problem. There isn’t a spice that I know of that contains fat. Garlic and onion are also anti-inflammatory. Garlic in pure raw form offers antimicrobial properties as well. Raw, fresh garlic on an empty stomach isn’t a good idea cuz it can cause nausea and vomiting.
The “coating” of chicken and fish in egg white and cornflakes may or may not be ok. I’ve never done it. I envision the chciken fat being absorbed by the coating mixture which may cause problems. You can always try it and see how it works for you.
The only things I suggest you be wary of are fat and alcohol. Meals should contain no more than 5 grams of fat with total daily fat intake at 25 grams. A dietician will have you eating more fat in one meal than you should consume all day. Other than that I think they are great. 🙂
I had my gallbladder out last November. In March i was hospitalized for 7 days with pancreatitis. NPO and pain meds were my only relief. I cut out alot of fat and have never drank alcohol. But apparently, i didn’t follow no fat eating wee, and this month,, i had another attack. Looking back, i believe i have had other pancreatitis attacks going back 4 years. Your blog has been helpful learning what to avoid and i am working on it. One of my great loves was peanut butter. Do you have a healthy pancreas substitute? Someone suggested almond butter. Also, i have quite a bit of a sweet tooth. What do you suggest in the way of desserts? Any suggestions are appreciated.
Hi Doreen, sorry to hear you aren’t well. You and I have something in common. I LOVE peanut butter but it doesn’t love me lol. It has a lot of fat. Almonds have a lot of fat as well so I wouldn’t think almond butter would be much better, maybe worse. The only thing that I can say may be a safe possibility for your sweet tooth is hard rock candy if you can find it. Most deserts are full of fat (pie, cake, cookies, pudding etc). Jello should be ok. Mix in some fruit and try that. I’m not a fan of jello so I always forget to mention it. Applesauce is good. I make a killer applesauce that almost tastes like apple pie filling and has zero fat. 8 granny smith apples, peeled and cored, cut into cubes and cooked in 1/2 cup of water, with 1/2 cup of dark brown sugar, some cinnamon, a tiny dash of salt, and a dash of molasses. You can increase or decrease the water, sugar, cinnamon and molasses to taste. I let it cook for about 20 – 30 minutes until the apples are nice and tender and the sauce is thick. I leave them in chunks some folks like them smashed up so you can do whatever you like. But I warn you I can hardly keep from eating the whole batch at once lol.
Make yourself a pumkin pie without the crust. Pumpkin pie custard. Buy some Libby’s Pumkin Pie filling. There is almost zero fat in the mix but it calls for 2 eggs and condensed milk. I substitute non fat milk for the condensed milk and 2 egg whites for the whole eggs. Bake it in a pan until done and you have a “custard” that is pretty dang good with zero fat.
Hi Healthy Guy
Thanks for sharing all the precious info on beating pancreatitis.
It’s really confusing that the diets I’ve read on the internet say many wrong things like for example beans should be out and beef is OK.
I want to ask two questions:
1) If the problem with pancreatic diet is getting enough proteins, then is it safe to take protein supplements like this one (just a random pick of mine) http://www.nowfoods.com/Premium-Whey-Protein-Vanilla-1-2lb.htm ?
2) Are hard-boiled eggs whites OK since the Internet says “No”? From your posts I get it that omelette cooked without is OK so hard-boiled should be the same
3) Do all people with chronic pancreatitis tolerate hot spices like black pepper and chilli?
4) Is food like canned beans, tinned white-meat fish OK for chronic pancreatitis, etc. (all tinned foods that are otherwise pancreas-friendly)? The Internet again says “NO”.
5) Is soda or other fizzy drinks OK?
6) Is it true that with pancreatitis you have to avoid foods with Es inside (artificial antioxidants, preservatives, emulgators, etc.)
Thanks in advance.
Best regards
You’re welcome Nikolai. Yep I understand your confusion. Most info out there, whether online or offline, is wrong. There are only two enemies, alcohol and fat. Anything that smells like alcohol probably is alcohol (alcohol hides in foods and medications) and if it tastes wonderful it is probably full of fat.
1) Protein powder/formulas should be used with caution. Many contain oil and/or fat. Whey can be a problem for some. Make sure you check the fat content and read the label to determine where the fat comes from. Oil is not good.
2) Hard boiled egg whites are fine. The yolks are a different story. One egg yolk has 5 grams of fat. Egg white have ZERO fat.
3) I can’t say that ALL people with chronic pancreatitis tolerate spices like black pepper and chili powder. The minute I do someone will die from black pepper. It will actually be the steak they ate but they’ll blame the black pepper and try to sue me. Read the post on doing a proper food diary. Then after you have prepped properly start your diary and try black pepper on a batch of egg whites. See if it works for you then do the same with some other spice but … follow the directions for doing a proper food diary. That is the only way you’ll know what is safe for you and what isn’t. Spices contain ZERO fat and ZERO alcohol. They should be safe for you just like they are safe for me but who knows for sure? The food diary will take out the guess work.
4) Depends on the canned beans. Pork and bean, NO. Vegetarian beens should be fine. Read the labels. Check the fat content. Same with the fish. Do a food diary.
5) Soda pop should be ok. (food diary)
6) I doubt it but the less chemicals and artifical crap you eat the better.
Thank you very much for your answer!
You’re welcome
Hi Healthy Guy
Sorry for bothering you again.
After some research I bought this protein supplement: http://www.nowfoods.com/EggWhite-Protein-1-2-LBS.htm
It has close to zero fat in contrast to supplements extracted from whey or soya so it should be OK.
I would like to ask you a couple of things though:
1) Does protein taken in this form puts less strain on the pancreas that protein taken in the form of boiled egg whites?
2) Given that I take Creon enzymes for malabsorption of food, should I also take Creon when drinking this protein supplement?
3) Should the pancreatic enzymes be taken before meal, during meal or after meal?
4) What exactly causes the loss in weight in people with chronic pancreatitis: the lack of fats in the food, the lack of sufficient proteins in the food or the lack of sufficient calories in the food?
Thanks in advance for answering.
Best regards
No bother Nikolai. Hopefully the egg white protein powder will be fine. Egg whites are fine, no fat.
1) I doubt there is much difference except that boiled egg whites have no fat at all
2) Follow your doctors direction
3) Pancreatic enzymes should be taken with meals but Creon is a powerful prescription form of pancreatic enzymes so if your are asking about taking additional over-the-counter enzymes you should be asking your doctor. Creon should be all you need.
4) All of those you mentioned plus loss of appetite, malabsorption and any vomiting and/or diarrhea that might be a problem.
Hi Healthy Guy
Thanks for sharing all the precious info on beating pancreatitis.
I would like to ask if red grapefruit is just as good as white grapefruit in terms of benefits for the pancreas?
Best regards
I don’t know. Red grapefruit juice may work as well. I haven’t drank much of it. I drink the white unsweetened.
HI-I want to ask you if is it safe to eat salads with wine vinegar or apple vinegar?Is it safe to eat bread?
Wine vinegar such as rice wine vinegar should be ok. I have never heard of a vinegar containing alcohol. Read the labels to be sure. Rice wine is another story. Apple cider vinegar is or should be fine. So salads with rice wine vinegar should work fine and be tasty cuz it’s kinda sweet.
Hi ,
My dad had acute on chronic pancreatitis in Jan 2014 . He is chronic alcoholic . He was given treat ment . he is diabetic since 13 years .now he is on insulin .he still takes alcohol . unable to stop him ,did every thing . last few weeks , heis getting fever ,most of times constipation problem , some times naussea , some times loose stools like diarrhoea. alomost stopped taking any solid food .
taking sweet lime juice and some times bread .
what shoud I do now please give me suggestions .
praveen s
India
Sorry to hear about your dad. If he won’t quit drinking there isn’t much that can be done except to enjoy the time you have with him.
Hi Healthy Guy
Thank you for creating and maintaining this wonderful website.
I have CP with calcifications.
Since I found your website three weeks ago, I’ve been following the diet you recommend. No alcohol, no meat, no fat of any kind. I’m on juices, rusks, peas, beans, lentils, broccoli, chickpeas, spaghetti, egg whites, honey and coffee. I carefully read the labels on all products just mentioned. I’m really strict with my diet, you can believe me.
I also take the supplements: grape seed 3x180mg, curcumin 3x667mg, vitamin C 3x1000mg.
Still, to avoid losing weight I try to eat 5 times a day: 3 meals and 2 snacks in between. However, I try to make sure the meals/snacks are not huge. I take Kreon – 50 000 per meal, and 25 000 per snack. I have appetite but often I get some pain in the right and/or the left abdomen, sometimes in the right of the back too, ESPECIALLY in the evening. I would rate it mild to moderate, and sometimes I take Aspirin or Ibuprofen to stop that pain.
Why the pain, given the really strict diet, the supplements, the Kreon?
It looks like the pancreas gets upset every time I eat. Could it be that my pancreas cannot handle 3 meals and 2 snacks per day?
I thought Kreon enzymes take some of the workload off the pancreas? Should I reduce the quantity of food taken per day?
Please tell me what you think.
Hi Chloe – Your curcumin and vitamin C intake should be sufficient however if it were me I’d increase the grape seed extract to 800 – 1000mgs per day and see how that does to help the pain you still experience. I am guessing the calcification may be creating the pain but it’s only a guess. It could also be that 3 meals per day and 2 snacks are simply to many meals at this time in your healing process. It could also be a combination of the two. So again if it were me I’d increase my intake of grape seed extract and cut a meal and snack to see how that worked. You may have to increase the grape seed extract even more. It’s all trial and error to see what combination of diet (meals and quantities of food) and supplement amounts it takes to realize desired results. The more damage and/or complications the more difficult it is going to be to begin healing. Now …
About the calcification. I’ve mentioned an off-the-wall idea before in other comments to other people who also have calcification. I do NOT know if my idea will work. But there have been some rogue doctors who think outside the box using EDTA to reduce the calcification found in those who have clogged arteries. It seems to work. I’ve actually talked with paitents who have heart disease and they said it worked for them. My thought is IF it dissolves or pulls calcium out of arteries why wouldn’t it do the same thing with the calcium found in the pancreas? I have no personal experience using this idea of mine simply because I don’t have an calcification as far as I know. It’s food for thought and something you may want to check into and learn more about. I don’t know where you live but if it were me I’d try to locate an M.D. or D.O. that does chelation and talk with them about it to see what they think. I would start by contacting someone at ACAM, they train doctors to do proper chelation protocol, and ask them if there is a doctor in your area you could contact. It may be a wild goose chase but it may also turn out to be the way to resolve the pancreas calcification.
Good luck 🙂
What thoughts do you have on the food diary and timing, when it comes to watching for trigger foods? I’ve gone low fat vegan, but still have pain spikes. If a food doesn’t agree with any of us dealing with this, would it trigger inflammation right away, or could it be delayed for hours or even days?
Hi Dan – foods can trigger immediate problems (within a couple hours) or take longer (24 – 48 hours) or take multiple consumptions (you may get by with one consumption but two or three make you sick). That is why the food diary (with proper prep) is so important. You can track a new food and eat it multiple times over a week period and then see what happens within that week and the next. I have found the only foods or ingredients that cause me problems personally are fat and alcohol. So to answer your question some foods may trigger immediate unwanted response but I have found those foods to be very few. Most of my acute attacks can be traced to MULTIPLE ingestions. The last attack I had (about 8/9 years ago) actually took 3 ingestions of one bad food within a week’s period. Now most folks would have blamed the beans and rice I ate the night the attack began but I in fact knew better. Neither beans or rice contain a lot of fat (a cup of beans and a cup of rice will have about 3 grams of total plant fat). The beans and rice didn’t contain alcohol. I eat beans very often because they are a great source of low fat protein. I know they are safe. Rice is also safe. So I looked for the culprit and found the turkey sausage was packed in pork casings. I should have read the label better. PORK is a very pancreas inflaming food and this taught me the hard way that even pork intestines (used for casings) are not safe.
Thanks! Very helpful insights. That food diary, with every detail is going to be key.
You’re welcome, good luck to you.
I was recently diagnosed with AP. I’ve had two bouts so far that put me in the hospital. MRI and latest blood work don’t show any sign of AP or even healing from AP. My GI doc has sent blood work off to test for the genetic mutation that causes hereditary pancreatitis and he’s looking for a hospital that can do an EUS. EUS is going to be hard on me because of my gastric bypass 8 years ago. I’m getting ready to start the fast/cleanse/food diary you recommend doing. Now, yes, I’m looking to the future but I have a question about red meat. Is the fat content in most red meat the reason it’s not tolerated or is there something else to it? Technically venison is red meat but it is WAY leaner than beef, about 1 g of fat per oz. compared to 5 g per oz of beef. I’ve always got packs of deer in the freezer and my dad just sent me 9 pints and 2 quarts that he canned. I realize, when I get to the point of added foods, I could just try it and see but I was wanting your opinion.
Thank you so much for your website. I’ve gotten more info from here than from any of the docs I’ve seen.
Hi Cindey, you’re welcome but you aren’t gonna like what I say which is I can’t tell you how much I miss venison and sourdough pancakes for breakfast! My grandpa used to cook me that for breakfast a lot when I was a kid and I continued eating it until I got sick. FAT content is a big thing with red meat. Venison, elk and moose have way less fat than beef or buffalo but like pork and lamb they just don’t work well for me. Now, I have to admit I have NOT tried vension, elk or moose since I dropped all red meat so I honestly don’t know if it may work for you AFTER you have totally healed up. I can tell you for a fact beef and pork did NOT work for me even after I healed. And to be honest, I’m a coward and do not have the courage to try vension, especially after my last acute attack 8 years ago that lasted 12 days and took over a month to feel half way decent again just because I missed “pork casings” on some turkey sausage.
hi there,
firstly let me say thanks alot, ive really appreciated reading your info. Ive had chronic calcifying pancreatitis for a while. Without going into the full history, ive recently had a stent placed in the pancreatic duct, about 1 and a half months ago, im getting it removed in 3 weeks. However for the last week or so im having pains on spine and middle stomach. There’s no vomiting, no fever, amylase/lipase and wbc normal. Im also on circumin, grape fruit seed and grape seed extract. What do you think?
Ankush I don’t know. It could be symptoms of calcification. I must admit there is a lot I simply don’t know. The pain may also be caused by the stent. I’ve read where some folks have problems with stents. They move or have tissue grow around them, in them etc which seems to cause problems. I’m guessing that since you know that your amylase, lipase and white blood cell count were ok that you’ve talked with your doctor about it and he/she took a gander. What did the doc say?
Hi Health
I would like to know what your body mass index is.
I have chronic pancreatitis and I understand most people with this have are underweight, like me.
Though I eat often, in small portions, take Creon, chew slowly and follow your diet, I keep losing weight
Are you underweight too?
What can we do about it?
Regards
Hi Boris. Yep losing weight at first is a problem. I don’t know what my BMI is actually. I’m 5’7″ and 155. So whatever that translates as is what it is. In regards to actual body fat i have no clue. Once you have healed up you should be able to tolerate some skinless chicken and white meat fish to get larger amounts of protein. You need protein to build muscle.
Add on: I was curious so googled bmi calculator and did the first one on the page. it says my bmi is 24.5 so I am almost fat lol
Hi health guy , I have a question for you I am really frustrated. I had seen a doctor in Umass worcester. He is the head of the GI clinic he did an EUS. He told me I have mild chronic pancreatitis and gave me a low fat diet and creon. I had seen him for upper back pain. I was concerned because my sister had pancreatic cancer and only symptom was back pain.i always had bloating on and off after eating . i had also gone to the emergency room for an unusual rythmatic pain or tightness in my upper abdomen along with upper back pain, but I have never had the pain people on this forum describe thank God.
oh yeah I should mention I am not an alcoholic I did have a short period of time 3 years tops when I was young when I would go out on the weekends and tie one on, but never drank after that .
Well I faithfully followed the low fat diet and took the creon. The creon made me feel so much worse, and was having worse bloating long story long I decided to see another doctor to manage my symptoms. I felt my doctor was very hard to communicate with.
I went to Boston the doctor looked at my EUS and MRCP ( which came out perfectly normal). My EUS had only 3 markers. The doctor in Boston said he didn’t believe I have chronic pancreatitis he said I only had 3 markers and according to the rosemont study I needed at least 5 I think he said.He did another Mrcp ( normal) . He told me go ahead eat what I want . Still uncomfortable I asked for a secretin test. Well I had the test but for some reason I do not produce much fluid output so it came out not good but he said it was bcuz not enough fluid to be accurate. So he did a new EUS with secretin. The GI who did the EUS according to my doc was the best, now he said my pancreas is perfect no markers the secretin came back not good once again again he said for some reason which happens with some people I dont produce much fluid when tested so he is not really taking it into account although it came out bad.
He said he’s sure I don’t have cp and does not want to do more testing . My current symptoms are bloating after meals 2 or 3 times a week, upper abdomen pain not a sharp pain though a mild one mostly on right but it can be in middle or on left as well that comes and discomfort in back thoracic again not sharp a tight discomfort and pressure.it almost feels like a congestion or pressure at times in my upper abdomen and back
I don’t know what to do next. im afraid to just ditch the diet. I’m wondering how can 2 top doctors have such polar opposite diagnosis’s I don’t know what to do next .cp is a very scary disease if the doctor in Boston is wrong I could really cause a lot of damage.
Are there any other tests that might help accurately diagnosis early cp. Please whatever help you could give would be great!
Hi Tina Marie – sorry to hear you aren’t feeling well I have a decent idea as to your frustration. I also know that when I was diagnosed I didn’t ask near enough questions. But … many doctors rely way to much on “criteria.” And there are 9 criteria for pancreatitis and most doctors believe you need 5 or more in order to confirm a diagnosis of chronic pancreatitis how ever … some astute doctors are now finding that even minimal changes, especially after recurrent bouts of AP (acute pancreatitis) call for a diagnosis of minimal change chronic pancreatitis.
Article 1
Article 2
There are more articles out there on minimal change pancreatitis however most doctors have yet to recognize the significance of minimal damage. Your original first diagnosis may be the correct one. Symptoms do not exist in a healthy (phyiscally and mentally) individual. Symptoms are a sign of sickness and disease. Where there’s smoke there’s fire. If it walks like a duck, quacks like a duck, hangs out with ducks and looks kinda like a duck it is probably at least part duck.
There are times doctors prescribe too much creon. Too much creon can cause unwanted symptoms. You may want to talk to your doc (first one) about lowering the dose. IF he is truly difficult to deal with smack him upside his head until he is better able to listen or you can always try a quality otc enzyme product which won’t be as strong and see how one or two at meal time work for you compared to the creon. IF one or two quality otc enzyme supplements help relieve the bloating or other digestive problems that occur after meals you’ll know that the creon was simply too strong at this time.
When you get with your original doctor who diagnosed you with CP you might want to ask him why he feels you have CP and what caused it. I’m curious about cause because you haven’t mentioned any diagnosis of AP (acute pancreatitis). Those who have the gene variant that creates risk for alcoholic pancreatitis (you mentioned 3 years of fun) sometimes present with CP first. Autoimmune pancreatitis most often presents as CP first. It would be nice for you to know why your doc thinks you have it.
I wouldn’t ditch the diet or drink alcohol. I’d try to find out more info from the doc and see if the creon dose can be adjusted.
Hi health guy,
Thankyou for the input and the articles. In response to your comment I have never had an acute pancreatic attack ever. The umass. Doc thinks it’s probably genetic. I didn’t do the genetic testing because their are drawbacks as far insurance complications.
Like I said umass doc says 3 changes ( smart guy head of clinic) and doc who did second EUS I was told by my Boston GI is world reknowned and he says perfect EUS not one sign. I asked Boston GI how could my doc at umass an intelligent man be so wrong he said an EUS is just reading different areas of gray. He thinks it’s some sort of digestive issue IBS etc.,
Symptoms being mild sensation of pain intermittent and fleeting throughout the day under rib cage right side , left side, and center.like a 1 on pain scale but it’s there like I have an open sore inside in those spots
And my back hurts off and on after meals more often like a pressure in thoracic spine area sometimes my spine itself hurts but then the pain will go completely away say in 20 or 30 minutes. that thappens on and off throughout the week and that’s more of a discomfort and of course the bloating after eating usually it happens with evening meal at least 4 times a week. I feel like because I do fit the cookie cutter symptoms of anything. Because that’s what doctors like to hear.
I wish there was another test like the secretin, one that’s pretty accurate at diagnosing early chronic pancreatitis. I told my Boston doctor that I read you can have chronic pancreatitis with a normal EUS and he said at my age which is 54 you would see changes by now on EUS and assures me I don’t have it.
Cp is not anything to ignore if he’s wrong. Ugh
Tina I can’t tell you who is right. Like I said in my last response I’d try to get back with the original umass? doc and ask him why he thinks you have CP. What did he see while doing the EUS or what did the “doer” and “reader” see? Did he do the EUS or just read what the radiologist wrote? EUS, like any scan or test, is only as good as the person actually seeing and understanding what they see. That goes for the guy in boston too. However …
It is possible that the guy in Boston is right and you could have some form of IBS which can be painful too. I’m not sure if your age has any bearing on CP damage unless you’ve had it for years without taking steps to curtail it. He still may be right. All I can tell you is that I had some weird twinges from time to time but what was really noteworthy is that my abdomen was extremely tender all the time. I could NOT stand to have anything, even a paperback book lay on it. It would cause pain and nausea. I never had motion sickness before but when I was sick, before i was able to heal, riding in the car sometimes made me sick as did running. Good luck Tina I hope you find out for sure what is wrong. 🙂
Thankyou health guy I really appreciate your input!
You’re welcome Tina 🙂
Hey,
First off I’m glad that I found this website.
Basically my story isnt something you havnt heard. I was getting bad cramps and the first doctors visit they thought my system was just getting backed up and I needed more fiber in my diet. 2 weeks later I woke up with some stomach pain and I said thats enough, something is wrong, I am going to the hospital. Sure enough the doctor said I had acute pancreatitis. My ultrasound, ct-scan and blood tests all came out good(which was a big relief for me) and he just said I had some small inflammation. The reason that caused the pancreatitis was that I was taking acutane (acne meds, for some of you who dont know) . As soon as I stopped taking the meds I was feeling great again, the only problem was the doctor only gave me instructions to just take the meds for pain and nausea. So what did I do? I continued to eat whatever I wanted. Of course last week was thanksgiving and my pancreas must have hated me because I stuffed myself with thanksgiving treats. Next couple days the pain had come back and landed right back in the hospital. This time the doctor put me on a liquid diet for a few days and I will be seeing a GI doctor next week.
Im just glad that I found a diet I can stick by and hopefully will heal me. I consider myself as one of the lucky ones since it is just some mild pain and no throwing up or stomach aches.
I think I am taking the appropriate steps to getting better but do you have any suggestions for me that might help otherwise?
Thanks!!!!
Oh and I forgot to mention. No one has really said anything to me about exercise. I love playing basketball and thats my main form of exercise. When will it be okay to be doing gym activitie like this?
John you might want to give exercise a shot (if your abdomen isn’t tender) and see how it goes. If it doesn’t cause symptoms have fun.
Hi John, sorry to hear you have been drafted into the pancreatitis hall of pain. Pretty much everything I know and do to stay well can be found on this blog. I don’t think I have left anything out. Since you had a mild attack with what appeared to be no damage via scans your doc may have thought you’d skate but that thought has been debunked with your second attack. Second attacks usually mean 3rd’s and fourth’s etc if one doesn’t pay attention to diet. Good luck to you. I hope you heal up and enjoy life.
Does have to be white grapefruit juice or will pink work?
I have had folks ask me that before Doug and I don’t know. I only use white unsweetened grapefruit juice. I can’t tell you if pink works or not. It’s somewhat different in chemical composition and may or may not contain the same phytonutrients in the same amounts as does the white.
Hello…
I’m really, really desperate…..my Father is on knocking on deaths door with Pancreatitis. The Doctors are totally clueless…he’s at home, bedridden. The swelling in his abdomen has subsided but he still has no appetite and his diarrhea is out of control. The Doctors just want to keep pumping him full of medication. He’s still on a lot of other medication such as Atenolol (angina), Ramipril (high blood pressure), Asprin & Lansoprazole (ulcers). I’m sure this isn’t helping any either…I just need to get him to eat, to eat something that’s not going to give him the diarrhea or hiccups.
I’m heading home to Scotland to take care of him next week…I’m using everything I can on your website to keep him alive.
Wendy if he’s really sick with pancreatitis it might be a good idea to let him fast (go without food) and keep him hydrated (water) and try to eliminate the inflammation with a combination of fasting, Ibuprofen (800 mgs) and supplements grape seed extract, curcumin and vitamin C. Food is NOT a pancreatitis patients freind, especially when the person (your dad) is sick.
Hey so officially with your diet and supplements I have beat pancreatitis . my final MRI came back and it showed no damage or abnormalities to any part of my body. First off I’d like to say thanks for this website and the tips you have. If I didn’t read them I probably would have still been suffering now. I just have a few questions . I was taking the vitamin c and grape seed extract 4 times a day, should I still take it 4 times a day to be safe or should it now be a 1 time a day thing? Also will there be a point where I’ll be able to eat what I want again or is this something where I should follow a low fat diet ? Thanks !
AWESOME John!
Q1 – I was taking the vitamin c and grape seed extract 4 times a day, should I still take it 4 times a day to be safe or should it now be a 1 time a day thing?
Answer: I’d stay at at least 1 mgs for every pound of body weight coupled with the diet. So if you weigh 150 you want to take at least 150 mgs per day of grape seed to see how that works for you. If you start having symptoms increase the dose until you are good to go.
Q2 – Also will there be a point where I’ll be able to eat what I want again or is this something where I should follow a low fat diet ?
Answer: That is a tough question. One never knows the absolute correct answer. All I can say is if you have had more than ONE acute pancreatitis attack it is doubtful you’ll ever be able to do a normal diet without the risk of more damage. On this subject one has to do what one thinks best. It’s a crap shoot.
Good luck man, stay well!
After pancreatitis how many times did you take your supplements. Did you still keep taking it 4x a day? Also is there any alternatives for cheese? I never really realized how much fat was in cheese.
John I take mine three times a day now (100 mgs 3x daily). It may be about twice what I need but I don’t want anymore problems. It is best to spread the doses out so that the grape seed and vitamine C are always working through the pancreas. The only alternative I know for cheese is, well, nothing. There is soy cheese but it has as much fat as regular cheese. I don’t know what to tell you there. Someday they may make no fat cheese. It’ll probably taste like crap but who knows?
Hey guys,
Particularly for John’s question about cheese. Yes! I found Kraft shredded cheddar and mozzarella both fat free! Also they make fat free American slices. I was a huge cheese eater before. I had to find something. The shredded actually doesn’t taste that bad. The slices are a little bland.
I have found it at Kroger’s, Walmart, and Meijer. Hope this helps.
Justin
That is GOOD news Justin! It is obviously working ok for you? No problems? I’ll have to look for that stuff myself 🙂
Yeah, I have had no problems with it at all, I eat as much as I want of it. Hope it works for you too!
That’s GOOD news Justin. I can get away with some no fat milk so maybe some no fat cheese might work too. I appreciate the comment about the Kraft no fat cheese cuz I haven’t looked! Good find man!
Hi everyone
delighted to have found this site its so informative!
I would like to ask a question please ?
As well as having cp ongoing 7 yrs now actually I’m having a bit of a flare up as I’m writing this! Could you suggest something other than ibroven as I cannot tolerate taking it!
Many thanks Anna
Hi Anna you might try 4 aspirin. I have. It doesn’t work quite as well as Ibuprofen but it works well. 325 mg tabs x 4 = 1300 mgs of aspirin ( for an acute pancreatitis attack) half that for lesser chronic pancreatitis inflammation. Grape seed extract (400 mgs), vitamin C (2000 mgs) and large doses of curcumin (1500 mgs) may also work for acute pancreatitis. Grape seed, curcumin, C and aspirin should be a good combo. Curcumin should be avoided if you have gallstones or SOD.
Hi Health Guy, I love cheese, I miss eating it…I use to eat Macaroni & Cheese I am afraid to the eat cheese since my acute pancreatitis send it me to the ER ,,,so it is fat free cheese there? I will go to Walmart also I love hot cocoa it is safe? I miss all those foods immensely …thanks HG
Maria – I love cheese too so I understand. I’ve had several people tell me they have found no fat cheese and it seems to work well for them. I have yet to find it in a store around here but when I do I’m gonna give it a shot myself. 🙂
LOW Fat Hot Cocoa (chocolate)
Ingredients you need:
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 cup HERSHEY’S Cocoa (2 grams of fat)
Dash salt
3/4 teaspoon ALCOHOL FREE vanilla extract
4 cups (1 qt.) NO FAT milk
1/3 cup hot water
Directions
1. Stir together sugar, cocoa and salt in medium saucepan; stir in water. Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, until mixture comes to a boil. Boil and stir 2 minutes. Add milk; stirring constantly, heat to serving temperature. Do Not Boil.
2. Remove from heat; add vanilla. Beat with rotary beater or whisk until foamy. Serve topped with marshmallows, if desired. Five 8-oz. servings.
Variations:
RICH, Dark LOW Fat Hot Cocoa (chocolate)
Same as above but add an additional 2Tbsp of Hershey’s Special Dark Cocoa (1 gram of fat)
Whether you tolerate no fat milk or not you’ll have to find out if you want a cup of hot chocolate. As you’ll note this makes about a quart of hot chocolate (about 5 cups) so each cup has LESS than 1 gram of fat as far as I can figure 🙂
Good luck, hope it works and you like it!
Try nutritional yeast instead of cheese in recipes such as Mac and cheese. Has a similar taste to cheese without the fat
Hi Stacey, I noticed that you said to substitute nutritional yeast for the cheese in the mac and cheese.
I’m just wondering if I’m to add the milk and THEN the nutritional yeast but how much yeast to add?
Hi Jane
Sorry just read your message again but it depends how much Mac your cooking. Definitely not as much as normal cheese though a it’s quite strong. So try one tablespoon and taste if needed add another tablespoon. I taste test my cooking as I go.
Stacey ?
Can I take Grapefruit Seed Extract 125 mg?
Hi Cindy – IF you are on certain meds such as statins to lower tri’s or cholesterol, or a heart drug such as a calcium channel blocker that is sometimes used to help SOD or certain other meds such Latuda for anxiety the answer is no. Grapefruit interacts unfavorably with certain drugs so if you are on meds you should ask your doctor and phamacist before taking it. If they give the green light you are probably ok. If you aren’t on any medications you should be good to go with grapefruit seed extract. It’s a great alternative for those who do NOT like grapefruit or grapefruit juice and it’s a lot cheaper too.
Thankfully I take no meds ~ I love grapefruit juice and purchase the brand you recommended ~ this is my 1st episode totally NOT fun but I am on the mend however I do miss my occasional glass of Champagne ~
Great website ~Thank you !
Hi Cindy – you are welcome and glad you like the site. Yes it is sad but champagne isn’t good for us. Just think of your grapefruit juice as a substitute 🙂
Hello Healrh guy! I was wondering if you can help with some information. I just had an MRI with contrast of my entire abdominal region. Pancreas is looking better. But what came back was abnormal blood flow to the portal vein. I do not drink at all. My Gastro doctor want me to follow up with an ultrasound and CT with contrast of my entire pelvic region which I have scheduled on February 3rd Do you know what this means and do you have reccommedations for me right away! Waiting for your reply. Thanks as always so much! Neal
Hi Neal, what exactly did the doc mean by abnormal blood flow to the portal vein? I’ve heard of portal hypertension but that is increased pressure might not necessarily mean flow. I have no suggestions except to ask the doc exactly what he/she means and why you have it. The next tests may be so the doc can determine the why and/or extent. Glad your pancreas is looking better! Hope the other is minor and things go well for you.
Thank you so much! I will do just that!
Is portal hypertension very worry some if indeed that is the case?
You’re welcome. I don’t know. Depends upon the cause. You may not have it. The tests should help your doc determine what’s up.
Thanks again!
Thanks so much. I’d like to forward this information along, but I don’t want to tick them off either. 🙁
I sincerely appreciate you taking the time to respond to my post.
You’re welcome. I can understand your concern. I often wonder myself – How could a story about someone who was sick with pancreatitis, someone who actually experienced healing tick someone off? It isn’t like you’re demanding they do the same. Yet some folks see it as “butting in.” Each person has to do what they feel is best for them but some folks do get upset when others try to help, especially with info they will never get from their doc. The way I look at it is I simply provide info on what I did and do. I tell everyone I am not a doc and that if someone does what I did and or still do they do it at their own risk and need to decide, for themselves, what is right for them. Life is full of choices and the choices we make determine our destiny, good or bad. Your friends husband sounds extremely ill. He may be to far gone, to damaged but who knows? I don’t. I believe that with God ALL things are possible (Matthew 19:26).
Hi Health Guy.
You’ve written above that “Chronic pancreatitis can turn ugly at any time and result in acute pancreatitis”.
Would not it be the opposite?
“ACUTE pancreatitis can turn ugly at any time and result in CHRONIC pancreatitis”.
Thank’s in advance.
Antonio.
Acute pancreatitis is always ugly. Most people have mild cases, some have moderate and about 20 – 25% have severe acute. Chronic comes in mild and severe as well and it is progressive in nature. Since the pancreas in chronic pancreatitis is already scarred and damaged acute pancreatitis is much more likely to occur and if severe can kill you. That to me is quite ugly, is it not? But …
Let’s face it pancreatitis is just plain ugly in any form.
Hi Paul,
Do you mean to say that after the water and juice fast upon reintroducing vegetables and or brown rice one should be symptom free? you mention abdominal tenderness taking longer to heal, did you find your abdomen was tender during this healing period even without a hand resting on it?
Thank you for all that you do, and thank God you were/are able to do so
Hi Sam. heck without going back and reading exactly what I wrote I couldn’t say but I would think that many may be major symptom free after the 3 day fast, enema to clear out all offending previously eaten garbage and some organic juice. I noticed that MY major symptoms usually disappeared after fasting. That is why doctors make people go NPO. It seems to work but that doesn’t mean by any stretch of the imagination that someone is healed in that period of time. It take a fair while to heal a damaged pancreas.
In regards to the abdominal tenderness I distinctly remember the tenderness when something pressed against my pancreas area but heck, I felt so crappy most of the time during the worst of times that I’m sure it was noticeable at other times yet since it didn’t create horrendous pain or my nemesis, nausea, I may have not committed it to memory. It was quite sometime before I noticed my abdomen wasn’t tender. So it isn’t or wasn’t for me an overnight thing.
I’m Currently lying in bed miserable with a pancreatitis attack. I’m trying hard not to go to the hospital. I just sent my husband to find me turmeric, grape seed and grapefruit juice. What is the dosage and regime?
Hi Amber, I apologize I am late in reponding. Hopefully you are much better by now. IF it were me and IF we’re talking about acute pancreatitis, not simply a CP flare, I would be taking 800 mgs of Ibuprofen, 500 mgs of curcumin, 200 – 400 mgs of grape seed extract. The grape seed extract I use (Now Foods 100 mg vcap) contain vitamin C as well. IF that doesn’t get results in 60 – 90 minutes I would probably consider heading for the ER. Since it is difficult to determine whether an acute pancreatitis attack is severe, moderate or mild without certain tests it is wise to seek competent medical attention because severe acute pancreatitis can and does kill people. Get well Amber 🙂
You said ” IF it were me and IF we’re talking about acute pancreatitis, not simply a CP flare, I would be taking 800 mgs of Ibuprofen, 500 mgs of curcumin, 200 – 400 mgs of grape seed extract. The grape seed extract I use (Now Foods 100 mg vcap) contain vitamin C as well. IF that doesn’t get results in 60 – 90 minutes I would probably consider heading for the ER.”
I’m trying to figure out how a person can get that all down without throwing it all back up 20 minutes later. My last attack (it was only my 2nd one) found me vomiting longer and harder than the first time! I tried breaking Gravol up… didn’t stay down for long, then tried crushing it (about 2 hours later) and again, it only stayed down for about 20 minutes. It finally subsided by the 8th or 9th time of vomiting up bile… thank goodness… ’cause boy, that hurts!!
I now know that next time (and I’m hoping there won’t BE a next time) means the ER for a shot to stop the vomiting.
Hi Jane – I understand completely! I have two (2) kinds of antiemetics (nausea drugs) I keep on hand. One is compazine (prochlorperazine) in tablet form. The other is promethazine in suppository form. The promethazine is the first to be used because it is difficulty to vomit a suppositroy 🙂 Once I have the nausea under control THEN I take the the procholorperazine for more help and a lomger term and then the cocktail (Ibuprofen, curcumin, grape seed extract and VitC). So you might want to have your doc write you a prescription for one or even two antiemetics. I’m very fortunate I haven’t needed to use this course of action in a very long time. I still suggest that you and others go to the ER because it is difficult to tell whether the acute attack is mild or severe. I hope you don’t have to do any of it. 🙂
sup health guy! So this may be the wrong area, but I didn’t know where else to message you. First, HUGE shoutout on making this site, can’t thank you enough for not sugar coating things and providing your daily routine. Gives myself a perspective.
Straight to my question:
When first starting taking digestive enzymes, what was your lowest starting point? Like do I take per day, one per meal? I’m kind of being a wuss cuz my guts are a little sensitive and i’m essentially dropping acid tablets in there, ouch lol.
I don’t think I’ve had pancreatitis, but my current GI is investigating EPI (exocrine pancreatic insufficiency) At first they wanted to diagnose my with bowel cancer or crohns but my colonoscopy/endoscopy was clear. I KNOW it has to do with my digestion, because eating fatty foods OR even carbs gives me a dull pain in the upper epigastric region of my abdomen, if I eat either the food essentially slides right back out undigested a few days later. (I believe the term steatorrhea.) Even before discovering your site I’ve been losing my damn mind as I tend to be comfortable eating only white meats, veggies/leafy greens, and low fructose fruit. And coconut oil kills me!, which looks awfully similar to your diet. Maybe I have all of the above diagnoses, at this point I don’t care, I can tell fats have a direct influence on my overall comfort level….
Hi CTB – at least you do NOT have bowel cancer or crohn’s. Let me point out that finding the real problem (condition/disease) is important. So make sure your doctor looks until he/she find the real problem. Now to your question: Take pacreatic enzymes only with a meal. I started with one capsule. then two etc. The more fat or protein in the meal the more enzymes you may need. But start small and move up because you’re right enzymes are similar to acid. NEVER take on empty stomach. I hope your docs find what the problem is so you can address it and win. Good luck 🙂
Whoa thanks for the super quick reply! Yea, maybe I’m a lucky one but the pancreatin 4x are currently too powerful with 1/2 a capsule per meal, but i’ll tinker with it as I wait for my upcoming appointment.
Another random question, with things like almonds and coconut products have you had to just completely avoid them, even if the fat content from them would be under your daily total fat percentage? Like do almonds give you the same reaction as if you were to take a shot of vodka or something?
I ask because some of my smoothies would be just that much better if I could add 1 tbsp of almond butter, which would be 8g of fat. I’m sure it depends on the person, but your direct experience with this interests me. Thanks again, and yeah i’ll probably rant on here later this summer when they finally find a diagnosis. I just do much better low fat, low/medium carb, lots of dark greens and protein atm.
CTB you may not need enzymes. I wouldn’t take them until you know for sure (firm diagnosis) what is wrong with you. So they looked at your small bowel for crohn’s and cancer right? Did they see anything that may have been evidence of celiac disease? Have you been tested for celiac disease? If not ask to be tested. Have they looked for gallstones? Or SOD (sphincter of Oddi dysfunction)? Have they checked your liver function? Ok, so let’s just say that maybe you have pancreatitis and it is acting more like chronic than acute. FAT and ALCOHOL are still the enemies. Your pancreas is the same as mine, looks about the same, about the same weight, shape and the basic functions (produce insulin, hormones and enzymes) are the same. The only thing that may be different is the degree of damage. That is where the “difference” comes in. The more damage the less fat and alcohol one tolerates. The problem lies in the fact that IF you score the big bad goof up and give yourself an acute attack, well, it could be the one that ends up killing you, damaging you so badly that if you survive you might wish you’d have died or at the least give you more damage to contend with. It is really important to find out what is actually wrong with you. Tell your doc to quite “guessing” and find out. Anyway …
I stay away from high fat foods. It is much easier to do without than to go through some times that could be the worst of your/my life. BUT … again, we are guessing because nobody seems to know what your condition or illness might be. THAT is step one. Find out. IF your current doc can not get a firm, common sense diagnosis backed up by test results and science – go find one who can. They are few and far between but they are out there.
Just read your question as well. I beat pancreatitis using the health guys food guide. I know food can taste better but I stuck with no more than 8 g of fat. That helped me and also helped my digestive system. I was getting mucus on my stools due to my pancreas not digesting food well. I am fine now but granted my pancreatitis was due to medication. I think if you can make those low fatty food choices it will definitely help !
Yep, I just frustrated with the process as I’m currently seeing two separate GIs, I’ve already seen 3 others….
Endoscopy/Colonoscopy/CT barium scan came back clean, no abnormalities with any of my organs. The first GI doc mentioned my duodenum looked highly suspicious for celiac, but when the biopsy came back normal he shot it down. Then my genetic test for celiac came back strong positive, he tested my blood for celiac, which came back negative. There was a mild elevation of eosinophils in one part of my colon, which considering how low the number was all GIs currently have agreed it can be related to food intolerances…… great
I did take a fecal calprotectin test for inflammation and it came back weak positive…. the docs are scratching their heads as my calprotectin is so low that if it had been crohns this is the same number that’s compared to patients that are in full clinical remission without symptoms on heavy meds, which I take none. But at least they cant say its IBS anymore…The conclusion from that being something is irritating my insides, and they have no idea what.
With my current GIs, one of them truly believes something is wrong with my duodenum, and wants to do ANOTHER endoscopy. I would like other tests for him to reaffirm that belief. Up until last week, it hasn’t even occurred for them to look at my pancreas or gallbladder (since the CT scan showed no scarring swelling, stones, etc..)
My second GI doesn’t know what to believe, mumbling things like a rare form of IBD or celiac that won’t heal, I see him in exactly a month. Its of his opinion that I start steroids ASAP, with such a low level of inflammation it doesn’t see it a problem to perscribe steroids to hopefully knock it out.
It is of my own opinion at this time it is influenced by my pancreas or gallbladder, all of the above, whatever.
Shortly after eating I get a pinching/dull soreness in my upper right quadrant over the past few months. Otherwise I live a completely normal life, I sleep well and have no urgency or pain. However, what concerns me is my weight and bowel movements. I have noticed with high fat foods I get terrible gas and my stools can often be shaped but shiny or sludgy, IDK just nasty and not normal. And I for the life of me can’t gain anymore weight, I’m just stuck…
Anyways you are absolutely right, there’s no point in me coming up with solutions to something they can’t find…. Its just so much of your diet and lifestyle correlate very closely to what I’ve had to come up with all on my own, and it’s always comforting to find another person who wishes docs would sometimes pull their head out of their @$$ and get to the point, 2 years of testing feels like a lifetime when you’re in college…. Thanks again and thank you for making this awesome blog! I’ll let you know
CTB = “The first GI doc mentioned my duodenum looked highly suspicious for celiac, but when the biopsy came back normal he shot it down. Then my genetic test for celiac came back strong positive, he tested my blood for celiac, which came back negative.” Celiac disease blood tests can be “false” negative>” This is especially true of the old tests and if the person has already went gluten free. If your “duodenum looked highly suspicious for celiac” and the genetic test came back positive your doctor should have had you eat a ton of gluten for 14 – 30 days and re-test your blood for antibodies. Learn more here. I think you have celiac disease. I have celiac disease. That is why I suggested getting tested. Your symptoms fit. Read this on testing and then scour the page. It is a pretty darn good site on celiac disease.
Is there a fat free butter that can be used as a substitute when cooking to avoid pancreatic attacks?
Tiara, not to my knowledge.
Hello The Health Guy, My husband is suffering from ACUTE NECRITISING PANCREATITIS (CTSI-6) from gall bladder stone and is admitted to hospital on 11/4/15 and still under ICU treatment. he developed acute kidney injury(renal failure) for which he was given dialysis SLED daily for 15 days(6 hrs each day). Now his condition has improved a bit, as dialysis has stopped. but his feeding is going on through Freka tube (he is given Peptamen 75ml/hr), apart from that coconut water, light vegetable soup, fruit juices are given orally. Presently, he is feeling very weak, at times his head spins, have high heart rate(above 120/min), respiratory distress– is this normal while recovering from acute necritising pancreatitis?? Doctors are saying that the damaged portion of his pancrease need to be eliminated by surgery, do you think opting for surgery will be wise??? Is there any other treatment procedure to cure such form of pancreatitis?? I AM VERY HELPLESS,, PLEASE GUIDE AND HELP.
Sneha I am sorry to hear about your husband. Sounds like he is having a very rough time and I know you are worried but this is a time when you need to trust in the doctors. Necrotising pancreatitis is nothing to fool with and is way above my knowledge level. I’m sorry I can’t help in this instance. All I can do is pray for you both. I know that isn’t what you wanted to hear but that is all I am able to offer. Sneha put your trust in God and His Son Jesus. Pray that they will guide the doctors to do everything right so your husband recovers nicely.
Thankyou for your prayers…. I have faith in God that He will definitely let both of us see the happy times again after this tough phase.
You are welcome Sneha. I would like to be able to help more but when there is necrosis, kidney failure and respiratory distress I am very hesitant to even suggest what I’d do if it were me. By the way is the necrotic tissie infected? Do they have him on antibiotics? Has he developed any pseudocysts? How much of his pancreas is necrotic?
Yes, it is infected necrosis. From the very beginning he was given antibiotics. Till time there is no evidence of pseudocysts. According to the CTscan report his grade of acute necritising pancreatitis is 6, which means 50% or more than that of pancreas is necrotic.. He has revived from renal failure for last 12 days,as now his creatinine level are within normal limits and there is no requirement of dialysis anymore. Now his heart rate is high and there is respiratory distress at times. About the high heart rate doctors are saying that it is the effect of antibiotics(he is now given DORIPENEM). They have started giving him CREON too. All his medical reports are gradually doing better, as now the WBC count came down to 14930 from 47700 (normal below 10000), CRP is 16, which went up to 63. As he is terribly weak, doctors are not willing to go for the surgery, they instead prefer “wait and watch” theory. A little ray of light is the fact that he is not feeling any abdominal pain now without any form of painkiller. But I know that the disease is not an easy one,but very very tough… as situation can change anytime. But as I said I have faith in God and I believe my husband will definitely recover.
Watching and waiting is a good plan. IF they can kill the infection (it sounds like that is happening) and he can heal without surgery he has a much better chance of living without pain. Most everyone I have talked to who has had surgical removal of tissue (especially large amounts) usually live in more pain than those who do not have surgery. As of now all you have said sounds like GOOD news to me. Praise God!
Hello everyone. I’m glad I found this blog.
I dont drink or smoke. My amylase, lipase in 2013 was normal. But I had been having acute pancreatitis attacks for the past 2 years without knowing it. I asked my doctor many times, but she always said I was just stressed out. I finally had to go to the ER last week. Thankfully they sent me home that same day. Is it possible to do that much damage to the pancreas in just 2 years??
I have no idea what to eat since my attack. I am glad I saw this blog. Most of the foods listed by Mr Health guy was already on my diet. Except for the oils. I have a few questions about the diet. I know I have to stick to vegan diet for at least 6 months. After that, when I can eat chicken, white fish again, I have these questions:
1) I used to marinate chicken, white fish with olive oil and fruit juices. Then I grill the chicken. Can anyone suggest a substitute for olive oil for the marinade?
2) I also used to cook egg whites in a pan with a few drops of olive oil. Any suggestions, how to cook egg whites?
Thank you and appreciate your help!
Ferdinand
Ferdinand have you been diagnosed with pancreatitis? Amylase and lipase are usually not normal during an acute pancreatitis attack. It doesn’t take two years to sustain damage. Horrendous damage can be done in days, even hours if the acute pancreatitis is severe. If you have NO symptoms (pain, nausea, etc) after 6 months of a strict, modified vegan diet (no oil or high fat vegan foods such as nuts, sauces, etc) you could try skinless chicken ( no oil or marinade). Cook egg whites in a good, non-stick pan, no oil.
also I have one more follow up question. As mentioned, I don’t smoke or drink alcohol. And the CT scans and ultrasound did not show gallstones.
So what else could have damaged my pancreas?
Many things besides gallstones can cause acute pancreatitis (various drugs, high blood fat levels, illnesses, abdominal injury, sphincter of oddi dysfunction and more) which causes damage to the pancreas. Were you told you had pancreas damage or were you diagnosed with acute or chronc pancreatitis?
Hi Health guy.
Thank you for your response. The diagnosis from the ER is acute pancreatitis. My lipase was >3000 on 5/11/2015. Thank GOD it went back down to <140 by 5/15.
Can you please explain the difference between acute pancreatitis and pancreas damage? The doctors are not very clear when explaining things.
Also, the doctor said two common causes of pancreatitis are gallstones and sphincter of oddi dysfunction. He said if the problem is gallstones, then we have to remove the gallbladder. If it is sphincter of oddi, an ERCP would be done to fix it.
Have you had either of these procedures done? And are they guaranteed to stop any future attacks of pancreatitis.
Thank you again for your answers in advance.
Ferdinand
Ferdinand, it is perfectly fine to ask questions. Acute pancreatitis is sudden nflammation of the pancreas, the condition. Damage, and in this case we are talking pancreas damage, is the result of the pancreatic enzymes eating the pancreas during the acute attack. Yep gallstones are a common cause of acute pancreatitis. SOD, sphincter of oddi dysfunction is also a cause of acute pancreatitis. Sounds like you have a decent doctor. Most don’t even think of SOD. I’ve never had either procedure. Neither procedure can guarantee another attack will not occur. IF your pancreas has sustained enough damage you may always have problems and the sphincter of oddi procedure may cause another attack and works in only about 50% of cases. Do your research before you let them cut your sphincter. Surgery can actually make SOD worse (due to scar tissue).
thank you, thank you for your answers Mr. health guy.
That is very disturbing that SOD procedure only works 50% of the time and causes scar tissue and can trigger another attack. I actually thought this procedure will stop any future attacks.
so did you choose not to do any surgery, because you prefer to just eat the right foods? I’m just curious. Because as you know, doctors will push for surgery to make money, and I don’t even know how I can afford this surgery.
Also, if anyone on this blog can read this. Please let me know your experience with gallbladder removal surgery. Or SOD procedure.
You are welcome. Surgery is never without risk. Not long ago a person I know had gallbladder surgery. In and out the same day. A week later she was sicker than a dog. She ended up in the ER with a nasty infection. My father had gallbladder surgery. He had cancer and it found it’s way in to the gallbladder. He died on the table. They revived him but not soon enough and he had permanent brain damage. He died about a year later. Everyone seems to think surgeries are easy peasy, no problem, just take a nap and a few slices with a snip here and a snip there then a few stitches and you’re good to go. Mortality rate (death) can be from a small 1% to as high as 19% in ill older adults (article). Another article. More info.
One has to realistically way the risk versus the benefits. Sometimes surgery is simply necessary to save lives or to realistically prevent a life threatening situation. Praise God I haven’t had either of those needs yet.
Hello,The Health Guy, the freka tube of my husband has been removed today.They are giving him soft diet orally now. Can you please suggest me what kind of food he can eat and will be suitable for him? Today they have given him fish,is it right for him? or is it harmful?? I dont have complete faith in our medical system, also cant trust completely in there suggested diet. Can you imagine in so-called soft diet they have given him spicy curry. You have suggested vegan diet for the sufferers of pancreatitis, and knowing the extent of damage in my husband’s case, what kind of food you think is good for him now? Please suggest. I will ask the hospital authorities to give the food accordingly. Thankyou for your support.
Praise God! It sounds like your husband is improving 🙂 From what I remember they previously had him on fruit juices and vegetable broth is that correct? How did he tolerate the fish? It may be to soon for fish or skinless chicken. Both may contain to much fat for his damaged pancreas. About the curry – doesn’t curry contain turmeric? If so put a stop to the curry because tumeric can cause an increase of bile flow which could cause problems since he was diagnosed with gallstone pancreatitis. Even if they have taken his gallbladder out he may have been passing stones and sludge for years which may have caused scarring of his sphincter of oddi which could cause bile and digestive juices to back up into the pancreatic duct and cause another bout of acute pancreatitis. He certainly doesn’t need that. I’d go strictly with vegan foods. Leafy greens (spincah, chard, kale, etc), tubers (carrots, sweet potato, beets, etc), legumes (peas, beans, lentils), brown rice, and make sure nothing was cooked with or contained fat (butter, margarine, cooking oils, etc). No beef, pork, lamb, duck, goose or anything made with or containing them that means soups, broths etc. I’d also run down to the nearest health store and buy some grape seed extract and vitamin c with flavonoids. If he can drink white unsweetend grapefruit juice I’d get some of that too but check with his doctor to find out if he is on any medication that grapefruit juice will react with unfavorably. I’m thinking 200-250 mgs of grape seed extract 4x daily and 1000 mgs of C 4x daily. They will help eliminate the pancreas inflammation and promote healing. They may even help his immune system kill the bacteria causing the infected necrotic tissue. God bless you both Sneha 🙂
Thankyou very much sir for this detailed suggestion. Yes previously they gave only fruit juices and veg soup. There is no question of tolerating fish,as he refused to have it. First of all because I asked not to eat any non veg product now(as I learnt from your page that it can be harmful) and secondly they did not gave him baked or boiled fish but spicy fish curry!!!!!!!!! And they call it soft diet!!!! He did not eat the curry too. Today a dietician came and suggested him to eat eggs and light chicken(skinless) soup, as his protien level is low and needs high protein diet. I am a bit tensed with this fact, thinking whether it will be good for him or not. I will keep in mind your suggestion of strictly vegan food and ask him to eat only the veg food. But what about his protein deficiency? How to meet that up?
After a month, today my husband came out of his bed in ICU and walked a little with support, was smiling, looking fresh, was talking very freely and even wrote a poem!!!!! I am very happy and thankful to God.
Hey COOL Sneha! I am glad to hear he is improving! Protein via egg whites. Fry them, scramble them (without using oil or butter etc) or hard boil the eggs and then peel them, cut them in half and scoop out the yolks. Each egg white has about 4 grams of protein (zero fat). You could also try no fat milk. Maybe one cup per day (8 grams of protein) to see how it works. Some people can tolerate no fat milk, others can not. Beans (red, kidney, black, white, navy), vegetarian beans. One cup boasts about 15 grams of protein (lentils have about the same). Peas and lima beans also have good quality protein just less than beans and lentils.
Hello Sneha. I am new to the blog and I saw your post. I cannot imagine your pain and your husband’s pain for the past 1 month. I am glad your husband was able to get up and walk. I hope he recovers completely.
Ferdinand
Hi again Health guy,
I am sorry for all my questions. I noticed on this blog, people were talking about stomach pain and back pain. But no one mentioned the color of the urine.
My urine turned very dark yellow during my attack. Is this a common symptom of pancreatitis?
Ferdinand
I don’t know if it is a common symptom of pancreatitis, it might be becuase it means you are dehydrated and if you have been vomiting you may very well become dehydrated. I just never noticed my urine during an attack. I was always in to much pain to worry about peeing.
thank you health guy. It just makes me curious that I noticed my pee change color, while other people don’t mention that. Because that could mean something else is happening, not just pancreatitis.
I am sorry about your pain… I have felt it too. I hope neither one of us or the others experience another attack. I am very scared and depressed, that is why I am posting on this blog to find some comfort.
I don’t have any pain praise God! Yet, we (those who have pancreatitis) are all just a meal away from disaster so I understand your fear, depression and need for comfort. I have a great relationship with God, His Son Jesus and the Holy Spirit so I give all my fear, depression and need for comfort to Him in prayer and he handles it for me( 1 Peter 5:7). I can’t even imagine going through some of what I have gone through without Almighty God, His Son and His angels watching over me, comforting and protecting me. Psalm 91 is full of comfort for those who believe and trust in God. He’s my rock, my fortress, my protector, my comforter and my God. He loves me and He loves you too. 🙂
Hello Health guy,
I am not a very religious person. Maybe this is my reminder to look to a greater power.
Regarding your comment that we are one meal away from disaster. If we stay away from fat and oil, what are the chances that we can still live a long full life?
Or is it the case that once a person gets pancreatitis once, then we are gone after a few years, even if we follow a strict diet?
Hey, it’s true. Food is not your friend if you have had enough damage done to your pancreas. And unfortunately you could adhere to a perfect diet, one that works for you, allows you to heal and then you cheat. You eat banned foods (beef, pork, high fat deserts, etc) and think hahahahaha I’m cured and then bam! You have the worst acute pancreatitis attack of your life. Severe acute pancreatitis with organ failure and infected necrosis and in a few days you’re plant fertalizer. Yes, it could happen. BUT …
You could also live 35 + years or more, just like me. You worry to much. Worrying will not do anything positive. If you want positive results take positive action. I trust in Almighty God, His Son and the fact that He takes care of me. He either showed, told or helped me find everything I have done past and present to live pain free and so far 36 years after my diagnosis of acute and chronic pancreatitis and for 26 years more than the doctor who diagnosed me said I might have. EVERYTHING He shared with me is on this blog. How to prep for and do a food diary correctly. What to eat and what not to eat. Where to find hidden sources of alcohol. How to improvise, adapt and overcome (ok, the U.S. Marine Corps helped with this one too). But everything you need to know to heal and live pain free or as pain free as possible and for as long as possible is on this blog.
Don’t let fear beat you. Fear is your enemy just like food and alcohol. Fear will paralyze you. It will rob you of life. It causes depression and anxiety. Don’t let fear beat you. Instead learn what you can do to live and live! I’ve told you before that I understand your fear. It still, on occassion, creeps in to my brain and I ask God (pray) to have it leave. It does. I just give it all to Him and He handles it. You say you aren’t religious. Neither am I. I don’t believe in religion. Religion is man made. I believe in Almighty God, the creator of all things and I have a relationship with Him, His Son and the Holy Spirit. He protects me, He comforts me, He leads me to life saving or improving information. He gives His angels charge over me. You can have the same. All you have to do is ask (pray). I will keep you in my prayers. God bless you my friend 🙂
Hello health guy,
yes you are right. I worry a lot but only because my doctor does not answer my questions. They only take my co-pay, talk to me for 10 minutes and shove me out the door.
But thanks to you, I am learning a lot about this disease. Also, it is very reassuring that you have managed this disease for 36 years! That really gives me hope! 🙂
I hear what you say about doctors. It’s all about money for the majority of them. 10 minutes of their time, incorrect diagnosis, or if correct, very little or no explainations of what you can do or expect and a bill for $200 ha ha! Well not to worry! I’ll answer your questions as best I can 🙂
I agree about can’t do any of this without Christ
Some days I do get depressed and overwhelmed than I take a minute and realize I am not alone
Thanks for all your information
Amen to that! And you’re welcome to and for the info.
Hi,
Firstly so excuse my bad english.
Secondly thank you so much for you.Please believe me, you will go heaven because of you will survive the peoples life.I want to tel my story for you ;
I was diagnosid AP on last January.From that day forward my pain never stop.
I think i have gone six different doctor to solve my problem.
No one is solved problem 🙁
In this month i have it made EUS.Depending on the EUS, i am not CP but i am near of it doctor says.And she have given me Kreon and Lyrica for my pains.I use Lyrica
twice a day(each one 150mg) and use Kreon three times a day(each one 25000 IU)
I have married.İ am expect a twice childs.And i want leave for them :(.My psychology so bad from a 4 months.I have started to antidepressants.Your advanture give me power.I would like to you answer my some qestions.There are my questions(please answer 🙂 )
– Your blog is too big.Where should i start ? Give me schedule for it 🙂
– I have read your titled “DIET” article.Than you so much for this article.But how can i make daily diet program clock clock.
Thank you so much in advance.
My Best Regards,
Umut SAHIN
Hi Umut, don’t worry about your English. You are doing fine. I should have answered this comment first but I think most of your questions are answered in your other comment. If not ask me what I didn’t cover. As far as the blog being big, well, read it one chunk at a time. Take small chunks and learn. But don’t take to long cuz the diet info is really important. The supplement info is real important as well. If you have questions ask … Like I said I answered 3 or 4 in your other comment.
Do you have any research to back up your claims?
What claims are you talking about Angela? IF I claim something you can usually find a link somewhere pointing to scientific evidence. However, I do grab stuff out of thin air and spin it in to a series of fortunate guesses at times. Why do you ask?
Hi Health Guy,
YOu mentioned gallstones or SOD are common reasons for pancreatitis. So what is the relationship between fats/oils to gallstones and SOD and pancreatitis?
Also for many years I ate fats and oil with no issue. Then one day last week, I eat french fries and I get acute pancreatitis. Can you explain why all of a sudden I am not able to tolerate fatty foods anymore?
Oils are nothing but liquid fat. Fat causes irritation or inflammation in the pancreas as well as the sphincter of oddi if someone has SOD. Fat also causes more bile to flow which can dislodge or eject gallstones that end up getting stuck in the common bile duct or even the pancreatic duct and cause pancreatitis. Every organ system in the biliary tree (liver, gallbladder, pancreas, SO), if diseased in some way, is affected by fat in a negative way. In your case I can only guess because I don’t recall WHY you originally had your first acute pancreatitis attack. But those french fries may have been the last fat straw and caused your gallbladder to eject stones or sludge that became lodged in your common bile duct or pancreatic duct or if you have SOD caused your scarred SO to get angry and tighten up causing bile and digestive juice to back up into your pancreatic duct causing an AP or it was just the last fat straw that inflamed your pancreas enough to activate your enzymes while they were still in your pancreas instead of in your small intestines. Those are three possibilities. Like I said I don’t remember your exact case. But hopefully you’ll begin to eat better food choices. 🙂
thank you for you’re detailed explanation again health guy! 🙂
You mentioned sludge. Some people on this blog have said that the ultrasound did not find gallstones. The same is true for me, they cannot find gallstones.
So that leaves one other possibility — sludge. Is there a test to show 100% sure if a person has sludge or not?
You’re welcome. If they can’t find gallstones there are four (4) possible reasons for that. 1) you don’t have them and never did. 2) They had been previously ejected and at the time of testing there were none present. 3) The tech doing the ultrasound or other test didn’t do it correctly. 4) The doctor reading the test missed them. #1 or #2 are the most probable. Sludge shows up in most cases if it’s there. It too may have already been ejected. I don’t know of any medical test with 100% accuracy.
ok thanks for the answer health guy!
you’re welcome 🙂
Hi Health Guy,
Thank you so much for your polite approach.Please don’t angry and hit me 🙂 but i want to ask more question for you ;
1-) Have you ever take/try/hear liquid curcumin extract and/or grape seed extract? If yes do you advice them?
2-) Can we eat and include our diet program below listed foods?
lentil, soy beans and it’s prodcuts(like as tofu), bread(also please refer whick kind of bread), light milk, greece yogurt
3-) and the last one, which kind of dessert can we eat?
Thank you so much in advance.Have a good day and a time.
Regards,
Umut SAHIN
Umut I can’t hit you my arms aren’t that long 🙂 anyway I’d never do that, besides I told you to ask any questions you wanted or about something I didn’t cover in the other comments. Ok, here we go …
1) I’ve never heard of liquid curcumin. That certainly doesn’t mean it doesn’t exist. I have heard of liquid grape seed extract. I can’t see but one problem with either. Most liquid grape seed contains alcohol. Why? I have no clue but alcohol is a no-no. I’ve only found one liquid grape seed extract that didn’t contain alcohol and it is available on Amazon but it isn’t cheap! ONE ounce for 14.84? Compared to a bottle of grape seed extract that can dole out over 600 mgs of grape seed daily for a month for $18-$19 the liquid grape seed price is highway robbery! So if you use either make sure to read the labels and avoid any formula with alcohol.
2) Lentils and other legumes such as beans(red, white, black, Navy, pinto, lima) or peas are fine. Soybeans and soy products on the other hand contain way to much fat. One cup of soy beans contains 15 grams of fat. And soy nuts (roasted beans) are even worse! One cup has like 37 grams of fat! It’s too bad because they are an excellent source of high protein. Breads are all different. If you are talking commercial, store bread you need to read the labels for ingredients (lard is not good) and the amount of fat per slice. Most commercial bread has about 2 grams of fat per slice. If you have it available no-fat milk might work. Greek yogurt, I have never even tried it or read a label. It all hinges on fat content.
3) Fruit for desert, maybe a cookie too if it doesn’t contain a lot of fat grams or vanilla extract which contains alcohol.
Have a good day 🙂
Hi Health Guy,
Thank you so much for your quick response.This is super.Have you twitter or facebook page?
Last, last, last questions 🙂
1-) 2 months ago i have been oparated gallblader surgery.(Doctor’s said that maybe gallstone affect my pancreas then i’ve done pancreatitits).According to do this information, can i use curcumin extract?
2-) I have keep in mind your sugesstions like that no fat diet(at the start of diet no meat and pure vegetable) with suppleements(grape seed extract, vitamin c, curcumin extract, veg and fruit juices).How many times later i feel good healty situaiton in your opinion?
3-) why the doctors and dietician said that to me don’t eat Lentils and legumes.Is it difficult to digest ? Does tire my pancres ?
4-) Can i drink tea and coffee? ıs there any limit of it ? (darki light etc…)
Thank you sooooo much 🙂 and be happy an your both 2 life…
Regards,
Umut
Umut you are welcome 🙂 Yes I have a facebook page. Just get on FB and search “pancreatitis cure.” The name of the page is erroneous. There is no cure for chronic pancreatitis and most people who have more than just one mild acute pancreatitis attack usually end up with CP. Anyway …
1) Good question. I wish I had a good answer. I have a “maybe” answer because … SOD (sphincter of oddi dysfunction) is common in women who have had gallstones and gallbladder surgery. Curcumin and/or turmeric do not get along well with those who have SOD. SOD causes acute pancreatitis so if you’ve been told that you have SOD stay away from curcumin. And there is always a possibility that a stone is still in the “system” somewhere, lurking. Curcumin and turmeric both increase bile flow which can dislodge a lurking stone left behind during GB surgery. That increased bile flow is also what causes the shphincter of oddi to get angry. BUT, you could always try curcumin or use turmeric in cooking and see how it goes. IF you have no symptoms from it you may be ok with using curcumin.
2) If you adhere to a proper diet and take enough grape seed extract, vitamin C and if you can take curcumin you should see some improvement in a week or two. Maybe sooner, maybe later. When it comes to healing everyone is different. Some folks heal fast, some heal slow, especially if they are heavily damaged. Don’t worry if you can’t take curcumin. Grape seed extract and C work great (600 – 800 mgs of grape seed in 3-4 daily doses of 200 mgs each and 1000 mgs of C 4x daily). 200 – 400 mgs of ibuprofen daily for a week, to help rid your pancreas of inflammation, would also speed up things. But I can’t give you an exact time frame.
3) Doctors and dieticians do not have a clue when it comes to a diet for pancreatitis. In that area most are dumber than a bag of barber hair. Lentils and legumes (not soybeans – to much fat) are excellent sources of protein, fiber, vitamins and minerals and are perfectly fine for a pancreatitis diet. I eat them all the time. I make vegetarian chili or chili with ground chicken and loads of chili powder and other spices that give it heat and zing! I also make baked beans, etc. Beans, lentils and peas are great! About 1 gram of plant fat (polyunsaturated) and 17 grams of protein in cranberry beans. Other beans have about the same amout of fat with maybe a tad less protein. Lentils have about 18 grams of protein and 1 gram of fat in one cup.
4) Tea, especially green tea is excellent. Black tea is fine too. Coffee is fine. I drink a ton of it daily 🙂
Dear Health Guy,
Thank you so mucht for polite, long and understandable answers.
Doctor’s never said me that i’m SOD.I have only operationed for my remove gallbladder because of the stones.Now i don’t have gallbladder.But may be i have SOD now 🙂 who knows :).
Ok.I won’t use curcumin/turmeric and for a length of time(maybe 1×500 mg a day).
My grape seed extract only 100mg/each.For then will i must 6×100 ?
My grape seed brand solgar.Kindly could you advice me your brand for grape seed?
My vitamin C brand GNC 1000mg.I will agree your advices then i take 1000 mgs of C 4x daily.
Anyway, Kindly could you advice me your brand for C?
I have never use to ibuprofen.I think this is painkiller.
But i don’t understand how painkiller block pancreas of inflammation.Please explain it
Must i use it every day or a only one week(200 – 400 mgs of ibuprofen daily)?
All One Powder Multiple Vitamins & Minerals, Fruit Antioxidant Formula don’t be found in my country.Maybe i can buy it on via internet.
Thank you again everythink.
Regards,
Umut SAHİN
Umut you are welcome. Ok, just because you had gallbladder disease and had it out doesn’t mean you also have SOD. I just brought the possibility up because it is more common in women than men, especially women who have had gallstones and also have had their GB removed. I use Now Foods grape seed extract 100 mgs Vcaps (200) because they are gluten free and each cap also contains 330 mgs of vitamin C but your Solgar brand is a quality product however I believe Now Foods grape seed is less expensive or the same price for double the amount of capsules. I get 200 Vcaps for around $19 from Amazon. I also use Nature Made or Nature’s Way vitamin C. One quality vitamin C product is as good as the next. GNC is a fine, quality line of products.
Ibuprofen is an NSAID (non-steroidal anti-inflammatory). It is used for slight to moderate pain (headaches, arthritis, etc) but it shines like a bright star when it comes to inflammation of the pancreas. In high doses 800 mgs – 1200 mgs it will actually resolve an acute pancreatitis attack because it resolves the inflammation. 800 mgs usually resolves symptoms in 60-90 minutes. In low doses, 200 mgs to 400 mgs per day for a week to 10 days Ibuprofen (advil, motrin) will help eliminate the inflammation of chronic pancreatitis or the residual inflammation of AP which in turn resolves symptoms, usually. Do you have to use Ibuprofen? No. In fact you don’t have to use anything I do. It is all up to you. I only used it for acute pancreatitis. It’s an awesome inflammation fighter. I wouldn’t use it, even in small doses, for much longer than a couple weeks. It may be a miracle drug for pancreatitis but it isn’t safe. It can cause bleeding, like aspirin. Ibuprofen has been known to cause heart attack in high doses and when used for long periods and it can also damage the kidneys over time. So short-term use is the ticket. If Amazon ships to your country you can get All One Powder Multiple Vitamins & Minerals, Fruit Antioxidant Formula from amazon.
Hi health guy,
You wrote in one of the posts:
“SOD (sphincter of oddi dysfunction) is common in women who have had gallstones and gallbladder surgery. ”
I am confused! I thought the gallbladder is removed, so gallstones or sludge cannot block the ducts which can cause pancreatitis.
But you are saying after removing the gallbladder, then you have a high chance of getting SOD?? And once you get SOD, then you will have even more pancreatitis attacks?
This means, you will suffer from pancreatitis even if you remove your gallbladeer or not?? Can you please explain.
People who have gallstones usually eject them from time to time. When that happens they are spit from the gallbladder into the common bile duct and travel down the common bile duct until they pass through the SO (sphincter of oddi) and into the duodenum. Gallstones can be sharp and when they pass through the SO can cut it. The same holds true for sludge because sludge is nothing more than small stones. Picture sand. Sand is nothing more than small bits of sharp rock. When the sand passes through the SO it “sands” it like sand paper does wood. Both stones and sludge can create scarring which narrows the SO. If enough scarring develops it becomes difficult for even the digestive juices to go through the SO into the duodenum. At that point SOD is almost a given so even though someone has had their gallbladder removed the sphincter of oddi has sustained damage from the previous gallstone and sludge ejections. Thus one can still have problems after gallbladder surgery due to SOD. SOD can and does cause pancreatitis. Anyway that is one reason I have figured out that SOD can occur. Then there is the gentic issue which has nothing to do with gallstones or sludge and is simply a malfucntion of the SO. In this situation the patient may also have other sphincters within the body that do not work properly either. Physcians can diagnose sphincter of oddi dysfunction using blood tests, ultrasound and if they see something like a dilated duct or scarring a surgeon will want to do an ERCP with sphincter of Oddi manometry. That can also cause acute pancreatitis. Then they try medications to help SOD. If that doesn’t work a surgeon may want to do a sphincterotomy which can achieve some good results but carries a high risk of complication (up to 15%) which include acute pancreatitis, even death. So it is used only as a last resort. I’ve read where the sphincterotomy can cause additional scarring and may fail a lot. Here’s more info on SOD. And more
Hi health guy. If I understood you correctly, so it seems to prevent further ejections of stones or sludge and scarring the sphincter of oddi even more, it is good advice to remove the gallbladder?
But even after removal of gallbladder if the sphincter is already damaged from previous attacks, then I might have to take a chance on the sphincterotomy as a last resort.
I am thinking that I should have my gallbladder removed to eliminate the chances of any future stones and sludge build up. Then just stick to a no fat, no oil diet and and pray that the sphincter does not start having problems.
I know you said removing the gallbladder is risky. But I feel, if I don’t have it removed, then the sludge and stone will just keep building up every few months or so.
Do you agree or disagree with my thinking? Since you have survived this disease for 36 years, your opinion really counts a lot!
First off IF I remember correctly you had mentioned that your doctor said “If it is gallstones … If it is SOD” that this and that should happen, so, it would be prudent to find out what the cause of your acute pancreatitis was exactly. I’m not outrageously fond of most doctors but usually they don’t do surgical procedures without a good verifiable reason. So cross the bridge of what surgical procedure might be appropriate when you actually come to it. I can’t advise on what you should do, especially when it comes to surgery. I walk a real gray line as it is on this blog and the last thing I want, when so many people are beginning to learn what works to heal their pancreas and are finding resolution or at least relief, is to get slapped with a cease and desist order and/or get prosecuted for practicing medicine without a license. You need to make your own decisions about treatment. I can only explain what I have done or pass on information I find that may be of interest. Surgery or any type of surgical procedure on or to any portion of the biliary tree isn’t one of those things I have experienced. If it were me I’d join a pancreatitis support group and ask questions aimed at those who may have had the procedures you are interested in and asking them about their experience, outcome, satisfaction and if they’d do it again.
Say I just found some info you might be interested in. I don’t want you to worry. It is just a possible answer to a question you asked me ealier about your urine changing color, getting darker wasn’t? Anyway a cyst can do that. Read here.
Hi health guy. Do you know of a website of a good pancreatitis support group?
The more I read about this disease, the more I get depressed. Just don’t understand why I don’t drink or smoke and this happens. I guess some are just genetically programmed to get this disease. As you said to me before, I have to stop worrying and think positive and keep praying.
I am going to have an EUS soon, I am hoping to find more detailed answers soon.
Thank you again and enjoy your 3 day weekend.
I don’t think there are “good support groups” but … If you are on Facebook simply search “pancreatitis support.” That should bring up several. Then there is a site called Experience Project, another called CureZone, another called Topix. The results of the EUS should shed light.
ok thanks for the links for support groups health guy!
You’re welcome 🙂
hello everyone. has anyone here tried the kraft fat free philadelphia cream cheese? the label said it’s made from skim milk. Is this safe for all of us who have had acute pancreatitis attacks?
Here is the link to the cream cheese:
http://www.walmart.com/ip/Kraft-Philadelphia-Fat-Free-Cream-Cheese-Spread-8-oz/10295327
Hey cool! Fat free cream cheese. I’ve never tried it. Let us know how it works out 😉
I actually have not tried the fat free cream cheese health guy. I’m so afraid it will trigger another attack, coz I remember you said, even if it says “fat free”, it may still be dangerous.
That’s why I wanted to see if anyone has tried it. 🙂
LOL you are learning! Labels lie but I can drink a little fat free milk without problems so it depends a lot on the product itself. It is entirely possible that certain products, and the cream chese could be one, are fairly safe. Soups that say fat free or 99% fat free yet contain beef or pork are whole different story. I wouldn’t eat those for any reason.
health guy, have you been able to keep weight with your diet. I only been on the no fat, no oil diet for 3 weeks and already lost 5 lbs. I have always been thin, now it’s worse that I can’t have cookies or cake anymore.
any suggestions on how to gain weight?
Yeah, I’m stable. Protein. Legumes (beans, peas and lentils) are protein rich. Egg whites are protein rich. Once you heal up and can add skinless chicken, turkey, fish to your diet that will enhance your protein intake as well. If you can tolerate fat free milk that is another good source of protein.
one more thing health guy. My coworker said his wife also had acute pancreatitis attacks. I asked what his wife eats, she has been on a vegetarian diet and has not had an attack for years. But she still uses olive oil on her salads. Is that really possible? Or is she just playing russian roulette and could have a bad attack from olive oil?
Once you heal you can always try some olive oil. If your damage wasn’t to bad you may be ok with a small amount now and then. I don’t do well with it. You might. It all depends on how much damage your pancreas sustained. If you only had one mild acute attack, with little damage and watch your p’s & q’s so that you heal totally, you may be one who can eat anything again some day. I have read where that happens.
thanks health guy. I am not taking any chances…. I am following your diet as if my life depends on it!
You said I can eat more fat free protein when I am “healed”. How do I know am I am healed? Is that when my lipase/amylase is back to normal?
No I said fat free protein such as egg whites, legumes (red, black, white, pinto beans, peas, lentils, blackeyed peas, garbonzo beans) are fine while healing and maybe fat free milk, the milk in small amounts, because even fat free dairy may not work for some due to a pesky phosphoprotein called casien that is found in all dairy products. Casien, like fat, causes inflammation.
You’ll know that you are healing or healed when you are no longer sick (no symptoms) and you no longer have abdominal tenderness.
thank you for the clarification health guy. You really are a constant companion… during these dark times. When even my own doctors are out having a great 3 day weekend…. while I am alone going crazy out of my mind looking for answers. May blessings come your way for your kindness to strangers. 🙂
Thanks! You’re welcome 🙂
hi health guy. You mentioned grapefruit juice. Can you please confirm if grapefruit juice can cause kidney stones or not? I saw some articles saying it has high oxalate content that can turn in to kidney stones.
I have no clue about grapefruit juice and kidney stones.
Dear The Health Guy,
I hope you are well and everythink goes good for you.
I want to ask you some foods are trustworthy or not.This is the list ;
– Mushroom
– Honey
– only %0,15 (per 100 gr) light milk
– rice
– pasta (spaghetti)
– Sugar
Thank you so much in advance.
Regards,
Umut
Hi Umut 🙂 all except the milk should be fine. The milk needs to be fat free and even then some people do not tolerate it well. Pasta without oil or and without sauces that have oil, cream, meat or other high fat stuff should be fine. Hope you are doing better.
Dear The Health Guy,
Last question 🙂 (my questions never endig LOL)
All spices are trustable food for us?
Thank you so much in advance.
Regards,
Umut
LOL the only spice i know of that may be a problem is turmeric if someone has Gstones or SOD 🙂
health guy. Does your stomach make gurgling noises? Even if I just eat oatmeal or brown rice… my stomach makes loud gurgling noises a few hours after I eat. I don’t feel pain, but the load noise freaks me out. My doctors say, its just normal noises the stomach makes, and also some remaining side effects of my acute attack.
But I wonder if there is something else going on. What are your thoughts?
Stomachs gurgle. It’s what they do.
Dear The Health Guy,
Again me.You never escape away from me :p: 🙂
I have new questions for you.Kindly please answer ;
1-) Yesterday i have read your “Pancreatitis Food Diary: Creating Your Pancreatitis Food Diary” topic.I have seen there “FASTING for 3 – 5 days, no food, just water” issue.This is so difficult for me.Because i am getting some medicines like that antidepressan.And also i have lost weigt to much because of pancreatitis.If i don’t make this FASTING method to my body never get heal my pancreas ? Sorry my bad english.I hope you understand.
2-) I want to get too much heal my pancreas and no more symptons.For that, today i am starting no fat(maybe only i will get fat from the breads and vegetables), no meat, no oil diet.I will get 4×1000 mg C vitamin+3*300 mg Grape seed extract+ No curcumin (because of my gallbladder has been operated only for 3 months.And i have scared now maybe i am SOD or maybe not.But i am scared then i don’t want to use curcumin a while)+juicing.Now coming question.I am scared not being able never heal too much.If i take care of my diet and took my supplements (only grape seed+c vitamin)+ and drink veg+fruit juice –> am I definitely heal? .What is your other offers for this illness.I know this is maybe stupid question. But believe me i want to /need hear friendly tone.Because i am very bad situation for a psychologically.
3-) I am eating 7 meal a day.3 main, 4 snack.In snack meals i only eat fruits.From starting today i drink only fruit+vegetables juice for this 4 snack meals.What is your suggestion for main and snack meal counts and with regard to content ?
4-) I am a office engineer.I have taken all my snacks and lunch meals take near with me.We don’t have juicer in the office (and also don’t have kitchen in it).If i ready my 3 snack juice meal a day in advance night, is this good or not for my healty ?
5-) Do you eat bread for near your solid foods in your meals ? Which kind of bread do you prefer to me? Because if i don’t eat bread, i am not full up.
6-) Do we eat our fruits with a solid type from time to time? If yes can we must use digestive enzym with near of it like that creon 10.000 ?
I know this is long list.Please don’t angry with me.I hope you answer with me.Thank you so much for in advance.
My Best Regards,
Umut
Hi Umut 🙂
1) The food diary prep really is important for one reason. It takes days, sometimes weeks (certain fats and proteins) to clear food from the intestinal tract yet by fasting for 3 – 5 days and then flushing all the previously eaten foods out of the digestive tract you shorten that duration and many times that action alone will give pain and symptom relief simply because offending foods are flush, literally, down the toilet. Once this is accomplished your biliary and bowel system should be clean. This allows for a much better realization between what foods offend and those that are safe. If your system has not been clean out it could take weeks to get rid of the previously eaten foods, many of which may be the source of your suffering. Yet, if you can NOT do this fast and “flush” due to medical reasons (insulin dependant diabetic for example) one must improvise and simply begin with a modified vegan meal regimen and hope for the best results possible.
2) I understand your concern about curcumin since you had GB issues. That is why I posted a seperate post about avoiding curcumin if someone has GB issues or SOD. I can’t guarantee healing. NOBODY can guarantee healing. When someone guarantees healing get it in writing. Unless they are Almighty God (who can guarantee healing) they most likely won’t sign the document. 🙂 But, if you do everything right your chances of healing are very good. Others have, I have, so why not you? Just remember IF, you have CP (I don’t remember if you do) there is NO cure for CP. You may get to the point you feel almost normal yet you are NOT cured and if you CHEAT by eating foods that you should not eat you may very well find yourself miserable and in pain.
3) In regard to the number of meal counts per day just eat as many as you are able while staying within a total of 25 fat grams per day including snacks.
4) That should be fine
5) I make my own bread so I avoid certain grains that make me ill due to celiac disease. All you have to do is read the labels, watch the fat content and look for offending ingredients such as lard (beef or pork fat). Most manufacturers don’t use lard anymore but I have seen it on labels so look.
6) If you are on creon take as your doc recommends. You may have to call him/her and ask whether you take it with any meal or snack or just with protein and fat (solid foods).
And you’re welcome. If I didn’t answer anything completely let me know 🙂
Dear The Health Guy,
Thank you so much again your explanations.My new questions for you 🙂 ;
1-) I don’t understand “food diary prep” sufficiently.I am indicating “food diary prep” on the below.If i say wrong thing please correct my mistakes ;
– First ;
3-5 days no food, no tea, no coffee no everything except water.İs it right ?
Also can we use our mandotory medicenes (as like a antidepressant) in the meanwhile ?
Can we must our supplements(as like grape seed extract, vitamin C etc.) when we are in “food diary prep” ?
– Second ;
After the “food diary prep” we must flushing step.
Now we are be as clean as a whistle starkly 🙂
– Third ;
.Then we eat 1 food every 48 hours ? Then other 48 hours we eat another 1 food.Then other 48 hours we eat another 1 food ………….Then this turn it goes like this.
I don’t understand above stage clearly.For examle first 48 hours i eat only potatoes.If potatoes don’t hurt me, other 48 hours i eat potatoes+carrot.If potatoes+carrot don’t hurt me, other 48 hours i eat potatoes+carrot+other food –> İs it right? Please explain me simply.
2-) When you take your digestive enzyms ? Only for eating protein and fat ? Are you taking your digestive enzyms with eating solid fruits ? What is your digestive enzyms brand?
3-) Doctors and nutritionists said that peoples must eat who are in CP little by little but frequently.
Is it right for you ?
Are you eating little by little but frequently ?
How many meal are you eating ?
Is ” Little by little but frequently” eating form healty for our pancreas or not ?
Thank you so much in advance,
My Best Regards,
Umut
Hi Umut 🙂
1) coffee and tea are fine. Medicines should be fine. Definitely take the supplements. after 3 days flush your system with an enema or ten. Yes, then you should be clean 🙂 Then one food at a time (vegan food, greens, legumes, rice, fruit etc). Yes, you understand. first food (your choice) potaotes. If after 48 hours of eating potaoes and juice you are good to go, note it in your diary and move to carrots, then maybe rice, or celery, etc. make notes about everything you experience during the 48 – 72 hours of eating the new food. When you are healed up and try fish or skinless poultry the time frame for digestion increases to about a week or 10 days. Animal proteins and fat take longer to digest than plant proteins.
2) I only take enzymes with meals that contain protein and fat. I have never had a need for them with juice, green leafy vegetables or tubers like potatoes, carrots, beets etc. BUT I think you said you are on creon so ask your doc.
3) Yes, when you are not healed little, more frequent meals are probably better however, if you do not feel well it may be better not to eat. I found that out the hard way. I usually eat twice a day and snack on fruit etc.
hi health guy.
So I read your blog again and you said “chronic pancreatitis can lead to acute pancreatitis”.
When I was at the ER, my diagnosis was acute pancreatitis. So please explain, I thought you have to have chronic pancreatitis first that leads to acute pancratitis?
NO – People who have chronic pancreatitis already have an inflamed pancreas it just isn’t acute BUT if they eat bad foods (high fat) or drink alcohol they could soon suffer another acute attack. Most people usually have acute first and the CP follows. However there are circumstance where that isn’t the case.
ok thanks. I already had 2 acute attacks. Praying and hoping it does not turn into CP
I certainly understand. I hope it doesn’t too! I hate to see people sick with this crap.
health guy. You wrote that people with only one mild acute attack have been known to recover and never have problems ever again.
How about 2 attacks (mine were pretty mild). How many acute attacks does it normally take before it turns into chronic pancreatitis.
I don’t know. I had so many in my worst 3 years (1979 – 81) I can’t remember them all.
ok thanks health guy. I hope the no fat no oil diet you suggested prevents another attack. Even then I am not so sure… even if I only eat fruits and veggies, I still get scared when I eat.
But I do think of your experience and you are doing great with this diet… so that gives me hope.
I have to say that since this new diet, my stools are loose, but they do sink to the bottom. I know if stools float and are oily then thats a really bad sign. Are your stools loose too? Or are they formed like dog poop? (sorry if this question sounds gross)
No my stools are just fine. By the way, I remebered something that might interest you. You had asked me about urine color. If it was dark yellow while you were sick it could have been due to the gallbladder issues. GB issues can cause jaundice. Jaundice can turn your urin a dark yellow. If your stools were clay colored, tan, orangish that would also indicate jaundice. If your skin had an organish or yellowish tint that also indicates jaundice and of course if the whites of your eyes are yellow that is an almost guaranteed sign of jaundice. So a touch of jaundice may have caused the change in urine color BUT dehydration does the same thing to urine, the dark yellow color change.
hi health guy. You did not respond to my last question. Maybe you are just fed up of all my questions. 🙂 But I hope you are okay and just too busy to respond.
I’m fine. But yes, 3-4-5-6-7 comments per day are little much. Try putting your questions into a list and comment with that list of question every now and then. If you are lonely join an online dating site or start a home business or find hobby that you can share with a friend. I’m more than willing to help but again 5-10 comments per day gets real old, real fast.
What if you’re allergic to ibuprofen and asprin?
Good question Lee. Are you allergic to ALL NSAIDS? Naproxen might be useful but may not work as well as Ibuprofen and the doses amounts are not the same.
I take these meds a multi vitamin folic acid. Vitamin b1 biotin amlodipine d3 and carvedilol can I still take the grape seed curvumim and vitamin c and drink grapefruit juice?
Hi Barbara, the grape seed extract, vitamin C and curcumin should be fine. Amlodipine is a calcium chammel blocker and they usually do NOT go well with grapefruit. Carvedilol is a beta blocker which may or may not be ok. You should check with your doctor and pharmacist for any known interactions with grape seed extract, curcumin and grapefruit juice just to be safe – BEFORE – you use any of the supplements or grapefruit juice. BUT I’d say probably NO on the grapefruit products. I hope things work out for you 🙂
Hi I find this website very informative, I just find it hard to believe that most people with questions or comments don’t have to much to say about alcohol being a issue it’s a issue with me that’s how they say I got pancreastis in the first place about 20 years ago.
Hi Ginny – yep according to the white coats alcohol is one of the leading causes however, gallstones are actually the leading cause so gallstones and alcohol but that isn’t all that causes pancreatitis. Prescription drugs are a more sinister cause than people are told with the worst being statins, antidepressants, immunosuppressants, diabetes meds, and some blood pressure meds. Then there is high blood fat levels, abdominal injuries, medical procedures (ERCP), autoimmune disease and more. So in fact, there are probably more NON-alcoholics, than alcoholics that have pancreatitis.
Hi , I”ve been on viokase then they switched it to creon for 18 years. To help me digest food. My first bad attack that landed me in the hospital was 20 years ago, when I woke up after 3 days had tubes coming out everywhere, they said I came close to dying. I never heard of pancretitis till then any way didn’t drink for 10 years, then I had a few and thought I guess I can drink again. Well its been another 10 years,Been in pain on and off but nothing like before until lately. Very bloaty same pain as before . I,ve kept it to myself haven’t drank in Well this is my 3rd day. Still have pain after I eat or have coffee. Thinking I should fast. I know I,ve playing Russian roulette for a couple of years. I think I need to go back to church get off the pity pot and get strong if I want to live according to your website! I guess I cant wait till the close ones in my life quit. Its so tempting when your around it. But I threw away anything I liked and I know its my choice to stop at a store. I never realized how important diet can be I thought it was just the booze thanks for sharing your info I know its not good but I might have alittle ice cream at night until I get a little stronger without the alcohol. sorry if this was too long, Ginny ps if I stay in pain would you go to the drs?
Hi Ginny – yea alcohol is deadly. Fat is just as bad. Those are the two enemies of a damaged pancreas. So it is wise to stop drinking alcohol and eating fat, especially fat from beef, pork, lamb, duck, goose, dairy, and processed crap (mayo etc). 5 grams of fat per meal, 25 grams daily total is a goal to shoot for as a target. It is always wise to seek professional help when you are sick.
Is soy products ok?
Also, I know you mentioned no coconut. But what about coconut water or coconut juice?
Polly I don’t know about either. Never checked. Again, read labels and check fat content for serving size.
Polly most soy products are full of fat. Check fat content on labels. I don’t recommend usage cuz like I said, fat content is usually way to high.
Thanks for your quick response. It’s my husband who got pancreatitis. I’m hoping it’s not chronic. He started having abdominal pain 3 weeks ago. Went to see his primary care 2 weeks ago, without trying to diagnose him, the doctor said it was just heartburn, and prescribed him acid blocker. And then last week I had to take him to ER since the pain got worse. The ER doctor found that he has pancreatitis (based on blood work result and ultrasound), and told him to be on juice diet for 2 days and then he should be fine. After that, he tried to have little bit of salmon and chicken salad, he was still in pain. Went to his follow up appointment with his primary care 2 days ago, his doctor cannot figured out what’s wrong with him and what caused the pancreatitis, and can only refer him to a gastroenterology. Right now we have to wait for his 7/1 endoscopy appointment to find out what’s happening inside.
I wish I’ve read your article sooner than today… I let him had some almond milk this morning and of course that gave him pain right away… just found out from your article that no nuts at all, so I guess almond milk is out of the question. I’ll check the content for soy milk and rice milk and see if there’s any fat content. Thanks again.
You’re welcome Polly. Hopefully someone will find out why he had pancreatitis and how much damage was done. Good luck to you both 🙂
Just went to his appointment today but I’m not satisfied with what the doctor have done. When he went in, we made sure to tell the doctor that the ER doctor mentioned that he got pancreatitis from the blood work result and ultrasound. The doctor looked at his blood result and confirmed that it was abnormal. After 45 mins, they called me to the recovery room and said he was all done already. The doctor said they found some inflammation in his stomach so it was just a minor gastritis (and got biopsy from his stomach). I asked the doctor if she has checked on his pancreas, and she said no need for now…. she told him to just take carafate for now, and if he still have pain, they will then do MRI to scan the pancreas… I thought the endoscopy can also do ultrasound on the pancreas when the scope is in his stomach. I don’t understand why the doctor didn’t check on his pancreas when she already confirmed that his blood work showed the problem as well…. so frustrating.
Ah ha! you are finding out why they call their business a practice! Unfortunately practice doesn’t make perfect, especially when it isn’t perfect practice. If something happens you may have grounds for a malpractice suit.
hi polly. if the doctor said he only has gastritis then that is good news. It is much better than having pancreatitis. May I ask what was your husband’s lipase and amylase when he was at the ER? Also, can you describe the location of the stomach pain. And lastly, did they find any gallstones during the ultrasound? If not, that is also good news, because gallstones is one of the causes of pancreatitis.
Hi kgkrl.
The doctor at GI lab didn’t even bother to take a look at his pancreas, that’s why I’m worried…
When he was at the ER, his Lipase was at 78, so the ER doctor said his pancreas seems like having problem. And after doing the ultrasound, no gallstone was found, but the doc said his pancreas was elevated, so that’s pancreatitis. Normally 2 to 3 hours after he ate, his upper abdominal has stabbing pain. If it’s really only gastritis, that will be a lot easier to fix. I’m just worried when the GI doctor didn’t even bother to take a look at his pancreas and just finalized it that way…
Hi Health guy!
I have been reading many of your posts repeatedly since my hospital stay, including your other sites. Your knowledge and experience had been extremely helpful, thank you. I was diagnosed with acute pancreatitis a little over two weeks ago, my lipase levels were 21,800 when I was admitted. I was in the hospital for 4 days on a clear liquid diet but didn’t eat any of their crap food and just drank water for about 24 hours and then was able to add fresh organic apple juice and carrot juice. I was discharged with levels of 9,000 and little to no pain. My CT scan showed obvious inflammation of the pancreas and no signs of pseudocysts or blockages but the GI thinks its gallbladder. After one week from being discharged my Lipase levels were at 2,500 (that was a week ago). I don’t have nausea unless I try to get brave (did once and I learned my lesson, I had half a sprouted wheat bagel with some Jam and that night I had the worst stomach ache that made me feel sick). I have been taking the GSE since the hospital and vitamin C recently. I started off drinking juice (carrot, apple, grapefruit and green juice all fresh) smoothies, and one meal replacement a day called raw meal from garden of life (I’m breastfeeding and I’m ALWAYS HUNGRY), potatoes and lettuce because that is all I could tolerate without causing discomfort. I try adding food as slowly as possible but the hunger pangs kick in pretty strong.
Other than my story I’m curious to know if some discomfort is normal? Does it mean I need to back off or is it all part of the healing process? I want to eat so badly and my appetite is crazy huge. I haven’t experienced vomiting just slight nausea in the beginning and when I ate the bagel. It’s been about two days with little to no discomfort but when I feel it I know exactly what it is.
This is all confusing and a bit sad especially when caring for two babies but you have made this easier to understand and except, seriously the best information is right here! I’ve followed a vegan diet for years (not low fat though) so this hasn’t been too difficult other than not being able to eat enough.
Thank you Thank you Thank you from the bottom of my heart!
Hi Jessica – it takes a while to heal up and inflamed pancreas. So if that “raw meal from garden of life”, which looks like the best meal replacement I have ever seen for pancreatitis patients, good job on locating and choosing that particular product, seriously good job! Anyway if that’s going over well just keep eating that, fresh juice etc, maybe try some cooked veggies and rice (skip the bagel) and see how it goes. Any discomfort (nausea, pain) is an indication your pancreas isn’t quite ready for whatever it was you ate. I appreciate the thanks and you’re welcome. Be patient. Hunger is a good sign but be patient. Like I said it really does take a while to heal from acute pancreatitis, unless it was extremely mild. 🙂
Hi Jessica,
very sorry about your hospital stay. Just follow the list of food that health guy put on his website and try a small meal at a time. Then if you are okay, a few hours later, try another small meal. oatmeal is really good, it keeps you full for many hours.
Hey there, love your site and that you take the time to help so many of us suffering!
5 years ago I was hospitalized severely dehydrated, they took every test imaginable (upper, lower, biopsy, ct scan, gall bladder nuclear test,ulcer test, etc) hooked me up to iv’s and then released me 2 days later. I fired my old doctor and my new GP doctor looked at my labs and symptoms and said I had pancreatitis and gave me pancreatic enzymes. I took them for 2 years and then changed my diet drastically.
About once a year I have an attack when I go off my diet. Only go to the doc when absolutely can’t take the pain and have at different times been diagnosed with ibs, gastritis, or they just don’t know. They always think it is my gall bladder and it never is after many horrible tests. So here I am watching 4th of July fireworks on tv since I’m in too much pain to go anywhere. I tell you all this because I am wondering if it is actually pancreatitis since I was only diagnosed once from a GP doctor and everyone since then other doctors don’t agree.
I have lost a lot of weight since then, eating healthy and small portions and exercising. But last Friday, I ate fast food had a candy bar and even chips the same day. I haven’t ate that junk for a very long time. Started with diarrhea that afternoon, then every time I ate and drank, for three days horrible pain every time something went in my mouth. so barely sipped water and ate watermelon for those 3 days.
Now, a week later, my upper abdomen hurts after I eat meat, mostly red meat and a little with chicken. So much that I can’t eat for one or two meals afterward. After I eat the meat, 20 to 40 minutes later I have excruciating pain in upper abdomen that makes me moan, I can feel it moving down to my stomach which then also makes me double up. After about 20 minutes of moaning and whimpering it either turns into a constant pain in upper abdomen for a day or causes diarrhea with intermittent pain. The pain goes to my back sometimes and I am belching and hiccuping a lot. Husband talked me into going to the doc and he is setting up an appointment with a specialist. I know he is going to make me go through the torture tests since I am in a new city now.
Sorry this is getting so long, I hope I am not alone and wondering if this is a typical pancreatitis attack or something else. What are your thoughts? I am dedicated to keeping a strict diet and going to find some grape seed extract as well. I will let you know what the doctors ‘think’ it is. Any additional advice is appreciated. Happy 4th!
Hi Laura – sounds like you need to overhaul your diet. Red meat doesn’t work. Red meat, pork, lamb, duck will kill you or make you wish you were dead. Make sure you invst time reading this blog in regards to diet. Diet is EXTREMELY important if you do have pancreatitis. It sounds like pancreatitis to me you should head to the ER and have them do blood work (amylase/lipase/wbc) to find out. If you still have your gallbladder it could be that as well or SOD (sphincter of oddi dysfunction). But since you are in pain now would be a good time to get blood work done since it’s definitely been long enough for your enzyme levels to elevate. Good luck, get well, watch the diet, get off the red meat and other bad foods. 🙂
Hello laura. Sorry to hear your pain, we have all suffered from that and some continue to suffer.
As health guy said, if your lipase and amylase are very high, that would mean you have pancreatitis.
It is very hard to find out what is causing the pancreatitis. But from what my doctors have told me, the 2 main reasons are gallbladder/gallstones and drinking too much alcohol.
What exactly did the doctors find when they looked at your gallbladder? Did they find any gallstones or sludge? Some of the tests the doctors can do to find gallstones or sludge are ultrasound, an MRCP, or an endoscopic ultrasound.
Hi Health Guy
I have a pain in my left rib. I have had it for like 7 months now. It is dull ache, that does not go away. It some times goes to the right side and feels better when I press against it and fold my arms. I am very worried that it is pancreatitus. What do I do? I have done blood tests and ultrasounds and all were found. I had a mild inflammation in the stomach.
Dees you really do need to find out what the problem is. Try another doctor. I can’t diagnose you. Mild inflamation in the stomach? The stomach isn’t your pancreas. IF it were me I’d find a doctor and get diagnosed, with a diagnosis that makes sense. In other words a person doesn’t have gastritis for 7 months (example of what docs say when they don’t know and don’t think it’s worth looking). Find a doc who 1) listens 2) can actually diagnose properly. You might have pancreatitis but your symptoms aren’t slapping me in the face. IF someone has actually done blood work (amylase and lipase) while you were sick and in pain and nothing, not even a slight elevation in enzymes occurred it is really unlikely that it’s pancreatitis but … I’m not a doc and there is always a possibility that you have a form such as autoimmune pancreatitis that actually starts out with weird and/or mild symptoms.
I have MEN-Type 1 (pituitary, parathyroid & pancreas tumors). My pancreas tumors are malignant Neuroendocrine. I had a Whipple surgery in Oct (head of pancreas gallbladder duodenum & bile ducts). left a bunch of “little guys” in the tail to try & keep the remaining pancreas as long as possible. Whipp 6mo later I keep having reoccurring pancreatitis. Multiple times a month and trying to avoid hospitalization. Post Whipple surgery I changed my diet- no red meat, fried foods, milk, fats etc so you can imagine my frustration to why I keep getting pancreatitis! Up for suggestions Thanks! Alex
Hi Alex sorry to hear you are not well and are suffering. Tell me, what do you mean by: “left a bunch of “little guys” in the tail.” IF that means you still have tumors in the tail of your pancreas my first guess about the recurring poancreatitis would be because of the remaining cancer tumors. Panc cancer causes acute pancreatitis. If you mean something else by “little guys” – maybe Islet cells? Please explain.
Hi Health Guy! Thanks for the reply! Sorry for the curt last post- I had it super long & they made me cut it down lol Yes, the “little guys” I call them are my small Neuroendocrine Cancer tumors we left in the remaining half of my pancreas. My Endo says they don’t think the tumors have anything to do with my reoccurring pancreatitis but who knows! I also read hyperparathyroidism leads to chron panc. So maybe after I get my parathyroid tumors out then my pancreas can heal? Also, where do I get your supplements that cured the amazing story of the guy with the feeding tube at thanksgiving. I’m getting worse and worse and could use any suggestions before needing to entirely remove the remaining half of my pancreas. I do understand that having cancer is a little different but who knows right. Thank you so much!!:) -Alex
Hi Alex you can find the info on all the supplements I use, the ones the wife of the guy with the feeding tube used (same ones) on this blog under the category for supplements. IF you are currently in pain and feeling like crap simply write down the names of the supplements (grape seed extract, vit c, and curcumin) and go to a local health store and buy “stand alone” supplements. That means the product labels state ONLY grape seed extract, curcumin and vit c. Make sure the grape seed is at least 90% polyphenols and the curcumin is 95% curcuminoids.
IF it were me I’d do this: I’d imagine you’ll need some healthy doses to get results so buy enough of each to get the job done for at least 30 days. I guessing you’ll need between 800 – 1000 mgs per day of grape seed spread over 4 doses, 1500 – 2000 mgs curcumin again spread over 4 doses and 2000 – 4000 mgs of vit c again spread over 4 doses. Just remember I can NOT prescribe I am NOT a doctor and I’m just telling you what I’d do. You have to do what you think is best and …
IF you are still eating a regular high fat diet that needs to be changed as well. You can find a bunch of my diet info on this blog as well. Keep us posted on your progress. Good luck and I wish you better health Alex. 🙂
Thank you!!!
I stopped eating red meat, fried foods, all fats and sugar over a year ago when I was diagnosed. I have Multiple Endocrine Neoplasia Type 1 & it runs in my family so we knew what to expect with all of the genetic pancreas surgeries. Thankfully I have been on this modified vegan/ Pescatarian diet for a year now (unwillingly) but unfortunately I keep getting pancreatitis in my remaining half pancreas. I will definitely try the supplements and will keep my fingers crossed. Thank you so much! -Alex
You’re welcome Alex – please do me a favor. Let me know if the supplements help.
Hi Healthy Guy,
I am reading your blog – literally every word, every comment – in hopes of helping heal my father who just experienced his first pancreas attack. He’s been diagnosed with Acute Pancreatitis. He’s a red meat eating, Jim Beam swilling cowboy and it’s insane how drastic this condition has changed his life. He was hospitalized last Tuesday for 6 days before going home. I promise to read everything before asking questions so as to not waste your time. Thank you for your dedication to helping people with this blog. It is such a wealth of information and I am extremely grateful for this resource. I’m going to be sure that my pop reads this as well. I’m trying to figure out where to begin.
Kind regards,
KM
You’re welcome KM. It is a fair amount of info to digest. I hope your father quits drinking, begins a correct diet and starts using the supplements. It could make a HUGE difference in the quality of his life. Good luck. I f you have questions please, feel free to ask. 🙂
Hello there, very insightful read.
I was diagnosed with pancreatitis 7 years ago, have had several attacks, most recent 4 weeks ago with lipase being 5000. The Drs can not find the cause, I don’t drink. They are guessing now that is caused from acidic foods, such as apples, lemons, oranges, pineapples, beetroot etc
I don’t really eat, I’m on a good day if I eat one meal a day, I just don’t see the point and am to scared!
Can you please possibly shed some light for me. I’m back at hospital next week to see a surgeon as they are talking about removing the lower part of my bile duct?!
I look forward to your reply 🙂 x
Hi Tricia. Your doctor is wrong. Acidic foods don’t cause pancreatitis. The foods you just mentioned are safe. What isn’t safe are FAT and alcohol. In fact the foods you listed are full of polyphenols (anti inflammatory phytonutrients) which actually protect the pancreas. Removing the lower part of your bile duct? WHY would they do that? Do you have cancer? Or do you have SOD (sphincter of oddi dysfunction)? Heck you said they don’t even know the cause. I’d be asking some real pointed questions as to WHY they want to remove anything, what the guaratees are that it will help and what the risks are. Ask them is it was them in your shoes would they let someone remove their anatomy when they don’t even know what is causing your pancreatitis let alone how to make it go away or at least better? I already know the answers to those questions but you need to find out for yourself. You should also find out exactly what the procedure is called and then research it. The risks and benefits. Don’t ever be afraid to question a doctor. They call their business a “practice” for a reason. Some are REALLY good but those REALLY good doctors are few and far between and most have no clue how to treat pancreatitis, they guess.
Hello my friend.My gallbladder was removed and I now I have a lot of gas in my stomach.The doctor prescribe me medicine that is made from gelatin to remove the gas.Is gelatin a fat?Is it safe to take it?
I lost a lot of weight and I eat white bread to gain weight.But when I eat bread I feel pain in pancreas.Is white bread the reason for the pains?I also eat 200 g per day chicken breast.i dont know if the chicken is the reason for pains or white bread.
Hi Miroslav! Wow, no gallbladder now huh? When did you have that done? I’ve heard recovery can take a few weeks and sometimes there are unpleasant symptoms while the body adjusts to missing the part. Gelatin should be fine. Is the chicken breast skinless? If it is it should be ok as long as it isn’t breaded & fried in oil (like fried chicken). The bread should be ok too but read the label. Look at fat content and ingredients. Sometimes bread is made with lard. Lard (from beef and pork) is not good. Other than that it may be it’s just to soon for you to eat certain things without some difficulty. I know you said you’ve lost some weight but get well. Don’t worry about weight. You can regain the weight. Focus on getting healed first.
I have a terrible bloating and flatuance now.Also I can not eat at all if I dont take digestive enzymes.I think gallbladder removal was a huge mistake.I thought that gallbladder inflames pancreas because I have pancreatitic pains with no reason-I did not eat something else or drink.But without gallbladder I still have pancreatic pains-thanks to your advice I take GSE and the pains disappeare.
I want to ask you something-doctor prescribe me also medicine which contain 800 mg virgin castor oil in serving amount per day.I must take it twice-400 mg virgin oil per serving.Is it safe this amount of oil?
Miroslav, wow, why would any doctor prescribe castor oil for a patient with pancreatitis?! How long have you been taking that crap? Man that is pure pancreas poison. It’s way to much FAT! If you have been taking that while you’ve been having your pain THAT is probably WHY you have pain. Doctors are so brain dead when it comes to pancreatitis. Anyway, no my friend. Keep away from that stuff (Castor oil).
Thanks for the advice.Castor oil was prescribed for flatulence.But now I again have pancreatic pain-probably due to castor oil.Instead i think to take fennel seed for flatulence and simethicone.You are right-doctors are so stupid.One professor said that my pains are due to herniated disk .I have herniated disk since 1997 and the pain is tottally different from pancreatic pain.Other doctor-one of the best in Bulgariaq said that the pain is in my head and I must go to psychiatrist.
What do you think about fennel seed and simethicone?After the gallbllader removal I have really bad flatulence.
It just so happens I am creating a new post just for you Miroslav! It should be done shortly 🙂
Thank you!
No problem here’s your post!
Now I see that there is 15 g fat in 100 g fennel seed.I take 3 g per day -6 times with 480 mg pill per serving.
What do you think about my diet?Every day I eat:500 g white rice/I used to eat brown rice but it is not good for flatulence/,500 g white bread/I must gain weight because my weight is 57 kg and 172 height.I used to be 90 kg before first attack/,6 eggs white,200 g skinless chicken breast.I eat that amount of food in 6 meals per day.i used to eat a lot of apples but they are not good for flatulence.
I think you should worry more about getting well. Your flatulence may dissappear after your body adjusts to not having a gallbladder. It may take several months for that adjustment to take place. In the mean time focus more on what you can eat without getting sick. If you take out everything that might cause gas you won’t have any nutritious safe foods to eat. Worry more about nutrition and healing your body and less about gas.
What do you think about taking ox bile supplements?I read that it is good for people with gallbladder removal.But I am confused because it digest fat and I am on low fat diet due to your advice.
Probably ok Miroslav cuz ox bile is in Now Super Enzymes which I use daily when I eat. I don’t know if ox bile by itself is beneficial because of GB removal.
Hello Health Guy: I use to take Fish Oil 1000mg ,after the Acute Pancreatitis , I am stopped taking it, it is safe to start taking it? Thanks ,(be good to yourself)
I take NOW plant enzymes due to pork allergy. I tried NOW ox bile one and it makes me sick and creon is made with pork which makes me sick.
Hi Maria – I wouldn’t take fish oil supplements. Too much fat even when you’ve healed your pancreas. Instead (if you want omega 3’s) try white meat fish (cod, pollock, rock fish, halibut, sea bass, perch, etc). All have some omega 3’s and are rich in protein 🙂
Thanks HG ,I will not take the Fish Oil ,yeas I eat a lot of fish except (salmon) after you said it is saturated of oil…. thanks ,God bless !
You’re welcome 🙂
I have to tell you what happened after I went to see my GP after being hospitalized for acute pancreatitis. I had been reading your blog as I recovered at home, I raised my concern about taking Tramadol with my anti-depressants. He laughed it off and said I ‘read too much on the Internet and I’d be better off to stop all the research’. I told him I’d been in pain for 15 years – told I had IBS, it was gallbladder (had it out 5 years ago – pain still severe), NASH, all in my head. Copious research and pain location led me to suspect SOD or pancreas. I went to see a digestive and liver disorders specialist at IU and he did an ERCP with manometry. I signed a consent form before the procedure, allowing the surgeon to explore the second sphincter if the first sphincter was ok. He also warned about the risk of pancreatitis. I agreed – I needed an answer. First sphincter was fine – when he arrived at the second sphincter, he discovered it was tightly locked shut and that I had a complete pancreas Divisum. Took him 2 hours and 15 minutes to stent it open. I got very ill later that night and was hospitalized a week – it was awful but expected. Back to the visit with the GP – he scolded me for ‘trying to find an answer to the pain’. Congratulated me and said now I can flip off all the doctors who didn’t believe me. He is no longer my physician and YOU are absolutely right – they call it a ‘practice’ for a reason. I’ve bought all the supplements you recommended and begun taking them. Really hurt over all this but feeling more empowered because knowing the WHY gives you power! I’m glad I was my own advocate and did research – I have a condition that will require lifetime care and support and valuable info. in this blog to help me stay the course. Thank you for reading this update. You are awesome.
Ahh shucks Gail thanks for the kind words. 🙂 …. however sorry to hear you have SOD and Pancreas Divisum. The good news is I have read where stenting sometimes cures Pancreas Divisum and sometimes not. Hopefully it completely handles yours but then you still have the SOD to contend with but the good news is that SOD responds well to a low fat diet as well. So with proper diligence towards diet you could lead a fairly normal life. Also …
Calcium channel blockers (heart drug) seem to help “Agents such as calcium channel blockers and long-acting nitrates have been shown to reduce sphincter of Oddi basal pressure and improve symptoms. However, there are several drawbacks to medical therapy. First, side effects may be seen in up to one-third of patients. Second, a response rate of only about 75% is expected in patients with the spastic-type of sphincter of Oddi dysfunction. Third, medical therapy utilizing muscle-relaxing agents is not expected to be effective in the patient with papillary stenosis.” read whole John Hopkins pdf here.
My friend I want to ask you something.Unfortunatelly yesterday I have mild pancreatic attack.I am on a low fat diet,and I am taking GSE extract three times per day.I dont know the reason for that attack.I think it may be due to fennel seed which I take for bloating and gas.I read that fennel seed have estrogen and too much estrogen is not good for pancreatitis,especially men.Fennel seed really helps me with bloating and flatulence.Could you tell me what to do?
Hiya Miroslav 🙂 say I don’t know much about fennel seed. I don’t use it. All I know is what you know about it and I only know that because I just read up on it lol. 1 serving which is a tbsp (6 grams), according to the data contains 1 fat gram. Unless you are using 6 – 10 times the amount in a tbsp I doubt it’s your culprit. Fennel seed is full of essential oils. Anethole, found in essential oil may have some bearing on your problem. Anethole is an ether. Some ethers are used as solvents and others were used as local and/or general anesthetics (diethyl ether). To much Anethole could possibly be dangerous. You should do more research on fennel seed and it’s active, medicinal components.
My friend I nave another pancreatic attack these days.I dont know why-I am on a low fat diet,I am taking enzymes and GSE.Every time before GSE saved me but this time it give a little relief.I take 1 g per day GSE and and it helps me temporaly and then the pain is back again.The old,nasty pancreatic pain.My wife is pregnant but I think I will not see my child.I dont think I will be live when it is born.In Mondey I will make MRI to see if there problem with ducts of pancreas.I want to ask you something-I have a lot of gas,I can hear it,just in the place where is my pain.Is it possible the colon full with gas to sqeeze the pancreas and to inflame it?
I am so desperate my friend-probably the destiny is decided to be sick forever.I cant handle that pain-it is nightmare.
Hi Miroslav – sorry – wasn’t online for a few days. I am sorry to hear you are having trouble again. There has to be something that is triggering those attacks. What exactly are you calling a low-fat diet? Are you eating any foods that I wouldn’t such as red meat, pork, lamb, duck, mayo, butter etc? Are you taking any prescription medications? How did MRI Go?
I eat only white bread,rice,eggs white,pottatoes and chicken breast with no skin.And cucumbers and tomatoes.Nothing else.This is my diet for months and I have no trouble.Last two attacks were when I took vitamin B-probably I am the only man in world who have pancreattitis due to vitamin B.But this time I did not take vitamin B.
The only other drug I take is simethicon for bloating.But I have taken it for two months wihout problem.I have terrible bloating and gases and I have severe pain due to gas.i can not handle without simethicon.
The worst thing is that GSE give me temporaly relief and I take about 1800 mg per day.Last times when I was in pancreatitis attack I took 1000 mg per day and in next day I was pain free.But now is different.
The other possibility is to have sphyncter of ODDI spasm.But my sphyncter of ODDI is cut due to ERCP,and I also have no gallbllader.
I did not make MRI because due to gallblader surgery I have metal clips in my body and doctors said it could be dangerous.
I dont know what to do-I think my end is close.
Hi Miroslav you are definitely an enigma my friend. I can tell you with about 99.5% certainty that it is highly doubtful that vitamin b or other vitamins (C, D, A, etc) cause or excerbate pancreatitis. However … “due to gallblader surgery I have metal clips in my body” your comment about metal clips intrigues me. WHY do you have metal clips still in your body? I’ve never heard of that for gallbladder surgery but then again I don’t profess to know everything. In fact, I know very little. Do you meant clips or stents? I’m just asking because IF you actually meant stents those could be the problem. I’ve heard of them moving to different locations causing problems. Anyway, it might be time to check with your doctor and find out what is actually wrong.
My friend I have metal clips,not stents.In every laparoscopyc gallbladder surgery doctors put clips.I did blood tests and they showed that everything is normal.But I think that my amylase levels are normal only because of GSE.I read that GSE decreases amylase levels.
Unfortunately I am in constant pain and terrible bloating and flatulence.Do you think that gases might be the reason for my pancreatitis attack at the moment?Is it possible the bowel full wih gas to press the pancreas?I am afraid to take curcumin because i have SOD.But now I dont have gallbladder and I have done sphincterotomy ERCP-do you think curcumin will be a problem?I cant take NSAID because when I took celebrex I had the worst pancreatitis atack in my lifei thought that I will die.I am afraid to take iboprofen for that reason.
Do you set off metal detectors? Just kidding 🙂 Anyway I don’t recall you mentioning you had SOD before. SOD and the sphincterotomy could be the reason you have pain and other issues. And no, people with SOD should NOT use curcumin. About NSAIDS – Here’s an article you should read regarding NSAIDS and the extremely small possibility of NSAID induced pancreatitis. ONE possible case out of 48,000+ in an Italian study and then there are some other study facts too. VERY small risk compared to opiates (morphine and/or derivatives). Ibuprofen isn’t even mentioned. I’ve never found any evidence from any credible source that depicts Ibuprofen as a possible cause of acute pancreatitis. But one has to do what they think best. By the way since you have SOD opiates should be avoided. Opiates will actually cause the SO to spasm which inturn often causes acute pancreatitis. They (doctors) used to administer a test called the Nardi test to diagnose SOD and that test was morphine and prostigmine in combination which caused the SO to spasm and very often caused acute pancreatitis.
HG, as I’ve mentioned in earlier posts, my acute and now chronic pancreatitis (80 pct of pancreas removed due to necrosis) was idiopathic. However, If there was one possible culprit it was a fatty diet and elevated triglycerides (not off the charts by any means). I came across something that indicated Niacin (vitamin B3) can reduce triglycerides. It can be purchased as an OTC supplement. Do you know of anything that would support this. Also, fibrates can supposedly help. I’m assuming fibrates are things like Metamucil. In trying to work the fat out of my diet, but do you think these things can help as well? Thanks, Rob
Hi Rob – yes Niacin can reduce triglyceride levels. No fibrates are not fiber (Metamucil, ect). Fibrates are derived from fibric acid. You can read about them here. Unless you have extremely high tris (1000+) there is no need. Diet (normal foods) has never been associated as being a cause of pancreatitis (alcohol is an exception). Diet exacerbates pancreas inflammation once one has had acute pancreatitis but as far as a cause, not likely. Alcohol, gallstones (includes sludge), some prescription drugs, abdominal trauma, some autoimmune diseases, some viral infections, some surgical procedures, Cystic fibrosis, SOD, hypercalcemia, hypertriglyceridemia and Pancreatic cancer are the most common causes.
So sorry about your pain Miroslav. Have you tried what The Health Guy recommends Ibprofen in higher doses for pain? Also are you taking the vitamin C and Cucermin and Grafefruit Seed Extract along with the Grape Seed Extract? I try not to eat a whole lot of real foods and do protein shakes! I mix 20 grams of chocolate protein with the vitamin and mineral powder The Health Guy has on his site along with fiber and a product called Greens First…then I add all frozen pineapple, mango, blueberries, blackberries, raspberries, strawberries, and a handful of spinach. I then add a bunch of water and blend it in my Nutri Bullet Blender. Then freeze it overnight. I eat it everyday for breakfast and it’s like eating ice cream!!! The best thing in the world you could eat!!! Give it a try!
Neal that sounds tasty! I’m serious. I’m gonna have to try that recipe. It is amazing what can be concocted with some imagination. Thanks for posting that. 🙂
To Misrolav, I hope I spelled that right. I read your post about the pain you’ve been in and my thoughts and prayers are with you. After 4 years of battling CP, one 9 month hospitalization, another 3 week hospital and 2 major surgeries, I’m familiar with the pain. I don’t know if this will be useful, but I certainly hope so. The psychology of CP is every bit as daunting at times as the physical stuff. I know that a bout of pain – short or extended can take me from feeling optimistic and coping to having the those very negative thoughts start taking over and it can happen very quickly. The pain just brings out the worst and scariest thoughts. To the extent I can ward off the worry, the anxiety and keep that ‘runaway thought train’ from taking over, the better I deal with the pain. The level of pain I feel sometimes seems directly related to and exacerbated by the mental stuff. Anything you can do to stay positive will help immensely. Reaching out on this blog, staying connected to family and friends, praying if that’s part of your belief system, listening to your favorite music and just taking it ‘one day at a time’ can really help. I know that may all sound like common sense and even trite, but the pain makes it easy to forget all these things. You don’t know me from Adam, but I’ll be praying for you. If there is one thing I’ve learned about CP, ‘it’s what a difference a day can make’. When things seem overwhelming and you lose some of your hope, remember that others are thinking about you, praying for you and wishing you get better as quickly as possible and you are not alone. It may defy logic, but our pain and suffering have a redemptive quality. It can make us more profound and compassionate people in the long run. My thoughts and prayers are with you. Take Care. Rob
Hi, I’m really, really desperate…..l have only just been diagnosed with Pancreatitis. l callaspsted on holiday, only 45 miles away from home, did not know l had it and was air ambulance to Southampton hospital, having a mini heart attack on way, after being diagnosed with A P spending a week in intensive care and 3 more weeks on pancreatitis ward, my pancreatitus has died, l have gallstones in the ducts and 9 others stones rattling around,so a lovely colour of yellow,blood plates are 3 times higher then they should be, my stomach has been affected as well liver ha spotting. they tried twice to operate but too ill and too much inflammation. after 10 days told to eat full size meals, which l could not and lied, l,m a ceolic and dairy intolerance which did not help, l have been told that l,m dibetic type 2 so now on insulin as well. l been sent home to recover, with only take creaon with every meal, told low fat diet, no other info. l,ve been home 2 weeks and l still cant eat, stressing out big time, 1/4 cup of veg soup is most l get down, if l am lucky, as feeling sick and being sick, is a big problem drinking is sort of ok.
your site has been a god send as my Doctors are kind but don’t understand and basically totally clueless… l,m mainly, bedridden. The swelling in my abdomen has subsided a little but still in a great discomfort, l have worked out that l,ve lost 2 1/2 stone in weight, ( 8 weeks) diarrhea at first and but not got anything and don’t know if l should take anyhing and what to take?, but to be honest not sure theres any food in me. l,m sleeping a lot. and suffereing with a lot of tummy and back ache The Doctors just want to keep pumping him full of medication. l,m still on a lot of other medication such as Ramipril (high blood pressure),Bumetanide / Asprin ( blood plates) & omeprazole ( gesto resistant) and metoclopramide (nausea and vomiting). due to a long term back/ nerve disability in my lower back and both legs, l am also on Butrans 10gms patches. I’m sure this isn’t helping any either… sorry a bit long winded but a bit relieved that others have sadly experienced this and l was not going out of my mind and husbands, also being over emotional. thank you, l have a starting point now to work with. before going back into hospital soon for operations.
Hi Linda – dang you don’t sound like you feel at all well. Just for your own info Ramipril and other drugs in the same class (captopril, enalapril, and lisinopril) have been known (not common) to cause acute pancreatitis. The same holds true for omeprazole. Celiac disease can also cause acute pancreatitis [1],[2].
I’ll pray that God takes care of you.
1) Patients with celiac disease have an increased risk for pancreatitis – article
2) Celiac Disease and Malabsorptive Disorders – article (last paragraph under “clinical manifestations”)
Hi Health Guy..
Just wanted to check is drinking probiotics can cause pacreatitis attack? I have been on and off for pacreatitis issue. I have been drinking digest gold +probiotics to support my digestion and it seems helpful. But i read somewhere that probiotics can trigger pancreatitis attack
Hi Joy I am sorry I have taken so long to respond. Probiotics seem to be a controversial issue. I don’t use them.
Hi Health Guy,
On July 17th I had my gallbladder out due to stones and enlarged lymph nodes. On July 20th, I was in the ER for extreme pain. Worst pain of my life. I was misdiagnosed and had a bike leak that was not caught for four days. I had an ercp with two biliary stents placed. After being discharged from the hospital I developed awful lowers back pain, vomiting, and could not tolerate any food at all. I lost 25 pounds in 7 days. I assumed I had pancreatitis. Both of my MDs were on vacation, when the surgeon finally saw me a week and a half into symptoms- my amylase was normal and my lipase was over 400. The surgeon said my body was just reacting to the foriegn body of the stents and I did not have pancreatitis. I am still in a lot of lower back pain, it has been 6 weeks since my ERCP. I keep calling my physicians and they say it is the stents. The biliary stents are to be removed in 6 days. But I still believe I am suffering from pancreatitis. Any thoughts?
Hi Katie – sorry you aren’t well. I don’t know much about “stenting” side effects. Your lipase levels aren’t to high (not 5 times the upper limit of normal). THAT fact does not necessisarily rule out pancreatitis since, even though rare, there have been cases of acute pancreatitis with little or no elevation in lipase (they actually killed this patient with a procedure). Trypsin is actually the premo gold diagnostic enzyme but few medical centers have the capability to test for it from what I understand. So it’s possible that you may have pancreatitis. It’s also possible the doctors are right. I’m not qualified to diagnose.
A Registered Dietitian is the only person who is considered an “:EXPERT” in nutrition. LOOK IT UP.
LOLOLOLOLOL have a nice day 🙂
How about sugar intake?
Hi Bobby – I don’t eat a lot of refined sugar. In fact I don’t eat white sugar, candy or drink soda pop. That doesn’t mean there are any indications that white sugar causes pancreas problems unless of course you happen to be diabetic however … Sugar (white sugar) and HFC (high fructose corn syrup) are inflammatory so it might be wise to abstain especially since there has been alligations that HFC causes cancer and it is well known that cancer feeds on sugar. This may be especially wise for those who have CP since CP increases pancreatic cancer risk.
Who are you who wrote this. I desparately need to talk or communicate with you.
I had 80 pct of pancreas removed in 2011. Another major surgery to repair what was left of my pancreatic duct which is now severely constricted based on recent MRI at MAYO clinic and no one talks about diet which I now think is the only thing that may save my life. I’m 62, but I have a 16,19,22 year old kids and I want to be around for them. I was not a big drinker!!!!
My severe case of Necrotic Pancreatitis landed me in a coma in the ICU for 3 weeks and I didn’t go home for 9 months.
I’m now insulin dependent and slowly losing more weight. I’m 6ft1 at 150 lbs. I was 225 when this all started. I’m terrified of losing more weight. I got as low as 139 a year after the surgery and it was very scary. I would like desparately to speak with you. Your diet ideas sound intuitively the best plan I’ve heard, but I’m concerned about making the transition and losing even more weight. Please let me know if we can speak or communicate via email or something. Thank You!
Hi Robert 🙂 – it definitely sounds like you have had some serious issues and been through some nightmare times. To answer your question “Who are you who wrote this” – I’m just a guy Robert. Nobody special. Just a guy who has had some experience (personally) with pancreatitis but not nearly as bad as your experience. I’m sorry you had to go through that nightmare. From what you have told me I would imagine you are on creon or a similar prescription enzyme formula. Are you on other prescription medications (pain meds, nausea meds etc) besides insulin and enzymes? Do you know why you had severe acute pancreatitis?
Thank you for responding! My pancreatitis was Ideopathic – undiagnosed. I did not have any of the standard risk factors. Not a heavy drinker by any means, my cholesterol and tryglycerides were slightly elevated for a number of years, but again not off the charts. Genetics? I always had a sweet tooth and sometimes I think I might have just worn it out. My first attack of acute pancreatitis came in July of 2010. Hospitalized for 4 days, but back in work after 2 weeks. It take several months before I felt normal. I had a second attack a year later and it was a whopper. My sense is that many people have acute periodic attacks over many years or months, but don’t have that major one on the second round. 6 months after the first attack they found a pseudo cyst, but said that statistically that was not significant. They recommended a low fat, high fiber diet but nothing really stringent. I cut back on the consumption of red meet, ate more salad but didn’t make dramatic changes. I never had a drink after that first attack and have still not touched a drop. I wasn’t pre-diabetic, but I did have that belly fat issue. I weighed about 230 when these attacks occured, but at 6ft1 inch, I was not obese. I needed to lose 20 lbs. now I weigh 150 and need to gain 10 or 20 lbs. I take 8 capsules of Zenpep daily, Miralax daily, about 20 mg of pain med daily down from 60 each time I was released from the hospital. I take insulin using Novalog Flexpen which started about a year ago after a glucose tolerance test revealed my BS was spiking and not coming down. My A1c had slowly creeped up to 6.9 but it’s back down to 5.8. I think the docs were fooled by my fasting labs and thought my 20 pct of pancreas was more efficient than it really was. My spleen was also removed, but I still have my gallbladder. I’m down about 20 lbs in the last year which coincides with the start of insulin, but this round of weight loss preceded the insulin. My pain is daily, but intermittent. I often wake up with it, but once I start moving around it subsides. Comes and goes throughout the day, does spike when I eat, but not always. Seen a to return in the evening, and eventually subsides by late evening. The overall pattern is fairly consistent but within that on any given day there are fluctuations. Some meals, fattier ones do see to bring in the pain. I’m never nauseous, but went through months of it while hospitalized. Sofran was my best friend for a while. I occasionally get diarrhea, but most of the time I’ll have one maybe two bulky bm’s with some straining. Don’t think I have narcotic bowel, but if I’m in less pain and take less meds, bm’s are a little easier. It’s a very delicate balance. Eat, pain, pain meds, constipation in this self constant loop. My pain can spike to a 3,4 or even 5 occasionally. I pull back on eating and the whole loop re-adjusts and starts over. I had this MRI a month ago that revealed my pancreatic duct is severely restricted. Another surgery to remove the rest of my pancreas is apparently too dangerous. Plus my pancreas is still functioning a little and they thought it should just be left alone. Over time they think it will stop functioning altogether and morph into a fibrous mass. They think that may actually improve the pain. It could take another year, maybe longer. I do have a fair amount of gas, I don’t appear to have stentorhrea. That’s a whole lot for you to digest – no pun intended. I’m desparately to find the right diet, gain some weight, get off the pain meds, keep the a as controlled and improve my quality of life and live for as long as I can. I read your information and it just resonated with me. I’ve googled a 1000 different topics and phrases and your site just happened to come up. You are so right about the lack of knowledge and bad or conflicting info out there. It took me a year to get into see the folks at Mayo, but still the focus was not on diet which I now believe is the most critical aspect of my care and which has been the area least focused on by all the Drs I’ve seen. The one Nutrionist I’ve been able to see was extremely well intentioned but I just don’t think she had the experience. She was ok with a higher fat diet(still low by normal standards) but not nearly as stringent as your plan. She thought it would help get some weight on me, but I don’t think she was plugged into how bad it could be for my remaining pancreas. The endocrinologist is a great, but I think she is used to treating your standard Type 2 diabetics and since my A1c appears under control, I think she feels she has done her job. She’s not totally unaware of this post pancreatectomy syndrome stuff, but it’s clearly a relatively small portion of her practice. Thank you again. That maybe the longest post you’ve ever seen and if you’ve had time to read it all, I’m truly grateful!!! Robert
I proof read my msg and there were quite a few mistakes. I want to control my Blood Sugar along with weight gain, reduce pain and get off pain meds. I started losing this last 20 lbs about 14 mths ago and started on insulin 12 months ago, so the weight loss had started prior to beginning insulin. I believe the weight loss is part metabolic with all the stuff I have going on or not going because my pancreas is just about gone. It’s also psychological in that, associating pain with eating just suppresses your appetite. It’s almost unconscious, but I know it’s part of it. Also, counting carbs and insulin injections just act as a restraint on my eating. I think perhaps I should be on an insulin pump and that would make eating more seamless and less of a production and mgmt issue. I do think the metabolic stuff is still at the heart of the weight loss. I really wish I had found your information after the first attack, although I honestly don’t know if I would have had an appreciation for how serious a situation I was potentially dealing with. At the time, I know my biggest concern was pancreatic cancer and it’s relationship to an attack of acute pancreatitis. At the time, the information on that seem to say they were not highly correlated unless you had been a long time sufferer or had the alcohol history. It was wishful thinking in hindsight in conjunction with the somewhat non-chalent attitude of the Drs., but I thought and hoped it was a once in a lifetime event and I survived and it wasn’t destined to ever happen again. Thank you again. Robert
No problem, thank you for the great comments.
HG, do you recommend a particular brand of grape seed extract, and the other supplements you recommend? I go into GNC occasionally and their products are so expensive. I live on SSDI. TY Rob
Rob if I could only afford one product I’d choose NOW Foods Grape Seed Extract 100 mg Vcaps because they contain 100 mgs of grape seed extract and 300+ mgs of vit C in each cap. You get a twofer. Start out slow with one cap per day, for several days … then two, then three then 4 and so on until you work up to a dose that works for you. I’ll be blunt with your history and pancreas condition it’s gonna take a lot of grape seed daily to see improvement. Just work up to it. The good news is that supposedly grape seed also helps diabetics keep their eye sight and can also improve diabetic neuropathy.
HG, thanks for the Grape Seed Extract recommendation. The reason I asked the cholesterol question is I’ve always associated shellfish with high cholesterol.
I bought myself 12 beautiful large cooked shrimp the other night and twice now I’ve made a meal of eating 4 shrimp with some broccoli or salad. I’m never 100 pct sure of why I feel anything I feel, but I don’t think the shrimp agreed with me and my pain seemed elevated and that’s when I made the connection between other fats, cholesterol and the pancreas. Your answer seemed to say, that from a long term perspective cholesterol would only be a concern if it were super elevated which mine is not. I may just pass on the shrimp for now and buy some of the other fish you recommend – Talapia, Catfish, etc.. The one thing that I rarely if ever have an issue with is chicken. It is my standby. I’m thinking chicken 4 or five times a week at dinner and fish the other days. Ty Rob
Rob what did you put on your salad? Shrimp is a safe bet in fact 100 grams (about 10 large shrimp) has only one (1) grams of fat, far less than chicken. Something else that people don’t understand and need to get their head wrapped around is that what you eat right now doesn’t always cause an immediate response. Sometimes it does, often the response comes 24 – 72 hours later. Anyway, you have to do what you think is right for you. And … with only 20% of a pancreas maybe, just maybe things that don’t affect others with less damage may affect you but I really doubt it. But, the more I learn the more I realize I don’t know much lol 🙂
HG, like I said, I can rarely make any clear connections between what I eat and how I feel. There have been times that high fat things ‘seem’ to bring on some additional pain. After two surgeries, I was still told that occasional lean red meat was still ok. I ate a burger which was 90 pct lean and it seemed to bring on some pain. It could have been something else.
I’ve been in some additional pain the last few weeks. Sometimes I just think it’s stress. This news I got from Mayo a few ago about the ‘severely’ constricted pancreatic duct has me unnerved a little and I’ve just been at a loss of what to do about it. I’m getting afraid to eat anything. I’ve always been a milk drinker, but I cut back dramatically. I’ve tried Soy Milk and was getting comfortable with it when I found out it has something called Carageenan which can cause inflamation and is implicated in other things. I did not appreciate the fact that things can have a delayed reaction like that until finding it on your site. With only 10 to 20 pct of my pancreas left, I sometimes wonder if it matters what I eat and yet I know on another level there is some optimum diet for me and it’s just been a struggle finding it. I think what drew me to your site was some of the intro about how much info is out there and how either unreliable or confusing it all can be. If there is anything true about this CP stuff is there are no simple answers. In the last 4 years, other than the Zenpep, I haven’t had one doctor tell me that I should take any kind of supplements, (I take that back, one Dr told me I should take some vitamin D) but I know intuitively there must be things that can help. It occured to me today that perhaps they’re all afraid to recommend supplements because if someone has a bad reaction they could be held liable so they simply refuse to recommend anything other than prescription drugs. Is there anything to that notion, or am I just getting too skeptical. I think I’m actually in the midst of a ‘flare up’ and should probably just rest the ‘cranky panky’. I didn’t invent that phrase, but it seems to fit. I happen to like shrimp and have eaten it since all this started, but these were 4 very good size shrimp and I thought maybe I overdid it, but it made me curious about the cholesterol vs fat issue. If I got it straight, cholesterol although a ‘lipid’ is a very different substance with a more complex chemical structure and a very different way it affects us vs fat. Not eating or eating very little has helped bring the pain under control, but then I lose some weight each time. I’m venting and even whining a little, but lately I feel a little backed into a corner when it comes to diet. I’m not giving up by any means! I’ve had many ups and downs these last 4.5 years and I’m convinced better times are ahead. At the same time, trying hard how to live more in the ‘precious present’. Ty again and in particular for turning inquiries around quickly. Rob
Hey Rob – I understand your frustration and fear – Somewhat, I think. I don’t have your damage. And I am not so naive’ that I don’t recognize that there is a difference in your experience vs mine. Heck I have my whole pancreas. I totally believe that one pancreas is just like another. They do the same exact jobs BUT … you don’t have your whole pancreas and that’s where the difference lies. Those with extensive damage are going to tolerate far less than those who have little damage. THAT is where the difference lies, in the extent of damage. BUT here’s the thing … fat and alcohol are the main enemies and red meat is NOT good. Pork is NOT good. IF it isn’t good for me and makes me and others sick when I or they do NOT have near the damage you have it simply stands to reason it sure ain’t good for you. People eat burgers and swear they are perfectly safe and get sick the next day after eating grapes, which are wonderfully safe, full of anti inflammatory phytonutrients (polyphenols) and they blame the grapes. They give up grapes, good safe food and keep eating the red meat which is the real problem. Like I said you got to do what you got to do but if you sincerely want to feel better and avoid more damage then change your diet. It really is simple. But people don’t want to give up foods they love. Heck I didn’t want to either but it all boils down to this …
Do you like being sick? What do you suppose could happen if you have another acute attack? Is eating your favorite foods worth it?
Most foods are NOT your friends Rob.