Pancreatitis remedies are few in number. In order to understand what may or may not be a viable home remedy for pancreatitis you first have to have a clear understanding of pancreatitis. What is it, how it happens and so on. The most important in my humble opinion is what pancreatitis is.
Once you have a clear understanding of what pancreatitis is, choosing pancreatitis remedies becomes easier. I personally use the pancreatitis remedies I’ll share with you (read terms of service). My pancreatitis remedies may prove helpful while on your journey towards beating pancreatitis.
Unfortunately you are probably still suffering if you haven’t discovered the pancreatitis remedies I was able to find. I KNOW the suffering you are experiencing with acute and/or chronic pancreatitis because I have experienced the agony which enables me to have a pretty good idea of what your suffering may be like as well. I also understand your need for pancreatitis remedies, simple remedies for pancreatitis you can do at home that promote pancreatitis pain relief and pancreas healing. The following pancreatitis remedies work, at least they have worked for me and will hopefully work for you too.
Pancreatitis Remedies That Make Sense
No matter what condition you are trying to resolve the remedy must usually make common sense. If one of the primary problems is inflammation, why treat the pain while ignoring the inflammation? When it is highly likely that reducing or eliminating the inflammation will also reduce or eliminate the pain and other symptoms, why ignore it? From what I have experienced personally and read copious amounts of material pertaining to, that is exactly what doctors do when it comes to pancreatitis. They treat symptoms while ignoring the inflammation. Maybe I’m missing something? Anyway …
Acute Pancreatitis Remedies
First and foremost I suggest you go to the ER because acute pancreatitis can become life threatening very fast. Being stubborn like me (due to past bad experiences) and treating yourself may not be real wise. Acute pancreatitis, as you may already know, can be mild, moderate, or SEVERE and …
SAP (severe acute pancreatitis) can kill you and SAP doesn’t ALWAYS present with classic symptoms or abnormally HIGH enzyme elevations [1], [2], [3]. Many people seem to think that the higher the enzymes the worse the attack but enzyme levels do not necessarily indicate or predict severity [4]. Unfortunately the difference in symptoms (bleeding, organ failure, necrosis), between mild and severe, do not always manifest immediately. What you think may be mild acute could actually turn out to be severe acute and …
When doctors, in the best ERs, have access to modern, cutting-edge tests and equipment yet still can’t diagnose pancreatitis correctly half the time or the severity, how do you expect to diagnose yourself? How would you tell if you need immediate medical attention without taking the prudent route? Don’t be stupid like me. If you have been diagnosed with acute pancreatitis and are experiencing the symptoms of acute pancreatitis again you may want to take 800 mgs of ibuprofen but then get your body to the ER. IF you go the ibuprofen route make sure you tell the ER doctor that you took ibuprofen and how much. IF you have never been diagnosed and you suspect pancreatitis do not take ibuprofen (get diagnosed first), just go to the nearest, good ER facility.
Chronic Pancreatitis Remedies
I feel more comfortable sharing what I did and still do to keep my chronic pancreatitis at bay simply because flares or the every day symptoms of chronic pancreatitis are not usually life threatening, at least not in the way that acute pancreatitis can become. I am not saying that CP isn’t dangerous because it can be dangerous. With chronic pancreatitis you have a higher risk of pancreatic cancer. Chronic pancreatitis increases the risk of acute pancreatitis with every meal you eat. So it is still dangerous but not as volatile as acute.
If you are ready to feel better, want to heal your pancreas and live pain-free or at least a ton of improvement then get ready to take the necessary steps.
Step 1 – Do your food diary prep and start your food diary. Use the guidelines found in the various posts on diet for what foods to start with first. Think “organic vegetable juice.” Then progress to what I call a “modified vegan diet.”
Step 2 – Supplements. You need to visit the page on supplements and learn about what works and why you need them. Then get them and take them. You should be taking them while doing the food diary prep and fasting. Then you’ll need to take them for life. You’ll need to find the amounts of grape seed extract, vitamin C and curcumin that work to get results for you. This is where it’s hit and miss. It is best to start slow, with small doses and work up until you notice results. Then squeeze in some more until you are pain-free. That’s the goal with the diet and supplements is to become pain and symptom free. There is no cure for CP but that doesn’t mean you have to endure pain, nausea, vomiting etc and just allow the condition to progress when you can achieve what I call remission and add 10 – 15 – 20 – 30 even 40+ years of life you otherwise may not enjoy.
Step 3 – The “Modified Vegan Diet.” I call it the modified vegan diet because true vegans do not eat animal products and they use oil, high fat nuts, sauces etc. whereas you will eat some animal products (egg whites) and you won’t use oil in any shape or form nor will you eat nuts, seeds or high fat sauces. You’ll learn to cook foods without oil, butter, margarine, cooking sprays and rely upon a quality set of non-stick cookware. So find yourself a good Vegan cookbook or two and simply eliminate any ingredients that are not allowed in those recipes. You’ll be on this modified vegan diet until you have zero symptoms and your abdomen is no longer tender. Once that goal is achieved then you move to …
Step 4 – Trying more foods. Using the food diary protocol you’ll begin trying roasted skinless chicken breast, cod-fish (poached, fried, baked, roasted), or other white meat fish, shrimp, scallops, clams, lobster. Just remember that however you fix these foods, you do not add FAT of any kind. Your goal is no more than 5 grams of fat per meal and a maximum of 25 grams of fat per day, including snacks. That isn’t easy to hit. If everything works out as I suspect it will you will now have more sources of protein, more food choices to enjoy and all without pain or other nasty symptoms.
Step 5 – NEVER Cheat! Cheating on your diet, especially if you skate once, will only entice you to cheat more. Just remember your last acute pancreatitis attack. Remember that pain? The nausea? The vomiting? The tube stuck down your nose? The IV’s? And then consider that one cheat could be that meal that ends your time on earth. A painful, miserable death that might last days or weeks before the actual end comes. All because you had to have that peanut butter and jelly sandwich or some other taboo high fat food. Is it worth it?
References:
1) Acute Pancreatitis With Normal Amylase And Lipase – Read Here
2) Acute Pancreatitis with Normal Serum Lipase: A Case Series – Read Here
3) Underestimation of acute pancreatitis: patients with only a small increase in amylase/lipase levels can also have or develop severe acute pancreatitis – Read Here
4) Acute Pancreatitis – Read (under diagnosis, 1st paragraph, last two sentences)
How do they diagnose pancreatitist? ??? I only had/have high lipase but clear everything! My gi ran a HIDA Scan and did an upper gi scope which revealed a low functioning gallbladder and a thickened gallbladder, could this cause lipase elevation? I was told so but just confused because when I have gone to the er they all say it’s pancreatitist when they see the spiked lipase, but then again they seem clueless to the organ itself. They will remove my gallbladder and I just hope it stops this.
Thank you
Dg
Hi Daisy, sorry you are not feeling well. Yes, there are other conditions that do elevate lipase and gallbladder disease is one and if you have gallbladder disease you are likely to have stones or sludge which can eject from the gallbladder, particularly after a high fat meal, get stuck in the common bile duct or pancreatic duct and cause gallstone pancreatitis. As a patient you can tell the difference between a gallbladder attack (ejection of stones and/or sludge) and pancreatitis by noticing a couple clues when they arise. From what I have read …
If you vomit the pain from a gallbladder attack usually lessens, even disappears and you feel better. This does not hold true with pancreatitis. In gallbladder disease pain can radiate to the right shoulder or just under the right shoulder blade. In pancreatitis the pain radiates to the back behind the pancreas. The pain of an acute pancreatitis attack is constant. It doesn’t come and go as is the case with gallbladder disease and it can be so severe that opiates are not even able to completely relieve it. The only exemption in difference regarding gallbladder disease is when the gallbladder itself becomes blocked by a stone in the cystic duct and/or becomes infected. Acute cholecystitis can become a life threatening emergency just like pancreatitis. The gallbladder can swell to the point of bursting (not a good thing). So if acute cholecystitis is the problem, depending on severity it can present like and closely mimic acute pancreatitis in regard to symptoms. Whichever your illness turns out to be I wish you better health and healing 🙂
They took my Gallbladder in 20014,one month go I comeback to ER after my blood tests they put in sleep again and found I had Acute pancreatitis it was the same pain when I had the bladder .I still had pain when I eat something I should not eat…it is a pain on my a!@#$%^&& really …….
Hi Maria – yeah I understand. The pain and other symptoms suck. It sounds like you may have been damaged enough to make food something you must eat to live versus living to eat. For many of us who have suffered with AP (more than once) and have developed CP or probably will – food is not our friend. So it is best to learn what to eat, what not to eat, when to eat and when not to eat.
I try to find Ocean Spray White Grapefruit Juice ,it is not available not more it had been discontinued …..
Maria – Who told you that? I still get it. Maybe I won’t soon lol ANY white grapefruit juice will do. Oceanspray just had/has less sugar so I liked it better lol
Hello Health Guy: after they informed me about the Grapefruit Juice being discontinued I wrote to the Company Ocean Spray ,they answered explaining they choose for the red/ pinkish , grapefruit ,I am not sure if I will drink that one, but thanks for let me know any white grapefruit juice will work I will try with a lot of faith thanks again ,Maria
Well dang – I guess I won’t be getting anymore either. Bummer 🙁
Good luck, I had the same pain rushed to the ER got my Gallbladder took off, I still had the same pain, now I have Acute Pancreatitis …..it is a battle never ending!
Thanks for the article and the site. I was diagnosed with CP in 2007 (was 65 at the time) — several ERCPs to remove stones and scar tissue from the pancreas and excision of a badly diseased gall bladder brought me back from the brink. Over the next 5 or 6 years, several MRIs/CTs/endoscopic exams, etc., rigorous food diary, a STRICT min fat (<20 gms/day), no ETOH–all kept me shiny side up. I began to 'fudge' a bit–a beer or glass of wine, a few nuts, an occasional egg…– and boom, back to square one (almost) in Feb 2015. Three ERCPs to remove stones, place stents, cumadin for a splenic thrombosis from a large infected pseudocyst, now I'm feeling good again. What you have written in this piece is spot-on. Bless you — and if someone is wondering, do what Paul sez'!!!
Hey John thanks for the kind words – sorry to hear you’ve had a small hiccup, a relapse. Yep, fudging on the diet only brings pain. Get well and stay well 🙂
Yes it really sucks! or maybe was discontinued only in Florida were I live…..sometimes products are discontinued just because Logistics ,some products are sold more in cold climates ,while others are sold most in hot climate is what I said it is Logistics! so don’t despair you will find it in some place, still it is hard to find here “any” White Grape Juice here so far ,I try without any luck..so good luck to you…Be good to yourself ,Maria .
Thank you Maria – you do the same.
Hello Healthy Guy: to my surprise I found it the White Grapefruit Juice in my store but it is Publix brand, I am drinking now with a lot of faith ….. I was disappointed not been able to find the Ocean Spray but happy that I finally got it , thanks for the info. about it .Bless you ,Maria .
Hi Maria – glad you found some white grapefruit juice. I don’t think the brand matters. Some brands add sugar to make it taste better and I prefer it without added sugar. That is the ONLY reason I liked Ocean Spray – anyway – I can’t find Ocean Spray white now either so I had to just buy another brand. Not as good tasting but – oh well.
Same here, I look at different grocery stores , the only place is Publix , it is hard to find that particular juice not matter which brand ,I happen to find the Publix brand name ,I don’t know were are you located but check for a Publix there , I hope you find it ……blessings ,Maria
Thanks – I have never heard of Publix so it may be a store that is not here.
Bad news, sort of, about OS white grapefruit juice: https://www.facebook.com/oceanspray/posts/988805634496406
Thanks John for the heads up – I heard Ocean Spray white GFJ was gonna be discontinued. It has been here in my area now so I had to simply buy a different brand. I only liked OS the best cuz it had a more natural grapefruit taste because it had less sugar but se la vie!
Hello healthy Guy I check Publix.com and found stores in Alabama, Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina Tennessee, and Florida , maybe in some other store you will be able to get it! I hope so! I am taking mine and it is acid, sour tartar….but I am taking it with a lot of faith! also I am taking grape seed extract, Digestive Enzymes ,bought it in a health store ,it is helping.
Thanks for your info. Be good to yourself ,Maria
Hi Maria – I like these three words: “it is helping.” Thanks for the white grapefruit juice info 🙂
I was told (not by a MD but a Naturopath) that if having problems with the gallbladder the Liver is the first place to look; that having the gallbladder removed without finding the actual cause is counter productive. Can anyone else confirm this?
Hi Natolie – there is definitely some truth in what your ND says. It is always wise to find out exactly why someone should remove an organ instead of simply doing it. Bile is created in the liver and stored in the gallbladder. The bile itself could be the problem. Our body needs bile (aids in digestin), but if it has too much cholesterol in it, that makes gallstones more likely. So it is entirely possible that the problem may originate in the liver.
Thank u for your advices,u believe. Like i do in god who gave u the experience. Sorry to say of but the knowledge u have is greater than any doctor’s thank u for blog. Praise the lord now i know what i must do.
Hi Alice – God, the Great Physician, is AWESOME. I hope (I’ll pray too) the info helps you find healing. 🙂
any particular reason y r u not recommending pancreatin as a digestive enzyme? thx
Hi Samantha – actually any pancreatic enzyme worth taking has pancreatin and the one I take has pancreatin 4x. So since I recommend the enzyme product I take I am in fact recommending pancreatin but …
I may NOT have mentioned enzymes in that particular post since not everyone actually needs them. Why take something if it isn’t necessary?
How do I know if the CP I have is requiring enzymes?? My doctors are clueless, I keep getting worse even though I barely eat (only fruit n veggie). I’m 27 diagnosed 4 months ago, 45lbs dwn. Help me.
Hi eavingorr – There are several ways to tell whether your pancreas is NOT producing enough enzymes.
1) Oil drops floating in toilet bowl after BM.
2) You can visually see fat clinging to your stools.
3) Your stools float and smell really foul.
4) You get nauseous 10 – 20 minutes after eating
Your doctor can also take a stool sample and test it.
According to to the stool test a i do not need the enzymes, but find my stool is much better when using them, I guess everyone is different and also it depends on the size and type of meal. I have gained back some weight, 10 lbs, but I am in a flare and worried months and months of struggle will be literally lost in weight during thi s flare. I also cannot afford to go to hospital again, I am being seen next month at the Pancreas center in NY ( I live in Ca.) what can i do in the meantime to lessen this flare and the damage in pain? Any tips,please? If it gets I will go to ER but i really cant. Ty for your time
Hi Claudia – I am sorry to hear you are ill. I’d take Ibuprofen – 800 mgs in one dose and then 200-400 mgs the next several days if needed. I’d also get some grape seed extract and vitamin c and start taking those as well.
Those Entries Written Says Alot But, I Would Like To Hear More About What I Need To Eat And The Things I Need To Surely Stay Away From. This Is My Second Time With This Pancretitis And I Truly Don’t Know What To Do On A Regular Basis. Can Someone PLEASE HELP ME!!
Hi Rita – I can hear your fear and I understand it. But you need to calm down, take a breath and read. EVERYTHING you need to know is on this blog. I mean EVERYTHING in regards to diet (what to eat, what not to eat etc). Here is a link to a whole category that deals with food. There are quite a few articles but it IS EVERYTHING you need to know. Just READ. I’m sorry I don’t want to write out everything I have already written. IF you have a specific question please ask.
My husband has acute pancreatitis. Your article is very helpful. I would rather hear from someone who deal with it in their daily life..than someone who read about it. Thank you!
Hi Tutubi – You are welcome. 🙂 I sincerely hope your husband recovers without continuing problems.
Hello HG , I have a question, I am having asthma lately ,(I am asthmatic ) I am taking right now Prednisolone a aka (Prednisone) reading the side effects it says it will have side effects if you suffer pancreatitis last year I has a Acute Pancreatitis attack , that’s how I find your site ,it had been good for one year now .,after I found your site it was a “paradise” for me ,I learn a lot and from you and it helped tremendously ,but I am skeptical taking this medication ,unfortunately is the only drug that helps me …..I was okay for many years but lately I been feeling the asthma bothering me !I dislike drugs but it is something I can’t do about it ….the medication is only for 21 days this is the second time Dr. put me on it by my request .is a 4MG Dospack I am very scare if it is going to affect my pancreas …I been in this medication different times , i didn’t feel nothing that was affecting my condition but that was before I starting suffering pancreatitis . hanks HG …I hope I am well after I finish this pills ! I wish you HAPPY HOLIDAYS ,WONDERFUL NEW YEAR ,,,blessings .Maria
Hi Maria – some times one has to do what has to be done. Prednisone can cause pancreas inflammation yet it is also used to resolve autoimmune pancreatitis. And it does reduce inflammation because it is a strong anti-inflammatory. I know somewhat of a contradiction. But the anti-inflammatory properties are likely the reason it is effective for your asthma. It likely reduce the bronchial inflammation allowing you to breathe more easily and since breathing is necessary and it is the drug that works for you the choice seems clear. If you can’t breathe you die. I hope you are well soon 🙂
Hi I’m 59 I have pancreatitis had my gallbladder out years ago then in 2018 had ultrasound cause of pain where they said my small bile is blocked but they wouldn’t do Surgery so a year later I experienced worst pain for a day gone to the ER did a ultrasound and asked if I had pancreatitis before I said no then had a colonoscopy done early this month no cancer I also have early cirrhosis my doctors don’t do anything for me I take opioids for my back and a satin and so I moved to my daughters home in case something happens to me. I live day by day
Hi Teresa – I am sorry to hear you are suffering. Did you want help or simply to tell your story?
Thank you Paul for taking the time to write, research & compile all of this info. Your presenting science-based data alongside personal/anecdotal data is so helpful.
Monday before Thanksgiving 2019, I was dxd with biliary dyskinesia plus gb & pan showing inflammation. All because I said to GP, “Feels like someone punched me in the gut & muscles feel tense into my back & shoulder.” Surprising what a random seeming comment during an unrelated appmt leads to, HaHa! Next appmt is in April. GP & GI “graciously” agreeded to allow me to proceed with diet/nutrition changes first before going full til into an operating bay.
You’re right, being celiacs & now going low, low fat/oil is challenging. I added “oil” as some people forget oils are fats, too. It’s certainly making me much more creative with ingredients, especially in baking. Been scouring old WWI & WWII cookbooks.
What data do you suggest keeping in a food diary? I’m an old paper & pen gal with plenty of blank steno books laying around. This part has me stumped. It’s info I’d like to share with the Drs as it may be helpful… just not sure what to include.
Thanks for any insight. Blessed Be.
Hi Beverly – you’re welcome 🙂 The data that should be included in a food diary is of course what food was eaten, when it was first eaten (after diary prep) and how many days it was eaten. Then a listing of any symptoms, when they first appeared, the severity, how long they lasted. Of course if there were no symptoms after several days of ingestion then maybe a Smiley Face with the word SAFE! Then you could add that food to another list/diary that is simply for foods that you know are safe for you.
Why does one take The Ibuprofen? Got the pain or inflammation? My husband just had a ECRP and now his pancreas I would think is in flare up ! He hasn’t anything I three days, but he is drinking . He looks awful I am so worried .
He has been on Creon but stop taking , all the Gastro Drs say something different just fed up and he is so depressed and let down .
I don’t like the Creon won’t him off ! What suggestion would you have me start on him ? Just so tired we both are
Hi Wanda Ibuprofen is an anti-inflammatory drug. Pancreatitis is inflammation. Ibuprofen helps resolve the inflammation.When the inflammation resolves the symptoms usually do as well. Why are you worried about CREON?