Pancreatitis - Change in diet triggered bad diarrhea...

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laurah
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Pancreatitis - Change in diet triggered bad diarrhea...

Post by laurah »

My pancreas is acting up so I'm on a low fat, low protein diet, with multiple small meals instead of 3 normal ones. Even on my normal safe foods my d came back with a vengeance. My pancreas doesn't hurt on the diet, so that's nice, but...you know...it was nice to have the d under control for a few months.

The pancreatitis diet is almost opposite what has been working well for me for MC (high protein high fat, moderate to low fruit and veg, no grains just sweet potatoes for starch). Without the fat and with less protein I'm going to be mighty hungry if I also am not eating grains or potatoes (avoiding nightshades for autoimmune arthritis).

Any thoughts? Suggested websites for people with both MC and Pancreatitis?
Let me Google that for you.
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tex
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Post by tex »

Hi Laura,

It's not uncommon for an inflamed pancreas to be associated with MC. However, for most of us, the pancreas issues typically fade away as the MC symptoms are brought under control. So it's possible that something else may be driving your pancreatitis. I hope that your doctor is attempting to determine what might be causing it.

Are you by any chance taking one of the mesalamine-based medications (such as Asacol, Colozal, Pentasa, Aprisa, Lialda, etc.)? The reason I ask is because mesalamine is known to cause pancreatitis in some IBD cases, especially if long-term use is involved.

Just guessing, I would suspect that low glycemic index grains would be better choices than higher glycemic index grains (if insulin production is a problem). That points to quinoa, buckwheat, and wild rice, for example.

Tex
:cowboy:

It is suspected that some of the hardest material known to science can be found in the skulls of GI specialists who insist that diet has nothing to do with the treatment of microscopic colitis.
laurah
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Joined: Fri Sep 26, 2014 7:44 pm
Location: Austin

Post by laurah »

Hi Tex,

The only medicine I'm on is an estrogen patch, and I got that in mid November, shortly before the pains began. HRT is associated with pancreatitis (rare but happens), and I wonder if that is what triggered it, although once it's triggered, I still need the diet to settle things down.

My regular dr was unwilling to say definitively to go off the patch, and I don't see the GI doc till Tues. Once I see the GI doc and get more info I will go to my gyn and decide what to do about the hormones. I just had a complete hyst (ovaries too), so surgical menopause is one unattractive other option...was hoping to avoid that, but my pancreas may have other ideas.

Meanwhile, I haven't been able to tolerate rice, but I'll give buckwheat and quinoa a try! Thanks for the suggestions!!!

Laura
Let me Google that for you.
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tex
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Post by tex »

Laura,

This is a tough situation to be in because HRT (especially estrogen supplementation) typically triggers MC symptoms also, unfortunately, even when administered transdermally. IOW the re-triggering of inflammation in your intestines (MC) may be what's causing the inflammation in your pancreas. And furthermore, if that's the case, then resolving the MC inflammation should resolve the pancreatitis.

Hopefully at least one of your doctors will come up with a workable solution.

Good luck with this.

Tex
:cowboy:

It is suspected that some of the hardest material known to science can be found in the skulls of GI specialists who insist that diet has nothing to do with the treatment of microscopic colitis.
laurah
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Joined: Fri Sep 26, 2014 7:44 pm
Location: Austin

Post by laurah »

Good to know!!! I have avoided taking Budesonide in hopes of managing the symptoms through diet alone, but do you think it's worth a shot to get the inflammation under control (while maintaining the diet, of course)?

Interesting how much info there is about managing pancreatitis in dogs, but not so much about it in humans. I recently read an article by a physician who had been called in to assist with some vets on animals, and she found herself learning a TON from the vets about postpartum depression and animals who do self-harm behaviors that she could apply to humans. It makes sense - we're ALL animals. But that's a whole different discussion ;-)
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tex
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Post by tex »

I doubt that the Entocort will help to suppress pancreatic inflammation directly (because less than about 20 % of it is absorbed into the bloodstream), but by lowering the inflammation level in the intestines, that surely would have to help suppress the pancreatic inflammation in the long run. Usually, the sooner we can lower inflammation levels, the better off all our internal organs are.

Yes, it certainly seems that vets are generally way ahead of MDs in their understanding of diseases and treatments. They seem to "listen" to their patients more than MDs. Even though their patients can't speak, they transmit a lot of information by means of body language, and vets pick up on this. IOW, they learn from their patients — something that MDs seem to be loathe to do. MDs tend to ask questions, but then they commonly ignore the answers and follow their own predetermined routine for deciding on a treatment. :roll:

This is especially true for food sensitivities. Have you ever read any of the blogs posted on this topic by the British vet John Symes? His online name is Dogtor J. You can access some of his insight at his website:

http://dogtorj.com/

Tex
:cowboy:

It is suspected that some of the hardest material known to science can be found in the skulls of GI specialists who insist that diet has nothing to do with the treatment of microscopic colitis.
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