Pancreatitis - Diet to be followed after recovery

Hi everyone.
As a pancreatitis sufferer I found this threas really interesting.
My problems started September 2009. Suffering "stomach cramps" and was diagnosed with IBS, although no bowel difficulties! The medication I was put on didn't help and in November 2009 I almost collapsed at work and got rushed into A&E. I was in hospital for 10 days with pancreatitis, on a drip, doing lots of tests. They didn't find any gallstones and think I was suffering through my lifestyle choice, drinking, eating what I wanted (being so young, only 19 at the time, what I ate didn't really affect my waist!). They told me to quit drinking and take some medication and it will clear up. Whilst I was in hospital I was on paracetomol, which made things worse, realising I'm actually allergic to it! So came away from hospital having learnt something and a bag full of pills! I stayed off work and had the dullest Christmas of my life. My pains eased off but I wasn't completely pain free. Probably a day before new year I started suffering again real bad. I was due back at work a few days after new year- unfortunately never made it! I ended back in hospital with pancreatitis again. again no gsll bladder issues, so drip, pain killers, a week later they sent me on my way with morphine tablets. I started back at work mid-feb 2010. Still suffering pain a fair amount but managable. the hospital never once told me to stop drinking alcohol or change my diet. So I stopped drinking whilst I felt bad but eventually, around late march time (fed up of being 19 and not being allowed to drink) I started socially drinking again. Little bits of pain here and there, but nothing a few codeine couldn't solve!
My pains eventually pretty much disappeared around the September 2010 time, so a year of suffering!
Had a nice few months, forgot all about my recent troubles, had a nice christmas, started a new job etc!
Until the end of February!! I was suffering stomach (sort of right hand side under my ribs.... as before) pains in the week but thought I'd eaten something. I went away for a friends birthday and had quite a weekend on the ale. Sunday morning I woke up, being sick a lot and in agony! I was meant to drive 200 miles home in that state, lucky for me my partner can drive! So I got home ok and on the Monday went to the doctors and had a blood test and got pain killers. that night the emergency doctor rang and said my Amylase levels were 210 and my lipase levels were over 2000. Hence the pain! Definately pancreatitis, if the pain gets worse or become dehydrated i was to go into hospital. it took until the next morning and i was in hospital.
they pumped me full of vitamins and stuff and was on a drip for 2 days. luckily they only kept me in for 2 nights and came out on the 3rd march 2011. today it is 12th march and i am still in agony and have been sick a lot today. i've barely eaten since coming out of hospital and iv been drinking 4 litres of water a day.

really im looking for diet tips for low fat, what i can eat and what i should avoid?!

and also, is anyone who suffers from pancreatitis diabetic? or have a family history of diabetes? although i am not diabetic myself, my grandad was and i wonder if with it being the pancreas then there is some form of relation?

thanks

J x

Always have diahrea with and after pancreatitis. Amount of food is a big key for amount of pain. I also do the small meal, with no fat as much as possible. Makes it hard for eating out which use to be my favorite thing! This attack has been going on since before Valentines day. Some days are good, some are horrid, so I have to think what I ate the day before that is out of norm. Soda, especially Coke or Pepsi sends me over the edge! The other over the edge food is salad, especially with iceberg lettuce. Weird, huh.

My husband had his first attack on Oct. 12, 2010. The inflammation quickly turned to infection which was shutting down all his internal organs. He was sent to a bigger hospital with specialists. He was sedated and put on a ventilator for two weeks. He spent 7 weeks in hospital. When he was discharged he was given a prescription for an enzyme (Creon) which just lately we have figured out how to take them. He too, had major diahrea until he got his dosage figured out. Soda also has a bad effect on him - you can hear loud and clear the bubbles circulating around in his intestines. He no longer drinks soda. Sometimes he lets a can of gingerale go flat and them he might take a couple of swallows. He use to be a big cola drinker. No more gravy, tuna helper was bad as well as pork & beans.
We can now eat out like we use to. When he first came home all he could manage was about 3 spoons of soup at a meal.
We wish you well.

Hello, My son was in the er for the second time in a week with pancreatis..He has stage four hepititas C and is waiting for the new treatment . He is in and out of the hospital with the pancreatis.   I really like this site as it is giving me some ideas as to what to feed him.   He likes to suck on hard candy so i guess thats a no no... He smokes and i wonder how bad that is... The dr says he needs protein but meat seems to bother him.. I am wondering about fish oil,,,,has anyone tried that and does it help?? I was giving him peanut butter and jelly sandwiches but is jam not good??  Now i read that rice is very good and to eat it with every meal,, has anyone tried that??  A recent trip to the er  was after he had a coke the night before....The dr said it may have been the coke,  Yesterday  he did not feel good all day and had chicken  rice and green beans and blueberries for dinner,,,,maybe the meal was too big??    good luck to all  and thank you for any information you may have for me....

hi i just found that website, they diagnosed me 4 years ago with pancreastitis , they still don't know why i have it, and  i just had my first attack a month ago. They maid so many test with my, everything looks good, it is really frustrating.
 I always went to the hospital because of something else,for example: my Appendix, flew virus etc. But the always kept me longer because my blood results of my pancreas where very high. I'm also not in real pain, feels more like a stronger heartburn or pressure in my chest, when i'm eating. I don't drink anymore, and before that, i was not really drinking either.
I hope that forum gets active again, because it feels good to talk to people who go through the same, and know how hard it is that the doctors dont find anything. I kinda gave it up, I'm like i dont care anymore, I don't wanna be for the rest of my live on a diet I'm 27 years old, but it looks like i have to
 

Last week I was jarred awake by excruciating pain, it felt like a football player had head butted me under my rib cage helmet and all. My husband took me directly to the ER where they took some blood and told me I had pancreatitis. They started an IV and two doses of morphine later I wasn't feeling any pain. The next day they performed a scope of my upper abdomen due to me being on Celebrex for arthritis and Amoxicillin and Codeine for the last week for a root canal that had to be redone. They found no issue with that scope. That night they still had me on the IV of course, but also gave me a clear liquid diet. I had no pain after eating some beef broth, jello, and apple juice. The second scope was done on Friday and I was given nothing to eat Thursday night after midnight. The scope was at two. They did not find any sludge or stones in any of my ducts. There was one place that was super tight and a sphincterotomy was performed to allow more room for bile to flow through. He also noticed some scarring there andvfelt possibly that some crystals had passed through with difficulty. That night the pain returned. They had given me some chicken broth and it triggered another attack. It took Demerol and Toradol to knock out the pain and I needed an anti nausea drug. The next morning, though tender (probably from the procedure) I felt okay. I tolerated apple juice and beef broth for breakfast. And that started me thinking about the chicken broth. It turned out it came from the nurses station and not the kitchen and it was not as diluted as the beef. Then the GI doc visited me, this was Saturday morning-blood had be drawn at 4 AM. Yes 4 AM. We agreed, or actually he reluctantly agreed thinking that it would never happen, that I could go home at three if I could tolerate lunch. Hevalso told me that in should notnhave toreador since it increases the chance of bleeding. Lunchtime came and I ate a third of a baked chicken breast, some mashed potatoes, and a few bites of fruit cocktail. I started my count down to three pm At two, the floorbdoc, officially called the "hospitalist". There was a new one that saw me every day, no continuity at all. He told me that he wanted me to stay another day. I said that I was planning on leaving at three if I had no pain. Hevsaid he did not agree with that and my lipase levels were off the chart. I asked what they were andcwhat was that. I never thought to ask the GI levels nor did he offer them. Hevsaid it was 2900 with high level for normal to be no greater than 50. I told him that since those levels were attained with the 4 AM drawing, and no blood had been drawn since, that the GI saw the same numbers andcsaid I could be released. To saybhecwas not happy with me is an understatement. I was released and though tender , I feel okay. Btw two years ago I had my gall bladder removed no stones, very little sludge, yet my sphincter of Odie (sp?) was not opening to release bile. I don't know what to think about the cause. The day of the attack I had mynusual breakfast of plain nonfat yogurt with fresh berries and Truvia, though that day I was too busy to eat lunch and babysat for our daughter who had ordered pizza andinhad three slices of veggie pizza which may have caused my pancreas to revolt by having that much fat so quickly. I am not overweight, don't smoke drink maybe 4 or 5 glasses of wine a week . Have been on pain meds like ibuprofen and muscle relaxers, Skelaxian, since December when I had a cervical fusion of my C6. I ate yesterday some mashed potatoes and Gatorade. Today I had gluten free chicken noodle soup (3 grams of fat for the whole can)' and fat free light sourdough bread I found at the health food store. I will be watching my fat intake closely, no one wants to go through that type of pain ever again.

Your mention of being on Amoxicillin rang a bell. My husband had just finished taking a course of Amoxicillin on the day of his attack. If you look it up you will see that is one of the side effects of it - causes pancreatitis. On his discharge paper the doctor noted that Cimetidine and Zocor are also probably causes of it too and had him discontinue taking them.

He has found that he can not eat much chocolate candy either. He now only drinks decaf coffee or tea when we eat out.

Had his second CT scan since leaving hospital in December and we will meet with the doctor tomorrow to discuss what it shows. His first one showed a psuedocyst and necrosis on the pancreas.

Thanks for all the stories and helpful tips.  Just reading others experiences is helping me to learn to manage my own. 

I am a 32 y.o. female.  I had my gallbladder removed 16 years ago when I was 16.  I have a strong female family history of gallbladder problems.  My mom, sister, 2 aunts, grandma, several cousins have all had it removed at a young age, not obesity related either.  I am 5'8, 175 pounds, so I am overweight. I am a frequent runner and triathlete.  I run 12-20 miles per week. 

I had my first (and hopefully last) pancreatitis attack 5-12-11.  I had just eaten a bowl of cereal and drank a glass of chia seed water when the pain hit.  Within 20 minutes, my husband called my EMT father to come and assess me.  He was on call that night and made the call to transport me to the ER via ambulance.  The pain was almost instant and increased in intensity until it was unbearable.  The pain was localized directly midline below my sternum down to a few inches above my belly button.  After an initial assessment they drew blood and took a urine sample.  They then gave me Demerol via IV and the pain eased off a little, but still came in waves that intensified and then backed off.  My labs came back with amylase level of 145 and lipase of 1225.  They did an abdominal ultrasound, and everything looked unremarkable.  They could not discover any cause of my attack.

I was discharged with instructions to not eat anything NPO for 3-4 days and then slowly re-introduce clear liquid diet and go from there.  Luckily I had a dad who could give me IV bags twice a day and avoid being admitted to the hospital.  He would text me in the morning and ask if I was ready for my "breakfast".  The pain subsided and I managed it with Lortab 7.5 and IV's twice a day.  I did take sips of water and PowerAde.  Yesterday was the first day I tried eating anything.  I had 1 cup of noodle soup broth for lunch and 1 cup for dinner.  I snacked on 1 piece of bread through the whole day.  I AM STARVING! :)  Today is day 5 of eating pretty much nothing.  Every time I think about eating, I'm reminded of the pain and I refrain.  I'm so scared to eat anything at this point.  They removed my IV line yesterday so now it is all on me to stay out of the hospital.  Every twinge of pain, lack of urine, diarrhea makes me freak out.  They drew labs yesterday and I am waiting for the results.    

From what I've read, mine is a milder case.  I want to keep it that way.  I'm so concerned about what changes I need to make to my diet and how this will affect my running performance and abilities.  I have a 10k in 2 weeks.  I have a follow-up appointment with GI doc later this week.

Thanks for all the help!  This was been a scary weekend.       

 

I didn't know that I had a

i recently recovered from acute pancreatitis,,,i dont know about my diet,what to be taken....... after seeing your postings i got some idea about my diet......thanks for all for sharing your experiences 

Hello everyone am 20 years old and suffered acute pancreatits 13 days ago, which the the 3 last days i've been out of the hospital. The doctors dissmissed me from the hospital without any information nor for the diet nor if I would still feel pain after nor nothing. Well the pain is there but in a mild form and i dont know if i should worry about that or if it takes time to go away. All i know is to stay away from fat. I've lost lots  of weight and i feel full with basically a banana. If i eat more my pain get escalated. I used to exercise a lot but know am always feeling dizzy and tired and after 10 pushups everything gets blurry and black. The whole situation got me really stressed, the doctors are clueless and i dont know where else to turn to.  Thank u all for ur posts.....and if anyone can help me.....please do 

Hi

I just spent 5 days in the hospital with AP. I had my gall bladder out in 1983, am a 50 year old female, slightly but not ridiculously overweight. I have had intermittent stomach problems for years, but never anything like this.  My lipase was over 8,000 upon admission to the hospital.  I had every ultrasound and CT they could do. When I left the hospital, I was given no instructions other then stay on a soft bland diet and no fats.  I went away on vacation and had some horrible bouts of pain despiite being careful.  Since I've been back I have been constantly nauseous, had stabbing pains, and lost twenty lbs in three weeks. I had an MRCP with nothing remarkable, and yesterday had an endoscopy.  My GI doc is at a loss as to why I still have pain and am so nauseous since my labs are back to normal.  I'm starting to think I'm going nuts, and I am staying on the no fat, no spice, bland, jello and broth diet.  I just really don't know what to expect... Is this the normal recovery from pancreatitis? 

Thanks for any insite...I am at a loss.

MK

 

I am 57 and just got out of hospital after a 2 week stay.  I had never heard of pancreatitis before this and had no idea the cause.   I do have gall stones and I do drink too much according to the docs, anyway.   So I dont know if the alcohol or the gallstones was the cause of this first attack.   If I have the gall bladder removed and stop the alcohol, is it possible to never have another attack or it is something I will have to live with for the rest of my life?  This scared the piss outa me and I dont think I will have too much of a problem quitting alcohol.   I stopped smoking 12 yrs ago without too much of a problem, except for the 75 lbs that I put on after that happened.   Since I was admitted I have lost 32 lbs, and it has been coming off at about a pound a day since I got home.  I am eating a very low fat diet, less than 20g a day.  So far nothing has seemed to bother me except eating too much at one time.  I never want another attack like this again.  What are the chances of that happening.  My docs seem to think that all well be great after the gall baldder comes out, if i can stay off the booze.  It has been 5 days since I got home and my strenth is still very low.   I just want to be better.

I have had cronic pancreatitis for 3yrs and acute for 5yrs before that. I found that I would ALWAYS have more pain and end up in the hospital right before my period. My Dr.s have discounted that as a problem but I started experiencing stomache issues when I was 18 and first started taking BC. I can no longer take any form of birthcontrol, they ALL make me sick. I am glad that Im not the only one who has had this correlation.

You arent nuts!! You could have cronic pancreatitis. That means your lipase and amilase levels stay normal but you still experience all the pain and throwing up. I have had that for the last 3yrs. The Drs kept saying nothing was worng with me even after 20 some bouts of acute pancreatitis. Now I am dealing with cronic pancreatitis and the drs want to do a distal pancreatectomy. Keep after them you are not going crazy!