Pancreatitis Supplements - Take for How Long?

Both the pancreatitis supplements I take and the diet I adhere to, and have shared with all of you, are NOT a cure. This means unfortunately, you will need to adhere to a strict diet specifically tailored to help your pancreas heal and stay healed along with taking those supplements for pancreatitis until you die and ...

I hope you enjoy many years of health because many of those who have adopted the supplemets I take and the diet I follow have also seen improvement. In fact ...

In fact while skulking around a pancreatitis forum I found myself  reading one person's post in the FB support group and she mentioned that the supplements and diet have helped her to almost feel normal again and she was able to go back to work! That is what I consider to be GREAT news! Several others have also posted some cool comments and so the diet and supplements seem to be helping those who use both properly.

Unfortunately, like I said in my opening statement, the diet and supplements are NOT a cure for pancreatitis. There is no cure for pancreatitis but from my own personal experience and from what others, who are using the diet and supplements say - they seem to work for other people who suffer from pancreatitis, not just me, and, that is pretty dang cool. But ...

If you begin the diet and supplements, start to feel better, even more well than you may have felt in quite some time and you STOP the diet, or the supplements or both, chances are you'll soon be sick again. Also ...

IF you have pancreatitis due to alocohol consumption and you continue to drink, neither diet nor supplements will keep you well. The diet and supplements may work wonders for those who use them but they won't work for those who continue to drink alcohol, so, if you plan to keep drinking, you may as well save your money for that casket you are going to need in the not to far distant future.

Something else I want to mention and this is strictly my own opinion so take it for what it is worth ...

I stay away from doctors.

I might change my mind if I truly thought I was dying, most folks do anything to live but ...

I have NOT let doctors poke and prod me after I was diagnosed because most everything they do in regards to pancreatitis either doesn't work, can actually cause another acute pancreatitis attack or even kill me and they have NO idea how to cure it anyway. The sad part is they don't even know how to treat it unless you become so bad you need some sort of surgical intervention! They guess, wait for the butchering green light and that is pretty much all they do unless things have really changed. I can do the guessing myself. I'm actually good at guessing. And ...

I think, I ain't sure you understand, that I am alive and fairly well today (30+ years after diagnosis) because I never went back except to keep my nausea meds script current and available. I simply used my head, did research and got lucky. However ...

I DO NOT SUGGEST YOU DO WHAT I DO in regards to doctors and their help but let me give some examples of why I feel this way.

1) Most doctors that I have met (except one) weren't even able to recognize the condition. Unless you blurt out you are an alcoholic (if you are one) the chances are still very good they couldn't diagnose pancreatitis to save their soul, especially if it were due to some other factor. Most still seem to think if you don't drink or have gallstones that you simply couldn't have pancreatitis. However, I must admit that there ARE good doctors out there, I know cuz in 58 years of life I have met two.

2) Even IF you get lucky and have an ER doc who is smart enough to read your prior med records (you've been diagnosed with pancreatitis already) he or she may be one of those who think they know more than the doc before and tell you that you have some other condition and let you suffer while he looks for some off-the-wall goof ball diagnosis like giardia and all this time you are in pain, puking and the damage to your pancreas is increasing.

3) Let's go so far as to say you get even luckier. You get an ER doc who is not only smart enough to read your prior med records but actually takes them seriously and he or she draws blood to check your enzymes. Your enzymes (Amylase and Lipase) are up, he or she orders a CT and stuffs a tube down your throat, then injects morphine, demerol or some other opiate which irritates the pancreas even more and can even CAUSE acute pancreatitis! And in my case demerol didn't do shit for the pain. Instead of trying to "mask" the pain with an opiate they should be administering an anti-inflammatory such as Ibuprofen. Ibuprofen and other NSAIDS carry risks as well but at least they address the problem, the inflammation where opiates don't do a damn thing in that regard. Then ...

He or she may also decide they need to do an ERCP. They do an ERCP and actually cause another acute pancreatitis attack or damage a duct or actually slice something on accident. Don't roll your eyes ERCP has an 11% complication track record which means 11 people out of 100 suffer complications from ERCP! How would you like to be one of the lucky 11? Yes, ok, in all fairness that also means that 89 out of 100 patients supposedly come through with no problems but ...

If I have other choices, I'll pass. I personally do NOT want anyone poking around my pancreas, gallbladder, bile ducts or pancreatic duct with some sharp instrument that can do me more harm when there are other choices such as, US, EUS, CT, MRI and so on that have a lessor chance of creating further damage. However ...

YOU need to make your own decisions in regards to your life, health and the care you receive. Wow ...

Did I get off the beaten path or what?

Forgive me, I am getting older ya know and dementia could be setting in :-)

Anyway ...

IF you have this crap called pancreatitis and have experienced more than one acute attack or your scans show damage, well, the diet and supplements are a forever thing. There is no cure for pancreatitis.