pancreatic insufficiency

[anonymous]

i know that pancreatic insufficiency tends to get worse as we age. i was just wondering how its progressed for you? in other words, at what intervals have you had to increase your enzymes?

when i was a small child, i think i took between one and two enzymes with meals. as i got to be near 10 or so the max increased to 3. (if memory serves me right.) being a teenager i think 4 was my max, but now i have been at 5 max for years and years. lately, though, especially when i eat food with a lot of fat, i find that i'm taking 5 and then 20 or 30 min later i'll get that "feeling" in my belly and know that i need to take one or two more. not sure if this is my body needing more enzymes or if my gut is just becomming less tolerant of fatty foods. by the way, things on the "exit side" seem okay...not always consistant, but it never has been.

 

[anonymous]

i know that pancreatic insufficiency tends to get worse as we age. i was just wondering how its progressed for you? in other words, at what intervals have you had to increase your enzymes?

when i was a small child, i think i took between one and two enzymes with meals. as i got to be near 10 or so the max increased to 3. (if memory serves me right.) being a teenager i think 4 was my max, but now i have been at 5 max for years and years. lately, though, especially when i eat food with a lot of fat, i find that i'm taking 5 and then 20 or 30 min later i'll get that "feeling" in my belly and know that i need to take one or two more. not sure if this is my body needing more enzymes or if my gut is just becomming less tolerant of fatty foods. by the way, things on the "exit side" seem okay...not always consistant, but it never has been.

 

[anonymous]

i know that pancreatic insufficiency tends to get worse as we age. i was just wondering how its progressed for you? in other words, at what intervals have you had to increase your enzymes?

when i was a small child, i think i took between one and two enzymes with meals. as i got to be near 10 or so the max increased to 3. (if memory serves me right.) being a teenager i think 4 was my max, but now i have been at 5 max for years and years. lately, though, especially when i eat food with a lot of fat, i find that i'm taking 5 and then 20 or 30 min later i'll get that "feeling" in my belly and know that i need to take one or two more. not sure if this is my body needing more enzymes or if my gut is just becomming less tolerant of fatty foods. by the way, things on the "exit side" seem okay...not always consistant, but it never has been.

 

[Giggles]

I have been having major stomache issue and was wondering the same thing. I always took enzymes but never had stomache problems, ate whatever I wanted and I did get occasional stomache aches but nothing consistent or interrupted my life.

Now it is a whole other story and ironically I was also diagnosed diabetic last year and the stomache issue have basically started since then. So not sure if there is a correlation there. But now I get really bad stomache aches that last days when sometimes I eat out and I also get frequent constipation and have to take Miralmax everyday to every other day. Not sure why this is all happening and would like to know if it is the CF or what.


Jennifer 34 years old with CF and CFRD

 

[Giggles]

I have been having major stomache issue and was wondering the same thing. I always took enzymes but never had stomache problems, ate whatever I wanted and I did get occasional stomache aches but nothing consistent or interrupted my life.

Now it is a whole other story and ironically I was also diagnosed diabetic last year and the stomache issue have basically started since then. So not sure if there is a correlation there. But now I get really bad stomache aches that last days when sometimes I eat out and I also get frequent constipation and have to take Miralmax everyday to every other day. Not sure why this is all happening and would like to know if it is the CF or what.


Jennifer 34 years old with CF and CFRD

 

[Giggles]

I have been having major stomache issue and was wondering the same thing. I always took enzymes but never had stomache problems, ate whatever I wanted and I did get occasional stomache aches but nothing consistent or interrupted my life.

Now it is a whole other story and ironically I was also diagnosed diabetic last year and the stomache issue have basically started since then. So not sure if there is a correlation there. But now I get really bad stomache aches that last days when sometimes I eat out and I also get frequent constipation and have to take Miralmax everyday to every other day. Not sure why this is all happening and would like to know if it is the CF or what.


Jennifer 34 years old with CF and CFRD

 

[JazzysMom]

I actually have had a decrease over the years. I started out upon dx using Viokas then went to Pancrease & now am on Ultrase. Each one was slightly different in dose, but when figured out it was giving similiar results. I can say that since starting my calcium & new ABDEK (instead of ADEK) that I am more prone to constipation, but that doesnt seem to correlate with the enzymes.

 

[JazzysMom]

I actually have had a decrease over the years. I started out upon dx using Viokas then went to Pancrease & now am on Ultrase. Each one was slightly different in dose, but when figured out it was giving similiar results. I can say that since starting my calcium & new ABDEK (instead of ADEK) that I am more prone to constipation, but that doesnt seem to correlate with the enzymes.

 

[JazzysMom]

I actually have had a decrease over the years. I started out upon dx using Viokas then went to Pancrease & now am on Ultrase. Each one was slightly different in dose, but when figured out it was giving similiar results. I can say that since starting my calcium & new ABDEK (instead of ADEK) that I am more prone to constipation, but that doesnt seem to correlate with the enzymes.

 

[Diane]

I also seem to require less as the years went on and started out on Viokase as a child like Melissa. I am now on Pangestyme ( generic brand) and i only take one with each meal. Seems to work perfect for me .

 

[Diane]

I also seem to require less as the years went on and started out on Viokase as a child like Melissa. I am now on Pangestyme ( generic brand) and i only take one with each meal. Seems to work perfect for me .

 

[Diane]

I also seem to require less as the years went on and started out on Viokase as a child like Melissa. I am now on Pangestyme ( generic brand) and i only take one with each meal. Seems to work perfect for me .

 

[anonymous]

I started out pancreatic sufficient and as I got older progressed to being insufficient. Now I take 4-5 Pancrecarb MS 8s with a meal and 2-3 with snacks at age 21. So yeah mine has gotten worse

 

[anonymous]

I started out pancreatic sufficient and as I got older progressed to being insufficient. Now I take 4-5 Pancrecarb MS 8s with a meal and 2-3 with snacks at age 21. So yeah mine has gotten worse

 

[anonymous]

I started out pancreatic sufficient and as I got older progressed to being insufficient. Now I take 4-5 Pancrecarb MS 8s with a meal and 2-3 with snacks at age 21. So yeah mine has gotten worse

 

[Chaggie]

absolutely it can.  Although I've been pretty stable with my
enzymes for the last 15 years, I steadily had to up my doses and
change meds as I got older.

 

[Chaggie]

absolutely it can.  Although I've been pretty stable with my
enzymes for the last 15 years, I steadily had to up my doses and
change meds as I got older.

 

[Chaggie]

absolutely it can.  Although I've been pretty stable with my
enzymes for the last 15 years, I steadily had to up my doses and
change meds as I got older.

 

[coltsfan715]

I saw an increase and then a decrease growing up. The smallest dose I can remember taking when I was in elementary school was 3. I took Pancreas whatevers I think it slowly increased from the smallest dosage to a higher dosage the highest I took was something like 15 -20 with the Pancreas. They slowly uped my dosage to a point that I was taking 7 per meal.

I switched to Ultrase MT 20 because I was still having difficulty with the Pancreas at 7 per meal. I then started to have issues with chronic stomach cramping and stomach pain. The ended up running tests on me to see what the problem was - as they knew it wasn't fat absorption. They then found out with the med switch I was taking too many enzymes. Now I take 4 per meal - 1-3 with snacks and I have little to no problems. The ONLY time I have stomach issues is when I eat food with ANY type of spice - be it mild or hot it doesn't matter it tears my stomach to shreds, but that is more of a spicy food thing than an enzyme thing.

Lindsey

 

[coltsfan715]

I saw an increase and then a decrease growing up. The smallest dose I can remember taking when I was in elementary school was 3. I took Pancreas whatevers I think it slowly increased from the smallest dosage to a higher dosage the highest I took was something like 15 -20 with the Pancreas. They slowly uped my dosage to a point that I was taking 7 per meal.

I switched to Ultrase MT 20 because I was still having difficulty with the Pancreas at 7 per meal. I then started to have issues with chronic stomach cramping and stomach pain. The ended up running tests on me to see what the problem was - as they knew it wasn't fat absorption. They then found out with the med switch I was taking too many enzymes. Now I take 4 per meal - 1-3 with snacks and I have little to no problems. The ONLY time I have stomach issues is when I eat food with ANY type of spice - be it mild or hot it doesn't matter it tears my stomach to shreds, but that is more of a spicy food thing than an enzyme thing.

Lindsey