Vitamin B's aid in digestion and is a big reason large doses are in vitamins aimed at CFers. I'm chronically low in D3 and had been taking a 10,000 IU D3 over and above what's in my AquADEK and such for years. My brand new GI doctor ordered a CBC, metabolic panel and a vitamin assay.
The test was predictable except my D3. I was toxic! When he first told me I had vitamin D poisoning, I corrected what had to be a low value. Nope, a portion of my abdominal misery was self inflicted. D3 toxicity has symptoms familiar to us, abdominal pain, gas, diarrhea and nausea. No wonder I hadn't noticed but something has changed.
Having been discouraged from a pancreatectomy, for the moment, I've been trying to reduce my abdominal pain. I get the "tummy aches" that are far more than what others would describe in those words. Gut shot, eating ground glass, hit by a truck and drug through a knot hole, backwards is rather dramatic for a daily routine but sometimes it just saps all the fun out of the thrill of living.
In researching the pancreatectomy I learned a lot about reducing abdominal dysfunction. My stools had changed from hard constipation to an adhesive paste that caused a lot of painful soft blockages called Distal Intestinal Obstruction Syndrome or DIOS. For the last six months, I've been increasing my enzyme dosage. I have doubled my Creon and doubled it almost again. Two benefits have been realized by doing this. My stools are semi-formed at the beginning and I am gaining weight with no change in my diet. WOW! It also explains why my vitamin D poisoning happened. There's no lack of vitamin D in my diet and until this recent test, my vitamin panels were normal to a little low.
In a recent post topic on muscle loss, the inadequacy of enzyme treatment compared to a healthy GI tract underscores how challenging all this is. A friend recently reminded me of how critical everything involved with digestion can be. Her grandfather was missing his large bowel and she was part of his care giving team. They had an industrial fan in the bathroom because food that hasn't been treated to benefit of a large bowel redefines stinky.
My CF father quietly dealt with Crone's disease and the same nasty gastritis, GERD and IBS many of us know all too well. He took his meals and medicines by the clock. Like Robert Frost's Caldwell, the banker, his routine was to the minute. 12 minutes before each meal he'd take his enzyme pills and breakfast, lunch and dinner were at 5:30 am, noon and 5:30 pm, plus or minus a minute. Although this was a solution that fit his organized personality, enzymes weren't time release and it worked, for him.
There's no easy fix for anybody. The practice of reinforcing a schedule for your daily life can help the body adapt to a regular schedule for anticipating food, performing the best digestion it can and hopefully eliminating on a schedule. Having said this it is beyond me to be so organized.
I believe that maldigestion's symptoms are obvious and overwhelming. Indicators that point towards proper digestion are reduction in fecal volume, formed, dense stools and something less nauseating and painful instead of an hour of drooling nausea and massaging our distended and bloated bellies.
Feel better,
LL
