Amounts of enzymes

[Guest guest]

Hi everyone,

We have sometimes talked on the board about the amount of enzymes we

take, the number of capsules etc. Some of you will know that my

consultant prescribes very high doses, eg. up to 4 X Creon 40,000

per meal. Some of his patients take up to 8, I believe. These are

higher amounts than are prescribed by many doctors.

Some people might be interested in reading an article in this

month's Journal of the Pancreas, an excellent electronic resource,

which discusses this very issue. The article isn't always easy to

follow in some ways.....lots of figures, scientific jargon

etc......but its conclusions are straightforward enough. To simplify

considerably: the article looks at the question of the amount of

lipase produced by the human pancreas and whether or not it is more

than is needed for digestion to occur. The conclusion is that very

large amounts are actually needed for satisfactory digestion.

The link is

www.joplink.net/

I hope some of you find it useful. Obviously medical opinion differs

on this, as on so many other issues, and it's important to follow

our own specialists' advice for us individually and not to prescribe

for ourselves! Nevertheless, it's worth glancing at this article,

I feel.

With warm wishes to all,

Fliss (UK)

[Guest guest]

> Hi everyone,

> We have sometimes talked on the board about the amount of enzymes

we

> take, the number of capsules etc. Some of you will know that my

> consultant prescribes very high doses, eg. up to 4 X Creon 40,000

> per meal. Some of his patients take up to 8, I believe. These are

> higher amounts than are prescribed by many doctors.

>

> Some people might be interested in reading an article in this

> month's Journal of the Pancreas, an excellent electronic resource,

> which discusses this very issue. The article isn't always easy to

> follow in some ways.....lots of figures, scientific jargon

> etc......but its conclusions are straightforward enough. To

simplify

> considerably: the article looks at the question of the amount of

> lipase produced by the human pancreas and whether or not it is

more

> than is needed for digestion to occur. The conclusion is that very

> large amounts are actually needed for satisfactory digestion.

>

> The link is

> www.joplink.net/

>

> I hope some of you find it useful. Obviously medical opinion

differs

> on this, as on so many other issues, and it's important to follow

> our own specialists' advice for us individually and not to

prescribe

> for ourselves! Nevertheless, it's worth glancing at this

article,

> I feel.

> With warm wishes to all,

> Fliss (UK)

Dear Fliss...

Thanks for his post. Can you explain to me who should be taking

pancreatitis enzymes. I have tried them in the past, but haven't

noticed them to do much for me. Maybe I wasn't taking enough.

Does taking these enzymes make the pancreas work less hard?

THANKS,

Shirley

[Guest guest]

Hello all, long time no chat! (This is Bert, I was active on this forum

2002-2004 or so; I had a total pancreatectomy in May 2003).

I just wanted to chime in and say that due to insurance issues and a

personal financial crisis (illness tends to do that, doesn't it?) that

I actually endure a month without any pancreatic enzymes, and let me

tell you that is not a good thing at all! I am back on my Creon20 and

doing so much better. For me 2-3 capsules of Creon20 per meal does the

trick. Having had the perspective of living without creon for a month I

can say that it truly is an awesome drug.

[Guest guest]

Sue, Fliss,

Since my pancreas burn out, I've been taking a minimum of 6-7 Viokase 16's

with each meal. That means that I'm getting 96,000-110,00 units of lipase,

360,00-420,000 units of amylase and 360,000-420,000 units of protease

each time I eat. That may not be as high as what you've been taking, but it

does seem quite a bit higher than what most people use.

I haven't yet had a chance to read the links that Fliss sent in, but I do recall

reading some medical research that stated that the very MINIMUM amount of

lipase that was needed to be effective would be at least 30,000 units.

With love, hope and prayers,

Heidi

Heidi H. Griffeth

www.pancassociation.org/anthology#Heidi.html

Bluffton, SC

SC State & SE Regional Representative

Pancreatitis Association, International

www.health.groups.yahoo.com/group/pancreatitis/

Note: All comments or advice are personal opinion only, and should not be

substituted for professional medical consultation.