Re : checking in

[Guest guest]

Hello Charmaine,

I can't tell you anything about moving from acute pancreatitis to

chronic. I know that some patients can have a one-off attack and

then no more; perhaps some can have a few attacks and then no more.

You would need to check this out with your specialist.

However, as somebody who has had CP all her life, I can say

categorically that tolerance to foods can vary enormously, even for

the same patient. There are some foods (eg. fried) which I never

eat, but I can have attacks for no apparent reason, not having

changed my diet from one day to the next. I have just had a number

of " good " weeks with little or no pain and hardly any feeling of

nausea, weakness etc. etc. Now, the situation has changed and I'm

going through a worse spell. Yet I haven't done anything different

food-wise. I'll just have to live through it until I have better

days again. I hesitate to give advice on diet because everyone's

case is different and I think we should always discuss these things

with the specialist who knows our particular case, but keeping down

the fat content of your diet could be a good thing in general, so as

not to irritate your pancreas. (Some docs prefer patients to follow

as normal a diet as possible, with higher enzyme doses.) You might

find certain foods which trigger an attack in your particular case.

It could be that too much physical exercise triggers an attack.

Heidi always advises keeping a diary of foods and activities. That's

an excellent idea as, if there ARE particular triggers, you'll find

them.

I'm sure you already know that NO ALCOHOL is generally the rule for

pancreatitis sufferers, whatever the cause of your initial attack.

That could be crucial in preventing acute pancreatitis from moving

to the chronic stage.

I do hope you manage to work things out with your specialist and I

wish you good days, especially over the coming festivities. If you

use the top5plus5 (hope that's right!) links from this site, you'll

find good advice on a whole range of pancreatitis-linked topics,

including diet.

Best wishes,

Fliss