Panc, Gallbladder, & IBS

[Guest guest]

Hi yall,

(or " Howdy " I guess would be more appropriate from me~)

My son Cameron (11 yrs old, diagnosed with Chronic Idiopathic PC 5 yrs ago)

and I (42 yrs old, diagnosed with PC due to abnormally high Triglycerides 3

years ago) have been reading emails on the list, but have not been active on it

for many months. We are both still plugging away here in Fort Worth, TX and

our attacks seem to be farther apart, but buggers when they do hit us.

My questions are related to my resulting gallbladder removal this past

December. Drs told me " live is wonderful without a gallbladder " and they felt

somewhat certain that I would no longer experience the Panc attacks with my

gallbladder out. Well, for those of you who have been through this...you

probably

already know this isn't a " happily ever after " story. Now I know I didn't have

any choice in having my gallbladder out... And some things ARE better. BUT, I

seem to have now acquired the symptoms of Irritable Bowel Syndrome. (When I

told my dr I had uncontrollable diarhea EVERY time I ate, and sometimes when I

just drank fluids, he said " well then, don't do that " . I have complained for

over 8 months now and I cannot seem to find a course of treatment, even after

seeing a family practitioner and 2 gastro-specialists. ANY IDEAS?

I stumbled onto the diagnosis of IBS after running my symptoms through

WebMD.com. Can ANYONE help me here? I am NOT enjoying life at this point.

This is

a miserable existance and I KNOW there must be SOMETHING I can try.

Thanks for letting me vent and I appreciate any advice anyone has to offer,

Donna Womack

Fort Worth, TX

[Guest guest]

Just a question. Sorry if it's stupid. But what is PC? Do you mean CP

as in Chronic Pancreatitis? I have seen one other person say PC and I

don't know what that is supposed to mean.

As far as your IBS symptoms, I have the same thing. Something's make me

have to hit the bathroom right away and somethings I can wait an hour

for. But whatever I eat, wants to come right back out. I haven't found

a cure for it yet, so if you do please let me know. My family is quite

used to the fact that if we eat out, they need to go to the car and wait

for a bit while I take care of business, so to speak. Or that we can't

go that far from a bathroom for awhile afterward. And just to let you

know, I have not been diagnosed with IBS. I was told that these symptoms

were all part of having CP. My doctor called it urgent bowel movements

as opposed to calling it IBS. Said it's " normal " with this disease.

Hope it helps,

Sandy in California

DJWmck@... wrote:

>Hi yall,

>(or " Howdy " I guess would be more appropriate from me~)

>

>My son Cameron (11 yrs old, diagnosed with Chronic Idiopathic PC 5 yrs ago)

>and I (42 yrs old, diagnosed with PC due to abnormally high Triglycerides 3

>years ago)

>

>

[Guest guest]

Sandy and Donna,

Well pin a ribbon on your doc, Sandy !!! How nice of him to inform

you that your symptoms are from the CP. Every since my gallbladder

removel 6 years ago, I have been diagnosed many times as having IBS,

can't do anything for you, etc, etc... Now looking back I know

that I was having panc attacks and also SOD. Anyway, I wanted to

let you know that I took a drug called Levsin (anti-spasm) and

elavil (20 mg at bedtime). That did help with the bathroom issues

for a while anyway. I thought it was my " cure-all " to my attacks,

but now I know different. Anyway, I now take Donnatal (anti-

spasm). It works good for me. I also take the elavil still (20 mg

at bedtime). You might want to ask your doctor about these meds and

see if they might work for you. I know how embarrassing it was for

me, because everywhere I went I had to use a bathroom, and sometimes

it was like a 1/2 hour before I could come out.

Also, wanted to say that since my diagnoses of celiac disease in

March 2004, my bowel movements are not bad anymore. I don't get

those awful painful stomache spasms when using the toilet. I still

go often , I guess from the CP. Sorry to be soooo graphic !!!

Hope this helps.

kris in TN

[Guest guest]

Sandy and Donna,

My name is Jen and I suffer from attacks of pancreatitis due to

pancreas divisum. But I've also had IBS since I was 15( I'm now

27). One thing that has really helped me is when I have a really

bad attack and everything goes right through me, I try and remember

what I had just eaten. I know it may not help, since i'm sure both

of you might not be eating much due to pancreatitis. But it really

helped me. I wrote down for about a couple of weeks what I ate and

when I had the horrible diarrhea. It's not a cure, but for me

looking at the food and my reactions on paper I found I have a

terrible reaction to peanut butter. Anything with it and I now

realize that i'm gonna be in the bathroom for awhile.

Another suggestion is to take metamucil(it's a fiber supplement). I

know it sounds odd cause if you're like me you have diarrhea all the

time and it seems weird to increase fiber. But I have found taking

it daily has really helped to avoid the pain and the diarrhea. The

important thing is to start with the minimal daily amount and then

after about 2 weeks increase it a bit. Eventually you can find a

dose that will work. Hope that helps a bit. Jen

[Guest guest]

Have you tried taking any enzymes when you eat? They can stop or slow

down the " urgent bowel movements " , etc. for some of us. I personally

take Viokase 8 and I know that others have taken Creon, Viokase 16,

Ultrase, and others with varying degrees of success. And yeah, it is

normal for CP. I know I've got it and so do many others in this group.

Luckily for me, if I take my enzymes, I only have this problem if I eat

a lot of fat (over about 10 grams per meal). That, I still have a

problem with , no matter what.

As for the first questions, I'm afraid I don't have an answer.

Kimber

--

Kimber

Vallejo, CA

hominid2@...

Note: All advice given is personal opinion, not equal to that of a licensed

physician or health care professional.