Re: To new member Lucy

[Guest guest]

Lucy,

not very many of us have pumps as far as I know. I take methadone three

times a day, plus oxycodone for breakthrough pain. I have a

Gastroenterologist who speciailizes in pancreatitis (not all

Gastroenterologists specialize in pancreatitis) as well as a pain

specialist and pain clinic case manager, plus other doctors who deal

with my other health problems and a primary care doctor to coordinate

all of them.

As for a doctor in your area, what state are you in? You mentioned a

city, but not the state.

If the morphine is not helping you, I would definitely ask your doctor

to switch to a different medication. Medications don't work the same on

everyone because everyone has a different metabolism. What works for one

person, may not work for another. Most pain doctors will switch

medications if the one the current doctor has you on doesn't work. If

your doctor isn't willing to do this, I highly suggest finding a new

one. Also, there are pain patches called Duragesic patches. A person

usually wears them for about 2-3 days and then remove it and put on

another one. Also, any of these medicines cause itching, some people

take Benadryl to ease the itching. You might want to try that and see

if it stops the itching for you.

As for diet, two things you need to stay away from: Alcohol of any sort

and fats, especially fried and greasy food. Those will definitely send

your pancreas into an attack as both of those substances aggravate the

pancreas. Most of us are on a low protein, high carbohydrate diet as

carbohydrates cause us the least problem. As for the rest of the foods,

that varies. What bothers one person, may not bother the other. I

suggest you start a food diet, tracking what you ate and your pain

levels about 30 minutes afterwards. This should help you figure out

which foods to avoid.

I know that bending a lot also increases my pain, as does any movement

that jiggles or shakes the body/abdominal area. Yes, you probably

should get some pancreatic enzymes to eat with all your meals, including

snacks. I take Viokase 8. Some people take Viokase 16, Creon, and

several other brands. Taking the enzymes orally rests your pancreas by

not having to produce those enzymes itself. However, be aware that

anything I tell you medically, is my opinion or second hand from my

doctor, so you should confirm it with a doctor. Also be aware that you

are entitled to a second, or even a third, opinion on anything your

current doctor tells you.

I hope this is of some help for you and I hope we on this group can

continue to help you in answering your questions to the best we can,

give you any moral support and just generally being here to listen when

you need to vent. Hope to hear more from you in the future.

Kimber

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Kimber

Vallejo, CA

hominid2@...

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

physician or health care professional.

[Guest guest]

Lucy,

the pain medication I take works most of the time (what I mean by works

is that it lowers my pain level to about a 2, it never truly goes away),

but sometimes the pain is a little more (about a six or a seven) and I

have to take the breakthrough medications and sometimes I even have to

go on clear liquids or a soft food diet to help bring the pain down. .

That sometimes puts me to sleep, though. And occassionally, the pain

will be so bad (a 9 after I have taken all of my medication that I am

allowed to take) that the medication doesn't even come close to

touching it. When that happens, I usually end up in the ER and get

admitted for about a week until my pain levels start dropping. The

reason for admission is that they have to take me off a food and liquids

and feed me via IV. Once I can handle food with no additional pain, they

send me home. This is usually called an acute pancreatic attack. I

used to only get acute attacks and then once the pain went away, I went

home with no pain at all. However, I've had so many of those that the

pancreatitis turned chronic and I ended up with pain every day, just not

as bad as the acute attacks.

Lucy, the person who gave you Dr. 's name in Santa Clarita was me.

Unfortunately, I don't have his phone number, just his name. And I

don't know if the person who gave me his name is still on the group.

I'll try and see if the person can give me his phone number. I'll let

you know what I find out. As for diet. I usually try and keep my TOTAL

fat per meal between 6-10 grams, but some people can tolerate more than

that. I don't eat anything fried. Regardless of how much fat is

supposed to be in them.

As for Dr. Lo, unfortunately, the really good doctors are usually booked

pretty solid. You could look into the doctors closer to home.You never

know, sometimes you can end up with a good doctor. However, don't be

afraid to fire them if they aren't giving you the treatment you need.

I've had to fire a couple of my doctors over the years. My doctors are

about an hour to an hour and a half away from where I live, but the

quality of my care is better than I could get from anyone else closer to

home. I'm a Kaiser patient, so I'm stuck with going to Kaiser doctors

and the ones in the Vallejo area just aren't as good as the one I have

in Oakland. Sometimes it's worth going to a doctor farther away.

Kimber

--

Kimber

Vallejo, CA

hominid2@...

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

physician or health care professional.