Lipase level - Heidi

[Guest guest]

Dear Heidi,

Just noticed your post about your intial acute pancreatitis and looked up what

my lab report showed way back when. Every one of us

is different, aren't we? Whereas you had a moderately high level which remained

high, mine was incredibly high (12,570) for only

hours, dropping the next day to 10% of what it had been, and back to normal

within 5 days. Since then, it has rarely been above the

high normal. I've been trying to research statistically what damage is done by

very high lipase. Many articles teach that AP usually

does not recur, and one episode rarely leads to CP, but that's what happened to

me.

In the research I've done today, I came across a very interesting site:

http://www.healthsystem.virginia.edu/nutrition_manual/iii/iii55.html

I am concerned that this is the State of Virginia or a university in Virginia.

You will notice that it says more than once in the article that

it is unnecessary to restrict fat intake, and actually argues against

restriction. Can you believe it? This is a nutrition manual for

healthcare in pancreatitis?

If there are any PAI members in Virginia, you might want to check it out.

Aloha,

Chris

[Guest guest]

> Dear Heidi,

> Just noticed your post about your intial acute pancreatitis and looked up

what my lab report showed way back when. Every one of us

> is different, aren't we? Whereas you had a moderately high level which

remained high, mine was incredibly high (12,570) for only

> hours, dropping the next day to 10% of what it had been, and back to

normal within 5 days. Since then, it has rarely been above the

> high normal. I've been trying to research statistically what damage is done

by very high lipase. Many articles teach that AP usually

> does not recur, and one episode rarely leads to CP, but that's what

happened to me.

>

> In the research I've done today, I came across a very interesting site:

> http://www.healthsystem.virginia.edu/nutrition_manual/iii/iii55.html

>

> I am concerned that this is the State of Virginia or a university in Virginia.

You will notice that it says more than once in the article that

> it is unnecessary to restrict fat intake, and actually argues against

restriction. Can you believe it? This is a nutrition manual for

> healthcare in pancreatitis?

>

> If there are any PAI members in Virginia, you might want to check it out.

>

> Aloha,

> Chris

Aloha

It's nice to hear from you again. It's been a while...... That was an

interesting

article put out by those pancreatitis nutritional experts in Virginia, wasn't

it?

Refreshing to read a philosopy that contradicts nearly everything else taught

by other American gastroenterologists and medical universities across the

country. I do know that there are differences of opinion on our diet,

especially

with European doctors. Fliss has mentioned, too, that her doctor doesn't

follow the low-fat philosophy, yet when she sent me an example of what she

eats each day at my request, it wasn't all that different than what you or I

consume, and the content was actually not as high in fats as she said she's

allowed to go.

But for my personal sense of well being, I know that a low fat diet works best

for me. Before I knew I had chronic pancreatitis, all I knew was that when I

ate a high fat meal, I would have serious stomach aches afterward. Once a

steak lover, suddenly one year a few years back, that steak that I used to love

would make me so ill afterward that I couldn't stand upright a few hours later.

Then the french fries and hamburger, which were nearly a daily lunch staple

when I was working away from home, would give me so much of an upset

stomach that later in the day at the office I'd be living in the restroom. It

didn't

happen all at once, but within a year or so I knew I couldn't tolerate those

higher fat foods without a lot of discomfort. I believed I'd developed a

" sensitive " stomach, until my first AP attack, and then it all made sense! To

me, it still makes sense, regardless of what some medical authority in Virginia

says.

I still don't understand how they can be talking about a damaged pancreas

that's unable to produce digestive enzymes in one sentence, and then say

that it's not necessary to limit fat intake in the next, when it's those very

enzymes that digest the fat. Agreed, they did stress the importance of

man-made oral digestive enzymes to supplement for the loss of our own, but

doesn't it just make sense that by limiting the fats in the first place, it

would

make the whole process easier?

Well, this is probably something that is always going to have differences of

opinion from authorities all claiming to know more than the other, and that's

life. All I know is my body, and what my body can and can't do, and I know

it's a whole lot happier now with a reduced fat diet. Even my husband prefers

my diet, too, and he's got an iron stomach! Of course, haha, it may be that

he also knows that if he wants to eat in this house, it's low fat, or he has to

cook his own! That's enough to influence anyone! He's on the road four

days a week, though, and admits that when he's working, he still prefers to

eat low fat whenever he can get it.

Thanks for contributing this site address anyway. I'm always interested in

hearing all the different points of view on our health care treatments. I hope

you're doing well.

With love, hope and prayers,

Heidi

Heidi H. Griffeth

South Carolina

SC & SE Regional Rep.

PAI

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

substituted for professional medical consultation.