Pancreatic Enzymes- Please Help
I can't understand why if you still have weight to lose, why your surgeon would want to slow down your weight loss. I could see, if he felt you were losing too much to tell you to change your diet but to put you on enzymes to make you aborb your food, that is totally going against what you had your surgery for. I am totally confused why he would suggest this.
I was just put on pancreatic enzymes about 10 days ago by my Endocrinologist but I am in a totally different situation than you are. First of all, I had an RNY. I was losing weight fine and had pretty much gotten to within 10 pounds of where I wanted to be - I was 160 pounds. Then I had the typical 10 pound bounce back and I was still fine but was watching and hoping to lose that 10 pounds but was fine as long as I didnt' gain anymore. Then the problems began last fall.
In October, I was rushed into NYC to my surgeon for emergency surgery for a bowel obstruction and internal hernia. After a week, I went to rehab and thought that would be it. I dont' remember much after this. Apparantly after about 5-7 days, while at rehab I got real sick and became non=responsive - my friend found me unconscious and I was rushed to the local ER. They ran tons of tests and found I was septic and had a perforated bowel. They couldn't take care of me at the local hospital for fear that I wouldn't make it - much too complicated for them, so they rushed me back into NYC to my surgeon and I had another emergency surgery. This time it was real serious due to the sepsis and perforation, they cleaned up the infection and did what they could but couldnt' finish the operation - I was not stable enough. My abdomen was packed and left open and I was sent to ICU and left unconscious for 3 days. Then after 3days when they felt I was stable enough to withstand more surgery, I went back to complete the surgery. They removed a portion of my colon, put in a G tube and was given an iliostomy. This was the worst experience of my life. I was in ICU for a week and a step down ICU for 3 weeks. I had to relearn to walk - at first I couldn't even move my legs on my own. It was mortifying. I was in the hospital for a total of 2 months. In the 2 months, I lost 25 pounds - I was eventually put on tube feedings at night and food during the day to try to get some nutrition into me. I finally went home in Mid Dec. In February, I went back in for surgery number 4 to reverse the iliostomy. During this time, everything I ate went right through me which we thought and hoped would be temporary - I even went home on the tube feedings for a bit until could eat enough to sustain my weight. I ultimately lost 45 pounds.
I have been trying since March to gain weight. I eat enormous amounts of food - small amounts at a time but all day long and very high calorie foods. I malabsorb everything - it goes right through me, I can see alot of what I eat in the toilet (sorry so graphic) For months I had the runs all the time, they have tested me for C diff a few times but always negative. Now, the runs aren't all day long like before but they are still a few times per day. It doesn't matter what I eat other than too much dairy will definitely do it.
So, at my last appointment with my Endocrinologist she decided to try to put me on the Pancreatic Enzymes. She is hoping that it will help me absorb my food better to help me gain a little weight back - only want to gain about 10 pounds (I look really sickly skinny - especially in my face) and hopefully reduce my diarhea. I also had a CT scan which for some reason showed that my pancreas is atrophied, so apparantly I need the enzymes due to a failing pancreas for what ever reason.
For me, that is a true reason to need pancreatic enzymes. When I spoke to my surgeon about them, she said to watch my weight carefully though. She said some people will gain 10 pounds and some people have actually gained up to 50 pounds, there is no way of knowing how much more you will absorb on them. I have to take 3 pills with every meal and 2 pills with every snack. I feel like I am swallowing pills all day long, like I dont take enough vitamins already
I was just put on pancreatic enzymes about 10 days ago by my Endocrinologist but I am in a totally different situation than you are. First of all, I had an RNY. I was losing weight fine and had pretty much gotten to within 10 pounds of where I wanted to be - I was 160 pounds. Then I had the typical 10 pound bounce back and I was still fine but was watching and hoping to lose that 10 pounds but was fine as long as I didnt' gain anymore. Then the problems began last fall.
In October, I was rushed into NYC to my surgeon for emergency surgery for a bowel obstruction and internal hernia. After a week, I went to rehab and thought that would be it. I dont' remember much after this. Apparantly after about 5-7 days, while at rehab I got real sick and became non=responsive - my friend found me unconscious and I was rushed to the local ER. They ran tons of tests and found I was septic and had a perforated bowel. They couldn't take care of me at the local hospital for fear that I wouldn't make it - much too complicated for them, so they rushed me back into NYC to my surgeon and I had another emergency surgery. This time it was real serious due to the sepsis and perforation, they cleaned up the infection and did what they could but couldnt' finish the operation - I was not stable enough. My abdomen was packed and left open and I was sent to ICU and left unconscious for 3 days. Then after 3days when they felt I was stable enough to withstand more surgery, I went back to complete the surgery. They removed a portion of my colon, put in a G tube and was given an iliostomy. This was the worst experience of my life. I was in ICU for a week and a step down ICU for 3 weeks. I had to relearn to walk - at first I couldn't even move my legs on my own. It was mortifying. I was in the hospital for a total of 2 months. In the 2 months, I lost 25 pounds - I was eventually put on tube feedings at night and food during the day to try to get some nutrition into me. I finally went home in Mid Dec. In February, I went back in for surgery number 4 to reverse the iliostomy. During this time, everything I ate went right through me which we thought and hoped would be temporary - I even went home on the tube feedings for a bit until could eat enough to sustain my weight. I ultimately lost 45 pounds.
I have been trying since March to gain weight. I eat enormous amounts of food - small amounts at a time but all day long and very high calorie foods. I malabsorb everything - it goes right through me, I can see alot of what I eat in the toilet (sorry so graphic) For months I had the runs all the time, they have tested me for C diff a few times but always negative. Now, the runs aren't all day long like before but they are still a few times per day. It doesn't matter what I eat other than too much dairy will definitely do it.
So, at my last appointment with my Endocrinologist she decided to try to put me on the Pancreatic Enzymes. She is hoping that it will help me absorb my food better to help me gain a little weight back - only want to gain about 10 pounds (I look really sickly skinny - especially in my face) and hopefully reduce my diarhea. I also had a CT scan which for some reason showed that my pancreas is atrophied, so apparantly I need the enzymes due to a failing pancreas for what ever reason.
For me, that is a true reason to need pancreatic enzymes. When I spoke to my surgeon about them, she said to watch my weight carefully though. She said some people will gain 10 pounds and some people have actually gained up to 50 pounds, there is no way of knowing how much more you will absorb on them. I have to take 3 pills with every meal and 2 pills with every snack. I feel like I am swallowing pills all day long, like I dont take enough vitamins already
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