Pancreatitus

My father had an acute pancreatitus (pancreatitis) attack which left him in ICU for 6 weeks and he has subsequently been treated for pseudocysts, had his gall bladder removed and finally has a pancreatic function of just 18%.  He is now an insluin dependent diabetic and takes 'Creon' to help him with his food digestion.  Sorry for the long winded nature of this Q.  He is having great difficulty controlling his sugar levels in his blood.  Do you have any suggestions?  If he doesn't take the creon - he literally starves himself to death slowly and if he does take it his sugar levels go sky high or drop dead low with the insulin.  He has taken slow release and fast acting.  He is rigid about what he eats, the exercise he takes and checking his sugar levels reguarly.  It seems so unfair that this is happening to him.  I'm really looking for some advice to help him to control his creon/insulin so that he doesn't swing so wildly.  Any help/suggestions would be gratefully received. Claire Dennis, London

[fireball]

I had acute pancreatitis for several years, creating lots of calcifications in the pancreas. Had surgery to do a marsupalization (sp.?) of a cyst on back of pancreas. Gall bladder removed and bile duct "replaced". 30 years later, I have diabetes, but use Humulin U--a 24 hr. time-released insulin as well as Pancrease--an enzyme-- with meals. Have virtually no pancreatic function. But these two combined have provided control. Don't kno if this is of any help.

[bosco]

I am a 26 year old male whom was diagnosed with chronic pancreatitus (pancreatitis) approximately 5 years ago.   I am also an insulin dependant diabetic.   Following being diagnosed with diabetes My blood sugars were quite unstable until I was eventually placed on Humilin and Humalog.   Since then I have developed some normalcy to my diabeic reigime.   I have an attack of pancreatitus (pancreatitis) approximately every 3-4 months and during the interim periods I have only short times when feeling 100% well.   During these attacks my pancreatic amylase level ranges between 400 - 1300, although the symptomotology is usually the same.   Following my first attack I gave up drinking alcohol (of which I was a small - moderate drinker) - This has offerred me no change in the consistency of the attacks.
Some information that may be useful to alleviate some of the symptoms
1.   Some pancratitus is caused by a high cholesterol level and may be alleviated with the use of anti-cholesterol medication (In my experiences)
2.   Some people say that using vitamen C can be useful in decreasing the risk of reoccuring pancreatitus (pancreatitis) (I don't know if this is true - but I am trying this out at the moment).
3.   Pancreatitus (pancreatitis) can be brought on by increased fatty build up - so reducing fatty intake in diet may help reduce this risk also.

If anyone can offer any advice on reducing the risk of chronic re-occurring pancreatitus (pancreatitis) - advice would be welcomed

[Slypippin]

A related discussion, Pancreatitus (pancreatitis) Attacks was started.