Watery diarrhea once or twice a week

Hi there. I always appreciate a new angle on the problem, there is some credence to this as some days I keep peeing. However on several occasions I have had my blood sugar tested , also I've had the HBA1C test neither of these show any blood sugar problem. Does this then exclude the possibility of reactive hypoglycaemia?

Many thanks jim 

I'm not familiar with that particular test. The one they had me do to diagnose it is really similar to the test the had me do to check for diabetes. After fasting, I had to drink a bottle of stuff that had 70grams of carbs, then they came and took blood samples every 30 minutes for the next 4 hours to monitor my blood sugar and other levels. Turns out, my blood sugar levels would spike, then drop really quickly after eating. My blood sugar was down to 40 after two hours, and that was only after having 70 grams of carbs! Can you imagine how many carbs are in a PB&J sandwich? No wonder I had no energy, headaches, brain fog, angry stomach, etc. The test was super easy, I got the results within a week. The hardest part is trying to change my diet. If you have access to an endocrinologist or a diabetes specialist, maybe see if it's something they're familiar with? But just know, although the test is similar to the one that checks for diabetes, it's NOT the same. They aren't performed the same way, and that one won't give you the information as to whether or not you might have reactive hypoglycemia. If you haven't already, maybe look up reactive hypoglycemia and see if you have the symptoms. I think it's also more likely if you have a history of diabetes in your family.

-PJ

Hi Claudia in my last post (you didn't reply) I mentioned Creon , have you been subscribed it or as the doctor even mentioned it , for someone with suspected Pancreatitis it is the standard treatment and would stop the diarrhoea too (hopefully) . 

Also have you got a date through for a scan of any kind as what you really want is peace of mind . Jim 

Hi Jim...Sorry I was slow in my reply to your last post. I was feeling quite under the weather. I am in the United States by the way. To answer your question...No, I have not been prescibed Creon. As a matter of fact, I have not been prescribed anything other than Zofran for nausea and told to take Tylenol for pain which as you know does nothing!! My gastro doc is extremely slow in responding to my calls and very hard to get appointments with. 

I am going to have an MRI next week...and he did mention having an EUS following that. I will ask him about the Creon.

Have you ever heard of grape seed extract for pancreas inflammation? I was reading up on it.

I am getting increasingly nervous about this being more than CP...but I just keep thinking that I had an MRI eight months ago that was clear but it's not much comfort when I can't eat and keep losing weight. 

How is your pain now? Are you able to keep weight on? Does the Creon help with pain?

Claudia firstly I find it quite difficult to believe that from nothing you would now have PC.  PC has a bad reputation for two things , firstly it doesn't respond well to standard cancer treatment and secondly it gives you either vague or no symptoms until it's well and truly taken hold of the organ, usually first diagnosis of PC is when the patient is taken to hospital with jaundice (at that point the cancer would've blocked the bile ducts. In eight months I would say it's highly unlikely. My pancreas specialist was accepting the result of a similar age triple phase ct as being gospel without requiring repeating. I was convinced myself that this was my problem too some time back , only yesterday I have finally got a diagnosis, I have an autoimmune immune Disorder called Sjogrens. 

I still recommend that you join the Facebook group that I recommended as they can offer you more support than I can give you single handed . 

You may well have Bile Acid Malabsorption and could do with trying Questran which is a Bile binding agent. With me it was a combination of both Creon and Questran that made a difference, neither singularly did much. The gut is like the village idiot, upset it and he will run around like a headless chicken (cycling from diarrhoea to constipation and back).

I hope you get some answers soon as I know it is a stressful time.  Keep well jim 

Hello Jim...

I am so sorry to hear of your diagnosis of Sjogrens...but I guess that now sheds light on the cause of your CP. I hope that your physician's can now help you to sort it all out and map out a good treatment plan that will offer you relief.

I want to thank you for your time and kind and informative direction! I will join the FB group you mentioned. I was kind of reticent about joining it because I like my privacy and the I am not all that well versed on FB privacy settings but I guess at this point it is more important to seek answers.

Claudia I to was concerned about joining the Facebook group originally because I didn't want my fb friends knowing of my bowel problems . However only members can read posts. Anything you say there will not be visible to your FB. Friends. By all means if you have any questions I will be more than happy to help. 

I didn't know you Claudia when you first made contact however I know what a dark time it was for me when I was going through what you are going trough at present.  Others helped me back then , I owe it to try and help Others with the same concerns. Keep me informed as you get results.

Hi Jim! Today I joined the group! Thank you for getting back to me regarding the privacy of posts. I appreciate your help...I truly do. Yes, it is a very dark time and even my friends don't seem to fully understand despite being kind. They just keep telling me to eat!! I know they see me losing so much weight...it's to the point now that I hate seeing people I know because their first comment is ALWAYS about my weightloss! UGH!

Next week I will go for my MRI. The gastro's office called me today and my labs for both the ANA and IgG blood tests were unremarkable and did not indicate any autoimmune connection...so back to the drawing board!

Nice to hear from you...as always. Thank you again for your kindness.

Claudia I too had this about weight , a guy at work said "your the only one I know who quit smoking and lost weight" hearing stuff like that is a dagger in the heart. Many in the group went through uncontrolled weight initially until starting on Creon . Even after Creon some still struggle with weight. 

The nice thing about the group is you have people from the U.S.A / Canada Europe and Australia / New Zealand so if your having a sleepless night full of anxiety , if you post someone should be able to respond at any time. 

Do not be shy to talk "s**t " in the group (sorry) it isn't taboo , my first post was about all my different colour and texture stools . Incidentally do you have oil in bowel (steatorrhea).

I am of course here to answer as many questions as you have .

Just as an aside my IgG4, ANA , Immunoglobulin, C3, C4 were always normal yet my problem is definitely Autoimmune . So you can't exclude that as a possible. 

Hi Jim...Honestly your responses are like a balm!! I get so anxious and upset. The weight loss is the worst...people look at me with shock on their faces. I am 5'9" now and only weigh 109 lbs. I started at 130 and that was thin enough! LOL

As for my bowel movements,,,,before the GB removal I was chronically constipated. Since the GB surgery and subsequent constant pancreas pain, they are very pale golden color very soft with TONS of what looks like mucus?? Or they are pure liquid. I can go two days without going then it's back to soft or liquid. Did you have globs of mucus? It's terrible,,,quite upsetting.

I am very disappointed with my physician's (gastro) cavalier attitude towards everything! I don't even get to speak with him...I generally speak to the nurse practitioner. They keep saying that my numbers (lipase) are still slightly elevated,,,the NP tells me to take tyelnol or ibuprofen and zofran and tells me to feel better!!! I am so frustrated as he is supposed to be well versed in pancreas problems!!

They have not even performed any fecal tests yet!!!

Claudia if I had a dollar for every time I looked into the toilet bowel and said "wtf is that " more weird is the "where tf is it" which is the standard response when you have only done mucus . Heavy mucus context is something which is quite common even today since my problem started . Also as I said , many times I have done just mucus without any stool at all. Strangely enough nothing much can be implied from it other than bowel irritation . 

If it is any comfort I too have felt similar irritation at my first gastroenterologists attitude to my cancer fears, however the theme continued with the professor is saw too. Although doctors do make mistakes remember that they see many Claudia's and Jim's and have learned the tell tale signs and symptoms, however Claudia and jim only have their own experiences and anxieties to heighten their tension .

A feacal elastase is compulsory in your situation however if you are passing just water or a lot of water it will give a false negative result.

LOL Jim!!!! I laughed so hard (thank you) when I read your response because every time I look in the toilet...my reaction is the same as yours!!

Did want to mention to you that three years ago I was diagnosed with SIBO. I failed the hydrogen breath test miserably! I wonder if the is any correlation with that and pancreas function?

Today I managed to crawl out of bed and be pro-active. I do know that I am low end Vitamin D...my test result was 30. I went out and got grape seed extract, vitamin c, vitamin D3 and B12. I have read that sometimes antioxidants are given for CP as well...so why not give it a try? I've got to do something while I wait for this doctor to prescribe enzymes. At least I can try to manage inflammation.

I am going to ask for the faecal elastase test too!!! Also, I found a doctor at the University of Pennsylvania who is supposed to be good with pancreas disorders. If I don't get answers and action from my current doc I am going to make an appt. with him.

I will respond more extensively to this later on this evening as I'm about to leave work, however if you check the group I have asked a question which I think is very much foremost in you right concerns please look and read the responses. (I have asked the question from me and didn't mention you) .

Please read this article it is highly relevant and  interesting

It is only a summary of a medical journal report and will not take long to read https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/m/pubmed/12522473/

My Vitamin D3 is always marginal, i am constantly having to monitor Folate , B12 is another important one as is Iron. If your short of any one of these you may have excess of the other two as the body can't burn these unless all three are abundant. So you may be aneamic yet have excessive iron and b12. I noticed my night vision was real bad at the beginning of this problem before I started supplementing, plus some other unpleasant symptoms.

Sibo gives you exactly the same type stools as pancreatitis / PC . It is a real bummer to try and get rid of. You are trying to reset the gut simply by allowing antibiotics to kill everything and hope that good bacteria replace it. What is a better course of action is to start taking a course of probiotics with or soon after completion of antibiotics . VSL3 is good, Symprove is the best however not sure if available in USA . None of others worth wasting time or money on.

If you were in uk I would offer to send you Creon in post as I have lots , however sending to states would be out the question as I'm sure customs will not allow them because they are a medicine. Not sure if you can get hold of Questran over the counter, it's a Bile binding agent that may be useful because you have watery diarrhoea.

P.S glad I made you smile