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Are many people unable to take pancreatic enzymes due to side effects?
Pancreatic Disorders | Last Active: Jun 12 3:49pm | Replies (13)Comment receiving replies
Right-sided pain wrapping from the back to the front under the rib cage would make me wonder whether the pain is truly from the enzymes or whether it reflects an underlying biliary, liver, duodenal, or chronic pancreatitis issue that happens to become more noticeable around meals when the enzymes are taken. Do you have a gall bladder? Do you consume fats, fried food, dairy? Some patients can develop an allergy to pork products and pancrealipase if derived from porcine pancreas. Vital Nutrients produces a Vegan version of digestive enzymes with noting derived from porcine pancreas.
The location of symptoms is something a pancreatic specialist would likely want to evaluate. I would go for a consult at one of the NCI Centers of Excellence with a high-volume Hepatobiliary program such as Mayo Clinic, MD Anderson, Johns Hopkins or University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, These have the top Hepatobiliary programs in the US.
Replies to "Right-sided pain wrapping from the back to the front under the rib cage would make me..."
@stageivsurvivor
Thanks for writing. After I read you comment. I decided to give Vital Nutrients another try. A problem with pork is an easy thing to check. If I do better on it while avoiding pork, I'll get tested the next time I see my GP. I realize that it probably is a very small percentage of people who develop problems with pork. But once I started thinking about what you, I realized I probably eat more of it than I thought. I make a lot my own foods, including bean soups, and they generally include a small amount of pork for seasoning. And like I said, I noticed an improvement in some body pains when I eliminated daily and sugar. I'll let you know how it goes. Thanks.
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I only experience the pain when I try to re-introduce the enzymes. I am not taking them now. I have tried to re-introduce them three times over the past 18 months or so, using three different brands. My gall bladder was removed almost 15 years ago. That is when the difficulties digesting food showed up. It took another eight years or so to get a diagnosis of pancreatic insufficiency, and when I took Creon there was an almost immediate improvement. It was a game-changer. I am very disciplined in my diet. I haven't had fried foods in a decade. I've removed dairy and sugar, and it caused a noticeable improvement in body pains, but not the ones associated with the enzymes. I do eat some pork because some pork tenderloin is 3 grams of fat per serving. I wondered about pork allergies. I've tried the Vital Nutrients and it looked promising at the beginning in that I experienced no pain until I ramped up to about one-half of what they recommended on the label. Below that I felt OK but I wasn't getting the effect I was hoping for in digestion. I'm at point where I think I need to turn to someone like Mayo Clinic or others for help, but I was hoping for some advice on some names of doctors who worked specifically in this area. Thanks for your comments.