After Part of My Pancreas Was Removed, This Is How I Managed Diabetes and Digestive Enzymes

When people hear about pancreatic surgery, they all worry first about the cancer, but once you actually enter the recovery period, the real struggle is something else. Even after eating, your stomach keeps feeling bloated, your stools are loose or float, and your blood sugar swings up and down. Because the pancreas is an organ that does two jobs at once - making digestive enzymes and making insulin - when part of it is gone, both digestion and blood sugar are shaken up together. That is why the management afterward becomes, in practice, a longer and more important battle than the surgery itself.

Looking first at the digestive side, when pancreatic enzymes run short you cannot break down fat properly. Then your stools take on an oily sheen and float on water, the smell turns harsh, and you go to the toilet often. This is more than just an inconvenience - it is a sign that you are not absorbing nutrients, so your weight can drop sharply too. What you use at this point is a digestive enzyme supplement (pancreatic enzyme replacement), and the key is to take it "with your meal." If you take it separately, long after finishing your food, it cannot mix with the food and its effect is halved. If you stretch one meal out over a long time, you might add another capsule partway through. The dose differs from person to person and from food to food, so it is right to start within the range your doctor sets and adjust while watching your symptoms.

Blood sugar has a somewhat different character. When the cells in the pancreas that make insulin decrease, diabetes follows, but this is slightly different in nature from the type 2 diabetes most people know. Not only insulin but also glucagon, which raises blood sugar, can run short at the same time, so your blood sugar can spike upward and also plunge downward. Therefore, going the route of simply eating less to push blood sugar down is a perfect recipe for suffering through low blood sugar with cold sweats. It is far safer not to skip meals, to eat at regular intervals, and to spread out your carbohydrates evenly rather than loading them all at once.

In terms of diet, "cut out all fat no matter what" is unexpectedly not the right answer. If you stop eating fat entirely because you cannot absorb it, you lose even more weight and run out of energy. While supporting yourself with enzyme supplements, you need to take in a moderate amount of fat to maintain your calories. Instead of bingeing all at once, dividing the day into five or six small meals is easier on the stomach and better for blood sugar. Alcohol is a direct burden on the pancreas, so keep away from it as much as possible, and because fat-soluble nutrients such as vitamins A, D, E, and K are not absorbed well, it is good to check them occasionally with a blood test and supplement them if they are low.

For the first few months, observe as if you are recording how your body responds to each food. A food that was fine yesterday may upset your stomach today, and adding one more enzyme capsule may make your stools perfectly normal. Noting that process down makes it much easier to explain to your doctor at your appointment. Do not be in a hurry; if you think of it as slowly finding your own body's patterns on a monthly basis, your mind will feel much lighter.

This article is only general information, so be sure to decide the dose of enzyme supplements and any adjustments to blood sugar medication in consultation with your own medical team.