Being too scared to eat!

[KleboldKlan]

I've been having bad stomach cramps every time I eat something. Doctors aren't sure if it's ibs or something else. I should be having a blood test soon. Everything I eat just causes bad cramps and I'm too scared to put food in my mouth because of it. Last night I was screaming in agony and crying all because I had something to eat and my stomach was hurting really bad.

Has anyone got any advice? As I am scared to eat this is affecting my insulin intake. So I really need to eat something so I don't end up in hospital or something worse.

 

[LorraineP]

I've had this. Do you have any other symptoms like nausea, loose bowels, too many hypos? Sorry I'm not trying to be a doctor, I'm not medically qualified but I'm asking because I've been diagnosed with a condition that affects many long term diabetics and not many seem to have heard of Pancreatic Exocrine Insufficiency (PEI). Long term diabetes can have an atrophying effect on the pancreas meaning that it can't produce enough digestive enzymes to digest food properly. Chunks of undigested food can sit in the digestive tract causing pain, gas and bloating. However there are many, many stomach conditions with similar symptoms. But I mention PEI because its believed that up to 50% of T1 diabetics and 30% of Type 2 diabetics could have some degree of PEI. It's fairly easy to diagnose and treat so it's not bad news.

 

[Davein]

I've had this. Do you have any other symptoms like nausea, loose bowels, too many hypos? Sorry I'm not trying to be a doctor, I'm not medically qualified but I'm asking because I've been diagnosed with a condition that affects many long term diabetics and not many seem to have heard of Pancreatic Exocrine Insufficiency (PEI). Long term diabetes can have an atrophying effect on the pancreas meaning that it can't produce enough digestive enzymes to digest food properly. Chunks of undigested food can sit in the digestive tract causing pain, gas and bloating. However there are many, many stomach conditions with similar symptoms. But I mention PEI because its believed that up to 50% of T1 diabetics and 30% of Type 2 diabetics could have some degree of PEI. It's fairly easy to diagnose and treat so it's not bad news.

This is what I have to take Creon for. A simple stool sample will determine if this is the case.

 

[KleboldKlan]

I had nausea last night because I didn't eat anything. I tried eating a sausage but that's when I started screaming in pain.

I also don't think I'm getting enough insulin anyway even before all this as I'm not allowed to carb count so I'm eating carbs but can't give myself enough because I don't understand what I'm doing.

 

[Kaylz]

How long you been diagnosed? x

 

[LorraineP]

I assume you've spoken to your doctors? They can't leave you in that much pain and scared to eat food. Just to get something into you, you could go gentle on your stomach with some soup and avoid too much fat (especially animal fat) and fibre in the meantime until you know what's going on. I've even eaten baby food before my diagnosis because its a soft texture. You can't stop eating though and the sooner you get trained in carb counting the easier it will be for you. I assume you are recently diagnosed?

Pain in the stomach could be caused by a multitude of things and until you are diagnosed you could maybe get nutrients into you with liquid or mashed food?

 

[mikeyB]

Can I please correct some of statements made.

Pancreatic exocrine insufficiency does not leave chunks of undigested food in the gut to cause pain. Undigested fat leads to fatty faeces, but that does not cause pain, only minor discomfort. This is the function of pancreatic secretions- to break down fat. As Davein says, it’s easy to diagnose with a faecal elastase test.

Nor does this fat sit with other lumps of food in the gut to cause pain and bloating. Fat in, fat out, and pretty quickly at that. The hallmark of pancreatic insufficiency is rapid transit.

And pancreatic insufficiency would not cause pain as soon as food is eaten.

I have severe pancreatic exocrine deficiency because of chronic pancreatitis. We have folk on the forum who don’t have a pancreas at all, or hardly any. We all take Creon. If I miss taking Creon, the only pain I get is from sitting on the toilet for hours, and I’m sure that’s true of most if not all of my fellow Creonistas.

I think the problems described by KleboldKlan are best sorted by the GP ordering investigations rather than us speculating.

 

[KleboldKlan]

I'm not recently diagnosed. I got diagnosed April 2016. They told me I had to wait a year to do carb counting, I did and asked them if I could do it and they said I wasn't allowed. I have tried to do it myself but I got frustrated and upset because I didn't know what I was doing.

I've stopped eating bacon (which was the main cause of the stomach pain) but I still get stomach pain after other stuff. They put me on buscopan for the cramps but it's not been working properly she said wait and see if it works if not then come back.

 

[Davein]

Can I please correct some of statements made.

Pancreatic exocrine insufficiency does not leave chunks of undigested food in the gut to cause pain. Undigested fat leads to fatty faeces, but that does not cause pain, only minor discomfort. This is the function of pancreatic secretions- to break down fat. As Davein says, it’s easy to diagnose with a faecal elastase test.

Nor does this fat sit with other lumps of food in the gut to cause pain and bloating. Fat in, fat out, and pretty quickly at that. The hallmark of pancreatic insufficiency is rapid transit.

And pancreatic insufficiency would not cause pain as soon as food is eaten.

I have severe pancreatic exocrine deficiency because of chronic pancreatitis. We have folk on the forum who don’t have a pancreas at all, or hardly any. We all take Creon. If I miss taking Creon, the only pain I get is from sitting on the toilet for hours, and I’m sure that’s true of most if not all of my fellow Creonistas.

I think the problems described by KleboldKlan are best sorted by the GP ordering investigations rather than us speculating.

Hi Mike
I have autoimmune pancreatitis and suffer continuous severe pain partially relieved with amitriptyline and when that fails I have pethidine. I do experience increased pain after eating certain foods. The only days I can honestly say I'm pain free are when I'm in hospital rigged up to a morphine drip🙂. If I can score the pain it would average 4 to 5 out of 10 on a good day and up to 8 on a bad day.

 

[LorraineP]

Can I please correct some of statements made.

Pancreatic exocrine insufficiency does not leave chunks of undigested food in the gut to cause pain. Undigested fat leads to fatty faeces, but that does not cause pain, only minor discomfort. This is the function of pancreatic secretions- to break down fat. As Davein says, it’s easy to diagnose with a faecal elastase test.

Nor does this fat sit with other lumps of food in the gut to cause pain and bloating. Fat in, fat out, and pretty quickly at that. The hallmark of pancreatic insufficiency is rapid transit.

And pancreatic insufficiency would not cause pain as soon as food is eaten.

I have severe pancreatic exocrine deficiency because of chronic pancreatitis. We have folk on the forum who don’t have a pancreas at all, or hardly any. We all take Creon. If I miss taking Creon, the only pain I get is from sitting on the toilet for hours, and I’m sure that’s true of most if not all of my fellow Creonistas.

I think the problems described by KleboldKlan are best sorted by the GP ordering investigations rather than us speculating.

Mike I bow to your superior knowledge of course. I wasn't trying to diagnose though, I hope I made that clear in my posts. I was trying to make the poster aware of another possibility that often isn't considered in T1 diabetics. I was diagnosed with PEI last year even though I don't have secondary diabetes. I'm also on Creon.

 

[Diabetes UK]

Hi @KleboldKlan, -How are things? Have you managed to eat this week or speak with your healthcare team?