Malabsorption and Creon

by Larry
(Georgia)

I have fibromyalgia and malabsorption and have taken Creon for 2 months. For the first month it was very effective, stopping my chronic diarrhea. And unexpectedly it helped greatly with my which was leading to sleep deprivation (I also have sleep apnea and use a cpap but it has not helped the nocturia).

But after the first month, my diarrhea and nocturia returned. The Creon seemed to stop working. Why? And how could it have helped the nocturia initially?

Comments for Malabsorption and Creon

Click here to add your own comments

You didn't get your symptoms from lack of enzymes
by: Kerri Knox, RN- The Immune Queen!

Hi Larry,

I'm going to tell you the same thing that I've told EVERY single person writing in about having Fibromyalgia:

Please see my page on Fibromyalgia Syndrome Vs. Disease.

You do NOT have Fibromyalgia. You have been given a 'junk' diagnosis of a 'syndrome', which is not a 'diagnosis' at all, but a description of a collection of symptoms that mean, literally, you have a lot of pain- aren't you glad that your doctor could tell you that you have a lot of pain? That's all fibromyalgia means.

There is no criteria for you to have fibromyalgia except that they can't find anything wrong with you and they push on your back and it hurts. It's sort of like if you were to go into the hospital with a broken leg and I were to do a bunch of blood tests and can't find anything on the blood tests, so I say that "all of your tests are normal", then I push on your leg and it hurts, so I say that you have 'Achy Leg and Inability to Walk on It Syndrome'. While technically true, it's 'junk' and doesn't mean anything at all- which is what they've told you.

So, from hereon out I'm going to call creon simply 'digestive enzymes' because that is what they are. Creon is not a drug, it's simply a patented formulation of pancreatic enzymes.

So, the reason creon only worked for a little while is because you don't have your symptoms due to a lack of digestive enzymes. The 'drug' is actually designed for kids with Cystic Fibrosis who DO have malabsorption due to lack of pancreatic enzymes. They are treating you as if your malabsorption is exactly the same as someone with Cystic Fibrosis- obviously it's not.

I can almost guarantee that your malabsorption is due to Gluten Sensitivity and/or intestinal pathogens such as the H Pylori Bacteria or others such as Giardia, C-Difficile, etc. This is true EVEN IF you have been tested for Celiac Disease and/or any and all of these pathogens since most traditional testing for these problems is useless (except for the test for H pylori, which is quite accurate and CAN be trusted).

The reason that the enzymes likely helped for a little while is that enzymes can help to heal the digestive tract to some degree. For those with gluten intolerance, taking regular digestive enzymes can diminish symptoms when gluten is eaten on OCCASION, such as taking them for some time before going to a party where even food that looks gluten free may have some gluten in it. But enzymes are not going to allow those with Celiac Disease or Gluten Sensitivity to eat all the gluten that they want.

So, you need to address the CAUSE of your malabsorption- it's NOT an enzyme deficiency...

Kerri Knox, RN

Gluten
by: Larry

Thanks Kerri. I have been thinking along the line you suggested. I have been gluten free for 3 weeks and my diarrhea is gone. But extreme fatigue and flu like pain and nocturia persist. I took cymbalta for fibromyalgia for 3 months and it did not help. Savella for 10 days has shown no promise. My doc is not wedded to the fibro diagnosis. Do you think a long term gluten free diet could help with the nocturia and subsequent sleep deprivation which may be the reason for muscle pain and fatigue?

Don't Know
by: Kerri Knox, RN- The Immune Queen!

Hi Larry,

You still need to do some investigating. There is nothing that is a 'silver bullet'. You need to understand that part of the reason that gluten intolerance causes problems is that you malabsorb nutrients. Therefore, if you truly are gluten intolerant, you have not been absorbing the proper nutrients for many years and that is likely ONE of the reasons that you are having so many problems.

SOOOOO, if you 'just' do a long term gluten free diet and don't take supplements to fix your nutrient deficiencies and you continue to eat sugar and processed foods that have few nutrients- then no, a long term gluten free diet is not going to help you.

And if you continue to eat 'vegetable oils', which contribute to pain, and continue to eat non-organic foods, factory-raised meats, get inadequate amounts of healthy fats and inadequate amounts of the right fatty acids- then NO, I don't think that you will get better.

You CAN'T build a house with just one tool, neither are you going to get better using ONE health tool. A gluten free diet is ONE tool- while it may be an extremely useful tool, but just like you are not going to fix up an entire house with one tool, then you are not going to fix your body with ONE tool...

Kerri Knox, RN

Click here to add your own comments

Return to Fibromyalgia.

Enjoy this page? Please pay it forward. Here's how...

Would you prefer to share this page with others by linking to it?

Click on the HTML link code below.
Copy and paste it, adding a note of your own, into your blog, a Web page, forums, a blog comment, your Facebook account, or anywhere that someone would find this page valuable.

Search this Site

Custom Search

Free Vitamin D Fact Sheet by Getting
My Newsletter