Pancreatitis: What to Take When You Have the Flu

First, I have no idea how to get rid of the flu except to wait it out.

I tried Alka-Seltzer Plus Flu and it didn't do a darn thing to alleviate my flu symptoms but seems to have inflamed my liver.

I try not to drink too much juice because the acidity is hard on my pancreas. Store bought herbal teas seem difficult to tolerate these days. (Check out this post on one of my favorite anti-inflammatory bulk teas and some other fun healthy tea ideas!)

Chicken broth doesn't hurt. I drink chicken broth.

I'm still sick and about 6 or 7 days into being a sickie-poo. Yuck

The only difference between today and a few days ago is that now I know the over-the-counter flu relievers don't work and so I need to just wait it out.

I used to drink tons of Orange Juice to feel better sooner. Now, it seems like all the things I used to do to get well hurt my pancreas so I'm better off just coughing, resting and patiently waiting to feel better.

On the upside, my inability to do much is lending me much needed and desired time to write on this blog. Yeah! Although, I regularly think how much I'd like to contribute and share my story I often find myself with more desire than time.

Today, I'm a sickie poo with little energy. Therefore, I'm Queen of Time and my blog can benefit! Nice. :-)

The Flu and Pancreatitis

I have the flu. It's probably a virus. I've been sick for about a week. I'm never sick but I can't seem to kick this bug or get much better. My cough is horrible. It's keeping me up at night. I'm congested and at times feel a little feverish.

I began to wonder if it is harder for people who have chronic pancreatitis to recover from colds or flus. So, I started doing a little research on the internet.

I found nothing. Well, not true. I found a lot of dismal studies. One of which tracked 179 people with pancreatitis. One of them died from bronchial pneumonia. That didn't help.

I've been taking Alka-Seltzer Plus Flu Formula and I've also tried Alka-Seltzer Plus Cold Formulas.

Now I have an inflamed liver.

How can I tell? Two ways.
1. I can feel it because it's that enlarged.
2. Reflexology.

I'm not going to take anymore Alka-Seltzer for my flu. It's only making me realize that I might have liver disease... which I didn't know yesterday and was happy not knowing.

The Alka-Seltzer Plus box states not to take it if you have liver disease. I've never been diagnosed with liver disease (only a 'gigantic liver' - how's that for a snazzy diagnosis!).

I think Alka-Seltzer Plus just diagnosed me with liver disease. Ce la vie!

On the bright side, it's a lot cheaper than going to the doctor for the same diagnoses. ;-)

Starbucks and Pancreatitis

I go through phases where I drink a lot of Venti Non-Fat Lattes from Starbucks.

I need more restraint. My pancreas does not prefer it when I drink them - meaning my pancreas becomes inflammed. I tend to have 2-4 a day. I should have none.

I've read that caffeine is not good for pancreatitis. Lattes are very rich. I used to drink them with whole milk. Switching over to non-fat milk hasn't made enough of a difference. I still shouldn't drink them.

I need to stop. I will stop. Today will be my last day.

My health is more important than my lattes. This is my new motto!

Related articles:
Pancreatitis & Coffee
Pancreatitis: Coffee with Honey

Pancreatitis YouTube Video

I found the below video on YouTube. It pretty much sums up the experience of finding out you have pancreatitis. The video consists of a roommate's experience with his new roommate who checking into the hospital instead of moving into his new apartment as a result of a pancreatic attack. The patient remained in the hospital for about a month and a half. As the roommate recounts, "The doctor was like 'if you drink again your going to die'" and then the roommate gives his assessment of pancreatitis "It's like pancreatitis... quite possibly... maybe the worse thing that could happen to anybody."

Yeah, yeah. I know. Not a happy disease.

Just remember, don't drink alcohol and stay away from fatty foods.

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Pancreatitis and Marijuana

It was well over two years ago now that I encountered my near deadly attack of Severe Acute Pancreatitis. If you've never had a severe pancreatic attack then you simply can't imagine how difficult it is to eat and how important it is to stay away from food, at times, no matter how hungry you are.

Several months after recovering from the pancreatic attack, my daughter and I went to Amsterdam. I'm not a drug person and since the pancreatic attack it was made clear to me that I will never be able to have another drink alcohol again and that in doing so the result could be death... even immediate death. Personally, I enjoy life too much to risk death over a drink so I've never had a drink since and can't imagine that ever changing.

When I was much younger - a teenager - I used to smoke pot. Eventually, it didn't work for me anymore and just put me to sleep so I stopped smoking it. Nonetheless, my daughter has picked up the frivolity and wanted to go to Amsterdam with her friends. This didn't seem like such a great idea to me so I told her I would take her.

During our 6-day stay in this lovely, quaint city we visited several coffee shops. If you don't know what an Amsterdam Coffee Shop is then let me explain: It's a place where you can buy and smoke pot... LEGALLY. Marijuana is legal in Amsterdam.

I ended up smoking a little of the cannabis plant as well as digesting it in a very delicious brownie only to find out that mother earth's natural drug helped my pancreas feel better. I never ate or smoked very much but a very little here and there truly made a difference. It substaintially decreased or eliminated the pancreatic pain more so than any other remedy I've found before or after that time. It was not necessary to smoke or eat enough for it to be mind altering - a very small amount felt like a nutrient to the pancreas. I want to say that it felt like it helped against calcification - which is one of my greatest concerns.

I was recently in Barcelona and found myself again with the opportunity to smoke a little pot and hopped on that bandwagon. It eases the pain of the pancreas. This is my experience. I am not interested in getting high. I don't like the feeling nor is it necessary to smoke or eat that much for the cannibas to work in what seems to be a healing manner for the pancreas.

I don't smoke pot at home or anywhere besides the above mentioned. The reason I tried it in the first place was because I had heard of a study that was done on rats where marijuana helped rats with pancreatitis. So, I gave it a shot.

Just wanted to let you know my experience. I know our doctors have a long way to go before they can really be helpful to us sufferers of pancreatitis and we have so few healthy and safe options available to us. I'm not promoting getting high. But I do want to share my experience and what I have found to ease the pain of pancreatitis.

Pancreatitis & Honey

One of the main reasons I created this website was because there was so little out there on Pancreatitis. I hope that this website will somehow help. I'm not very good about updating it because I'm busy with life. I'm thrilled to have a life to be busy with! Also, perhaps because I'm not sure I'm a good representative for those suffering from pancreatitis.

Honestly, I'm probably a rather average example of a person living with pancreatitis. I try to do the right things. I try to eat well and stay away from the things that are harmful to my pancreas. But, in all honesty, I'm not great at achieving this goal.

I remember when I first came out of the hospital - over two years ago now - and I had a very difficult time eating. At one point, I had a spoonful of honey. Immediately, there was a calming sensation in my pancreas. I don't know what the relationship is between honey and the pancreas but I believe it is a healing and healthy relationship.

If you are having a difficult time with food but you are hungry all I can tell you is what worked for me. I had a teaspoon of honey and it made my pancreas feel better... and I wasn't so hungry.

Honey is filling. If you try this let me know your results. Don't eat a gallon of it (or anything else) and expect positive results with or without pancreatitis. Or, if you know why the system seems to react positively to honey, please share. I'm guessing it probably has enzymes that the pancreas prefers... but that's just a guess.

Below are a couple articles I found on the topic:

THE BENEFITS OF BIOPOLLEN HONEY

HONEY AS A SWEETNER

HONEY AND DIABETES

The Art of Dying: Let's Get a Tan!

So, I've been stressed out lately. Had a lot on my plate. The stress levels affected my pancreas and I've had to get it under control.

The event I was working on has passed. Things are calmer and my pancreas is feeling better. While my pancreas was not feeling better I had a hard time eating. I bought Pancreatin at the local health food store and considered a few walnuts, chicken and rice soup, or a half an English muffin with margarine, peanut butter and jam a meal.

I saw the weight dropping off and there wasn't much I could do but try to regain control of the situation. Eating small meals and trying to reduce stress levels were my main objectives. Nonetheless, when I weighed myself today I weighed 106.5 lbs which meant I lost about 5 or 6 pounds within a couple or a few weeks. I've always been thin so while that is a low body weight for me and I am very aware of it at that weight - with our without chronic pancreatitis - it's nothing to be overly alarmed about.

When I have pancreas problems I can, at times, feel like my life is going to end and that there is nothing I can do about it. My response to this feeling of impending doom was to lay out in the sun. I mean really... if you're going to die soon who needs to worry about skin cancer. ;-) For a completely pasty white Irish girl I've got a nice golden glow going on... Hubba!

At least I'll die a bronzed beauty!

Always looking on the bright side...