Chronic Pancreatitis with Prediabetes

[Rocket72]

Hi everyone,
New member! I was wondering if there is anyone out there who has the charming experience of having Chronic Pancreatitis (with Endocrine Pancreatic Insufficiency) followed by a diagnosis of prediabetes (42) please and thank you! From research and knowledge gained from being a practitioner in the well-being industry I am quite well versed in the benefits of Low GI eating plans etc. We are all unique but I welcome any thoughts on preventing an onset of diabetes. I am a slim, visceral fat lady, 51 and a half years young, (always do the halves?) post early menopause who walks 5-8 miles a day and strength trains 3-4 times a week. Thank you.

 

[Antje77]

Hi @Rocket72 , welcome to the forum.

With an hba1c of 42, you're literally on the threshold between 'normal' and prediabetes, so with a bit of luck some small changes may do the trick.
This is written by one of our members with full blown T2's in mind, but it's very useful for prediabetics as well: https://josekalsbeek.blogspot.com/2019/11/the-nutritional-thingy.html
I think the main points are that ALL carbs raise glucose, low GI or not, and how useful it can be to use a glucose meter before and two hours after meals to see how you deal with different foods.

the charming experience of having Chronic Pancreatitis (with Endocrine Pancreatic Insufficiency) followed by a diagnosis of prediabetes

Usually, GP's will assume T2 unless there is some very strong indication that something else is going on. Chronic pancreatitis doesn't always ring a bell with GP's.
Pancreatitis can cause (pre)diabetes with a completely different mechanism than T2. If the pancreatitis impairs the ability of the pancreas to produce enough insulin, this will result in (pre)diabetes of a type called 3C.
Doesn't happen in everyone with chronic pancreatitis, and at your age you could simply be developing some insulin resistance in a T2 way, unrelated to the pancreatitis, but it may be something to keep in mind for the future.

It doesn't matter at all for your treatment at the moment, with your current numbers some changes in diet are very likely to get into the green zone again.

 

[Rocket72]

Thank you so much for your reply. I found it incredibly helpful. My pancreatic function I believe is seriously impaired, (with my last CT scan revelaling significant calcification throughout, secondary dilation and a large benign tail cyst) and I have been on Creon for 4.5 years. I had read with this type of Chronic Pancreatitis pre diabetes type would indeed be 3c. As lovely as my GP and Nurse are they did not register this possibility.
Thank you again for your information and link. Gratefully received.

 

[Antje77]

Thank you so much for your reply. I found it incredibly helpful. My pancreatic function I believe is seriously impaired, (with my last CT scan revelaling significant calcification throughout, secondary dilation and a large benign tail cyst) and I have been on Creon for 4.5 years. I had read with this type of Chronic Pancreatitis pre diabetes type would indeed be 3c. As lovely as my GP and Nurse are they did not register this possibility.
Thank you again for your information and link. Gratefully received.

Should your numbers go up after dietary changes instead of down, you could ask for a C-peptide test. This test tells you something about the amount of insulin you produce yourself.
But even if it turns out to be a very mild version of T3C and not T2, it's not a given that it gets worse, your current hba1c proves that you produce very close to enough insulin for your needs on your current diet.