My kids have always been pancreatic sufficient, so I have no experience (other than what I read on here) about bowel movements for those who are pancreatic insufficient.
My son has never had the fecal fat test done (his sister has and was fine) Since his diagnosis his weight has always been very good (a little on the high side if you ask me) and his issue was usually with constipation and large, hard bulky stools that he would only pass every 2-3 days, so we have treated with Miralax from time to time, but the assumption always has been he is pancreatic sufficient and had a terrible diet and eating habits. His primary source of food is pizza and salami...very high fat so one would think if he was insufficient w/o any enzymes we would notice right away.
In the last three months he has dropped 8 pounds.... BMI is still 26 so the clinic is not concerned.... he is still 188 pounds and 5' 11" so nobody is shocked and we think we can account for the weight loss because of cutting back on sweets (coke and cookies used to be a daily thing... now they are once or twice a month)
So after all this rambling..... I'm getting to my question.... his bowel movements are now not as large, and a little softer and once a day.... still brown in color, holding shape.... no "orange, oily or greasy" look as I've heard others on here describe....so I'm thinking he is just doing better with his diet and all is well.... is there anything else to look for if this might indicate a change in pancreatic function?
He is already scheduled for the 2 hour glucose tolerance test to answer the diabetes question....again we see no symptoms there, the doctor is just being thorough and has been insisting on this test for quite some time. He did not seem concerned about the weight loss at all.
My son has never had the fecal fat test done (his sister has and was fine) Since his diagnosis his weight has always been very good (a little on the high side if you ask me) and his issue was usually with constipation and large, hard bulky stools that he would only pass every 2-3 days, so we have treated with Miralax from time to time, but the assumption always has been he is pancreatic sufficient and had a terrible diet and eating habits. His primary source of food is pizza and salami...very high fat so one would think if he was insufficient w/o any enzymes we would notice right away.
In the last three months he has dropped 8 pounds.... BMI is still 26 so the clinic is not concerned.... he is still 188 pounds and 5' 11" so nobody is shocked and we think we can account for the weight loss because of cutting back on sweets (coke and cookies used to be a daily thing... now they are once or twice a month)
So after all this rambling..... I'm getting to my question.... his bowel movements are now not as large, and a little softer and once a day.... still brown in color, holding shape.... no "orange, oily or greasy" look as I've heard others on here describe....so I'm thinking he is just doing better with his diet and all is well.... is there anything else to look for if this might indicate a change in pancreatic function?
He is already scheduled for the 2 hour glucose tolerance test to answer the diabetes question....again we see no symptoms there, the doctor is just being thorough and has been insisting on this test for quite some time. He did not seem concerned about the weight loss at all.