31 DAYS OF CYSTIC FIBROSIS
I Take a Handful of Tablets Every Time I Eat
Day 2: Enzymes
Enzymes & math
Currently, I take 238 Creon 10,000U per week —without counting snacks, and I excel at snacking. For every snack, you can add on an extra five tablets.
I’ve taken enzymes all my life, and without them, I can’t digest food. As a small child, we would sprinkle a horrid power onto my food. It tasted foul! After that came little round tablets, each enzyme came in a foil-wrapped packaging. It took longer to open them than it did to swallow them.
As a teenager, I used Cotazyme, which was in a capsule form and contains hundreds of beads, like Creon is today. I took 20 with a standard meal and 25 if I was eating fast food.
With the advancements in medical technology, the enzymes do their ‘thing’ better. Currently, I only need 10 Creon for each meal. If you’re a math-based person, you’ll realize that taking 10 Creon with three meals a day for seven days is not 238. I also take Creon with my immunosuppressant medications to aid their absorption.
Why people with CF need enzymes
For some people with CF, their pancreas has scarring. My pancreas tends to get blocked and unblocked regularly. Thick sticky mucous causes the blockages. In fact, thick sticky mucous is the cause of all the problems created by Cystic Fibrosis.
My on-again-off-again blockages mean that at the drop of a hat, my enzyme needs change. Which doesn’t bother me — I’m used to taking handfuls of tablets.
The transition period, however, can be an absolute bitch. I call it the Game of Creons. It even comes with its own throne. One minute you’re constipated, then the next, you have an exploding bottom.
Right now, I am totally dependant on enzymes. In comparison, eighteen months ago, I was mostly pancreatic sufficient. Back then, I took a measly two Creon with meals and nothing with snacks.
31 Days of Cystic Fibrosis Bonus Fact
27 is my magic number. I don’t just take Creon. I have quite the cocktail of medication that I consume daily. 27 is the number of tablets I can swallow with one sip of water. It’s one of my superpowers.
31 Days of Cystic Fibrosis is an awareness-raising campaign to coincide with the national Cystic Fibrosis (CF) awareness month in Australia.
Next in the 31 Days of Cystic Fibrosis series — Physio, the Necessary Evil That Saw My Gran Accused of Child Abuse
As a child, physio was always percussion — where I would get tipped upside down, and a family member would clap their hands on my chest rapidly.
If you’ve just joined the journey and want to start at the beginning, you’ll find the first post here:
📚 Writer, Storyteller, Librarian 🎤 Speaker🌹Cystic Fibrosis Warrior 💞 Lung Transplant Recipient 🤱Mother
Sandi is a Cystic Fibrosis Warrior who has defied statistics since 1972. She lives with her favorite husband and two problem puppies.
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