High Lipase

[nolan1123]

Hello, my daughter was diagnosed with IBD, she was on meds called Pantasa which is a 5-ASA med to keep her in remission from the IBD which we think is Ulcerative Colitas. Her bi-weekly blood test are showing her Lipase levels going up and latest shows it up over 3000. She has had a CT scan and MRE which shows all normal including her pancreas as we assumed it might be acute pancreatitis. She was also taken off her meds as the meds do have a rare side effect of causing high lipase levels and acute pancreatitis. Well, being off the meds now for almost a month and her lipase levels have still gone up. She was also tested for celiac during her scopes which came back negative. Does anyone have any idea what can be causing these lipase levels to go up.? It seems they started to go up after starting the meds, but being off them and still going up is weird. Also can gluten sensitivity cause high lipase levels?

We are thinking about putting her on a gluten free diet to see if that helps with the levels. Ive read that celiac can cause high lipase but can non-celiac/gluten sensitivity cause it?

Thanks for any help.

[trents]

It certainly would not hurt to try a gluten-free diet. We are still learning about the impact of gluten sensitivity and Celiac disease on the body and are finding out it has many more spin offs than anyone ever expected, even 20 years ago. But you would need to educate yourself on how gluten is used (and disguised) in many different food products, especially processed and ready made food products if you are to test this effectively. It is included in many things you would never expect to find wheat in, e.g. soy sauce. Gluten can also be included in medications.

[cyclinglady]

Welcome!  

I have not heard/read that a Non-celiac Gluten Sensitivity could cause liptase to increase.  I have heard that celiac disease can do that as can other autoimmune (AI) disorders.  AI can be systemic.  For example,  celiac disease often causes elevated liver enzymes, rashes, neuropathies, joint pain, migraines, etc. Many issues beyond just damaging the small intestine.  I can imagine IBD (UC) can do the same.  

Once you have one AI, you can develop others.  When was she tested for celiac disease?  

My niece has Crohn’s (celiac disease firmly ruled out for now). But she is aware that she could develop celiac disease in the future (hopefully not.....)

Have you heard of the Autoimmune Paleo Diet (which is gluten free)?  There was a tiny tiny study on IBD patients.  If I recall they achieved almost a 78% remission rate (no one changed their medications) in just six weeks.  Pretty amazing. The study was done at Scripps in San Diego.  Here is the study:

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5647120/#__ffn_sectitle

I hope this helps.  Keep advocating for her.  Research as much as you can.  It can be your best defense.  

[nolan1123]

2 minutes ago, cyclinglady said:

Welcome!  

I have not heard/read that a Non-celiac Gluten Sensitivity could cause liptase to increase.  I have heard that celiac disease can do that as can other autoimmune (AI) disorders.  AI can be systemic.  For example,  celiac disease often causes elevated liver enzymes, rashes, neuropathies, joint pain, migraines, etc. Many issues beyond just damaging the small intestine.  I can imagine IBD (UC) can do the same.  

Once you have one AI, you can develop others.  When was she tested for celiac disease?  

My niece has Crohn’s (celiac disease firmly ruled out for now). But she is aware that she could develop celiac disease in the future (hopefully not.....)

Have you heard of the Autoimmune Paleo Diet (which is gluten free)?  There was a tiny tiny study on IBD patients.  If I recall they achieved almost a 78% remission rate (no one changed their medications) in just six weeks.  Pretty amazing. The study was done at Scripps in San Diego.  Here is the study:

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5647120/#__ffn_sectitle

I hope this helps.  Keep advocating for her.  Research as much as you can.  It can be your best defense.  

Thank you for the info, she had scopes done back on July 22, 2019 and celiac was ruled out as she had biopsies done due to the inflammation which was determined UC.

[cyclinglady]

Great!  She is like my little niece (though not so little as she is in college now).  

Anyway, the AIP diet, which is strict for just a few weeks, might be very beneficial.  Trying to figure out how to reduce the inflammatory response is the goal (as is the medications).  Basically it is a non-processed foods diet.  It helps to identify foods that might be causing flare-ups.  

I have three AI issues.  So far, I am controlling them with food. Does it work?  Just by addressing my celiac disease (gluten free), I have not only healed (per repeat biopsies) but my Hashimoto’s Thyroiditis has gone into remission.  No more nodules or enlargement.  My normal allergies (hay fever) are practically non-existant now.  I used to live on antihistamines.

All these illnesses fall under the umbrella of hypersensitivity.  AI is one type and IgE allergies fall under another type.   Treating the entire body is important in my non-medical opinion.  

https://www.amboss.com/us/knowledge/Hypersensitivity_reactions

http://faculty.ccbcmd.edu/courses/bio141/lecguide/unit6/hypersensitivity/type4/type4.html

Feel free to trial  the gluten-free diet.  It may be well-worth it.  My own daughter who does not have celiac disease, says she feels better on a gluten-free diet.  But I think just her avoiding non-processed foods is probably the real reason she feels better.  She does have Raynaud’s, so she has some AI brewing.....

[GFinDC]

Right, the gluten-free diet won't hurt her.  The best way to start it is to avoid all processed foods.  Eat meats, veggies, nuts, and eggs instead.  No dairy.

We have a forum member (EnnisTX) with UC who is on a keto diet.  He may pop around with some tips too.