Before I knew it, my visceral fat was down to 1% (^0^;) A long relationship with pancreatitis

I had acute pancreatitis 20 years ago.
It happened suddenly on a Sunday afternoon.

I was taken to the holiday clinic at a nearby university hospital for an examination, then transported by ambulance to a hospital closer to my home on the river side, where I was kept without food or drink for 20 days, and my pants became so loose at the waist~~

As for the cause of my acute pancreatitis...

It is unknown.

Apparently, there are quite a lot of cases where the cause is unknown.
After I was hospitalized and my condition had stabilized a bit, I talked to the doctor, and honestly, what they said was hard to believe.

There is a diagnostic method for checking the condition of the pancreas called "ERCP",
where an endoscope is inserted near the duodenum and a contrast agent is injected from the pancreatic duct outlet to take images, but that can sometimes cause acute pancreatitis...

Huh? What was that? (@_@)
You're saying that getting the test might come with a side of pancreatitis?

Unfortunately, I have no intention of undergoing such a risky test.

And so, I did not investigate the cause.

I mean, it makes sense, right? After going through such pain, the idea that just getting a test could cause me to suffer all over again? Who would do that?

So,
being the coward I am, I was discharged without finding the cause.
After that, I took medication for pancreatitis for a while.

After I was discharged, when I talked to my family doctor,
they said something incomprehensible, like, "Pancreatitis is something only chosen people get."

Many of the causes are,
a gallstone that has fallen out happens to get stuck in the pancreatic duct outlet, stopping the flow of pancreatic juice.
When that happens, the digestive enzymes in the pancreatic juice become activated inside the pancreas, triggering a terrifying mechanism where it starts to digest itself.

And apparently, the gallstone that caused it just flows away and leaves no trace.
I felt like, maybe that was it~.

However, this first impact seemed to damage my poor pancreas more than I expected, and ever since then, it has started to assert its presence at every opportunity.

For a while after the onset of acute pancreatitis, I lived a cautious life, but as someone who loves alcohol by nature, I continued on without changing my lifestyle habits.

A habit that should be changed. That is the prohibition of alcohol consumption.
In other words, not just cutting back, but total abstinence.

Well, you know... if I could do that, I wouldn't be having such a hard time.

Since then, there have been waves of good and bad health that have appeared time and time again.
Pain in my back and around the pit of my stomach.
Every time I had a blood test and the amylase and lipase levels were abnormally high, I would repeat the cycle of hospital visits, medication, temporary abstinence, and reviewing my diet.

Writing this while remembering it makes me feel like it's starting to hurt again ^^;

Realizing that such a state was truly bad, I have been abstaining from alcohol for over two years now. Perhaps it's because the word 'pancreatic cancer' has gradually started to flicker in the back of my mind.
However, regarding my diet, I was eating quite normally.

But, since last November, I started feeling unwell again,
and since then, I have entered a state of medication and quite strict self-imposed dietary restrictions.

In other words,
Alcohol and tobacco are prohibited. I was already doing this, though.
Limit fat intake to within 10g per meal.
Doing so automatically means fried foods are off-limits.
All those bento boxes you see at the supermarket are a total no-go!!
What's okay are things like soba, udon, somen, sushi (inarizushi is out because the fried tofu skin contains oil), low-fat white fish, and so on.
So, well, I'm in a state where I can only eat things that don't give me much energy, you see.

If you are seriously thinking about wanting to lose weight, why not give this a try?
I offer absolutely no guarantees. Please do so at your own risk.

In my case, my weight has been on a steady decline ever since that time.

I was already thin to begin with, but
my weight, which was 66kg last August, dropped to 56kg by this July. And, believe it or not, my body fat dropped to 1%!

Currently, I am just about to start easing my dietary restrictions a little, partly on my doctor's recommendation.
However...

It is quite difficult to change a lifestyle you've been living for a long time,
and you can't just suddenly step on the gas.

My appetite itself has been suppressed, and the limiter just won't come off.

That said, if I don't have a little more reserves, I won't have any resistance and will be more susceptible to illness.
Research results have also shown that being a little on the heavier side is better for living a somewhat longer life, so I intend to keep working hard to try and regain my weight.

Oh, on 2024/09/06, my body fat was 3% (^_^;)

I plan to continue reporting on this from time to time.
Though, you probably don't really want to know, do you (^○^)