CREON ®

Question

Hello,
CREON ® has to be taken at the beginning of meal. I have just read that it is recommended to take it with an acid food (example 1 spoon of compote). Is it exact? Why?
Thank you in advance.

Answer

Hello,

It seems that there is a certain confusion between the "usual" use of the medicine by the aged children, the teenagers and the adults, and the use by the less aged children or in case of impossibility to swallow capsules.

For the "more aged" who can swallow capsules, it is necessary to swallow them as a whole, without crushing them, nor chewing them and to drink enough during or after the meals and the snacks. In this case, the acidity of the meal has less importance, because the "gastro-resistant" capsulation protects the mini-microspheres of the acidity of the stomach and they will be freed only in the bowel where enzymes are active.

For the small children and in case of difficulty to swallow capsules, we can open them to free mini-microspheres, and in this case, indeed it is advised to mix mini-microspheres with small quantities of acid soft food (pH 5,5), as some yoghurt or apple sauce, or to take them with an acid liquid (pH 5,5) as apple, orange or pineapple juice to avoid that enzymes release themselves in the mouth or the oesophagus. It is also necessary to use immediately mixtures of mini-microspheres with food or liquids and not to store them, because otherwise, the gastro-resistant envelope which protects enzymes could dissolve. The fact of crushing or chewing mini-microspheres or mixing them with food or with liquids with a pH higher than 5,5 (not acid or " alkaline ") can damage this envelope and pull the premature liberation of enzymes in the mouth and even reduce the efficiency besides irritating mucous membranes. It is thus necessary to make sure that the product does not stay in the mouth, as well as to drink after taking.

Dr Virginie Colomb-Jung

25.11.2014