Digestive Enzymes?

[MissHaberdasher]

Someone at the health food store told me to take enzymes to combat my stomach pain (4 weeks after a glutening). I was hesitant, but when I did research online (yes, very dangerous), I found this:

 

 

• Low-grade inflammation in the digestive tract (such as that caused by “food allergies,” intestinal permeability, dysbiosis, parasitic infection, etc.) can lead to deficiencies in digestive enzymes.

• Other symptoms that suggest you might have problems with digestive enzymes are:

  • Gas and bloating after meals
  • The sensation that you have food sitting in your stomach (a rock in your gut)
  • Feeling full after eating a few bites of food
  • An “oil slick” in the toilet bowl (undigested fat)

 

So far, two days in, it seems to be helping a bit, along with 1 or 2 ibuprofen per day to help with inflammation. After my last meal (which was mostly protein rich), I'm fairly nauseous, but yay, barely any pain!! What has been your experience with enzymes? Is there a certain food you'd recommend having with this? 

 

Sorry to keep harping on about my stomach pain after this one episode of gluten exposure, but, it has been a very long time since I was last glutened and the reaction has been pretty different from when I was new at this. Anything that messes with my favorite hobby, eating good food, stresses me out. I can't afford to lose much weight either.

 

With that being said, I could just see a doctor but my health insurance doesn't kick in until February and I am pretty nervous about finding a doctor that I can identify with, if that makes sense. 

 

Thank you all, I hope you know that this website is a huge comfort to me, especially when I feel so alone in a sea of people who have the super power of being able to digest anything.  <3 

 

 

 

[1desperateladysaved]

My functional medicine nurse told me that digestive enzymes help to break down food.  When there is villi damage, the villi can't do their job of telling the pancreas to fire.  They will heal, but in the meanwhile the enzymes can help sustain.

 

I like my enzymes.

 

D

[KCG91]

I like mine! It looks to me like the 'problems with enzymes' could also apply to symptoms of a glutening, so maybe see how you feel taking them in a few weeks? 

I try to take them on an empty stomach and with a cold drink (hot drinks limit their effectiveness, it says on my bottle). Feel a lot brighter since taking them.

[NoGlutenCooties]

I take digestive enzymes with every meal and with any hard-to-digest snack (i.e. nuts, cheese).  They make a big difference for me.  Without them food will sometimes sit in my stomach for awhile and make me feel heavy, overly full, and generally sluggish.  I take them with the first bite of food.

I also take them when I take all of my other supplements in the morning, to help break those down as well.

[moosemalibu]

I think I may be the only person that has said they cannot tell a difference by taking digestive enzymes. I bought a big bottle so I take them, but I can't feel a difference. But perhaps consistency is key? Keep at it.

[1desperateladysaved]

Perhaps you don't need them.  Maybe your villi do their job of telling your pancreas to fire, so you don't need them to help break down your food.  Maybe the kind you got didn't work for you.  These things do get pretty complicated to figure out at times.  I guess you will figure it out over time.

 

D