Question About Digestive Enzymes.

[Girl From Indy]

I have seen digestive enzymes mentioned as a possible treatment for gluten side effects. I went to the er last night and the doctor there had never heard of them. What are they? Do they help? Do you have to take them with probiotics? Are they safe for advance celiac?

[Bubba's Mom]

I have seen digestive enzymes mentioned as a possible treatment for gluten side effects. I went to the er last night and the doctor there had never heard of them. What are they? Do they help? Do you have to take them with probiotics? Are they safe for advance celiac?

Digestive enzymes are supplements you take to help break down and digest food. With Celiac disease, sometimes we aren't producing enough enzymes on our own. They also help break down the food so your already stressed digestive system doesn't have to work as hard, and hopefully you can absorb the vitamins/minerals better?

You don't have to take them with Probiotics. You take them when you eat.

I think the theory with enzymes when glutened, is that the enzymes will break down the food faster so it leaves your system faster? Again, they have to be taken when the food is eaten.

They can't be used as a way to consume gluten safely, rather they are used when you are not 100% sure if there could be cc...like when dining in a restaurant.

If you are feeling the symptoms of a glutening..it's probably too late to take them and have them do any good.

[Girl From Indy]

I got gluten on Saturday, quite by accident. My reaction is so severe I end up in the hospital every time. However, the hospital yesterday could not help me at all. Even told me celiac can only affect digestion. I have no filter organs left, so it seems to really bother my heart and lungs now. I guess I was hoping there was some magic enzyme that would stop all the side effects.

I do a papaya enzyme with meals. Any suggestions?

[Bubba's Mom]

I got gluten on Saturday, quite by accident. My reaction is so severe I end up in the hospital every time. However, the hospital yesterday could not help me at all. Even told me celiac can only affect digestion. I have no filter organs left, so it seems to really bother my heart and lungs now. I guess I was hoping there was some magic enzyme that would stop all the side effects.

I do a papaya enzyme with meals. Any suggestions?

I got glutened by cc in January. It made my heart throw a few weird PVC's and I got real weak..and confused. I had no idea it was from gluten at the time, I'm just guessing it was in hind sight? I thought I was having a stroke, or heart attack or something.

I went to the ER and they noted the odd heart beats, but there wasn't really anything they could do. They kept me overnight and for the next day "for observation". I'm afraid there isn't really anything they can do if you get glutened?

It's scary isn't it?

I wonder if they gave us a short burst of steroids if it would abort a full blown gluten attack?

[Michelle L]

hey! i use a product called "Gluten Flam". I think its pretty good. They include digestive enzymes amylase, glucoamylase, cellulase and also aloe vera to help calm your system. They are made specially for gluten intolerance and do not contain dairy, gluten, eggs.

i would recommend them for you to try. they are from apex energetics...a pretty well known brand. just go on google and type in "order gluten flam" and you should get various websites from which to buy them and can read more about them and check out the personal reviews if youre interested!

hope this helps!

[Ninja]

I use Digest Spectrum by Enzymedica. I've used it after I've been glutened or cc'd and it seems to help.. granted it doesn't nearly take away the symptoms, but it does help. Ideally, you'd anticipate a potential glutening and take one beforehand though..

[nursenation2]

Has anyone tried this as a method to eat out?? I have had so many bad experiences I am down to trusting one place and right now not even willing to go there. Just so scared to eat out.

[rosetapper23]

I received an e-mail yesterday from celiac.com with this article:

https://www.celiac.com/articles/22894/1/CeliacAid---Your-First-Aid-Kit-Against-Accidental-Gluten-Exposure/Page1.html

It describes a product called CeliacAid that supposedly digests gluten in the stomach so that it never causes a reaction in the small intestine. It's supposed to be taken daily to protect celiacs against cross-contamination and occasional "glutenings." I don't know if it really works and plan to contact the forum administrators to see if this product is on the up and up. I hope it is, but I'm desperate to find something that might protect me against cross-contamination.

[Skylark]

Lotta claims, no science, no real explanation of what the product is. I wouldn't waste my money.

The enzyme preparation that might be worth getting is Biocare Glutenzyme. It has the gluten protease from barley that Alvine is investigating. Problem is, you will probably have to order the product internationally because of the Alvine patents.

[JustNana]

I read the advertisement and my hackles rose. I wouldn't waste my money either.

Skylark, please correct me if I'm wrong, but it isn't like being lactose intolerant, is it? Celiacs have an auto immune problem. The body sees gluten in the intestine as the enemy and attacks it. Wouldn't even well "digested" gluten have to pass into the small intestine and cause the reaction? You always explain things in a way that is easy to understand.

[Ninja]

Edited

[Skylark]

I read the advertisement and my hackles rose. I wouldn't waste my money either.

Skylark, please correct me if I'm wrong, but it isn't like being lactose intolerant, is it? Celiacs have an auto immune problem. The body sees gluten in the intestine as the enemy and attacks it. Wouldn't even well "digested" gluten have to pass into the small intestine and cause the reaction? You always explain things in a way that is easy to understand.

Let's see if I can explain.

• 
  
  
• The part of your immune system that causes celiac does not react to fully digested foods. It reacts to longish peptides, usually around 15-20 amino acids.
  
• Gluten is very difficult to fully digest, which is part of why it can interact with your immune system.
  
• For some unknown reason people with celiac have permeable intestines that let the undigested bits of gluten interact with the immune system and trigger autoimmunity. We may also be missing some gut bacteria that might help digest gluten; this is unclear.
  
• If you could somehow fully digest gluten, you could make it so it doesn't interact with your immune system.
  
• Enzymes that can actually break down gluten are few and far between. DPP-IV products that are touted to break down gluten have been tested and found to be largely ineffective.
  
• A pair of enzymes has been discovered (one from barley and one from Aspergillus niger) that together can fully digest gluten in a test tube.
  
• Alvine Pharmaceuticals has patented them and is doing clinical trials.
  
• In the first clinical trial the enzymes didn't work well enough or fast enough that you could eat a bagel but they might be helpful with small amounts of gluten CC.
  

Make sense? Biocare Glutenzyme has the barley enzyme Alvine is working with, but I don't think it has the other one.

[JustNana]

Yes indeedy Skylark, makes perfect sense. Thanks for the concise response. 

[celiacswife]

Lotta claims, no science, no real explanation of what the product is. I wouldn't waste my money.

The enzyme preparation that might be worth getting is Biocare Glutenzyme. It has the gluten protease from barley that Alvine is investigating. Problem is, you will probably have to order the product internationally because of the Alvine patents.

Is there anything available in the US that is worth taking? On a related (maybe) note, my husband (the celiac) seems to get minor illnesses (cold, cough)more often than the rest of the family. He takes some supplements, (multi-vitamin, extra vitamin C, fish oil) I wonder if some enzyme supplement would enhance his ability to fight off these illnesses?

[Bubba's Mom]

Is there anything available in the US that is worth taking? On a related (maybe) note, my husband (the celiac) seems to get minor illnesses (cold, cough)more often than the rest of the family. He takes some supplements, (multi-vitamin, extra vitamin C, fish oil) I wonder if some enzyme supplement would enhance his ability to fight off these illnesses?

Probiotics! They help in all sorts of ways. I'm including a link which tells some of the things that they help with.

Open Original Shared Link

In general, they improve the function of the immune system enough to fight off those common viruses

[Skylark]

Is there anything available in the US that is worth taking? On a related (maybe) note, my husband (the celiac) seems to get minor illnesses (cold, cough)more often than the rest of the family. He takes some supplements, (multi-vitamin, extra vitamin C, fish oil) I wonder if some enzyme supplement would enhance his ability to fight off these illnesses?

I have not seen anything in the US that I would bother to purchase for mitigating trace gluten CC.

There are some very nice general digestive enzyme supplements. I use Source Naturals Essential Enzymes when I eat a heavy or rich meal. I've seen Enzymedica Digest Gold mentioned a lot.

Also your husband needs to get his thyroid checked. A lot of celiacs have thyroid problems and one of the signs of hypothyroidism is suppressed immunity.

[Michelle1234]

I have seen digestive enzymes mentioned as a possible treatment for gluten side effects. I went to the er last night and the doctor there had never heard of them. What are they? Do they help? Do you have to take them with probiotics? Are they safe for advance celiac?

I've had really good luck taking GlutenEase when eating out. I went from getting cross contamination effects almost all the time to almost never. I had gotten to where I never wanted to eat out but once I started taking GlutenEase with any meal that I thought might have cross contamination I got so confident that I took a cruise around the world and had very few instances of glutening (that was back in 2009).

About 4 mths ago I started taking Digest Spectrum also as I was tested by my Dr. when I developed a broad spectrum of food intolerances (egg, cow dairy, goat dairy, beef, lamb, almonds, peanuts, green beans, cucumber, asparagus, red grapes etc) and was found to have no digestive enzymes of my own in my stomach. He put me on a 3 mth coarse of supplements tailored to the findings in my digestive profile so I am now thankfully through that episode and am again fine with all those foods. I've so far kept up the Digest Spectrum because it helps with all types of foods in addition to my probiotics to try and keep myself from getting that bad again. About two weeks ago I started taking a new supplement called Dr. Wises Gluten Relief and that seems to have really straightened out my digestive track. Now that is something else! My bowel movements are on-time and completely normal with no emergency runs to the bathroom. This is also about a 3 month course. I'm still taking the GlutenEase for any meal out of the house and the Digest Spectrum with every meal. No chest pains, no stomach pains, no emergency runs to the bathroom. I'm a happy camper. About 4 mths ago I could eat nothing with out a reaction. I've been gluten free for 5 years but somehow my body developed all these new food intolerances. Thankfully I've got a good Dr. who got me over that hump but most Drs are clueless. You have to really search around for one that will understand what is going on and help you.

[Skylark]

I've had really good luck taking GlutenEase when eating out. I went from getting cross contamination effects almost all the time to almost never. I had gotten to where I never wanted to eat out but once I started taking GlutenEase with any meal that I thought might have cross contamination I got so confident that I took a cruise around the world and had very few instances of glutening (that was back in 2009).

So it helped but you still got CC'd on occasion? I'm just trying to understand what the GlutenEase limitations are. I hope your cruise was fun!

Dr Wise's stuff is homeopathic, right?

[Michelle1234]

So it helped but you still got CC'd on occasion? I'm just trying to understand what the GlutenEase limitations are. I hope your cruise was fun!

Dr Wise's stuff is homeopathic, right?

Hi Skylark,

Yes on occasion I get CC'd. Mostly it seemed to be when I had thought I had a good reliable source of non-gluten food. For instance I ordered hard boiled eggs for breakfast from room service. I explained how I needed mine right out of the kitchen and not from the buffet where the hard boiled eggs were in front of the pancakes. The cruise was for 107 days so I would go along for months with no problems with the hard boiled eggs and I wouldn't be taking the GlutenEase with breakfast. Then the room service staff would be rotated off the ship and all of a sudden unknown to me I was ordering from a different person who would get the eggs from the buffet. Not a good reaction on my part but I also had not taken the GlutenEase so it can't be faulted. Usually any reaction I get is because I forget to take the GlutenEase and then I have to take it after the fact. But surprisingly it works really well after the fact. Without it I will be needing to find a restroom in an emergency fashion every 10 min. If I forget to take it and then have an emergency I can take a couple of pills and then be fine. No more problems.

Yes the Dr. Wise Gluten Relief is homeopathic. I've had great success with Cold Calm for colds, Oscillococcinum for flu and several other homeopathic remedies so I thought I'd give it a try. I'm very happy I did as I can't believe how good my stools/bowel movements are. I feel like I'm a normal person for the first time in over 5 years. It is about a 3 month treatment though and I'm only a couple of weeks into it. I also tried their Glandular Calm which did not work well for me. I didn't like the side effects so I e-mailed them about it and they offered to refund my money for it.

[Skylark]

That's impressive. The studies on GlutenEase-style enzymes didn't look that good. It's wonderful that you found something that works. I thought I was sensitive like you are but my issues turned out to be dairy intolerance. I'm able to eat out if I can get gluten-free/casein-free food.

I'm a little skeptical about homeopathy but the great thing is homeopathic remedies are so safe. If you find one that works for you there is really no downside like with regular drugs or even herbs.