Digestive enzymes and probiotics

[SKWEKER]

Anyone had unwanted side effects from taking digestive enzymes? I've been trying them for around two weeks, no improvement in my mixed IBS, felt slightly breathless a few times too. I had also started a new probiotic a week before starting them. I'm thinking I should give the probiotic a chance on its own to see if it helps? Thoughts /experiences anyone?

[Maureen1958]

Funnily enough, I tried just one digestive enzyme on Thursday evening. I have a problem with anything I take, I always have extreme reactions! You were supposed to take two, three times a day with food. So I just took one with my evening meal and it made me constipated the next day, I hardly went at all. The next day I thought I would get the back log out, but I didn't, just went a small amount again, it took until this morning to get rid of the backlog. I thought they would go through me quickly by digesting everything quickly! I was wrong there! I wondered if the capsule they were in was the problem rather than the contents of the capsule. Next time I summon up the courage to try them again, I think I might cut the capsules open and just take the contents!

And don't get me started on probiotics!

And yes, if I was you, I would try things one at a time!

[SKWEKER in reply to Maureen1958]

The ones I have aren't in a capsule, I was to take one just before my main meal. I noticed a few times a kind of feeling of breathlessness after the meal , almost like if I had a very strong coffee. Strange. Both are from a company "just for tummies" I guess I need to give the probiotics another few weeks to see if they help.Have you tried lots of different probiotics then?

[Maureen1958 in reply to SKWEKER]

Yes, quite a few including symprove which is supposed to be one of the best and very expensive. I got fed up in the end and did one of these biome tests and it came back saying it was in a pretty good state, so I decided I didn't need to take probiotics anyway.

[SKWEKER in reply to Maureen1958]

Oh I've not heard of them! Are they expensive? I've often considered doing a York intolerance test, but I have my doubts about the science behind them. Do you get a kind of constant feeling of pain and pressure? , I sometimes wonder if my bladder has something wrong and its causing bowel problems!

[salford44 in reply to SKWEKER]

Hi mine is due to bowel prolapse that's pushed into the vagina wall.. So I take probotics and doing great on them. Also I've had a Pessary ring inserted and that helps as well.. I was getting pain in hip and bladder thinking it was a urine infection.. It wasn't half the time.. Do you GP do the tests.. Instead of paying York testing..

[SKWEKER in reply to salford44]

I don't think you can get intolerance tests on the nhs? But it's strange about the pressure, I've had ct scan of my abdomen, ultrasound and colonoscopy, all fine. And yet some days I pee loads and others hardly ever, even if I drink the same things.

[Maureen1958 in reply to SKWEKER]

Here is a link to the symprove site. symprove.com/

I did a York Test about 20 years ago. I wasn't impressed.

Yes, I guess you could describe constant feeling of pain and pressure, but it moves about. I can feel everything inside me and where is it, it think it's just the years of having to cope. Holding it when you want to go and then trying to go when you have time but by that time it's too late. I feel sick most of the time as well.

You could have a urine infection maybe, but they do push on each other so it would be hard to tell, you would have to check with your GP. It could also perhaps have something to do with the menopause or endometriosis.

[SKWEKER in reply to Maureen1958]

I feel like that too, there's always pain or pressure but it moves about. I've had ct/ultrasound /colonoscopy. All fine, I think they just don't believe me. I'm on hrt as well in the hope that it would help, six months now and still the same 😔It's strange, years ago I worked in medical underwriting for insurance and I asked someone why they thought IBS was so common in women. I genuinely think it's because if you have kids you don't get peace to go to the toilet. Whereas men disappear for half an hour with a newspaper 😂🙄

[Maureen1958 in reply to SKWEKER]

Yes I can still remember when my son was about 3 months old and I took him upstairs in this little seat and put in just outside the toilet so he could see me but he just screamed and screamed the whole time. I never did that again, after that I waited till I had got him to sleep and left him in the lliving room downstairs with the door shut! We had a cat at the time so didn't want to leave the cat alone with my son!

[janetmtt in reply to Maureen1958]

I am like that react to every single thing I take it is a nightmare I have to start with half a tablet and I break them open - TBH never had success with digestive enzymes. I use homeopathy as I can control it better

[Maureen1958 in reply to janetmtt]

Glad I'm not the only one, I was beginning to think it was just me! I have never tried digestives enzymes before but have often wondered! I'll see how it goes, I'll take the contents out of the capsule and put it in a sandwich or something!

[janetmtt in reply to Maureen1958]

I react to everything and some digestive enzymes made me bloat. Sometimes i would get spaced out feeling. It’s awful isn’t it. Battling this and uti too. Fed up

[Maureen1958 in reply to janetmtt]

❤️

[SKWEKER in reply to janetmtt]

I'd never considered homeopathy, is it helpful? Did you have a consultation or did you just try things yourself? I don't know much about it!

[janetmtt in reply to SKWEKER]

I have used it since 1985 so have good knowledge now but in March I did self prescribe and tried pulsatilla but then moved to staphysagria which did good - but I have a homeopath in Ireland so currently seeing her - but after lots of antibiotics that did not clear up uti and urine coming back clear Dr said lack of estrogen tried to give me Vagifem so refused to use it - too many side effects and because I react to everything did homeopathic consultation. Currently doing pulsatilla which is helping but not 100% but if it is lack of estrogen not going to clear it overnight and pulsatilla is a hormonal remedy for women but there are loads of remedies you can take for this but it is best to work with a homeopath. If you go on Facebook and look for Ask a Homeopath 247 they can do an acute 15 min consultation for £40. Or just go on internet and do a search "homeopathic remedies for .....?????" and read what it says. But I prefer this treatment better than any meds Dr gives you. There are sites on FAcebook "Homeopathy for women's health" which is a woman only group. But whatever your problem is there is a remedy there to help - homeopathy treats the whole person not just the problem. Find some of the homeopaths on Facebook and check out their websites and testimonials

[SKWEKER in reply to janetmtt]

Thanks, I'll have a look, my issues are more with the questionable digestive system but sometimes everything feels inflamed. I'm on hrt which helps me sleep but unfortunately didn't make any difference to my digestive system!

[janetmtt in reply to SKWEKER]

homeopathy can treat digestive issues - put in search engine homeopathic remedies to help digestive issues - most homeopaths do a free 15 min call to discuss your problems and how it helps - give it a go nothing to lose

[Meleber]

I have no luck with a probiotic till now for my IBS symptoms (IBS with overflow diarrhea) . I'm trying one well documented strain a time, not a probiotic with different strains because then you don't know what is really working for you. I found out the hard way that the recommended dosage on the can is often way too high for my dysfunctional body/intestine. Be careful because probiotic can also have a negative health effect. So as I keep telling myself start low and go slow. It's not always easy to find a well researched single strain probiotic in a low dosage. But fortunately we have Internet these days and I can buy the probiotic I want to try next in Belgium, an online pharmacy.

[edwangy]

Personally, I think these things are a big con. Your body produces all the digestive enzymes you need(unless you've been tested to be deficient in any)

[diana16 in reply to edwangy]

I have been taking probiotics for several months but yesterday I had a terrible flare up when I had griping pain and felt as if I couldn't stop going to the loo even though I was empty - has anyone else suffered this - I had eaten broccoli (stupidly because in the past it has caused problems) the night before. Anyway thought I would stop the probiotics for a while to see if that helped. I am so fed up - like most of you - this seems to govern my life and the gp is no help at all.

[edwangy in reply to diana16]

Yes it sucks, rules your life. I have IBS C and suffer with constant pain which stops me sleeping. Had scans, colonoscopy, etc, etc just goes around in circles. Doctors and even my consultant are useless, my consultant has even suggested a bowel resection just because I have diverticulosis, even though this is not recommended for IBS. I just carry on taking stool softeners and sleeping pills just to get through each day. If I were you I'd lay off probiotics because they can cause diarrhoea, just try to eat healthy with lots of insoluble fiber to bulk up your stools.

[sgpuff in reply to diana16]

I had some old probiotics in the fridge once. So I thought they wouldn't have much life in them so I took two instead of one. Ended up in emergency with horrible pain. so now if I ever take them I just use very, very small doses.

[Zantecat in reply to sgpuff]

I took some very well known probiotics, and they made me sick as a dog! The reason they give is because supposedly the good bacteria are killing the bad ,so the toxins produced make you ill (or something like that), never again!I Did the York test, didn’t help a bit, also felt worse with enzymes, various fibres probiotics, and many other things out there that promise a lot but in reality just make your purse lighter!