Anyone find digestive enzymes useful?

[CathyA]

I think my IBS is in a flare. I eat a little and blow up like a balloon and it seems to take forever to digest.
Have any of you ever used digestive enzymes and found some relief?
Thanks.

[Rosemary]

I get severe stomach bloating sometimes immediately after eating, but I don't have IBS. I haven't tried digestive enzymes. Things that seem to help - eating very small meals, eating only meats/veggies (no grains or legumes when I'm having flares), chamomile or fennel tea.

[rosarugosa]

My Mom swears by papaya enzyme tablets for "too full" feeling after a meal.

[CathyA]

Thanks Rosemary and rosarugosa.

I guess you could say I'm avoiding seeing a doctor, since I've seen so many in the past, and nothing is ever wrong.........and that is only discovered after many tests and lots of money has been spent. Its really frustrating that very few docs know anything about nutrition.......even GI docs.

I think I'm just having a bad IBS flare, but I'm considering gastroparesis, vagus nerve disfunction, or funky female hormones.

I know alot of people suggest going to the doc, but I've found it to be very unproductive, so I'm trying to figure this out myself.
Thanks for your suggestions.

In flares in the past, I have tried fennel tea, peppermint, slippery elm, and papaya tabs. I can't say that anything really worked. The condition just seemed to work itself out, after backing off alot on eating. I LOVE veggies, especially salads, broccoli, cabbage, etc...........but I think it gets me into trouble when I eat too much of them.
Maybe I have a bezoar. hahaha............Such a funny name for a glob of fibrous veggies that get stuck in your stomach. I once saw an article by a doc who suggested drinking tons of coke over about a month, in order to dissolve them. Hey........if coke can dissolve nails, it should be able to dissolve a gastric bezoar, right? I'm on my way to the store to buy a case of coke.......... Not! You might get rid of the bezoar, but be diabetic with rotten teeth when you're done! :~)

I have to say, along with all these physical symptoms, is depression. I'm so very tired of having this body. There's never an end to the funky things that go on with it. Yes, I'm happy to be alive and 63, but dang, I've paid my dues over and over.
I try to keep positive, but sometimes, it really gets to me. :(

[Aqua Blue]

Have you ever considered that you have Ankolosing Spondolosis? Your symptoms are so close to mine, and that is what I have. While there is no magic cure, knowing all those things fit together was a help to me.

[Life_is_Simple]

CathyA

If it's raw vegetables that is triggering it, then it could be gastroparesis. My mom is on the gastroparesis diet, and can't have raw vegetables, particularly salads. You might try steamed broccoli and cabbage, and see if that helps.

[CathyA]

Thanks everyone. Just when I think I might try something like digestive enzymes, I read about how they can hurt you. Bummer.
I'm still having lots of problems with it. Hopefully it will pass.
Thanks for your suggestions.
Too bad I'm a food addict, on top of it all. :( So hard to give up things and to cut down.....even when I'm in trouble.
I have developed a theory about my over-eating though, and I actually have been hearing about it on medical sites. And that's if your stomach isn't emptying properly,
your small intestine isn't getting the message that you're eating, and doesn't send out any "stop-eating" messages. Makes sense.
Then you over-extend your stomach. I had a chicken that had a "pendulous crop" and eventually died, because nothing would go through her crop (stomach). All that stretching out causes a disconnect with the innervation of the muscles. I'm sure chickens are very different from us, but it makes sense that this can happen in humans too.