Ok, I bit the bullet and purchased some $30 digestive enzymes: 100% vegetarian, no gluten, wheat, corn, soy, no added preservatives, etc. The directions say take 1 to 3 capsules with each meal. What would you do for a 50 pound child? 1 or 1/2 capsule per meal? Anything we should watch for? Any other suggestions? Thanks!

Have you been to the site www.enzymestuff.com ?
There is a section on dosing and another on what to expect when starting enzymes.
Digestive enzymes have really helped me and my son. We still do not eat gluten or any of the many things we have delayed allergies to though. The hope is that enzymes will allow us to eat some of these things (but not gluten) eventually.

--Judy

Judy, thanks! That website was helpful. I had saved it the other day (I think you had posted it previously) and then lost it.

I just took Tom to a DAN! doctor Monday. (Eventually, I'll get around to posting about it.) We're going to run a bunch of blood, urine, hair, and stool tests and then bump up his vitamin regimen and go from there. Anyway, he wants Tom to start on digestive enzymes after we get the tests done. He recommended Houston Enzymes (Zyme Prime, No Fenol, and AFP Peptizyde). 1 capsule of each at the start of every meal. Tom is 38 pounds.

I haven't gotten around to looking at prices. His DAN! doctor has a nice list of supplements he wants to start Tom on, and he said he'll sell them to us at a discount. The one supplement he did sell us that day, I looked up and he sold it to us $4 cheaper than online. (We've never done digestive enzymes, so I can't help you with what to expect. I forgot to ask at our appointment.)

I think Anthony Chicoke in his books says for children under 12 they should take one quarter the dose for adults. Children over 12 should take one half the amount for adults.

I think enzymestuff.com is Karen Defelice's website. Her book Enzymes for Autism... says that a specific type of enzymes from Houston Neurtaceuticals are the best for anyone with gluten or cesium problems. They may not work for everyone but will help most people with these food issues.

But even Defelice says trail and error is part of the process when it comes to enzymes.

Initially you can have a problem with protease enzymes. These can cause some irritation to the GI tract. That is the only caution I know about when it comes to enzymes. I also read that protease enzymes may actually destroy certain other types of enzymes if you take too much protease.

You can use a half capsule, for example, by sprinkling the contents onto food, instead of using that half inside a capsule. The only thing is that you have to make sure that those enzymes don't linger in the mouth or around the lips. Some enzymes, like the protease, break down animal flesh; so just make sure they are being swallowed down completely.

If it is a big meal you might be able to give your child one capsule. Trial and error is really part of the process with enzymes.

I think the bottom line is that the protease enzymes can be the most powerful especially for anti-inflammatory capabilities but these can also be the ones that need to be used with some caution. A broad spectrum enzyme product would be a different issue. These should be fine if you keep the dose to what is recommended on the bottle or for a child by reducing that recommended dose.

But for people who have allergies or sensitivities the protease enzymes can have other benefits, mainly the anti-inflammatory properties. These would be best used on an empty stomach probably. Bromelain is the most commonly known protease with excellent anti-inflammatory properties but not the only one. The allergic reaction is an inflammatory response, so using systemic enzymes may help to reduce the allergic reaction symptoms over time.

I have problems digesting fructose and I've yet to see a digestive enzyme that has the ability to break this down (no fructase). Any ideas?

What's strange is that most sugars maldigest. Fructose being one (I can eat in small quantities at a time) and the obvious lactose (which I don't really care about since I don't do dairy). Some other sugars seem to bug me in large quantities as well.

Thanks for all the good info! Now I just have to get brave enough to give them to my son.

RathyKay, you bring up a good point about waiting until after any testing. I am considering doing the Enterolab soy test and maybe the gene test. We've been gf so long (and dairy-free, egg-free even longer), that I don't think there's any point in testing for those. But I now have my son off of soy and corn too and have had for over two months. I wonder if it (soy) can still be detected (I know Enterolab says gluten can be detected for over a year)...

I was reading recently that the enzyme to digest fructose is produced by the tips of the villi, near the end. I already knew that the enzyme to digest lactose is produced by the very tips of the villi. What this means is that when you're on a gluten-free diet, as your villi grow back, when healing is nearly complete you may well regain the ability to digest fructose, and then when healing is complete you may regain the ability to diget lactose.

I knew about the lactose, but I didn't know that fructose was next in line right before lactose. I thought that was interesting.

Note that my source was a random person on an e-mail list that I'm on. She's a very accurate person who is always right about everything, so I didn't check up on what she was saying. But still, I'd consider this information "probably reliable but not fully confirmed."

-Valerie

Fructose intolerance and CD may be linked genetically too.

Hereditary fructose intolerance and celiac disease: a novel genetic association

No abstract with this one
Gluten intolerance, hypothyroidism, lactose and fructose malabsorption--a new "syndrome"?


Anne

I didn't know that either. Thanks for passing it on Valerie.

After almost 4 years of healing, I've got about 4 packs of different enzymes in my cupboard to see if they make a difference... esp. with ss (super-sensitive to almost everything) ds. I thought I made try the betaine first as I've read that it will help with acid levels, which may help with multi-sensitivities. I've not yet read enough to feel comfortable about trying them for anymore than a day or two, just yet.

We were using papaya enzymes for a little bit (they just seemed 'not very worrisome') and the children liked them because they taste yummy but I stopped buying them for a specific reason... I forget why right now... I will come back and put it in if I can remember during the course of my day. I do remember that we took them out and put them back and didn't see a difference.