Unable to tolerate digestive enzymes, need advice! Major stomach issues.

[chickpea]

ME veteran, I have the usual leaky gut, suspected yeast overgrowth and IBS. I am on a pretty strict diet of no gluten, dairy, soy, sugar and Mainly fruits, vegetables, rice, oats, poultry and yogurt. My holistic doctor recommended I start taking digestive enzymes due to having a high fatty content in my stool. I was thinking I was tolerating the digestive enzymes for almost 2 months and then this last week has been unbearable. My nausea and bloating have kicked up into high gear and a new symptom of abdominal and and intestinal cramping has developed. I’m fairly certain it is due to the digestive enzymes. Has anyone experienced this? I am trying to figure out what I can do to help my stomach and digestion at this point. I’m a mess.
Thank you fellow warriors!

 

[caledonia]

Check out the info on the 4R Gut Rebuilding Program in my signature link. You're only doing 1 or 2 of the R's.

The candida has to be directly killed. I rotated between Caprylistat (caprylic acid), GSE (grapefruit seed extract, and cat's claw. Each one would last about a year, then wear off and symptoms would return, so I moved to the next one.

Some time after I got my last mercury filling out, the candida died down and I didn't need those supplements any more. I think I was lucky and that most people would also need to chelate their mercury at least partway to get a result like that. But anyway, that is a permanent solution, and is often the underlying root cause of people's candida and other gut issues.

 

[ljimbo423]

My nausea and bloating have kicked up into high gear and a new symptom of abdominal and and intestinal cramping has developed. I’m fairly certain it is due to the digestive enzymes.

Hi chickpea - I haven't had any problems with digestive enzymes. You might want to try a plant based digestive enzyme if you are using animal based ones.

Alternatively, if you are using plant based ones, maybe animal based would work better.

Jim

 

[Wolfcub]

@chickpea Have you had your gall bladder checked or an ultrasound done?

 

[Runner5]

I'm allergic to the lactase enzyme, sometimes with the 'here is everything' enzymes you get stuck with something you can't tolerate. Lactase enzymes make me vomit profusely for about 4 hours until it works out of my system.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000H6VYE8/ref=oh_aui_search_detailpage?ie=UTF8&psc=1

I take these and some bromelain. I have had gut issues my entire life, usually, candida and stuff kicks in if my food isn't digesting properly. I had to eliminate dairy and fats and I usually have to be careful of high FODMAP foods like peas. Candida also thrives when you're in the early stages of diabetes it's a pretty good canary in the coal mine.

Good luck!

 

[caledonia]

I agree with Wolfcub, a couple of your symptoms do sound gallbladder-ish.

Do you have any pain in your upper right back, in the shoulder blade area? If so, this is referred pain from your gallbladder. People can also have pain or tenderness in their upper right abdomen, just under the rib cage.

If so, check out Ben Lynch's book, Dirty Genes, the sections on the PEMT gene. I have been working on this myself. There are some foods you can eat, which have been mostly helpful. You can also take phosphatydal choline (sp?). I have a bottle here to experiment with, but haven't had done so quite yet.

If your PEMT gene/enzyme is running slow it can cause bile flow to be sluggish, as well as issues with cell membranes. Gallbladder issues run in my family, and I am also PEMT +/+, so it naturally runs slow.

Have you noticed if stress makes it worse? It does for me.

 

[Kes]

No idea if this will be helpful at all but have you ever tried taking fennel tea or in another form or chewing some whole brown linseeds (having them ground was no good for me). I've found both of these helpful for easing bad bloating. I'm not sure if they could help the nausea.

 

[kangaSue]

An oily stool can be a sign of fat malabsorption and going to a lower fat diet can be of benefit. Try taking an enzyme that has just the basics of lipase, amylase and protease. Most supplement types however are too low in lipase content to deal with fats so you may have to resort to a prescription med, Creon or Zenpep for instance.

I suggest you check out the blood flow to the bowel too, a Doppler ultrasound of your mesentery arteries. An oily stool can be pancreatic insufficiency and that in turn can be the result of impaired blood flow in the mesentery arteies which can have the flow on effect of reduced blood flow to the pancreas.

Your GI symptoms actually fit for Chronic Mesenteric Ischemia which can occur with a couple of abdominal vascular compression syndromes (SMA Syndrome, MALS - Median Arcuate Ligament Syndrome). Either of these in turn can cause autonomic dysfunction which can result in having a low gallbladder ejection fraction, in which case, you won't producing enough bile to break down fats.

 

[brenda]

@chickpea
The fatty stool, nausea, bloating and pain could be your pancreas, if it is not gall stones but either way it could be pretty serious so you need to get an ultrasound and other tests done. Gall stones can cause acute pancreatitis which is life threatening sometimes. I had this last year. Medics do not always understand the pancreas and often miss it, you would need to see someone who is recommended as a specialist if it is.

You would find out who on one of the pancreas disease forums in your country.

You must stop alcohol and smoking now as the pancreas hates these and adopt a low fat diet. Personally I am whole food plant based, no oil, which is very important, salt or sugar and have had no trouble digesting the fat I get from seeds nuts and avocado. Do your stools stink and float? Another sign of the pancreas. Poultry has been found to be higher in fat than is generally believed and too high in omega 6 to be healthy.

 

[bertiedog]

f so, check out Ben Lynch's book, Dirty Genes, the sections on the PEMT gene. I have been working on this myself. There are some foods you can eat, which have been mostly helpful. You can also take phosphatydal choline (sp?). I have a bottle here to experiment with, but haven't had done so quite yet.

Ben Lynch also has an excellent presentation on Candida and how to treat it gently but successfully on his Facebook Live You Tube video. I think it was around February this year.

I found it an excellent guide for people like me who are struggling with this but are unable to directly use lots of "killers" because they make us too sick.

Pam

 

[wonderoushope]

I was really reactive to lots of foods for a long while. I think I had Intestinal dysbiosis (still do a bit). I was reacting to lots of supplements and herbs. I went initially to a naturopath thinking a natural way might help and they gave me herbal concoctions but my stomach just couldn't handle it. I would get nauseous and cramps even on their simplest concoctions.

I was diagnosed with GAD and IBS, but nothing ever seems to help.

I then went on a strict elimination diet (RPAH) for about 6 months (with the help of a trained dietician) as that how long it took my stomach to settle, even on the elimination trials I kept on reacting to foods. On the diet, you could only have listed supplements and medications (which was quite low). For example, there were only a few pandol brands you could have and you had to take off the outer shell. I was only meant to have one Vit D brand, but I cheated.On the diet I slipped up thinking it was okay to have Vit D in liquid form, but turns out the orange oil it was in I was reacting to at the time and made me nauseous. I only had it once and that all it took. I am sure if I tried it now, I would be able to handle it much better.

So eventually my stomach seem to settle down (just the time I think and eating lots of vegetables and lentils) slowly made a difference. I now seem to tolerate supplements much better. At my worst, just one wrong panadol would send me spiralling.

So yes until your stomach settles, do not add anything new that you know affects your stomach. If you can work with a dietician versed in elimination diets and food sensitivities.

For the last 4-6 months, I have been able to bring back much diverse range of foods.

Also, I was getting reoccurring gastritis before all this. I suspect it was because of an underlying food intolerance. I think that's why I kept on getting nauseous and stomach issues as the food items were aggravating my stomach and bringing on gastritis. I think I am intolerant to lactose and probably lots of preservatives. I haven't had nausea and reflux for a long while now on this more tailored diet and removing these things. I think this also helps me introduce more foods. I am hoping it stays that way. But I have had remission periods before and then it flares up again, but I think I have it more under control this time around, and know what is happening.