Digestive Enzyme side effects

[MattGreen]

Years ago i was diagnosed with celiacs, i cut out gluten for a while and now it seems its just a celiac intolerance, comes up barely on the blood test.  With my digestive problems came a bunch of food intolerance's i never had though, my digestion has never really gotten back to normal, i assumed i have some form of 'leaky gut' or along those lines.  Last year i started taking plant/fungal based Digestive Enzymes and found they helped me greatly, way more than the previously prescribed animal based enzymes i had tried.  But it didn't take long before i started feeling side effects, the most notable one being breathing difficulties, and slightly increased heart rate, making it hard to sleep and exercising uncomfortable.  It starts becoming very noticeable after i take them with every meal over the course of a day or 2.  basically my digestion starts feeling great, i can eat more and more types of foods, energy goes up, but then the side effects kick in, so im basically trying to figure out how to manage taking these digestive enzymes.  I've tried 3 brands, one from 'prairie naturals' called enzyme force, 2 or 3 different ones from 'enzymedica', and another from 'natural factors' called multi-enzyme.  They all generally start giving the same side effects.  Has anyone else had the same issue ? Or is there a brand someone else would recommend? 

This is probably a very isolated issue but i feel if i could just find one that didn't start giving me side effects my digestion could start feeling normal again.

 

[knitty kitty]

Welcome to the forum!

Could you give us a better idea of what you are eating? 

Are you eating out at restaurants and possibly getting cross contaminated? 

Is your diet heavy on carbohydrates?

Have you been checked for vitamin and mineral deficiencies?  Celiac Disease damages the small intestine where vitamins and minerals are absorbed.  

"...side effects, the most notable one being breathing difficulties, and slightly increased heart rate, making it hard to sleep and exercising uncomfortable."

These are early symptoms of thiamine insufficiency.  Thiamine is needed to make and secrete digestive enzymes.  Thiamine is needed to help red blood cells carry oxygen to the cells, especially during exercise.  "Sailors' asthma" is a symptom of thiamine insufficiency.  Tachycardia and insomnia are also symptoms of thiamine insufficiency.  

The more carbohydrates you eat, the more Thiamine you need to convert them to energy.  

Discuss with your doctor the benefits of supplementing with Thiamine Vitamin B 1 and the rest of the B vitamins and magnesium.  Talk to a nutritionist to ensure you are getting a nutrient dense diet.

 

[trents]

Welcome to the forum, Matt!

Are you back to eating significant amounts of gluten?

You say you "it comes up barely on the blood test". Which blood test do you refer to? Can you be more specific? I assume you are referring to a celiac antibody blood test but there is not just one. Do you have access to your medical record from recent testing and can you post the test result along with the reference range?

But the fact that you are still getting a weak positive means you are still producing celiac antibodies so I do not think the lower scores indicate you have converted somehow from having celiac disease to merely being gluten sensitive (aka, NCGS for Non Celiac Gluten Sensitivity, a better term than your "gluten intolerant" which is an umbrella term for all gluten-related disorders). Some celiacs report that they have gone into "remission" but it usually doesn't last.

Is there a common ingredient in the various "digestive enzyme" products you are taking that might cause the side effects you describe?

I' afraid that you are deceiving yourself into thinking you no longer have celiac disease and damage to your body is still happening, even though the outward symptoms are not what they used to be. And that brings up a good question. In the beginning when you were diagnosed with celiac disease, what were your symptoms? What led you to get tested for celiac disease? Are those symptoms, in fact, gone now?

[Scott Adams]

Welcome to the forum!

What is your goal with the enzymes? Do you eat at restaurants and at other non-gluten-free homes? Is your goal to deal with the effects of possible cross-contamination with gluten? If so, you would need an enzyme designed for this, for example GliadinX, which is one of our sponsors. General enzymes may be good for lots of different things, but AN-PEP enzymes work specifically to break down gliadin in the stomach (small amounts only).