digestive enzymes: anyone take them? are they helpful?

I've used them in the past. From the fancy expensive ones to the <$10 papaya pills. Didn't notice it helping any, but I also don't see the harm in popping an enzyme pill after eating a heavy meal.

I took them for a bit and I didn't notice any positive improvement. I am sure others have had the opposite experience. The only way to tell whether they are helpful to you is to try them.

Wow, I was just directed to a website by a fella and it was titled "CureColitis", but it was selling Humic/Fulvic acid supplements..............

http://www.earthclinic.com/CURES/ulcerative_colitis.html

i was taking them religiously last year but they didn't do anything for me.

Digestive enzymes aid in breaking food down so it's less work on your intestinal tract. Many find digestive enzymes to be very helpful when taken after every meal. Natural digestive enzymes are papaya, kiwi, mango, pineapple, blueberries, watermelon, raspberries and grapefruite...many cannot tolerate these fruits with their IBD so supplement form seems to be quite helpful.  Here's a link with all kinds of foods that are considered to have digestive enzymes....

http://www.livestrong.com/article/301343-foods-with-naturally-occurring-digestive-enzymes/

You won't know until you try since with IBD it's all trial and error....good luck!

I think if you have IBS along with your UC they might help.
Just an interesting side note - I was in Bali recently and drank Papaya juice almost everyday (almost with every meal actually) and I have to say it had some sort of magical powers on my stomach. Almost an aloe vera effect or something. Definitely helped calm my stomach/IBS down at least!

I'm glad you've seen improvement on digestive enzymes but i would strongly encourage you to continue taking your UC medications as prescribed by your doctor.

I have been using them for between 3-4 months and I credit them, at least in part, for helping me reach remission. Along with pre & probiotics and my meds. And the other few things in my signature.

Giving my GI system a chance to rest and heal was important for me. But I believe I am low on stomach acid (or at least was) as I was seeing my chewed food arrive "identifiable" in my morning movement. Shreds of carrots, nuts, potato peels.

(**** I also quit eating those things and switched to an anti-inflammatory diet at this point )

This was scraping my healing colon, as the days that I saw the bits I also saw blood a few poops later. I decided I needed the enzymes for awhile to insure everything was super soft and easy to pass. It worked. And yes, I used them before meals, too.

I am beginning to taper off of them now and things look good. I don't use them for meals that are low residue or for fruits and softer foods. Just high protein meat meals now. And soon I will stop using them for that, too.

I just want to do this slowly.....I have only been in clinical remission for about a month and want to retain it----this remission was corroborated by a scope recently, so I know it's the real deal.

EDIT: the ones I bought were cheapies from Amazon, two different brands and both have worked well. I make sure to buy a full spectrum that covers dairy, carbs, fat & proteins.