Enzymes - How Often

[tapestry]

I know that my daughter needs enzymes with every meal. However, I'm not sure how long is an acceptable time between "meals." As an example her typical bottle is 6oz. She may drink the first 3oz in ten minutes and I give her her enzymes then. But she'll finish the other 3oz twenty minutes after that. So does she need another does of enzymes? Or is the first one still working? Anyone have any experience/advice on this? Anyone know the time limit on when more enzymes need to be given?

Thanks
~Tapestry~

 

[anonymous]

We were always told to split their enzymes up throughout the meal. For example if they were an infant drinking a bottle and required 3 enzymes with a meal, I would give the first two at the start of the bottle and the third enzyme halfway through. I am under the impression that the enzymes work for about 20-30 mins. although I have never read anything saying that exactly. I am curious to read the posts of others on this subject.
Tammy (Mommy of 2 beautiful girls with CF)

 

[anonymous]

My daughter's CF doctor told us the enzymes last about 1 to 1.5 hours and we too split them up in a meal. She takes 4 creon 5's with snacks and 6 with meals so we start with 4 and if she's being a good eater (lots of fatty food) then we giver her another 2. Her weight been has been good. You can tell your are doing a good job at giving the enzymes if your child's weight gain is good, her belly doesn't ache, and her poops are fairly well formed.

My doctor gauges my daughter's number of enzymes by how much she weighs and by her number and consistency of stools. She's 2 and 1/2 and weighs 28 pounds.

Hope this helps.

 

[allie1]

We were told the enzymes work exactly 30 mins and we have found this to be the case. We were also told to give all the enzymes right before she starts eating. We start out with her normal dose and if she eats more than expected or longer than we give her another one or half of one as soon as the 30 mins is up. I found that figuring out the enzymes was the hardest part of getting used to treating the disease. Good luck.

Amy

 

[anonymous]

Hi again,

I'll have to check with my doctor about the 1 to 1.5 hours. One other bit of advice that worked well for us. When our child was diagnosed at 10 months it was so difficult to administer the enzymes. Hidding them in applesause or whatever didn't seem to work. After a few months we came up with a method that works great. We use a bendy straw and put it upside down in a narrow glass so in make a "U" in the glass then we open the enzymes and dump them into the straw. Then our daughter just drinks down the enzymes with some OJ or apple juice or soda or whatever is acidic. It works very well. When we go out I use a medella bottle and just leave a straw inside it.

Sue

 

[anonymous]

My pulm drs and dietician said that the enzymes work about an hour give or take. She said if it has been exactly an hour that does not mean take her bottle away right that second. Geez, if they only worked 30 minutes what would we do with babies and toddlers? We would be giving them enzymes constantly!!!

 

[NoDayButToday]

The parameters we were given was that enzymes last 45 minutes, so if I am eating over a period of time (say, at a formal dinner), I spread them out and take some with bread/salad, some with the entree and some with dessert.

 

[jaime]

Thats interesting and something I have never thought of. I have always just taken my enzymes at the begining of my meals and everything seems to work fine. I have noticed that if I start eating and forget to take my enzymes, about 10-15 min into the meal I get terrible stabbing stomach pains.

 

[anonymous]

Are there people that dont have to have enzymes? We have had to go down on my daughters enzymes the past month because she is getting constipated. We are at a half of an enzyme and she is still getting constipated. I also give her like 6-8 oz of juice a day. Has anyone heard of this?? I think it is weird! She has not had that low of an enzyme since she was born! She is double DeltaF508.

 

[anonymous]

Hey how are you? just to say that, with my daughter and her constipation, she takes peglyte once or twice a week. She has never gone down in enzymes since birth she is five. Like I had said before in a post, I would rather have an illeostomy later in life for her, then, having to have a feeding tube inserted at a young age for poor weight gain. Anyway, as long as she is growing and thrieving, I wouldn't put too much concern into it. I fine the doctors are more concern with excessive stools then they are lack of.
take care

 

[NoDayButToday]

Anonymous 2 posts previous,
Some CFers don't need enzymes. If you really feel like the enzymes are of no use now, you can ask your doctor to perform a fecal fat test, where you collected your child's stool for 3 days while either taking or not taking enzymes (depending on what they order the test for- if they need MORE enzymes or less). They then analyze the stool for the fat content, which indicates the needs regarding enzymes. It is slightly unpleasant to keep the bucket of poop for three days, but it will be worth it.

 

[anonymous]

Thanks Coll, I will have to talk to them about that!!!

 

[anonymous]

By the way, she has always gained weight great and we have never had a problem with that. She has been very healthy and in 75th percentile for weight. I am just worried that she is not getting enough enzymes and it will hurt her! I really dont want that. <img src="i/expressions/face-icon-small-confused.gif" border="0">

 

[Liza]

HI, just to add to the many different time frames. My girls' docs/dieticians have all said, half an hour. For example when they were having to go to the nurses office for their pills. I actually told the nurse when she asked about if they forgot to come in, how long after can she give them, I told them after about 30 minutes it was pretty useless. Here's the tough part, and if they forgot they would get a stomach ache and hopefully not forget again. It happened a few times for my youngest who's now 14. As toddlers I gave them their pills with desert, which happened to be first. I would check with her dietician and see because it may depend too on why type of enzymes you are giving. My youngest had the one that was a powder (from a capsule) and she had to be fed that first in the smallest amount of formula/breast milk and quickly as it starts breaking down the milk immediately. She drank her bottle all at once though.

Liza
(mom of 2teen girls w/CF)