How long do you have to eat after taking pills? Do you have to eat within 5 mins?

[Enzo2311]

Do you have to have something in your stomach at least within 5 mins of taking them? I'm not talking about you only have 5 minutes, but I mean you should have something in your stomach within 5 mins? Also, what happens if you take your pills yet you don't eat enough? So if I took 3 pills and my meal ended up being a snack size, what would happen? Or what if I took 1 pill but I just had 3 carrots?

For me 3 pills= 1 meal
2 pills= 1 snack

 

[Twistofchaos]

No, it's ok (maybe even better) to take our enzymes slightly early.

But I find it easiest to just take them when I start to eat.

Nothing really happens when taking too much enzymes/too little food. The body gets rid of it mostly unnoticed.

 

[kosdancer]

Actually, if you have too many enzymes it can cause constipation. I spread the enzymes out through the meal; the answer to when to take them depends a lot on who you ask though. Find what works for your body would be my best advice.

 

[Enzo2311]

Actually, if you have too many enzymes it can cause constipation. I spread the enzymes out through the meal; the answer to when to take them depends a lot on who you ask though. Find what works for your body would be my best advice.

well I can't do that at school, but I do the same at home.

 

[jamest]

Nutritionist indicated to me that the pills should work for the next 30 minutes.

 

[beautifulsoul]

My doctor has told me that enzymes take effect and are working for about an hour. If I'm not sure that I'm going to finish an entire meal then, I'll take 3 enzymes right away before I eat. But, If I decide about halfway or more through eating that I'm going to eat more than I thought then I will just take another enzyme. That way I won't have too many enzymes in my system just in case I can't finish my meal and it's more of a "snack"

 

[azdesertrat]

I always take mine just before I start eating. And, in my case anyway, you can take too many or not enough. I've always had horrible stomach pain if I over or under dose. I've always had stomach 'issues' regardless; another one of the litle 'benefits' of having CF. It really sucks when you have to work through the pain. I don't know if people who don't have CF, including the doctors, realize how much pain is involved with enduring CF.

 

[CrisDopher]

Guys, this is not a medicine that goes into the bloodstream and gets circulated. It stays in the digestive tract and operates on whatever is in close proximity to it in the digestive tract. It is optimal to take them spaced throughout a long meal or at the beginning of a short meal.

 

[scarecrow]

I know that it isn't what you are supposed to do, and if I had thought about it back when I started taking them I would have done it diferent, but I have always taken them after I eat. It seems like if I take them within about half an hour they work just fine. I'm certainly not telling anyone else to do that but it does seem like there is a pretty big window of opportunity.

 

[LittleLab4CF]

The human body's GI tract isn't the fine tuned systems like the circulatory system where a finite set of functions perform expertly. Long before the gut has any say, other influences of food choice and quantity are made for it. This decision may please the gut or possibly poison it, but it rarely revolts at the time we eat.

Another factor having to do with enzymes is how much the body still produces. I am not totally PI and I have little difficulty with my Creon if I am a little late. I also have massive chronic pain and no thanks to narcotics my GI tract is slow so that actually has to be figured in just in case. Total PI people should be finely tuned to when and how much enzyme to take.

Enzo,

You have a lot of questions about managing CF. This can be a great time saver if you can glean some tips and plenty have hard learned tips are worth knowing. When I was in school, administrators were just encountering students carrying prescription medicines. There really weren't any policies like storing them with the school nurse. It is inconvenient but it beats having some kid take it from you and dose some unsuspecting person. It sucks bigtime but just get over it. Beating yourself against CF makes it bigger than it is. Do what you must but glide through it as best as you can. Chaffing against something that is part of you is not productive.

LL