Visiting Santa with your kiddos should be fun, right? I remember standing in line with my husband and 4-year-old son, with what seemed like about three zillion happy, smiling families separating us from the jolly ol' man, when my stomach started to churn. Immediately I panicked. I had a familiar debate in my head... Do I really have to use the bathroom, or is this a false alarm? Do I have to sprint for the toilet in my ugly Christmas sweater, pushing toddlers out of my way in my haste, or can I walk calmly to the restroom??

The thing with "stomach problems" - at least with mine - is I can never be sure. And I wasn’t going to risk humiliating myself in public so I walked briskly to the bathroom. Where I spent the next 30 minutes having diarrhea, cursing the colon gods, and I missed Santa altogether.

I wish I had known about digestive enzymes back then because taking them before my meals now has changed my life. I want to share some facts about digestive enzymes and my personal story in hopes it might help someone who, like me, feared going out in public, and whose bowels dictated their daily activities.

Digestive enzymes are a game changer for IBS.

This is the semi-humiliating blog post I never thought I’d write.

For as long as I can remember I've planned my life around the bathroom. I call it "stomach problems" which is a nice way of saying "I get diarrhea. A lot."

My stomach, my poop schedule (or really lack of a schedule) has affected EVERY area of my life. I’ve stayed home from parties, missed my kid’s bowling tournament because I needed to be within arm’s length of a toilet, and have spent a literal crap ton of money on Imodium over the years.

Sometimes it’s a minor annoyance, and sometimes it feels like a shitty curse. How I describe the stomach problems doesn’t really matter. What does matter is that it made me angry, depressed, and in desperate search of a solution.

It was during one of those desperate searches (on google, btw) in July of 2019 that introduced me to something called digestive enzymes. Though I had been googling “IBS cures”, and “how to stop diarrhea,” and every possible search term I could think of, I had never heard of digestive enzymes before. Or at least I never paid attention.

I immediately went to Amazon, where I do lots of my personal product research, searched “digestive enzymes” found the most popular one and started reading comments.

I almost cried when I read stories, like mine, of people whose lives were disrupted by stomach distress and who found a solution by taking a pill before meals. I had hope for the first time in ages that this might help. The product I chose (Zenwise Health Daily Digestive Enzymes) had over 6,700 review and, while I did not read them all, I read TONS. And I eagerly clicked the BUY button.

It was the best decision I ever made. I have not had diarrhea since I started taking digestive enzymes in July. I am writing this on October 22, 2019, about three months later.

My hope is that sharing my (embarrassing story) will help you.

In this post I’ll share:

What are digestive enzymes?
Who should take digestive enzymes?
My personal story - from chronic diarrhea to feeling normal!!! To avoid boring you, I’ll sprinkle it throughout this post.
Are digestive enzymes safe?
How often and when to take digestive enzymes?
Don’t forget to take them! How to create a new habit to incorporate enzymes in your day.
How to know if they are working for you?
The brand I take.

This post contains affiliate links. For more information, see my disclosures here.

What are digestive enzymes?

Digestive enzymes are a supplement (usually a capsule) you take before meals to promote healthy digestion and help prevent icky stomach symptoms such as gas, bloating, stomach pain, indigestion, diarrhea, and constipation.

They may contain a variety of plant-sourced enzymes, such as bromelain, lactase, protease, papain, lipase, invertase, cellulase, and amylase. These enzymes help your gut digest fats, fiber, protein, carbs, sugars, and gluten.

Active ingredients in popular digestive enzyme supplements may be turmeric, ginger, green papaya, inulin, apple pectin, bladderwrack, fennel, and wakame. And some digestive enzymes (like the brandI take) also contain prebiotics and probiotics which help promote healthy gut flora.

By the way, I want to stress that I am not a doctor, pharmacist, dietitian, or medical expert of any sort. I'm just me, a woman who has struggled with stomach issues for a damn long time and was getting really, really desperate to find a solution. I have only a rudimentary understanding of how digestive enzymes work, but I'm sharing my personal story and my personal opinions because they have literally changed my life for the better.

This a long and convoluted way to say please consult your own doctor for personal medical advice. Ask him or her if digestive enzymes might help your unique situation.

Who should take digestive enzymes?

Me!!! (Raises hand and waves it in the air!!)

People who have diseases of the stomach or the small intestine might not produce enough of the enzymes needed to properly digest food. So if you have irritable bowel syndrome, inflammatory bowel disease, if you’ve had your gallbladder removed, you might be a good candidate. (Source.)

I’ve been diagnosed with IBS which, turns out, can be a catch-all diagnosis when you have diarrhea, constipation, stomach pain, bloating, or other symptoms which the doctors can’t explain.

More of my story:

In 2006 I finally worked up the nerve to tell my doctor about my frequent diarrhea. He told me it was probably nerves and to “just notice where the bathrooms are when you go out.”

I am a pretty chill person, but I was offended.

When the fear of shitting yourself in public is ruining your life, please don't be condescending and tell me to “just look for bathrooms.” Are you freaking kidding me?

I was slightly less assertive back then than I am now and, after all, doctor’s know everything, right?, so I meekly went home and, of course, the problems continued.

Sometimes it was so bad I didn’t want to go out in public at all even if there was a bathroom nearby.

Imodium became my best friend. Not just when the dreaded D would strike but I started taking it “just in case” anytime I had to leave the house.. And not one pill, but several. When I told my husband it blew his mind that I would take 3 Imodium "just in case."

This became my life. For years.

If You've Ever Sprinted for a Toilet, Listen Up: Digestive Enzymes are a Game Changer for IBS

Are digestive enzymes safe?

Digestive enzymes are made from natural ingredients (plants) and are therefore generally regarded as safe. As with all supplements, digestive enzymes are not regulated by the FDA and every single bottle will contain a disclaimer saying: "These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. This product is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any disease."

For most people trying digestive enzymes is harmless, though (as a lawyer’s wife) I must remind you to always check with your doctor before starting any supplement. Digestive enzymes may interfere with some medications like blood thinners or oral diabetes medications. (Source.)

Definitely read the label and make sure you are not allergic to any ingredients, and follow the dosage instructions on the label.

My personal saga continues….

I went back to the doctor and continued to complain about the diarrhea. He sent me to a gastroenterologist who performed an endoscopy where I was tested for celiac disease, and a colonoscopy.

Both tests came back negative.

He said I had IBS and would basically have to deal with it. This was the specialist’s version of “find where the bathrooms are.”

I was beyond distraught. Something was wrong, and conventional medicine was no help. I was super motivated to find some relief so I started searching the interwebs. This is where, for the very first time, I heard about the gluten intolerance, and how some people experience stomach upset, joint pain, fatigue, and other symptoms when they eat wheat.

I was SURE gluten was my problem and went gluten-free in 2008. This was back when being GF was weird and strange and people looked at you crazy if you wanted to pass on the bread basket. Gluten-free bread and GF cookies were not in grocery stores.

Going gluten-free really seemed to help. The diarrhea was less frequent, and my chronic heartburn cleared up. But the diarrhea never totally disappeared, no matter how diligent I was about gluten.

When and how often should you digestive enzymes?

Follow the directions on your bottle. Most will instruct you to take one tablet or capsule with water before a meal.

I take one before every single meal. I’ll also take one before a snack if it’s anything more than a few bites.

Don’t forget! How to create the daily habit to take digestive enzymes.

Create a habit at home.

At home, I have the bottle sitting on my place at the kitchen table. When I sit down to eat, I grab a capsule, and then move the bottle off to the side. When I'm done with the meal I put the bottle in the center of my spot again.

It may not be an elegant solution, but it works. I don't forget. I work from home so I eat most of my meals here.

If you are fancier than I am, you could get a cute tiny little jar or bowl and put some pills in there and do the same thing, but the big ass bottle works fine for me.

Make a plan for lunches at work.

Think about your typical lunch at work. Do you eat at your desk? In a break room? Or do you go out to eat?

What can you do to make remembering your digestive enzymes simple?

If you bring your lunch from home, can you put a pill in a little ziplock baggie and the pill itself is the reminder to take it?

(I love little prescription pill baggies and buy mine from Amazon. This is the brand I buy. I keep baggies in my purse of Motrin, Imodium, and, yes, digestive enzymes.)

Plan for dining out.

For me it’s harder to remember to take my digestive enzymes when dining out, so I set a reminder on my phone. If I’m going someplace close I’ll often take the pill right before I leave the house so there are no worries.

Otherwise I’ll use the baggie in my purse and pop one pill at the restaurant.

Either way, setting a simple phone alarm means I never forget.

The saga continues, and it got worse…

Recently, in June of 2019), my symptoms got much, much worse. Instead of my "few times weekly" diarrhea, I suddenly I started having diarrhea a few times a day.

With zero warning.

I would be calmly sitting at my desk when suddenly I got the awful sensation that means RUN. NOW.

No debating do I walk or run?, like during that visit to Santa years ago. Run was the only option. No debating "do I need to go or not?" Nope. I have to.

Urgent diarrhea. Watery diarrhea.

I popped my Imodium (as usual) but it didn't help.

I frantically started googling for solutions. I always suspected that diet was the cause. Like the gluten, right? I still considered myself gluten-free but every so often I’d eat a cookie or a piece of bread. Maybe I hadn’t been careful enough.

The really ironic thing is I felt like I was eating healthier than ever at this point.

I was eating lots of veggies and salads and healthy fats. Good quality proteins. Very little processed food at all except for a once weekly restaurant treat meal.

I wasn’t feeling sick, nothing was out of the ordinary, I was just living my life. What the hell was going on?

Back in 2008 I tried the Specific Carbohydrate Diet (SCD). It is a super strict diet created for people with horrific stomach issues and diseases, like Crohn's disease. The gist is your body has trouble digesting certain types of carbohydrates so you begin a very restrictive diet (mainly meat, chicken soup (no noodles!), and homemade yogurt) for the first several days. Then you gradually add well-cooked veggies and fruits, etc.

Things were so bad I willing to try anything so I started it again. I was also going to call my doctor because I was afraid something was horribly wrong with me.

I did SCD religiously for a week. Nothing changed even though I was barely eating and, when I did, it was basically homemade yogurt and homemade chicken soup. The only bright spot was that I was losing weight.

I kept a really detailed food and symptom journal and documented everything. My food, my trips to the bathroom. I used an obscene amount of poop emojis in my digital diary.

Nothing was working.

I kept googling and one day - and I don't even remember what I was reading or what I was searching for - I came across "digestive enzymes." Even though I read a lot about nutrition, I had never heard of them before.

It intrigued me, but I also have this fear that supplements are a scam, you know? So I went to my second favorite place on the internet after google...Amazon. I typed in "digestive enzymes" and pics of brown bottles appeared. And lots of stars. For those of y'all who know Amazon, you know people rate products with 1-5 stars. So I picked the top seller and started reading reviews.

I almost started crying because in those reviews I was reading "my story." People like me who had horrific diarrhea... and they said these pills worked. I scrolled through probably hundreds of reviews and, for the first time, I started feeling hopeful.

I ordered a bottle.

How do you know if the digestive enzymes are working?

It doesn’t make sense to take a supplement if it doesn’t work, right? (Unless your doctor recommends it, of course.)

Thankfully with stomach problems, the symptoms are pretty clear. If you’re not feeling bloated, having diarrhea or constipation, if your bowel habits are more regular, then likely the supplements are working for you.

I wanted to KNOW for sure if the digestive enzymes were working so I kept a really detailed symptom log for the first 2 months. I want to share how I did that so you can create your own.

How to create an IBS symptom journal.

Decide where you will track your symptoms.

A symptom journal is really simple. You can do it right in the notes app on your phone, in a small notebook you can tuck in your purse, in a Word doc, or an app like Evernote.

I did mine in Evenote since I could update it on my phone and my phone is ALWAYS with me..

I started by creating a note inside Evernote that said “July 2019 Tummy Symptoms” and then added info every day.

Log your food, supplements, and symptoms every day.

Each day I began with the date and then kept a bullet list that included:

Meals. (Just a quick rundown of what I ate for that meal. This way you might notice patterns or foods you may be sensitive to.)
Poop - time and, ummm, consistency. It sounds kind of over-the-top, I know, but if you are truly suffering with diarrhea or constipation, it's not a laughing matter. I used the Bristol Stool Chart as my guide. This page has the EXACT chart I used. I saved the pic to my phone so I could have an easy way to describe my, errr, poo. Not just "loose" or “diarrhea again". I wanted to be clinically specific.
List any other symptoms such as bloating, pain, nausea, heartburn, constipation, etc. I also included things like heartburn can be related to food.
Supplements. Note not just when you take the digestive enzymes, but also any other supplements you are taking, like coconut oil, MCT oil, collagen, Vitamin D, whatever. Your supplements may affect your stools.
Add any other notes that might be helpful, like lack of sleep, stress level, you’re pissed that the Patriots won on Sunday, whatever. You never know what might be useful.

By keeping, and evaluating your symptom journal, you will begin to see if the digestive enzymes are working for you. I noticed a difference almost immediately.

And, if they are not working, the symptom log is a great resource to share with your doctor in search of a solution.

Cautiously optimistic….

My first bottle of digestive enzymes arrived on July 21, 2019 and I couldn't wait to try them. Well, until I saw the pill. They're a plastic capsule and they're BIG. Like pregnancy vitamin big. In fact, I almost choked on the first one, but I got it down.

The next day was the first day of taking digestive enzymes before every meal. I still had some diarrhea this day, but it was manageable and I didn't pop an Imodium because I was at home and wanted to see if the enzymes worked.

On July 23, at 8:40 am (and I know this because of my symptom journal, lol!), I had my first normal poop in FOREVER. There was no urgency. No "woman, run!" feeling. Just that feeling, I remember from so long ago, that's a quiet, gentle nudging "you might need to visit the bathroom soon."

OK, I was not cautiously optimistic. I was freaking THRILLED! I crossed my fingers, prayed to God and the universe, and put out all the positive vibes I could for this to please, please work.

What brand of digestive enzymes do I take?

I use Zenwise Health Daily Digestive Enzymes with Prebiotics and Probiotics. I started with the 60 count bottle, but now buy the 180 count bottle which is about $22 on Amazon which is approximately $0.13 per pill. A freaking steal, if you ask me.

Check the current price on Amazon here: Zenwise Health Daily Digestive Enzymes

I will be totally transparent here and admit I chose this brand because:

it was the Amazon Choice in the digestive enzymes category
it had over 6,700 ratings, and believe me I read many of those ratings!
it had a 4.5 out of 5 star rating
it was so inexpensive (the first bottle I bought was 60 count and under $16) that I had really nothing to lose
the reviews, in particular those who spoke of diarrhea and digestive woes similar to mine, caught my attention

Now that I know it works for me, there is no freaking way I am changing brands.

I am very aware that there could be other brands, possibly cheaper, that may have the exact same formula and might work just as well. I don’t mean to suggest that this brand is the only one that works, or anything like that. It just works for me and I’m sticking with it.

For me, digestive enzymes freaking work.

As I mentioned, I am writing this blog post on October 22, 2019. It has been exactly three months of taking digestive enzymes before every meal.

In that time I have had zero diarrhea. Zero urgency. Zero awkward sprints to the toilet.

Zero.

My life has changed and that is no exaggeration.

The bottle of pills (I’m now on my third - and I got the big ass bottle) sits in a place of honor at my spot on the dinner table. I have sung the praises of digestive enzymes to more people than I care to admit.

I still don't fully understand digestive enzymes, and I don’t care. I don’t know if they are magic or if it’s all in my brain. I also don’t care.

They work for me.

I feel like I have my life back. I feel like I am not tied to the bathroom. I feel like I can travel without taking 3 Imodium every day just in case. I feel like I can actually live a normal life.

A few days ago I was inspired to write this blog post. But I was sooooo hesitant. Do I really want to risk humiliating myself by sharing my potty adventures with the world?

Though I love funny animal poop gifs, I don’t really enjoy talking about poop. I honestly don’t even find potty humor funny, given my life experience.

I even asked my husband for advice, which I almost never do. I said, "I kind of want to write this, but I'm kind of - ok, A LOT - embarrassed."

Occasionally the man is wise. He said "what if you had read your story when YOU were googling for an answer? Would you have read it? Would you have found it helpful?”

I would have. Dammit, the man is right.

So I'm sharing my experience in case it helps you, or maybe someone you know. Because if you've read this far either you're really into shit or you can identify with my story, because I'm not a very entertaining writer.

If you struggle with diarrhea or digestive woes or have ever lived your life in fear of not being close to a toilet, I beg you to at least TRY digestive enzymes. (Check with your doctor first, because, yeah, the husband being a lawyer and all.)

You don't have to order the brand I bought (I'm just sticking with this one because I know it works for me.) You don't have to order from Amazon. (I just like reading reviews.) But try something.

And if they don’t help keep searching for answers. Be your own health advocate. Educate. And never, never accept “just find out where the bathrooms are” like I did all those years ago.

Don’t forget to PIN this post so you can find this post in the future!