ridiculous amounts of enzyme/hydrochloride pills-no effect

hey everyone i recently started taking NOWs digestive enzymes...it contains 200mg per cap of betaine hydrochloride and generally after a few pills you should feel some heat in the epigastric region..i got up to 8 pills without feeling a damn thing...i then bought pure betaine hydrochloride pills and dropped my digestive enzymes to 2 pills and slowly started upping the betaine..i got up to 8 and still didnt feel a thing..at 500mg per pill that got me to 4000mg plus 400 from the NOW enzymes..with alll those pills for digestion i barely saw a difference in my digestion compared to when im off the pills..its ridiculous!! im not sure if i should be worried because i felt no heat or what?

This is pretty normal. Keep taking them with each meal and eventually, when things start repairing themselves, you'll only have to take one and you'll get the burning sensation, and then you won't need to take them at all.

but should i increase the dosage even more? i mean taking 8 pills already is ridiculous...

According to my doc, you should up the number of pills until you start to feel a bit of acid from the amount. The idea is to slowly retrain your stomach to produce enough acid on its own. It may take a whole lot of pills to start (I was at 40 or so per day 520 mg betaine hcl) when I started. Once you start feeling the "burn" you cut back on the pills -- slowly. If you don't feel that slight burn, you need more pills. Slowly, you should be able to reduce the number of pills, perhaps to none eventually. It will take awhile so be patient. Once your stomach is producing enough acid, you will be properly digesting you food and getting the nutrients you should out of them.

Good luck!

I wouldn't. You'll get the warming sensation with the 8 sooner or later. Then you can decrease from there.

well i felt no difference between 5-8 so ill go to 6 and stick at that..i didnt get heat but i remember at 8 i started getting uncomfortable stomach pain later in the day..so 6 seems better! thx for the advice!

If your avartar pic is you, you are obviously in pretty good health. *leer* Why do you feel you need to take these pills in the first place? Why not spend the money on some good primal food and leave your poor digestive system alone? Were you having a digestive "issue" or just taking them on general principals? Either way, my $.02, your digestive system knows what it is doing. Eat primally and let it do its job. Don't fix what ain't broke.

because my stools look like hurricane katrina went through them and my sleep is horrible and i bloat and get pressure when i eat..and i eat completely primal..i dont get grassfed meat but other then that i eat perfectly...theres also the possibility(due to my sleep issues) that my cortisol levels are messed up and my stomach acid isnt being released at the proper times so im just trying to get it used to me eating at certain times...

and im just really damn skinny doesnt make me healthy lol :P

[QUOTE=primalTatoolover;604501]because my stools look like hurricane katrina went through them and my sleep is horrible and i bloat and get pressure when i eat..and i eat completely primal..i dont get grassfed meat but other then that i eat perfectly...theres also the possibility(due to my sleep issues) that my cortisol levels are messed up and my stomach acid isnt being released at the proper times so im just trying to get it used to me eating at certain times...[/QUOTE]

Oooh not good, sorry to hear that. Cortisol is definitely off kilter and probably leptin too. You don't need to become a Dr K devotee to see the wisdom of eating breakfast though, a big protein rich one. It really does re-set your body to be in tune with the circadian cycles. Give it a try for a week. You might be surprised.

And, healthy or not, you do have a lovely body.