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Hi guys:

I just have had an interesting weekend - and wanted to share the
preliminary findings.  I wrote a couple weeks ago about my son having
had a gluten-like reaction to quinoa, and just as he was recovering from
that, he had a gluten-like reaction to amaranth, leading us to believe
he is one of those celiacs who is also sensitive to these grains.  When
he first reacted to the quinoa, thinking he must have had some gluten, I
borrowed some SerenAid by Klaire Labs from a friend whose daughters are
also GFCF, like my son, but it made no difference.  This is a digestive
enzyme that is supposed to breakdown gluten and casein in the stomach.
I do not know if nothing happened because a) the reaction had already
begun, and the food was now in the intestines or b) the pills themselves
were from the bottom of the bottle and therefore may not have been as
potent as earlier pills or c) the product does not work, either for my
son or anyone.  When the amaranth reaction happened, I ordered some of a
similar digestion aid from Kirkman Labs.  I administered one of the
capsules (by emptying the powder within the capsule into a  drink, then
flushing his mouth with another drink, then following it with a large
meal) with each of a day's meals, but it didn't make a dent in his
diarrhea.  So, I had sort of written these digestive enzymes off.  And
then  came this weekend.  At church on Saturday (we have a Sat night
service), his teachers were unable to keep him from getting a hold of
other kids' pretzels and goldfish crackers at snack time.  Grrrrrrr.   I
remembered the EnZymAid, and thought - well let's try it again, only
this time before the GI reaction starts (the behavioral reaction had
already started by the time we got home that night).  We administered
the first capsule, then gave him a late dinner and put him to bed.  We
continued to administer the capsules (2 a day, though I think you can
give up to 3) Sunday, and yesterday.  Sunday he had bowels that were the
same before the gluten ingestion, much to our surprise, "normal-for-him"
bowels which aren't proper stools, but they certainly aren't his
"reaction" bm's.  "Normal-for-him" is light colored (yellow or tan)
mushy non-formed stools.  Then last night, we saw one of the best bm's
we'd seen in  a long time, so much so that we whooped and hollered
hoorays for him:)!  It was soft, formed, and the color was marbled tan
and light brown (gee, it almost sounds like a dessert the way I describe
it, doesn't it?).  It was a PIECE of poop.  It could have rolled out of
the diaper and onto the floor and we could have picked it up and put it
back in the diaper; it was solid, not mush, and certainly not the liquid
stream we expected to see coming from him after a confirmed gluten
ingestion!!!!!  Yes, we need to talk with the head of children's
ministry at our church, and we will do so, to avoid this happening
again, but it is so nice to know that something worked!  Something went
right!  I have no ties to Kirkman, except as a grateful consumer of
their DMG and now their EnZymAid.   Here are some snippets of their
product info, for your perusal:

EnZymAid, multi-enzyme complex dietary supplement This highly
anticipated formulation stands apart from other enzyme supplements and
is on the cutting edge with potential for encouraging clinical response.
EZA (my abbrev) is designed to address several important functions
including impacting digestion, breaking down casein,
gluten and gliadin, enhancing the digestion of soybean, grains and
beans, along with providing greater absorption/bioavailablility of
important minerals...

Ingredients: #1 vegi-cap (vegetable/plant cellulose) caso-glutenase: has
the ability to "digest" or break down casein and gluten more completely
than other peptidases bromelain concentrate: proteolytic activity (from
pineapple extract), safely breaks down casein acid fast protease: gives
enzymes longer range of activity lactase: enough to digest the amount of
lactose found in one glass or milk phytase: digests phytic acid
(inositol hexakisphosphate) which is present in wheat, corn, rye,
barley, beans, soybeans, etc.  Phytic acid can negatively affect
absorption of minerals such as calcium, zinc, copper, manganese, iron
and magnesium. galactose(a genomeceutical): provides a potentially
important nutrient for enhancing the crucial function of enzymes in the
body (relates to increasing the expression of the Dipeptidylpeptidase IV
(DPIV) gene.) The only contraindication to this would be in the rare
metabolic disorder galactosemia. plant cellulose L.leucine this is
casein and gluten free.

I ordered mine online, in the sample size for $3, I think at
www.kirkmanlabs.com Hope this helps someone, and I will be sure to post
if anything changes in his condition or tolerance of this product.  In
the meantime, I hope this helps avert disaster for some of you following
accidental ingestion!

Catherine in AZ