# enteric-coated peppermint oil



## faze action (Aug 6, 2009)

Okay, so my doctor recommended trying this because he has a few (like 3) patients who are using it and say they benefit from it. I know there have been some studies done showing that it works to help reduce symptoms of IBS by relaxing the intestinal muscle wall (or something to that effect).For the past week I've been taking 0.2mL 2-3 times a day (that's what the recommended dose is per research articles) and it's actually been making my IBS-D symptoms _worse_. I try to take it in between meals, because that's what they say to do, but most times as soon as I take it (like within a few minutes) I get a sort of cold/hot feeling in my stomach, start burping up mint like there's no tomorrow and get borborygmus really badly... like the stomach rumbling is about twice as bad as it normally is for me with the IBS and it seems to be giving me worse gas than normal.Has this happened to anybody else taking this? I was really hoping it would help, but it doesn't seem to be... Maybe I need to take it for a longer period of time?


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## em_t (Jun 8, 2010)

I've taken the enteric - coated peppermint oil capsules before but for them to be really effective you're supposed to take them 1 hour - 30 minutes BEFORE meals, not between them. If you take it too soon after a meal they give you indigestion, hence the mint flavoured taste in your mouth! They do increase borborygmus in me as well but that's because it releases trapped gas making it easier to pass, hence the increase in gas. I actually found it the best antispasmodic for me and actually worked through I've had chronic constipation as opposed to D. In the UK, they're the first drug they will put you on for IBS because they are generally very effective and well tolerated. Hopefully your stomach settles down soon!


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## faze action (Aug 6, 2009)

Huh. That's interesting... didn't know I was supposed to take them before meals. My doctor didn't know and the bottle of them I have says to take them "between meals" (nothing more detailed than that). If they'll only be effective if I need to take them exactly 30-60 minutes before meals, then I may as well give up on them. My workday is so hectic that I usually don't know when exactly I'll be eating or, in some cases, If I'll even get to eat at all during the course of the day. I can't time my meals that specifically.


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## em_t (Jun 8, 2010)

Its just important not to take them straight after meals - leave a gap of at least 2 hours or you will get indigestion. It doesn't have to be as precise as exactly one hour or half an hour before meals, that's just the directions on mine, just that you take it at regular intervals like around breakfast time, lunchtime and dinner time. So for example take one as soon as you get up, wait half an hour or so while you get ready for work, take one around 12 o'clock or so, as most people have lunch some time between 12 and 2 and then one as you leave work or come home from work. You don't have to take them before you eat, ie if you don't get a chance to have a lunch that day, but I'd be wondering if not being able to eat lunch on certain days or sit down to regular meals is perhaps contributing if not exacerbating your IBS. I know its difficult in a busy job but having healthy snacks prepared so that if you get 5 mins to yourself can really help. I can't believe your doctor is only recommending these now, they're one of the first medicines they test out on IBS patients here.


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## humiliated (Mar 19, 2011)

that hot/cold feeling isn't supposed to happen in you stomach, its supposed to happen after it reaches your intestine. The idea of taking them without food is so they don't desolve until they get to the intestine where they do some good. Another thing, the enteric coating is meant to withstand stomach acid for a longer period of time than most coating but it doesn't withstand water well. So when you take them, try taking them with only as much cool water as it takes to get them down, so they won't be in your stomach floating around in water for so long. then when you eat it pushes them on through to your intestines, hence the recommended time intervals.The research I read was more pertaining to them helping to kill off the harmful bacteria in the intestine, so if that is the case then following up with probiotics to replace the healthy bacteria so that the harmful bacteria doesn't take over again seems to make good sense.


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## faze action (Aug 6, 2009)

Thanks guys... I appreciate the input. I'll give them another go for a few days. I did have recurring SIBO, so I think that was one reason my doc recommended them; and I have no idea why he waited 2 years to say something about them, although I don't think he knew about them at all until recently (it seemed that way when he was talking to me).


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## em_t (Jun 8, 2010)

Yeah definitely don't take them with a hot drink or it will dissolve the enteric coating. I really believe they should be prescribed more given the fact that they have relatively few side effects and are cheap as chips!


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## faze action (Aug 6, 2009)

Cheap as chips?! Where did you buy yours? I got mine at the health food store and they were $17.99 for 60 capsules!! Yikes! Maybe I got ripped off...


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## PD85 (Aug 19, 2010)

I've taken Pepogest and have not had any issues with it going down. But it seems to make any gas less tolerable, and my stools the next day are markedly looser. All-in-all, no benefit for me.


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## Susannah (Mar 29, 2011)

I think peppermint tea can be good also. I've noticed it has an anti-spasmodic effect. Just don't drink a whole ton of it... a small cup.??? At least that's worked for me. Of course the tea is not enteric-coated, but it's also much less strong. You can leave the tea bag in the water for just a short time, and make it weak... or stronger. If you want. For me, it's like everything else, I am experimenting and seeing what works for my body. Every body is different.?? S


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