I just wanted to pass along my experience with this item.

I've been banded for almost a month and I've been having an awful time with too much restriction. Much of the time I have not been able to eat anything solid at all, even mushies have been too much. At least 2/3 of the time I've tried to eat anything beyond liquids, I've participated the ritual we all know and love, the PB. I've been PBing almost every day for a while, which is really not good, especially so soon after surgery. This has been quite a concern to me.

So, I've spent some time here on the forum looking for how to avoid PBs. It seems that holding your breath works for a lot of people. It does nothing at all for me. I've seen talk of pineapple juice and meat tenderizer. I'll try the pineapple juice. I'm not too keen on tenderizing my innerds if I can avoid it. I've also seen mention of papaya enzyme. I was quite skeptical about it, to be honest, but I thought I'd give it a try.

So yesterday I went to the health food store and bought some papaya enzyme tablets. I ate a few bites of pot roast, very tender, chewed to smithereens, swallowed it. And, of course, as usual I got stuck. The golf ball came next. Hiccups were not far behind. And I knew that the slime was hearing the call to duty. A PB was minutes away.

So, I opened my little bottle of papaya enzyme. They are sweet tasting chalky little things that dissolve quickly in the mouth. Nothing unpleasant about them.

Almost immediately the golf ball started to subside. Within about a minute I was unstuck. This is the first time since I've been banded that I experienced a golf ball that did not lead to a PB. I was impressed.

I tried it again today and it worked again. Not only that, I've been able to eat some solid items without getting stuck at all.

So, I don't really understand how any of this works. I don't know if it will continue to work. But the papaya enzyme has had a remarkable effect on me so far. I'm pretty happy about it. I feel like I can finally start to eat food again.

Besides that, my port incision has healed nicely now. I feel like I am finally a living, breathing bandster, instead of a person recovering from surgery. :clap2:

Papaya is only a "sometimes" cure for me. It usually takes a long time with papaya enzymes for me to feel relief. But they do work, usually, when I can wait it out.

Aloe juice usually works faster...but sometimes backfires as liquid on a stuck can be real, real bad.....

meat tenderizer

Typically refers to a powdered naturally derived enzyme powder. The enzyme most commonly used is papain which comes from papayas. Meat is sprinkled with the powder and the enzymes help to break down the meat fibers. The same result can be obtained by marinating meat in papaya or pineapple juice.

The tablets do sound a lot more convenient to carry than the powder and having to mix it. Thanks for the tip - now to locate me a local source.

Edited to add the following interesting info:

Dr. Grossan's Ear, Nose and Throat Consultant Pages

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Papaya Enzyme Tablets - Papain and Bromelain are proteolytic enzymes from papaya and pineapple, respectively. These are wonderfully effective, useful medicines that our health care system has made it difficult for us to get at - though it is now available over the internet.

BE CAREFUL:

• You must only use tablets that are calibrated in ENZYME ACTIVITY UNITS. Papaya tablets at health food stores, basically, can have any amount of enzymes in them, and there is no way to know what you are really getting with these.
  
• You must dissolve the enzyme tablets in the buccal pouch (between cheek and gum). You will see that many papaya supplement instructions say to chew or swallow; it is well known that the enzymes are inactivated by stomach acids, and swallowing guarantees they will do almost nothing. The reason they instruct you to chew or swallow is most likely due to FDA regulations on supplements. Dissolve in buccal pouch for good absorption.

Papain and Bromelain proteolytic enzymes take down swelling and thin mucous. They are effective for everything from helping boxers with their bruises to taking down swelling of the throat, swelling of the eustachian tube, and sinus pain due to blockage. Some of my patients report extremely rapid action in helping them clear their ears in case of inflamed eustachian tube.

Years ago, there was a drug called papase on the market, by one of the big drug companies. The story goes that the FDA required tighter rules on getting drugs approved, and paperwork and clinical trials were required. The drug companies felt, well, everybody knows this is just made from papaya, and no one will pay enough money to make it profitable enough for us to sell it. Forget it, let's take this off the market, let them buy more expensive drugs. Papase is no longer available.

Getting Papaya & Pineapple Proteolytic Enzyme Tablets - Search the web for "proteolytic enzyme calibrated in FCCPU enzyme activity units".

The only thing papya does for me is taste bad, and make my PB orange.

The only thing papya does for me is taste bad, and make my PB orange.

Hey, colorful PB is a positive. Remember, the cup is half full

of orange PB.

I wonder if the success with meat tenderizer/papaya enzyme people report is due to:

1. Thinning of mucus

2. Reduction of swelling

3. Actual breakdown of the Proteins involved

4. Placebo effect

5. Any combination, or all, of the above

As long as it is only your PB that turns orange I guess there's nothing to be too concerned about.

Just wanted to say i didnt EVER HAVE Pb issues till like crazie weather started coming around and i had mucas eww

but I in fact went to the doc and had gotten well then the mucas just came back lol,and if I take like MUCAS medicine then i cant eat cuz the mucas meds make ur mucas come up SO,,, so does ur food lol