Hi there. I relied upon weekly enemas, with my doctor's blessing, for a few years. I've had part of my colon removed (rectal cancer in 1999) and as a result, I am now left with multiple bm's on a daily basis. I go through several stool stages, but the one that annoys me the most is what I call the putty stage. It's not D and yet it's not C. It's just messy. It can go on for hours. Many years ago I would recall how cleaned out I had felt after an enema (for procedures mostly, either pre-op or post-op). I was really messed up once on vacation so in utter desperation, I bought a Fleet's saline enema during the day, put our then young children to bed, made sure my husband didn't need the hotel bathroom and did one. I did feel better the following day. I mentioned this to my doctor, who said if I felt better after enemas, to go ahead and do one a week. Now she recommended a mild recipe of sorts but I've since lost it. I think it was tap water, a little Wesson oil and I forget what the third ingredient was. She said to buy disposable enama bottles at my pharmacy (I never found them). She said you can very easily get your electrolytes off with saline enemas so that's why she prescribed a milder form of them.
Then I would notice a few times enemas would last 10 to 12 hours with me, not the usual 1 to 2 hours. I would also feel very ill (cold, crampy, chilled, then suddenly almost feverish).
I compared my experiences and decided not to do them anymore, unless I had a procedure coming up.
I now manage my stool consistency by taking Colace, 50 mg each evening.
But there are times I know an enema would turn things around for me.
When I was faithfully doing them, I would make sure the day before and day of doing one, I ate very well (no skipping meals, good foods, etc.). I made sure I was going into an enema fully hydrated and kept my fluids up all day long. I also expelled the air bubble in the enema bottle, before depressing and releasing the liquid. I have never added anything to the Fleet's Saline solution, I just uses it "as is" from the bottle.
I also do not leave the bathroom. I wait until I'm done (1 to 2 hours). Sometimes I would stand up, because it seemed as if gravity helped bring the stool down for me. Then more bm's would come if I did this.
I always have one or two under my bathroom counter (one of my many emergency colon stash items I keep on hand now, LOL). I just want to know that there is one sitting there, should I ever need it. For example, my region had a massive blackout 3 weeks ago (hurricane related, although we live in Ohio). It was a crazy weather event. At one point we wondered if we'd have to boil our water but then all was okay. I was so tempted to just do an enema, so I wouldn't be needing bathrooms as much as I usually do. But then I would have had to take a candle in there.....so I didn't. But it was just nice to know I had a Fleet's enema under the cabinet.
Just make sure you go into using enemas rested, fully hydrated, having eaten well all day. Quite the opposite sometimes for procedure preps. But if you're doing them as purely a maintenance tactic, then you can continue eating and drinking, even while one is working (I used to). I bring in lots of reading material.
There are many people who will dismiss the benefits of enemas. And I know in some cases a colon can get used to them so please be careful. In my case they were quite safe but I have had a few too many mess me up, more so than why I would do one in the first place.
Now I just accept my wacky GI tract as it is and manage fairly well with diet, low stress, exercise, Colace.
Mary/Marsky
Post Edited (Marsky) : 10/8/2008 1:24:41 PM (GMT-6)