What gets absorbed through the colon?

I've been adding 8000 IUs of vitamin e to my Salofalk and it really does seem to be helping.

I've done a lot of reading on it here and through google. I haven't found anything that says it could be unsafe. I even got the go ahead from my GI.

Is there a possibility that the vitamin e can get absorbed through the colon and in high doses become dangerous. I know that the amount of cortisone and 5-ASA that is absorbed through the colon is much less than if you ingest it through the mouth, so I imagine the same would go for any vitamins minerals you put in your colon.

Any thoughts on this?

ETA: I just called 5 pharmacies to get their opinions on the vitamin e enemas.

2 said absorbing too much wouldn't be a problem as the large intestine doesn't absorb the same way as the stomach and small intestine do. They said a small amount could be absorbed, but it would act mostly as a topical.

1 Had no idea

1 said that it was definitely dangerous and could cause clotting. I was under the assumption that the opposite was true of vitamin e--it could cause blood thinning if anything.

1 said it was way too high a dose and it shouldn't be done. They said that the large intestine could absorb it, just as if you had ingested it orally.

So it appears that just like doctors, even though science is involved, they have differing opinions.

Hi quincy, Thanks for the input. There really isn't much information out there on vitamin e enemas except for what the 'infamous' Sheldon has written about.

I did find a study that has been published in the World Journal of Gastroenterology done in a hospital in Tehran. They were using 8000IUs of vitamin e.

http://www.wjgnet.com/1007-9327/abstract_en.asp?f=5990&v=14

If I did find something on 5-ASA and e contraindications, it would most likely be for oral use and wouldn't apply to using both as enemas.

I did ask my GI about it--though I wasn't sure of the dosage at the time--and he said to give it a try.

2 of the pharmacists I spoke to said very little would be absorbed through the large intestine, so blood thinning that could happen orally wouldn't be a problem. The other ones weren't sure, which surprised me. I thought they would be more knowledgeable than that.

I have read about the same principle with the cortisone enemas not being anywhere near as systemic as taking it orally. I would imagine the same would hold true for the vitamin e.

Hi suebear, Thanks for your reply.

I thought pharmacists would be a reputable source to find out. Two of them were sure that it wouldn't hurt as a very small amount would be absorbed by the colon and it would act more as a topical (kind of like the 5-ASA enemas). The others really didn't seem to know anything.

What is a HON site?

I know that ingested orally, too much vitamin E can thin your blood and become dangerous, but I think rectally is a whole other thing. I wish there was more out there on what we absorb through enemas.