My first Rowasa experience

Hi all,

Well last night I tried a Rowasa enema for the first time. I got about 3/4 of the bottle in and it was fine. I held it for a little over 6 hours. To be honest, it almost seemed too easy...I hope it works! I might've felt a little sensation when the med first went in but nothing that bothered me. My stomach was sounding like a humpback whale all night...lol. I stayed on my left side on the floor for 30 mins after using it then got up and walked straight to bed and got back on my left side. I eventually rolled to my back as I couldn't stand being on my side any longer.

I'm kinda worried b/c I didn't feel the sensation of the med working. Also, I didn't really get the urge to push much...about 3/4 hours in I had the urge to go but I just got through that and went back to sleep. Well, sort sleep, I didn't sleep very well, I guess I was worried about losing it in my sleep. So I hope that gets better....I like my sleep and don't do well without it.

If anyone has any thoughts/suggestions, feel free.

Thanks!

Hi Amy,

Years ago my dr suggested that I take the rowasa enemas because there are less side effects than pills ( like stomach upset! ) and I was lucky some nights to keep it in an hour before I had an urge to go! You ask about feeling a sensation of the enema working? Well, there is no sensation to feel because the medicine doesn't cause a sensation so you're ok, don't worry because as long as you can keep it in through the night you are doing awesome! When you wake up and use the bathroom all the watery substance will come out before you have a bm, it is normal. I hope it works well for you, for some people it works wonderful and some it does not. As you get use to the enemas you will sleep better and become more comfortable after your body knows what to expect. Just like any medication, they take a while to see a difference. Keep your head up girl!

Glad to hear your first night went so well!

It really isn't a big deal. And you won't "lose it" without knowing - it would feel like watery D coming out, which would wake us and send us to the bathroom.

Sometimes in the morning mine has come out as liquid before the poops, sometimes it has been absorbed into the poops. Depends on what I've eaten the day before, how empty my colon is when I administer it, etc.

Give it some time and keep us posted!

Thanks everyone for the positive reinforcement!

And Quincy, I was on the bathroom floor for a half hour b/c that's where I administered it and I thought I was supposed to lay still for that long. Then I got up and moved to bed.

And whew...I thought it might not be working since I didn't feel anything.

Oh, and I couldn't get all the med out of the bottle. I'm thinking tonight I'll use my whole fist and crush the bottle. It says there's a valve so the contents don't go back into the bottle if you let go, but I'm not convinced. I want to use all the med in there if I can hold it like that.

Thanks!

Yes, thank you Irony, I did not enjoy laying on the floor for 30 mins...lol...but I thought I was supposed to. I'm totally committed to this and want it to work so I just wanted to do everything right. Tonight I will probably administer it and lay on the couch and watch TV or something...

And yeah, I did notice that when I moved was when it wanted to come out.

Thanks!

I was in a pretty severe flare when I started using them, and didn't have much problem at all. I held my first one (only used half) for like 6 hours. I've never felt them working. I always do mine on the bathroom floor (I lay down an old towel to protect the floor...I've had some spatter when I open the bottle and squeeze the air out) then immediately get up, wash my hands, climb in bed and lay on my left side. There's no way I'd lay on my bathroom floor that long, and I don't want to do it in bed for fear of staining my bedding and I want to wash my hands after messing around down there!

Great!

yay...another convert!!

q