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Posted 3/9/2010 3:29 PM (GMT 0)
I am contemplating starting to use these for a bit to battle this last bit of inflammation thaat is lingering around in there.

I had an expired one hanging around so I opened it up to read the instructions and just to get a feel for what these things are all about..

Ok so I took off the cap first and I squeezed a bit and some vaseline like stuff came out..I guess that is a lube?

Also..I thought I read here to try and get the air out first? But how do I do that without the stuff starting to come out..

IT says to lieon your left side, insert and slowly push the meds in..how do you know when its done? and it also says to tilt towrds your back>??????

Im a bit confused and dont want to waste anything of these so I want to do it right...

Posted 3/9/2010 6:35 PM (GMT 0)
Surely someone can answer this!!! :)
Posted 3/9/2010 7:01 PM (GMT 0)
I can't answer whether the clear stuff coming out was vaseline or not since I don't know what kind of enema it was, but it was most likely the medication itself. There is usually a little bit of lube on the bottle, but I prefer to put a little more lube on there myself.

Yes, you should squeeze some of the air out. I try to tip the bottle sideways or just a little bit up when I do that and squeeze until a little bit of the medicine starts to come out. Then I know I've gotten most of the air out. You're only "wasting" a little bit of the med; don't worry. As for how you knwo you're done, you don't really know for sure, but the bottle just feels a lot lighter. Just put as much as you can in there. Don't stress out about getting every last drop in there. You'll get used to knowing how much to insert after you've done it a few times.

I usually lay on my left side with my knees bent. It says to tilt it towards your back or navel usually so that when you insert it it's easier. You just have to gently insert it and do it slowly until you feel it slide in. It shouldn't hurt...it's kind of like putting a tampon in, lol...you just have to find the right angle :)
Posted 3/9/2010 7:47 PM (GMT 0)
80ScHICK tHANKS...but I dont know wha tyou mean by you tip the bottle sideways or up a bit???
my GI says I need to put it in really slow so as to "fool" the bowel that is it going in cause the auto-reaction will be to expell it..
do you lay with both knees bent? do I need to insert the long skinny piece ALL the way in before I start to put the meds in???
Posted 3/9/2010 7:51 PM (GMT 0)
I'm not condoning *not* following the directions, however I've been fine putting my enema in while standing up - I just lean forward while expelling. Afterwards I get into bed and lie on my left side until I fall asleep.

I was basically terrified to start using enemas - went through a "this cannot be my life" pity party - but it turns out they're no big deal & they've helped me tremendously. This is my 6th week of using the enemas and I'm prettymuch in remission. Didn't even have a BM yesterday morning! Amazing!! Still planning to use the enemas nightly for another month or so before tapering down to a "maintenance" dosage.

Some tips:
1-I've learned to keep the bottle pointing up while letting the air out before inserting. If you tip it down or sideways, drops of the liquid will come out and stain anything it touches (or turn the sink temporarily brown - you can wash it, but it's still annoying).
2-I've mentioned this before, but FruitGirl gave the great advice to run the bottle (with cap still on) under hot water before using. Helps.
3-Once you start, don't skip nightly treatments. After my first few weeks of using the enemas I skipped two nights b/c I was sick, and on the third day all my old symptoms started coming back. It took about a week to get back to where the recovery stage I'd been in before skipping.
Posted 3/9/2010 7:56 PM (GMT 0)

Forgot to answer the question about how you'll know when you've expelled the full bottle of solution.

Once inserted, I usually squeeze the bottle until the sides touch (my hand is then in a closed fist around the bottle) which ends up being about 75% of the solution.  This has worked for me - it doesn't appear necessary to use the entire bottle. 

Posted 3/9/2010 8:04 PM (GMT 0)
ok so I take off the green cap..
then i squeeze it a bit in the upright position? and its ok if some meds come out?
then put the cap back on and run it under warm water
then insert and put the meds in.

does this sound right?

im kinda scared to do this to be honest..the suppositories seem like nothing now lol

yesterday it squirt out and onto my toilet..i washed it quickly but are you saying it will come back?
Posted 3/9/2010 8:15 PM (GMT 0)

I'm totally with you, I was scared to use an enema after having terrible experiences using saline enemas while prepping for GI appts.  Those burn, and give me terrible cramping.  Though I have a sensitive system I've been fine using Rowasa enemas - hopefully you have the same experience.

Here's my routine (to each their own, but it works for me):

1-shake bottle
2-run under hot water (w/ cap on)
3-remove cap and squeeze air out while holding bottle upright, or slightly diagnol - it's okay if some of the meds come out
4-bend over, insert most of the thin part of the tip, and sqeeze bottle until the hand holding the bottle is in a fist

"yesterday it squirt out and onto my toilet..i washed it quickly but are you saying it will come back?"  I've noticed even if I get a little in the sink and clean it right away, I'll have a brown spot there the next day that has to be cleaned again.  No biggie.

Good luck!  I highly recommend using the enema at night.  If I don't lie down within 5-10 minutes I'll start feeling slightly uncomfortable.  Typically I get into bed and lie on my left side and fall asleep.  The enema has never leaked.  I usually get up about 7 hours later to use the restroom, and will usually just expel air and some of the solution.  Then about an hour later I'll have a BM.

Let us know how you're feeling after a week or two!  In my experience, enemas have not been as stressful/painful/scary/awkward as they seem.

Lastly, I used an enema during the day once and was very uncomfortable.  Better to sleep w/ it in so you can remain lying down for an extended time period.

Posted 3/9/2010 9:02 PM (GMT 0)
what are your current symptoms and how do you think these enemas are helping? 6 weeks seems like a long time to be on them!
Posted 3/9/2010 9:44 PM (GMT 0)
6 weeks isn't a long time Krissy....depends on how one's symptoms are and how fast one improves.

Then one should taper.

q
Posted 3/10/2010 12:02 AM (GMT 0)

I had a colonoscopy in Jan, and even after having used Lialda since November, I had moderate left-sided colitis. 

Even though it's taken 6 weeks of Rowasa enemas to get my flare under control, I felt much better after even 3-4 nights of using them.  After just the first week I'd gone from using the bathroom 5-10 times per day w/ lots of blood, to using the bathroom with little blood only 1-3 times between waking up and lunchtime.

As of this week I've been going just once in the morning, no blood.  I am so happy! 

Posted 3/10/2010 2:25 PM (GMT 0)

OK..last night did not go so well..I Think I need some help here..Im kinda embarrased about this but I really want these to work for me so Im gonna put my pride aside for  sec...

So I shook up the bottle, ran it under warm water for a bit..took off the cap and squeezed a bit..I Was hoping to hear some sound of air coming out but I didnt so really didnt know how much to squeeze..so I just squeezed a bit till some of the med came out

so then I went over to my bed...I put a towel down just in case..lay down on my left, inserted the tip..that kinda hurt a  bit but not too bad..i think i was a bit tense as well so that probably didnt help..so then i started to gently squeeze hoping iwould feel the meds going in but i did NOT FEEL A THING! weird..so I kept trying..and noticed that the coil was not getting any smaller so I took it out..and tried again...still didnt feel anything going insdie of me..im not sure if this is because the meds were warmed up and making it more unoticiable?

i also found that my hand did not have a good grip..i had my thumb closer to my butt and two fingers on the top and i was pressing but the coil still was not getting smaller..so then i used the other hand too..i just put it through my leg to kinda help the other hand ..maybe i was not pressing hard enough?

anyway..after all this i was fed up and my nezk was hurting from straining it trying to look at the bottle to see if it was shrinking..so i pulled it out, gotta a plastic bag and squeezed a lot harder the rest of the meds in there just to see what was left..and it was almost an ounce i would say..

So..the point here is that i dont really know what i did wrong or how much med i actually got. This morning as usual, I woke up around 630 with a bit of cramping and urge to go..so i went and out came a skinny poo covered in white stuff..

please help :)

Posted 3/10/2010 5:43 PM (GMT 0)
I Am bumping this..as I really need some help and I dont want this to get lost in the muffle...
Posted 3/10/2010 8:07 PM (GMT 0)
Sounds like you did it right. With it warmed up, you may not feel the med go in but if you say only about an ounce was left then that should be enough med. The white stuff coating your stool is the enema. With enemas you may get a variety of colors. But I agree that the usual course of an enema treatment is 6-8 weeks. It's not that really a long of a time because it takes a while to heal in there. Think about, what other part of the body is there that is a more hostile place for healing to go on? The colon takes a while to heal and it takes patience.
Posted 3/10/2010 8:37 PM (GMT 0)
Thanks Red,,,I wonder if I will need less time though..right now I am going only 1-2 times a day..no blood but still a but urgent and soft...thats why I wanted to try these..

ETA: and I really want to know how hard to press to get the stuff inside you..the coil did not seem to be getting any smaller until right at the end when i gave up and emptied the rest into a plastic bag

Posted 3/10/2010 9:04 PM (GMT 0)
What I do is to get the tip inserted, squeeze it until the sides of the bottle touch, and then I move my hand so I can fold the bottom of the bottle over - then I squeeze as if I making a fist around the bottle, and that puts most of the rest of the med in me.

I find I hardly feel it, either, unless I don't warm it (I rarely bother anymore) or unless I'm really in a bad flare (which you are not!)
But, right, I don't really feel it, and I'm not really aware it's there until I see the white or tan or whatever color it is (it changes - must react to the content of the poop?) coating my poop in the morning!

You've been thinking of it as a Big Deal and.... it's not such a big deal, really. I've probably used them half of my life for the last 23 years!
Posted 3/10/2010 9:17 PM (GMT 0)
Hi Krissy....I had to get my husband to do the first one for me, but that was with the old bottle, lol.

I don't hold it like it suggests.
I hope I can describe correctly what I do.

I put the nozzle between my index and middle finger and put the bottom of the bottle on my thumb. (off to do a dry run....)
OK, back again. Nope, that's how I shake it but holding the bump at the lower end of the nozzle.

Then, laying down on my left side, I take the cap off, turn the bottle downward in my hand and insert in into my butt...kind of easing it in because of that nasty squared off tip.

Then I move my fingers and thumb up around the top coil with the bottle sitting in my palm (like a claw around it) and squeeze, but kind of like in more of a way you would press the acelerator on a car to start moving rather than flooring it. Once it starts to go, I just put a bit more pressure but continual until the whole bottle is compressed.

Withdraw the bottle, cap it, wipe my butt with toilet paper or kleenex (at the ready), wrap that around the bottle and discard it. I used to keep a bag beside my bed, but I get up now and toss it.

Wash hands.

Hope this makes sense,
q
Posted 3/10/2010 11:24 PM (GMT 0)
I too have enema questions. You are all referring to what seem to be larger 'coiled' bottles. I have to assume they contain a 5ASA fluid (which I remember using 4 years ago and couldn't retain)

On Monday night I started my session of steroid enemas. There are no coils on these rather small bottles, in fact they only contain 60ml (100mg) of liquid which is barely a quarter of a cup. The tip is about 2.5" long X 0.25" thick, so not too 'invasive' I suppose.

They seem relatively easy to administer although it's nigh impossible to discharge the whole contents because of the size of the bottle versus the size of my hand. I don't believe it's entirely necessary anyway to require all 60ml. Of course I should imagine one would need to make every effort by whatever means, to use up most of the fluid.

My questions are 1) How much of the tip is to be inserted into the anus, just a tad, half of it, all of it?

2) When you are satisfied that you have squeezed a decent amount, how long should you keep the tip inserted before withdrawal? Remove it Slow? Fast?

None of these questions seem to be covered with the instructions but I guess I'm probably just a fussy dude.

After just two days I can feel things are improving but they claim 3 to 7 days before positive results will be in the offing.

I can live with that!
Posted 3/10/2010 11:43 PM (GMT 0)
The mesalamine enemas must be different in Canada or something, because my bottle is just a little bottle...no coils or anything. I'm able to get just about all of it out, because I completely crush it flat.

Anyway, I haven't done a steroid enema, but I put the whole tip in, and I just pull it back out once I've squeezed all I can.
Posted 3/10/2010 11:45 PM (GMT 0)
Your questions: 1)I imagine the tip is the length it is in order to accommodate a number of shapes and sizes of bodies. I insert it far enough to make sure the liquid goes in and doesn't drip out, but not too far in, since I want to get the tissue all the way to the bottom. (My first inflammation, years ago, was so low in the rectum that my doc doing a sig missed it - went right past it. I changed docs soon after - lol.)

2) I remove it immediately but not too fast, just in case there's any leakage. (In 23 years it's been an issue maybe once or twice.)

I began improving the very next day, last time I started the steroid enemas - so I believe you when you say you're improving that fast.
Posted 3/11/2010 2:39 PM (GMT 0)
Thanks for the sound advice songlady.

Last night's episode didn't exactly go as planned though. I drank two tallboy cans of English ale with a large Madras chicken curry with naan bread. I should have known better. Curry rarely bothers me but I think the combination of the beer and the naan bread built-up far too much flatulence.

I couldn't retain the liquid for more than a couple of minutes before propelling it. (with some force I might add) I'll put it down to a 'missed dose', self-inflicted. I'll watch what I eat from now on whilst on enemas.
Posted 3/11/2010 3:04 PM (GMT 0)
Mackster..Im with you there..this did not go well for me again yesterday either..I have come to the conclusion that my hand is too small to use the recommended methods of getting the meds inside.
For some reason, using one hand I can not seem to get a good enough grip to put enough force to get the bottle in shrinking motion..no matter what I do..
Again I had to use two hands..I lay on my left and then put my left arm through my leg to help out the right hand..
I am finding its taking too much force to get the liquid out and I dont know why..plus I didnt realize that there is so much more left in the bottle when I am thinking I am done..you can actually almost squish the thing FLAT!

I guess I Will have to try again tonight...

With regards to my symptoms though..I am still getting up for that early morning BM and this mornings slid out really fast actually..

Its only been two days so I cant expect much I know but I am kinda hopeful that this can kick me into a true remission.
Posted 3/11/2010 3:28 PM (GMT 0)
Krissy.....can your husband possibly do it for you?

One thing...how much are you shaking it?

How exactly are you holding it? Does my method possibly help?

Yeah, it goes flat..lol.

just think of the strength you'll have in your hand eventually...;-)
q
Posted 3/11/2010 5:25 PM (GMT 0)
Heather, yes he can but really i should learn on my own I think..just like I did with my Humira shots.

I shake it for a few seconds, should I be shaking it more or less?

I start off trying to hold it thumb on the bottle and index and middle finger on top..and my hand does not seem to be big enough to apply enough force this way..then i tried your way...same thing..so i just used both hands..but still it doesnt seem to br working

am i supposed to use a continuous motion? cause i have not been..i have been stopping and then trying again and then stopping etc..
Posted 3/11/2010 5:33 PM (GMT 0)
I have no idea what coil thing you guys keep talking about? I just stick in in my rear and squeeze the bottle on both sides.
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