Using enemas...travel, sex life, routine? help?

You could do the enemas in the morning or some other more convenient time during the day. I would usually lie down on the floor some place private and do it.

I would go for Remicade before I would choose Humira; Remicade works much better for UC even though it is less convenient.

Have you tried steroid enemas instead of Mesalamine? They might allow you to get off oral steroids quicker.

Hi I understand it can feel inconvenient. Honestly it's all a matter of getting used to. You can still go to bed together with your husband and right before you sleep you insert the enema. He doesn't even have to know (of course he knows but after a while it won't be a big deal). Hotel rooms same thing. I usually just turned to my left side and applied the enema under the blanket. It's all a matter of practice. Traveling... If the camping place has shower and toilet facilities it's all not a issue. I used to keep a little trash bin with wipes next to the bed. Sometimes I inserted the enema in the restroom and went straight to bed.

Mesalazine is a really good med to be on and if you can keep your inflammation in check with it, stick with it. Going up the med latter won't do you any good unless you really have exhausted other options.

Oh and I've used enemas while camping (even multi-day backpacking or kayaking trips), it's really no biggie once you're accustomed to it. You can use them directly in bed/sleeping bag or in a bathroom and then walk to bed (it's bit going to drip out or anything).

And as you heal you should be free of abdominal discomfort, urgency, and excessive flatulence and that should eliminate any interference with your intimacy with your spouse. Yes UC is an unsexy disease, poop is a taboo subject, and it might be embarrassing at first. The best spouses aren't bothered they know if you're feeling good or bad, want you to feel well and remind us to take our meds, come to our doctor's appointments and ask questions, and might even ask if you had a good poop day today lol.

Love is the whole package both good and bad, not just the perfect well mannered and manicured us for dates. Rather it's your spouse snoring with horrible morning breath, hair mussed up, drool running down their face in an unflattering sleeping position. It's holding their hair back at the toilet after too much to drink lol. Hey we're there for them 100 percent regardless of what it is. You'll find out once the honeymoon phase is over

I can't tell you how many times I've traveled and/or had sex after administering Rowasa

Once you finish it, and retain the medication, there's nothing stopping you from doing anything. It's really quite easy.

LOVE reading peoples responses haha.
Enemas take a bit of planning vs. spontaneous sex but totally do-able.
Sex is one of the beneficial supplements iMO (from a longtime married person), maybe the endorphins, but has always been a good thing. Better than ice cream, better than anything.

My teen son has been doing the Rowasa enemas since he was first diagnosed, so many folks on this forum swear by them.
He has said you get used to them very quickly and after a while they are really no big deal--they now take him 15 seconds to administer while lying down in bed, he keeps them in his bedside table, tosses them in trash next to bed after, and watches TV or goes to sleep. he’s not dealing with the issue of spouse/intimacy but I can say he was able to come off 6mp with them and the 6mp made him so so tired he would trade all the ickyness of enemas in a heartbeat in order to not feel so tired and sick all the time. He is now in remission and sticks with them as preventative.

Here are things I’ve learned from him.
1. Not everyone who does them does them nightly. You could start with nightly for 2 weeks and then reduce to every 2-3 nights.
2. Some people do them in the bathroom first but he found that hard to retain them. He does them lying in bed (laying on your left side is important for about 15-30 min after so it reaches that distal colon).
2. He keeps a small trash can with lid by bed to dispose them in.
3. For the first while he put a small blanket or towel under him for those first 30 min in case any leaked out...now he doesn’t need that. But they can stain sheets so I’d recommend the towel at first while you are getting hang of it.
4. You could start them when your husband is out of town or going to be out late with friends one night so you get the hang of it without him, the first few times you still have to learn how to retain them.
5. You could just explain that you have to do some treatments so can he come to bed 5 minutes after you--and just give you that privacy for 5 minutes.
6. He says it really helps if you shake the bottle first, and very gently squeeze a little bit of the air out before administering.

I suspect after one-two weeks it will all become so quick and easy and not a big deal at all and you and your husband will just be so happy when your symptoms are better controlled, you’ll hopefully have a better sex life then before. Maybe you’ll even go into remission Good Luck!

You guys have sex after you administer the enema? How does that work? Is it not uncomfortable? Especially for women since everything is so close together down there.

Good morning. Talk about enemas, I find myself not able to hold it more than 15-20 minutes let alone an hr or 2 or overnight. How is anyone able to. Maybe I lay in bed and don't move???? Omgosh messy is what I'm getting. Getting really frustrated too. Dreading it and getting mad. ( maybe feeling sorry for myself?). If I remember right did I read on here (Ipoop) instructions how to do this at home? about 2-3 weeks ago? Maybe I'm doing this all wrong. AHHH!!! Any words of wisdom? Will be 3rd day/night. I think I'm wasting them.

Squeezing all of the air out 1st is essential. You will have a strong urge to evacuate the enema for the 1st minute after administering, ignore that feeling and it quickly goes away. Enemas takes practice and gets easier as you heal, so don't get discouraged. You always retain some of the enema even if you expell some. It still heals you.

I administer in the bathroom, walk to bed, and lay on my left side. I'll watch tv or read a book in that position for 20 minutes to have the best possible absorption and dispersal. You can fall asleep on your left side, prop yourself in that position with a pillow or two.

Post Edited (iPoop) : 4/20/2017 6:45:01 AM (GMT-6)

Hey! Chiming in to say give the enemas a shot--mesalamine enemas put me in remission when Remicaid failed. Biologics can be a much bigger PIA *plus* you could end up having to do the enemas on top of Remicaid.

I never do my enemas in front of my husband and I always closs the door when I go to the toilet. The enemas are awkward at first but after you are able to retain them you should be able to have sex and not worry about leakage.

Edit** Since you are taking steroid enemas, you could ask your GI about Uceris foam--it's fairly new to the market but people have had good results and it's easier to retain

Post Edited (Plucky) : 4/20/2017 7:15:43 AM (GMT-6)

I am so happy right now. I did the enema and I held it in overnight. Anybody outside of this UC community would probably look at me like I was crazy to be happy about something like this. They have no idea. Thank you Thank you Thank you for being here. I know I 'thank' too much but I just feel so good not being alone.

Back to work.