Enemas

I use Mesalamine enema. Not quite nightly.

Although I fall asleep OK, I've been unable to sleep through the night. I wake up in the middle of the night having to discharge the Mesalamine with a thunderous expelling of gas.

I am beyond the embarrassment, and my wife understand, but I know I would be doing better if I could keep the stuff in my body the full night. Plus I would be far less sleep deprived.

Anybody have this experience and suggestions on how to address?

Maybe try just using half of the enema for a few nights to see what happens. If you can keep half an enema in all night, great! Keep doing half for a few more days, then try going back up to a whole one.
Good luck!

Hi! :) I'll chime in here, too.
I honestly didn't have any problem with the enema. I put an old towel on the bathroom floor (this stuff STAINS, so you don't want to get it on your floor or anything that you care about). Then lie down on my left, side, shake it well and squeeze the air out of the top. Then I apply it, get up, wash my hands, and get in bed and lie on my left side as quickly as I can. I lie on my left side for at least 30 minutes, and I usually fall asleep that way.

When I first started using them, I did feel like I had to poop. But tried my best to relax and not think about it. When I use them now, it rarely makes me feel like I've got to poop. Some people have cramping and pain, but they've never caused anything like that for me. The first couple of nights I used them, my GI just had me use half, because he said I'd have better luck retaining it all night. After I'd retained half for two nights, I went ahead to a full one and was ok. I think only a couple of times have I "lost" the enema in the middle of the night. When I was still flaring, I *always* had a BM just a few minutes after getting out of bed in the morning. Now that I'm in remission, I sometimes don't go in the morning after using one.

If you need or want to talk to me tonight before you use it, just give me a call. You've got my #, right?

Haha! My hotline number could be
1-8up-the-butt!
(1-887-883-2888)

Gosh, P-Fit, sorry for the bad effects! I never had any effects with the enemas (well, OK, when I was realllly inflamed the steroid enemas gave me some steroid energy...)

For the record - I have always done the enemas in bed just before going to sleep, so that I don't have to move at all. I do them in the dark, after I've turned off the light (I can't see back there to watch what I'm doing anyway - lol!) and then I breath slowly, I don't talk (have you ever watched the screen during a colonoscopy and seen how your colon moves when you talk?!) and I just lie there. That first minute or so is the worst as I feel it moving inward and the colon reacting to that, and then I'm fine.
In cold weather I warm it first by holding it in my armpit while I read a few minutes.
Beforehand, I try to make sure I've pooped if I feel the slightest urge, I expell any gas, I make sure my bladder is empty... and then if some comes out (usually with gas) in the middle of the night when I get up to pee, I figure most of it has seeped into the tissue by then.

My doc never mentioned doing 1/2 at first, but that sounds like a great idea when really flaring!