Were You Scared

Were you ever scared seeing an older sibling, cousin or even parent taking a bag enema when you were still on the bulb?

Yes of course. I had bulbs till 7 and a year older cousin was scheduled to the bag. Later on I found out she hated enemas this is why she made always a big fuss when her time came. Aunt asked my mom's help when she got her first bag. I had to go with mom as she did not want me alone in the apartment. I was in the living room when mom, aunt and poor cousin disappeared in the bathroom. Actually the whole neighbourhood listened the process. I was really scared, but the same evening mom explained everything to my questions and soon I was nominated to the bag as well.

I can't speak for being scared when I was little, but I can as a young woman of 22 when a home health nurse hung a large hospital disposable enema bag above my bed for the first time. The nurse said she could tell I was "anxious" by the look of my eyes. Actually, I recall being freaked out was a better description.

The nurse was Angie, who I have often written about on this site. She talked me through a breathing exercise that helped calm me down. Funny thing, I had been in the hospital all bruised and battered, underwent reconstructive surgery and pain that followed, but it was seeing this enema bag filled with soapy water that seemed to scare me the most.

I think that the most memorable thing about the enema bag was not seeing anyone get one, but hearing that my older sister had just been given one and that the bag was now drying on the towel rack. That did not scar me as much as seeing that same sister get a penicillin shot in the butt from the doctor who was making a house call. That shot was far more scary than an enema.

Well a little. I saw the bag sometimes with a black nozzle on it hanging to dry in the bathroom. Then someday I heard a conversation between my grandmother and mother. “Are you still using the bulb on him?” the evening i got my first “bag”.

Similar to @paul3834 I was getting the bulb and remember my mom having a conversation with the nurse down the hall in the apt we lived… the nurse was all in favor of having me graduate from bulb to bag… yes, I was scared…

I was given enemas with a bulb throughout my childhood. I didn't know you could do it any other way. When I was 15 in the hospital, I got my first bag enema. To be precise, it was an irrigator with a large plastic container.

I was expecting a light bulb enema and then I saw the student nurse fill the container with water. She poured a liter into it - one and a half liters of water. I was scared because the levety was not supposed to be what I expected. I waited for the student to leave because I was ashamed of her. I thought she was just getting everything ready for the procedure and the elderly nurse would give me an enema. It turned out that the enema was to be done by a nurse-student under the supervision of a senior nurse. I was very embarrassed to have to take off my pajama bottoms and assume a knee-to-chest position. I felt a mixture of shame and fear.

Everything was different - different equipment, different position, two people at the procedure. The girl was 1-2 years older than me, which made me very embarrassed. I think if I saw someone who they give such an enema to, I would probably be amazed.

When I was 15 I was in a bicycle accident where I had some severe abdominal pain, the doc prescribed a barium enema, I had been giving myself enemas since I was 14 so I didn't think too much of it. The prep was two soap enemas which were no problem, but when I was wheeled into the x-ray room hanging were two full enema bags each holding 2+ of barium. I was scared to death when I saw them. The first one was easy but taking the second was a chore, I'd never taken that kind of quantity. They went slow but the cramps were endless. They used most of the 2nd bag before we were finished. Back then they did not do the double contrast (or know how for that matter) so the norm an exam was a large volume of barium.

Yes, that was scary.

I actually never had a bulb enema- it was the big red rubber open top enema, red rubber hose, chrome clamp and black nozzle smeared with globs of vaseline for everyone. I was suddenly anxious and scared however whenever mom went to the closet to get the family enema a begin to make it ready for someone. My heart pounded and I would be weak in the knees. I still have these feelings. Enemas are a love/hate thing. I love the attention, the embarrassment and the “feeling much better afterward”……but I hate the tummy aches caused by the warm soapy soapsuds and that familiar “weak” feeling deep inside my tummy as the pressure builds and builds….. https://en.zity.biz/gallery/image/97044 michael

I don't recall ever seeing anyone in my family get a bag enema while I was still receiving enemas with the bulb syringe, but I did see it frequently hanging on the towel bar on the back wall of the bathtub drying out. When I asked, mom explained it was for enemas and that it would be used on me when I was bigger. Through my little eyes it looked like it would really hurt to be given an enema with that big red bag with the long hose and the black nozzle that was bigger than the nozzle on the bulb syringe that I was so familiar with so yes, it was scary. At that time I was small, and glad of it. I would cooperate without complaint and take a “good” enema when mom would use the bulb on me, believing it would postpone indefinitely getting a big enema from the bag. Of course, like many here, I was in for a surprise on “graduation” day. And it didn't help to hear mom say “you're getting bigger now and this is gonna give you a real good enema …”

I had not seen anybody get an enema with the bag prior to my first one at ten years old. I had seen the red combo bag without the hose and things and it was referred to as the hot water bottle. My sister and I grew up getting our enemas with a bulb. My cousin got hers with a bulb.

I was staying at grandma's for a week during summer vacation. I guess with the excitement of a different place and playing with different kids in the neighborhood, I was too busy to poop until it was too late. Grandma noticed something was wrong and after a few basic questions suggested an enema would make my tummy feel better. I remember grandma and mom giving me an enema with a red bulb she had a few years earlier and since I sort of liked the bulb enemas mom was giving me, and I was even giving myself small enemas with the bulb at home, I agreed to an enema. A bit later, grandma called me to the bathroom saying my enema was ready. When I got there I did not see the bulb sitting on the sink as I expected, but what I knew as the hot water bottle hanging from the towel bar with some sort of hose attached. I asked grandma what that thing was. She said it was my enema. She said I was old enough to get my enema like the grownups do. I wasn't really scared, but concerned, because the bag looked huge and I wondered if I had to take all of it.

The warm water felt really good going in, for a while, but then I started feeling really full. After a couple of start/stops I told grandma I couldn't take any more. Thankfully she stopped. As I sat on the toilet emptying my guts, I stared at the red bag and it looked like I took about half of what was in it. It was definitely more water than I had ever had in my skinny little belly up to that time, but somehow I knew it would not be the last time. Yes, it was a bit uncomfortable, yet it stirred unidentified good feelings too.

@redbulb Of course, like many here, I was in for a surprise on “graduation” day. And it didn't help to hear mom say “you're getting bigger now and this is gonna give you a real good enema …”

Your account is well said and reminds me of my “graduation” day fears - funny how now I wish I could go back and relive them all…

No, as far as I can remember I always got the bag, was never scared of the bag.

No, as far as I can remember I always got the bag, was never scared of the bag. I was the oldest so I was given enemas in front of my brother and sister to show them it didn't hurt.

The first enema I can remember getting was from my grandmother using her two quart closed top bag. I remember her coming into the living room, picking me up and taking me to her bathroom. When we got to the bathroom, she sat me down on the toilet, got her enema bag from the shower and filled it up. After she hung the bag up, she pick me up from the toilet and stood me up and took my clothes off. Then sat down on the toilet bringing me across her lap. Next thing I felt, was her index finger going into my anus and moving around, then being replaced with the enema nozzle. She moved the nozzle in an out a few times before starting the flow. Once she started the flow, it tickled, but then I started to feel really full and cried out. When I cried out, she stop the flow, rubbed my back a little, then moved the nozzle back and forth a few more times. It tickled as she moved the nozzle back and forth, helping me to clam down. It continued like this until I had taken what she had in the bag. I have no memory of how much she had in the bag, all I remember, is the bag being flat once she sat me down on the toilet to expel. When I was finished on the toilet, she picked me up, sat down on the toilet again and I went across her lap for a second time to get a rinse enema. Best I recall the rinse enema went a lot faster than the soapy enema. This happened when I was around five years old. We lived a few years with my grandmother, before mom and dad bought their first house. Having gotten a number of enemas from my grandmother in the same manner up to age 7 and beyond, I suspect this memory has come from, not just the first enema she gave me, but a number of enemas I got from her. Just to note, when we lived at grandma’s, she was the primary enema giver, not mom. Grandma gave us enemas in private, mom didn’t. Mom gave us enemas together, saying if I have too do one, I might as well do the other two and get it over with.

Never scared, I guess it all depends how your older sibling reacted. The times I witnessed or disturbed older sibling taking an enema from a bag they were calm and cool sort of thing. So it didn't comes across as anything scary at all.

I was more curious than scared. I had seen the enema bag hanging in the bathroom before but I didn't really know how it worked. What frightened me a little was the large nozzle they were using on my cousi--it looked like it would hurt going in but my cousin said that with the Vaseline it slipped right in and didn't hurt.

In our house the enema can always hung in the one bathroom so I was accustomed to seeing it and I had a sister who was 3 years older than I am who had been given enema so I guess it was just somethi ng n ormal t me and I was not afraid of it.