Enema for Cold or Flu

I don't care of it helps or not. If it makes an enema happen, it can't be bad.

This is akin to enemas in the 50's.

"Take 2 aspirin and call me in the morning", seemed to be age old responses when the doctor was called regarding a sudden illness or injury. In our house in the 50's, 60's, and 70's, when mom or grandma called the doctor's office towards the end of the usual workday, the response from Dr. Ross or his nurse Marge was, "Take/or give a couple of aspirin and an enema" and call back in the morning.

Dr. Ross was not adverse to making a housecall. We kids seldom saw him at the office, except when a regularly scheduled exam was needed. Nurse Marge handled many of the phone calls and knew what the doctor's schedule looked like. She was also a strong advocate for those treatments that we kids often resisted, but expected. One topic always covered early in any visit or call was, when was his or her last BM. Mom wanted to have an answer in all cases. She knew that a BM was expected to occur daily, and we kids were expected to deliver, or else it was "ENEMA TIME".

I realize that enemas have become the bane of many people, and that they are relegated to the status of "last resort" in homes, clinics, and hospitals. To say their use has been debunked as a viable treatment, or an old wives tale in dealing with illness or health concerns, is just as overbroad as our belief that an enema is a "cure all" for whatever ails us. Times have changed, but many of us still find that simple solution to many of the symptoms we endure in sickness and in health. I've posted many times that an enema sure beat those blue and yellow pills when virility was a challenge. It has been said that I exhibited "animalistic" reactions in bed after a wonderful session as part of foreplay.

I peruse Wayback Machine & Google Books now and then. It's amazing how the medical profession, prior to the 80's, believed in the efficacy of enemas!

@Jacana I’ve also wondered why water from the bottom up seems more hydrating than water from the top down, because this is something I’ve noticed even when I’m not sick and think I’ve been reasonably hydrated.

The job of the large intestine is water recapture. I have to guess that water introduced that way is pulled into circulation more quickly because it doesn’t have to go through the stomach and small intestine first. Volume-per-volume, maybe it’s just a faster absorption rate? Meanwhile, I’m still drinking the amount of water I normally would, so the enema gives me a leg up on total hydration volume, too, or so I think.

I know when I take a maintenance enema my skin looks better for the next 4 hours or so; I assume that’s related.

I’m sure your enema solution matters here. I should note I don’t use anything that would pull water out of my body and into my gut. Since childhood I’ve had a very twitchy vagus nerve; osmotic laxatives or a Fleet have me counting bathroom tiles between dry heaves and wishing for the angel of death. I do use baking soda in my enemas, but I measure more like a chef, less like a baker, and will guess the concentration is a little less than isotonic. This works for me as I don’t do true series, long holds, or heroic volumes, and I think I pick up a refreshing but not brain-endangering volume of water.

When sick with a viral infection and definitely feeling dehydrated, I decrease my enema volume (so less urgency) and increase my hold time by 5-10 minutes. I think this makes me absorb even more water. Then I take a little more warm water when my hold is up to aim for a smooth and comfortable expulsion. I really do end up feeling at least somewhat better when done.

Not a cold or 'flu, but four decades ago, in Africa I contracted jaundice. I recovered so much more quickly than everyone; doctors, health homr care etc expected. The reason? Enemas ...

All ways got enemas if ill from my mother

I grew up in a home where my mom and grandmother thought enemas were the "cure all/prevent all" for what might ail you. I was given an enema every Wednesday and Saturday growing up and was hardly ever sick. Although Medical Science would likely disagree with me, I think enemas do keep you healtly. I continued the two per week enema practice as an adult for my husband and myself. Both of us have not experienced any form of illness for many years.

However, I recently began having the typical symptoms of a nasty cold after being exposed in close quarters to hundreds of people some of which were coughing and sneezing. That same day I was absolutely drenched in a nasty cold rain and not able to change out of my wet clothes until that evening. Add in a flight home with coughing and sneezing people in close proximity, I evidently caught at least one person's cold.

When I got home I took an extra enema series (soap and rinse) before going to bed and the next morningand the cold symptoms had disappeared completely and I felt great.

Bottom line at least for me, is that twice a week enemas seem to keep me healthy. There are of course very desirable "side effects" as well. Denise

Feel a lot better every time after a good clean out.

@Sweetest_Relief I think it’s the combination of hydration and deep rest that a good enema provides that helps me get over colds or flu a little faster.

For many years, my family's primary care doctor was a woman who we affectionally called "Dr. Grams." She was a family physician for 51 years until she retired. Whenever one of us was sick enough to call her or needed an office visit, she reminded us to "rest and hydrate," especially if running a fever. She always asked, "Is (the patient's name) comfortable?" It wasn't unusual that she would suggest an enema to clear the lower bowel, which would help the one of us who was sick to relax and rest.

I give enemas routinely after the kids or my husband are getting over the cold/flu. My son would rather avoid having it done, but he knows he'll feel 100% better after it's over with. He's getting to the age where he'll probably just flat refuse to let me give him one. The bowel is usually where sickness begins and ends. Even when a person is recovering, the digestive tract is the last place the infection leaves the body. So it's best to flush that on out and take some burden off the system. It's never that uncomfortable, usually 2qts of normal saline warmed to 104F. I don't want to rush it either. The idea is to get as much solution up into the colon as I can without causing immediate peristalsis. If they haven't had a decent bowel movement while they've been sick, I might repeat the enema to make sure they're cleaned out, or at least to make sure things are "moving along" again. Some people might think giving enemas is unnecessary. Those are usually the ones who think good health lives in a pill bottle. It just makes so much more sense to cleanse the body internally with the most important substance to life....water.

@nurse_nikki my Mom felt the same way and I got an enema whenever I was ill. She said it would make me feel better and was a very compassionate enema giver. No wonder I have craved enemas my entire life!

It probably doesn’t work but for me taking an enema provides some relief of the cold and flu symptoms and at the very least can be quite enjoyable compared to the symptoms of a cold and flu

We get colds here, especially if we have a particularly wet winter. My husband is a dunce sometimes. He loves being out in the rain, but I have to nag him to dress warmly enough. I don’t think an ordinary cold warrants giving an enema unless it turns into something more flu-like and I feel he needs to be down in bed to rest. He’s very active, and if he’s sick, particularly running a fever, I want him down, even if he is a pain and doesn’t want to be.

Also, it depends on what’s happening with him. It’s rarely ever fever or stomach issues or constipation, which he’ll never tell me unless I straight out ask. Then it’s a different story. After 42 years of marriage, I’m a pretty good nurse. Enemas do not necessarily cure, but from experience, cleaning out the lower colon can give a feeling of comfort and well-being if someone is sick. I know it does me.

When our two girls were growing up, enemas were quite rare, a last resort and usually had a PMS connection. Older daughter was more accepting, even would ask if she was extremely uncomfortable. Younger daughter thought an enema was the end of the world.

For me, an enema will put the brakes on most any illness that focuses on the digestive tract. I think its because most of the stress comes from the whole system being overactive. Everything shoots through so quickly that it arrives at the back door still as a nasty liquid. Once the enema has rinsed out most of the content, it feels like a reset. I don't think the enema has any effect on the virus itself, it just helps the system take a break and resume normal functioning.

I was 5 in 1953 and back in the early 50s to 60s, A couple of sneezes, a runny nose, coughing, or a potent room clearing fart would invoke the "you must be coming down with something, a good clean out should help". Of course our family doctor was a believer in "keeping his/her bowels open" so an enema was imminent. Now I must have had enemas earlier than 5 as my older sister Tess told me that she helped mom give me enemas with "the red squeeze thing" when I was little. I don't remember these but Tess considered herself an expert as she exclaimed "Mom gives me enemas with the red bag and hose now". Tess told me "when mom gave you enemas back then she filled the red squeeze thing, gave you the first squirt and handed it me to fill two or three more times while she held you still, I had to help hold you while she gave you two or three more squirts, all you did was keep saying "potty mommy" until she put you on the potty chair. I didn't really get to know enemas until I was 5 and I went to a hospital for a tonsillectomy and received my first remembered enema. More about that in my many other posts!

That's why I'm still LostInThe50s

Marty

@LostInThe50s

Love to hear about others that have experienced enemas in their early years. ....enemas from others. I got a lot, but had to administer them all myself.

@WaterLog

You will find a LOT of my memories actually most from my older sister Tess, but there was a LOT of enema activities between Tess and me documented in many posts here on Zity! So Enjoy.

LostInThe50s

Marty

It just makes sense that an enema, especially a large, high enema would be good when you have a cold or flu. After all, like it or not, you're going to swallow phlegm the whole time. That phlegm is full of the virus that's making you sick. You might say you're recycling your disease. So, why not wash the phlegm and it's contents out of your bowels?

Colds and flu mainly are viral, not bacterial infections which pretty much run their course.

Note: with the flu there is the possibility of it turning into a bacterial condition.

As for enemas and how they help; well that depends. It could be psychological. It could be, if there is a fever, it might help make you feel better briefly. The taking of an enema might help you rest which would be beneficial.