Miscalculations and Misfires?

Has anyone had an enema go quite differently than planned?

This afternoon I was feeling fine and had just enough alone time to take what I thought would be an easy IBS maintenance enema. I filled my can with warm water with baking soda, and for speed set up everything on my shower bench. I’d had what felt like a satisfying BM this morning, and the small borosilicate glass plug I warmed in water and coated with lube to precede the enema went in easily and came out clean as a whistle, so I opted for my colon tube instead of an enema tip.

Insertion seemed to go well until about 6-7”, which is rather common for me, so I gave up on a deeper insertion, turned the warm shower on my back, and started pumping my Higginson syringe, standing bent at the waist.

Usually I can take the whole can in this position, and then lie down on the warm shower floor to retain on my right side for a bit before getting up to expel in the toilet.

Suddenly I felt myself leaking with every pump, and a huge sense of urgency, and no sooner had I registered this than the tube and what looked like 1/3 of the contents of a *very* full colon shot out onto the shower floor.

Ugh.

I cleaned everything up, refilled my can, and attempted to take the volume I’d started with, but exactly the same thing happened…again!

I cleaned that up, patience waning and hubby’s ETA drawing nearer.

At this point I gave up on the colon tube, switched to my smallest nozzle, and started over. This time I got maybe 2/3 of the can in and was able to lie down on the shower floor to retain a little, when, you guessed it, my nethers once again seemed to reprise a scene from The Exorcist. Only this time I was close to lying in it.

This was the last straw, or at least my last shower cleanup, and I gave up for that session.

There was no urge to expel further, and a need to do so seemed improbable, so I washed, dressed, and started a seasonal closet switch not far from the porcelain bus.

But no: apparently I needed to expel three more times. And now I have the IBS warning signals of a backache and a little nausea. After all that I am not done and can tell I’ll need to take another enema tomorrow to stop things from getting worse.

In 40 years of enemas and probably 30 years of IBS, I don’t think I’ve ever misjudged the state of my colon or my ability to retain quite like today. Has anyone had a similar enema snafu?

I’m just thanking my lucky stars this happened in the shower and not in bed!

@Sweetest_Relief At some point I wanted to try a soapy enema like those I had seen in Call the midwife or some nursing stuff.

At the beginning it went alright. I had adjusted the water to be at body temperature.

Then at some point I felt my rectum starting to move. The soap was acting, and soon I felt my rectum pulsating. I had to make a very conscious decision not to poop on the bathroom floor.

I got up and sat on the toilet.

That was an experience. Not unpleasant, but I did not expect this after the initial easy injection.

I’ve had similar miscalculations, I noticed it more when I aged through the years. I attributed it to me becoming more sensitive to many different foods, and soaps that I used in enemas. I’ve recently discovered that the type of nozzle you use can make a huge difference also. Our bodies age and change over time and it’s important to make adjustments for it. Most soaps used for enemas are alkaline and the alkalinity of the soap varies. If the contents of your colon are slightly acidic and you use a high alkaline soap for a enema the colon will react and attempt to remove it. It’s just the body’s own internal safety system that protects you and it’s how those misfires happen. I have had them and when it happens with me I stop the enema, take a break for at least two to three days and make sure I don’t eat the wrong foods, use soap with a close to neutral ph as possible and take another enema and it’s always been successful with no problems.

I believe the occasional inability to take and hold an enema is from gas pockets high up in the colon, not in the rectum. You won't usually feel gas when it hasn't reached the rectum. The colon doesn't have feeling unless it's so full that it pushes on othe organs.

I take most of my enemas staring on my left side then on my back. I always hold an enema on my back. You can noally tell if you are gassy up high by slowly rolling from side to side. Usually when I roll to the right I can hear and feel the air gurgling and moving. With proper body movement I can move the gas bubble closer to the rectum.

Years ago, my wife and I had an accident in the bathroom that involved enemas. We both liked having sexual intercourse while one or both of us held a two-quart rinse enema. To that end, we had given each other a couple of enemas to clean ourselves out. Then, after my wife gave me another enema, I rolled over on my back with my feet pulled back, penis sticking straight up in the air. Straddling my body, she lowered herself on my penis. Once my penis was buried deep inside her vagina, she started rotating her hips, as she rode up and down. As we both got closer and closer to orgasm, she got a little too enthusiastic. Coming down a little hard on my stomach, causing me to lose the enema I was holding. By that time, we were both too far gone to realize what happened.

Once we both came down, we realized what happened. We were lucky, we’d cleaned ourselves out first. The bathroom floor and towels were wet, but only with clear water. Making clean up relatively quick and easy. Something neither of us forgot about. Having not always cleaned ourselves out beforehand.

WOW @Sweetest_Relief.

I have leaked more times than I desired but not experienced anything like this. Poor baby.

Had a similar thing happen. I was starting to give myself an enema with my usual two quart bag and my favorite douche nozzle, I was laying on my left side and inserted the nozzle and started the flow when the flow indicator stopped spinning and I felt a strong pressure from inside and the nozzle shot out quickly on it’s own, fortunately I was able to clinch up with minimal spillage. This has never happened before so I expelled what little was in me with a lot of gas and resumed the enema which then went in as usual, repeated with two more bags without an issue.

I’m assuming it was just a large gas bubble.

One thing I have incorporated into enema use, either giving or receiving, is being prepared for any contingencies. In nearly 70 years of taking, or being given enemas, I have experienced untold "miscalculations and misfires". I figured out why mom always gave mine in the bath tub rather than on the bed, where my sisters got theirs. My calamity, interrupted by an earthquake at an early age , influenced me for a long time. The towel rack was inadequate, and the backflow challenging, as the enema bag dropped to the floor. Cleanup was miserable! Thank goodness grandma assisted as she checked on me from next door.

Due to aging, I don't move as quick and try to have immediate access to the terlet. If that doesn't work, the tub or shower drain are sure a life saver.

I am a regular user of enemas for health and pleasure. Over the years I have developed a routine that is very effective yet pleasant for me. It works well most of the time, but every once in a while things don’t go as planned. Suddenly I can’t take the whole bag, or just can’t hold it in. Same mixture and temperature, same bag and nozzle. Why?

I have learned to always lay on an old, dark color towel and have a hand towel nearby in case of accidents. I don’t do my enemas in the tub or shower. Too hard and cold.

Thank you all for the replies. Interesting that @Silver_Bullet , @Stump , and @eman445 each implicate gas as a cause. Upon review, in the hurry to take, thrice clean up after, and twice salvage Saturday’s enema, I did not exercise my customary care to remove air from the tubing. The colon tube slipped out early on, and I reinserted it without purging the line. As things went serially wrong and my exasperation mounted (scat is not my thing, especially not on the shower floor!) I became ever more careless with each reinsertion. My colon was very full to start, so no doubt the water and the Higginson pushed the air quite high.

I’ve paid for this set of slip-ups, not really feeling well since, nor feeling like I wanted to try for a reset enema. Sunday morning I was able to have a small BM of hard pebbles (not what I’d expect 18 hours after such a productive enema) and then things got worse as the day wore on. Years of IBS have taught me to power through most symptoms instead of losing out on too much life, so I went to brunch with a friend as planned, where I realized I had very little appetite. I made it through an absorbing art exhibition, enthralled enough in the paintings to not be bothered. But by the time I made it home the combination of slight but ever-present nausea, lower backache, and suddenly feeling very chilled made me go to bed before 8 PM, not caring at all about missing dinner.

There probably can be no further risk of TMI after the Shower Floor Incident but by the wee hours of Monday I realized that since the pebbles I had not passed a single toot despite my belly feeling tense and a touch distended. As I went about my Monday morning routine I had no urge for a BM but was able to release a tiny bit of gas. I went through the day feeling sickish with not much appetite but able to get by.

Last night something shifted and some gas was able to make its way out, albeit in small amounts over hours. I managed a small BM this morning but still feel unwell, if probably ready to have a go at that reset enema at lunchtime.

Reflecting back on years of IBS, I think gas has been a trigger for some of my worst episodes, and that they are bad because they cause my colon to slow to a crawl or nearly shut down. My MD ex was convinced I had chronic pseudo-obstruction, which seemed rather alarmist given enemas relieved it, but through this experience I was brought back to the moment he first told me of this semi-armchair diagnosis.

Less the overreaction of my freakish colon, it seems likely I’ve done this to myself, just through carelessness with introducing air. I’m going to make any reset enema warm, slow, and utterly air-free and will take the good advice of @sse4fun and @Cheryl77177 and be prepared for accidents.

Pulling for you here @Sweetest_Relief. Hope your today's effort is successful and brings you your much deserved relief. 🌹

I suspect that some trial and error has been a factor in our enema use, especially for us older folks, or those who find that an enema is a valid intervention as needed.

I've posted before that my mom, grandma, and pediatrician didn't kill me, nor prevent "normal" BM's, by subjecting me to those common enemas as a kid.

I did learn a lot relative to those contingencies that I make reference to. I still pick up on some pointers in my advanced age. My affinity for enemas hasn't been a negative thing in over 70 yrs.

@SweetestRelief You may want to try a very slow, very warm baking soda enema using a colon tube. Start by allowing a few ounces in at a time with a few minutes wait between fills. When you have 16 Oz or so in try slowly advancing the colon tube between each small fill. Usually a baking soda enema is super easy to take and can be held for quite some time. I find the hardest part of a backing soda enema is a total empty. You may need some time to completely empty. Although usually there is little to no cramping.

I hope you are feeling better soon!

Thanks again Zity—the advice of the board was spot on. It’s too early to tell if my IBS “reset” enema worked completely, but I’m feeling a lot better.

Working on the hypothesis that air bubbles are the devil and that everything needed to be as slow and gentle as possible, I chanced taking the enema in bed. Thank goodness my work schedule and hubby’s errands afforded this. But bed was a huge leap of faith after my last experience of repeatedly and brownly baptizing the shower floor.

My former enema bag, the traditional drug store combination one, was pressed into service as a hot water bottle. I created a nest of precautionary towels between my flannel sheets and got it warming with the hot water bottle while I mixed a gentle baking soda and tap water solution in my can. I ran the water very warm, almost hot to account for the time it would take to fully purge the in-line Higginson, bring it to the bedroom, and take this enema with slow, delicate care.

While I ran the tap to warm the water, I warmed my extra-small glass plug and coated it with water soluble lube. It slipped into my rectum without pain, and I rotated it a few times to straighten the canal and lube the walls, then washed it off and brought it and my gear into bed with me.

I decided to play things very safe and take the entire fill on my back, so situated the hot water bottle under the small of my back, slipped in the tiny OHN blue silicone nozzle that’s the only one I want to use during a flare, opened the clamp, and gave the Higginson a first pump.

My abdomen felt tight and achy, so I was careful to massage the water in with every pump. It was a painful fill, and I tried to treat myself as gently as my former giver did, taking pauses, massaging cramps, and not getting tempted to run the water in faster. I could feel my transverse colon fill, but not the ascending, no matter how much I massaged it or the flexure.

Not wanting to have an accident, I stopped the fill shy of my usual volume and rolled to my right side. That was a hot, searing pain, and I grabbed the hot water bottle and held it there, trying to relax, but I could feel the ascending colon fill and the pain back off, little by little. Eventually I was able to try more massage, but it was a tough retention with cramps at both flexures. The hot water bottle was my only saving grace to start. I’m only a crier for emotional pain, not physical, but it was the kind of pain I could see some people crying over.

At last things started to settle and relax, and I realized I wasn’t nauseated. I started clockwise massage to get things going, then just lay in bed with the water bottle on my belly. After a while I heard a gurgle and decided to head to the bathroom well before I felt an urge. I was able to remove and wash the plug before things got going.

The expulsion was a two parter and, like the retention, very painful to start, even if it was mostly water and pellets like you’d find on a deer path. The hot water bottle started to seem like my only reason to live, and I pressed it into whichever flexure was torturing me. Then, once about 2/3 of the water and all of the pellets were out, I felt better. Some water and more normal excrement sauntered through, and then I was done.

After such a bad time, I usually need to reassess after my gut settles. However, all initial signs are good, and my abdomen, although still achy, feels softer and relaxed. I could take a nap, if I didn’t need to get back to work. Just as important, the bed bears no trace.

After everything that happened in the first enema, I may decide to give up “quickie” maintenance enemas taken standing, and possibly also give up on the colon tube or any other techniques that can introduce air, and just treat myself as gently as if I were in a flare or about to be, at all times.

Holy mackerel, SR, what an ordeal. Glad it's over for you and you're feeling better. Maybe you can finish the day feeling normal again. Here's hoping anyway. Visualize fingers crossed.

@Sweetest_Relief

I'm so sorry for the difficulties.

I've made every mistake in the book and have had every accident possible, and even after I thought I learned from all my mistakes and accidents, I continue to leak and spill and experience other mishaps, but it's less and less often as time goes on. I just grin and bear it.

It does get better and easier with time and experience, but occasionally things still go awry, in spite of my best efforts.

And, in spite of the problems, I still love enemas!

Best of luck.

.

@Sweetest_Relief

Following is one of my mishaps . . .

The first time I used a Higginson pump, I was under the mistaken assumption that water only flowed when I squeezed the pump. You definitely feel the "jet" of the water when you or someone else squeezes the pump--and I love that "jet" feeling--mmmm, nice.

A nice feature of the Higginson pump is that it blocks the flow of water going backwards through the pump. That is, you don't have to worry about back-flow or "poopy" water, excuse my French, 😄, from inside you flowing backwards into the tubing and the bag.

So, while you feel the awesome "jet" of water when the pump is squeezed, you may not feel the very slow flow of the water that still flows because of the siphoning effect when the bag is elevated above the level of the nozzle. If you recall from your physics class in third grade, a bag held or hanging high produces a high rate of flow which you might feel or at least notice, while a bag held or hung low yields low flow so you might not notice it is still flowing. Nonetheless, it does flow—slowly, but surely.

So, what miscalculation and misfire occured with my first-time use of the Higginson pump. I read about the no back-flow feature and then I just assumed that there was no "forward" flow if you didn't pump the Higginson. When I had taken three quarts of water from my four-quart bag, I stopped pumping and even went ahead and pulled the nozzle out of my bottom and just left it on the floor behind my behinder unit (i.e. buttocks). I planned to just wait for a minute or two before getting up to sit on the toilet. Because the nozzle was behind my buttocks (i.e. behinder unit, a.k.a. read end or bottom), I didn't realize that the water was still flowing, slowly, but surely, as I mentioned earlier in my thorough, in-depth, detailed scientific explanation about the siphoning effects of tubing and water.

A moment later, I noticed that the towel under my tushie (i.e. fanny, hindquarters, backside, derriere, bottom, rump, ) was getting wet and I immediately thought I was leaking from my anus (a.k.a. backdoor, bottom hole, bum hole, a-hole, rosebud, rectum), but I checked and wasn't leaking. I checked the enema tubing and nozzle, but it wasn't leaking either. Where had the water come from? Quite a conundrum (and a clever little rhyme, if I do say so myself, and I do, and one that I did not try to do – “come from” and “conundrum”).

Then I looked up at the four-quart bag and saw that it was empty when moments before it still had had a quart of water in it. The conundrum was undone (mediocre rhyme), the puzzle was unpuzzled, the mystery was solved or sol--ved. The water had flowed out of the bag and the hose, through the Higginson pump that wasn’t pumping, and out the nozzle, but not into my bottom. Alas, it missed my ass and flowed onto the floor and into the towel.

So that’s how I learned by trial and error that the Higginson pump only prevents flow one way—backward, not forward.. The other way is always on if the enema bag is elevated, and extra on when the pump is squeezed.

At least I had towels already on the floor that made for a fairly quick and easy clean up.

Wow! That took a very long time to explain all that when I could have just said, “A Higginson pump prevents backflow, but it flows forward even when you are not pumping.”

And if all that was not enough, and it was certainly was more than enough, I will still share something more . . . something about being succinct in writing which is something I am obviously not capable of doing . . . .

.

In a writing class, the college professor proposed a small contest in which students had to write the very shortest story possible but the story had to include sex, emotion, mystery, deity, and royalty.

The winning short story read as follows:

“My God. I’m pregnant,” shouted the irate queen. “Who could the father be?”

.

Yes, @Vasbyt that is the siphon effect like you get when you suck gasoline out of your car's gas tank. You sometimes will get it in your mouth (a big no no) but at least then you know the gas will flow if you quickly place the hose in your gas can. It is the vacuum effect of the siphon and the water will continue to flow as long as the water supply is higher than the vessel (the rectum in this case) so it is wise to raise the hose. I imagine it might continue to flow into the rectum but less likely due to back pressure. So a handy towel is plan B.