Plain water or salt water?

Do you have an easier time retaining plain water or salt water? If salty, is it easier to retain slightly salty or highly salty water?

I have tried both salt and baking soda. Both make retaining the enema much more essy. But in my case I find it makes releasing the enema very difficult. As long as I'm not overly gassy, I can usually retain 3 to 3 quarts easily as long as I lay on my back. J&J or Ivory are the easiest for a quick and complete void. Which I prefer.

For small enemas, tap water alone is perfectly fine.

For larger enemas, from 1 liter upwards, 1 teaspoon of salt should be added per liter of tap water.

For enemas up to 2 Liters I use 1 full tablespoon of baking soda.

Salt and/or baking soda

Salt is the best, although you have to go to the kitchen for it. if using a fleet, it is saline by the way

I mostly use plain water. Using salt in the water does not seem to make any discernable difference with me but I have heard that salt help you maintain your electrolyte balance or something else. Denise

I use 1 Tbs of salt plus 1 Tbs baking soda in 2 liters of warm water, about 105 degrees F. No cramps, slow fill. Complete clean out.

I mostly use plain water. Using salt in the water does not seem to make any discernable difference with me but I have heard that salt help you maintain your electrolyte balance or something else. Denise

Salt is only necessary if you are retaining it or using a large volume (that may stay in the upper colon for a while). If you're just filling your rectum and expelling immediately, I doubt there is enough time or water to affect electrolytes.

Baking soda does make expelling easier - it makes the water more "slippery"...

In my experience, salt water is better for large-volume enemas for various reasons. If I only need to do one bulb, I use tap water.

The salt is useful for preventing too much water absorption through osmosis. I haven't noticed any difference in the difficulty of holding it in...

If I do 2 liters or more of tap water, I have to pee. Often, even while filling it.

Sometimes I have to stop to pee, and it's not easy to do while holding the solution in.

This always happened to me, even when I was young, and I had to start over.

Even afterward, I go to the bathroom more often for a few hours.

So I avoid tap water...

@Denise and @intruder

I generally use just plain tap water at 105 degrees F (40.6 degrees C) for my enemas, but I thought that a salt-water enema was one of the preferred or recommended solutions to use.

However, I learned that a salt-water enema can raise your blood pressure. If adding a little sprinkle of salt on your baked potato will raise your blood pressure a little, then adding a couple of teaspoons to your two-quart enema can skyrocket your blood pressure.

Case in point: Two years ago, I had a nice soothing salt-water enema in the morning and that afternoon I headed off for a procedure at a doctor's office. The procedure required that I be consciously sedated with Versed and Fentanyl through an IV line. Before liquoring me up with that amazing cocktail, the doctor first checked to make sure my blood pressure was below 160 / 95. My blood pressure is usually around a low of 115 / 70 up to 125 / 85. However, that afternoon, many hours after my salt-water enema, my blood pressure was 178 / 97 -- the highest reading I'd ever had in my life.

Last year with a little encouragement from @Iris1858, I did an experiment at home to see how long a salt-water enema would affect my blood pressure. I mixed four teaspoons of salt with four quarts of water, although I only took a little less than three quarts in the enema. I held it for about 10 minutes before expelling. I measured my blood pressure prior to the enema and then, for the next 17 hours after taking the enema, I took my blood pressure every 30 to 60 to 180 minutes.

Prior to receiving the salt-water enema, my blood pressure was 121 / 73.

Within 30 minutes of taking the enema, my blood pressure was elevated to 142 / 81.

After eight hours, it was 144 / 79.

After 14 hours, my blood pressure was 153 / 88.

After 17 hours, my blood pressure returned to a normal level at 116 / 63.

I no longer take salt-water enemas. Usually, it's just plain tap water, and, occasionally, I will add some Johnson and Johnson Baby Shampoo for a little extra scrubbing effect, based on the recommendation of a good friend on Zity.

Thanks for sharing the results of your experience VasByt regarding the increase of blood pressure increase when using salt in an enema solution. All the more reason that I take enemas almost exclusively with plain tap water. Has anyone done a similiar experiment with a soapy enema to see if there is any effect on blood pressure? Denise

There is no evidence that using a bit of salt in an enema will raise your blood pressure. No one should hold the enema for 20 minutes to start with as the colon will absorb the solution. Sodium enemas are common in a hospital. I have read many articles that suggest a bit of salt and a bit of baking soda is a good solution to use. Someone's home experiment proves nothing. Besides that moving around will raise the blood pressure which should be taken sitting down, both feet flat on the floor and breathing normally and resting for 10-15 minutes.

I have a 30inch colon tube i got from amazon i hook it to our shower and sit on the side on tub water running slow insert tube and pull to dump and a little deeper until i have the hole 30 inches in me..I sit there for about 15-20 mins let the water run i get a good clean out .we have anal sex after the wash out my wife inserts here arm to elbow she says i was clean been cleaning out like this for 20 years ....

I use J & J Baby shampoo and Baking soda, 2 Tbsp of each to 2qts of 105 degree water.

The topic question is...

Do you have an easier time retaining plain water or salt water? If salty, is it easier to retain slightly salty or highly salty water?

Please try to address that question - salt, salty, or no salt.

Now to answer the question...my sub can hold salt or plain water the same way (other mixtures do affect his retention time). What affects his holding the most is how backed up he is, the "stuff" depends on his ability of holding. Plus my thinking he has retained long enough, especially with salt water. I don't want to upset his system, screw up his current health level, or keep him up too much at night (aka - peeing).

I suffer a little from sinus problem so I use a Netty Pot. One of the things my cocotro told was never to use tap water so I use bottle water. I assume, if tap water is bad for my nose, it's bad for my tushie! I know never assume becaue it will makes asses out of both of us. Well, it is my ass we are talking about and 1 out of 2 ain't bad.

Plain water is easily absorbed in colon. For most this causes cramps, the bigger volume, like 3+ qts, the stronger cramps are. This causes holding more difficult. As well, water absorption means more water in the body, and can lead to electrolyte imbalance. Same way as drinking too much water.

Saline is neutral meaning it does not get absorbed easily and therefore not causing cramps. Saline is 0.90% table salt in water. It means 9 grams per 1 litre or 0.3oz per 1qt.

1 teaspoon (measuring cooking tool, not actual teaspoon that is even smaller) is about 5g of salt, so 1 teaspoon per 1 litre is about half of what is needed.

On other hand, adding too much salt will make colon dumping water, what causes cramps and makes holding difficult. It is how Fleet enemas work. As well, it can lead to dehydration and electrolyte imbalance, too.

I routinely use both 0.9% solution and plain water for large enemas. Cramps are significantly stronger and more frequent with plain water. With 0.9% there are cramps too, but milder and less frequent and mostly after 2-2.5qts already in.

My bag is a 4 qt (1 gallon) silicone bag and I can usually take half a bag after a couple false starts (eliminating anything that prevents the enema from entering the colon). When I use salt I use about 1 1/2 tablespoons of salt disolved in a measuring cup then poured into bag of warm water. No scientific measurement, just close enough for government work. I've experienced no difference in retention time or need to empty between plain warm water and my salty mix.

But, add some Bonners in any "flavor" and look out!

Concerning the use of tap water, and without any scientific backing, I figure if it's safe for me to swallow it is safe to put in my behind, but not necessarily the reverse.

If the enema is only for cleaning out the playground, plain warm tap water is good enough, at most I add a few drops of very light soap...the ones used for feminine hygiene are very good. If we are going for a full enema session, with quarts going in and some holding time expected, then salt is needed to avoid side effects of having extra liquid inside you...I go with the 10 grams average for quart, found that works in most cases..it is always good to find out from the subject if he has any restrictions to any ingredients used in the enema that have a very wide range of possibilities...the bigger the enemas, more attention needs to be payed to what you putting in....

I've tried salt at a 0.9% concentration, half that, and J&J baby shampoo. Anything other than plain tap water causes evacuation problems for me.