Castor oil and enemas - an exclusion?

In an ancient book upon medical treatment of an illness I have found the following recommendation:

“Early in the morning give 50 milliliters castor oil and 2 hours later a soapy enema.”

Probably this combination of swallowing a good dose castor oil with a soapy enema two hours later will be the optimal form for a complete bowel cleansing.

In the 1930's I was eight years old and plugged solid. Dr. E on his way to his office stopped by our house and told Mom “Give two tablespoons of castor oil and if nothings happens in two hours start the enemas and continue until you see oil on the water”. After six plain warm water enemas Mom stopped and I was exhausted and went to bed. Two days later my bowels were normal. I am not sure she saw any oil.

Castor Oil is unusual in that it's effects are self-limiting. This means it's petty much impossible to overdose on Castor Oil and someone won't poo a lot more or more intensely from a massive dose than from the appropriate dose.

This is because when a dose of Castor Oil is given, it is digested, and the digestion products released are the stimulants that really irritate the recipients bowel and the pooing starts swiftly. Any excess, undigested oil is promptly pood out and winds up floating on the toilet water.

So, if the maximum effect is desired, a somewhat larger dose is given and visible oil droplets amongst the poo is an indication that the Castor Oil has caused a really complete poo.

Two Tablespoons is about 30 ml… a powerful dose for an 8 year old… and you probably pood out at least half of it. A lot of solids can hide oil droplets from view.

@Sean

Castor Oil is unusual in that it's effects are self-limiting. This means it's petty much impossible to overdose on Castor Oil

Tell that to number of Italians who actually died from being forced to consume full bottles of castor oil in 30s last century. It was one of method used by Italian fascists to humiliate and punish their opponents. Most victims survived but many died.

I guess you did not mean consuming bottle loads, just spoonfuls.

I have done 4 tablespoons of castor oil.. VERY effective… be careful because the effects can sneak up on you 8 hours later. I do like to do soapy enemas after I feel the castor oil has had its way with me. Otherwise I feel like I am constantly leaking oil.

@gauguin

Yes, I've read that, but strongly suspect that it was not the laxative effects of the oil that caused their deaths. They were given the oil and tied to a chair. Sooner or later the oil made them poo uncontrollably in a public place

I suspect that they were given lots of oil and threw some of it up and aspirated it. The oil their lungs could have caused a serious pneumonia rendering them unable to breathe. This is the same reason Mineral Oil should not be given at bedtime.

See: http://www.strangehistory.net/2014/11/03/mussolinis-secret-weapon-castor-oil/

Castor oil is NOT self limiting!!! I am amazed how easily (and superficially) people can give wrong and potentially dangerous Informatio.

Here is a link from the Humanitas, a very reputable Italian research hospital, about castor oil:

https://www.humanitas.it/enciclopedia/principi-attivi/fitoterapici/olio-di-ricino/

Unfortunately the article is in Italian, but you can translate it with google. For everybody convenience I translate the relevant part below:

Side effects of castor oil

The use of castor oil as a laxative – quite common decades ago, not so used now days – can cause diarrhea, abdominal pain, dehydration, malabsorption. Some toxic molecules, naturally present in this oil, can induce vomiting, gastrointestinal bleeding, convulsions and heart arrhythmia, leading to extremely severe consequences such as coma and death.

It might be true that some people dyed because of throwing up while tied on a chair and the gastric content ending in their lungs. But certainly an overdose of castor oil is potentially lethal because of its many side effects, overall the severe dehydration it causes with consequent electrolyte unbalance and risk of heart failure.

I think we are a great community and we can have lot of fun with enemas and laxatives, in ways that “normal” people will never understand. But we need to play safely, always. Giving potentially harmful info is irresponsible in my opinion. Always check info from reputable scientific sources before posting them for naive people to read and try dangerous practices.

Sorry if this post sounds harsh. And it is not my intention to point the finger at someone in particular and make them feeling bad, I want to be clear on this. But I felt that this topic really deserved some clarification, and in general I want to advise to always provide reliable, scientifically grounded, and SAFE information.

@Sean Tell that to number of Italians who actually died from being forced to consume full bottles of castor oil in 30s last century. It was one of method used by Italian fascists to humiliate and punish their opponents. Most victims survived but many died.

I guess you did not mean consuming bottle loads, just spoonfuls.

I suppose that you will not know upon the details of the forced swallowing of castor oil in Italy at the times of Mussolini, so I shall notice some remarks to this subject:

- Without any saying I am against any form of the forced swallowing of castor oil.

- At the times of Mussolini the regular dosage of castor oil available in the pharmacy has been a bottle containing 75 milliliters castor oil:

https://www.memorieincammino.it/parole/olio-di-ricino/

- The Russian Popular Medicine recommends the dosage 1 milliliter (ml) castor oil pro 1 kilogram (kg) of the human weight.

- The average weight of adult people may be calculated with 75 kg, so the dosage of swallowing 75 ml castor oil is absolutely correct for this group of people.

- In your country the recommended dosage for adults is 2 oz (= 60 ml) castor oil - this is not far away of the dosage used in Italy.

- So it is absolutely incomprehensible that an adult will die by swallowing 75 ml castor oil.

- I suppose that all these persons died being afraid of the effects of the forced swallowing castor oil.

- In the case that a person will be experienced in swallowing castor oil this one will never die by swallowing a bottle containing 75 ml of this oil.

@complete_bowel_cleansing

- In the case that a person will be experienced in swallowing castor oil this one will never die by swallowing a bottle containing 75 ml of this oil.

Make a false assumption, arrive at false conclusion.

No-one says that fascists limited themselves to one bottle per one victim. The link you provided for size of the bottle does not state 75ml was ‘regular dosage of castor oil available in the pharmacy’ it just merely mentions ‘75 ml bottle’. While one bottle could be ‘usual’ procedure, I am certain many zealous followers of regime wanted to do ‘better job' and used more, with much severe, and in number of cases, lethal results.

No-one says that fascists limited themselves to one bottle per one victim. The link you provided for size of the bottle does not state 75ml was ‘regular dosage of castor oil available in the pharmacy’ it just merely mentions ‘75 ml bottle’. While one bottle could be ‘usual’ procedure, I am certain many zealous followers of regime wanted to do ‘better job' and used more, with much severe, and in number of cases, lethal results.

Obviously you did not understand up to this day what will happen in the human body after having swallowed a dosage castor oil:

The human body is not able to take fats or oils directly, these ones must be splitted in a water soluble form:

- When a fat or a oil will reach the duodenum some hormones will be created in the wall of the duodenum in order to activate the gall bladder an the pancreas to an excretion of the respective content.

- With the gall poisons and heavy metals (mercury!) will be excreted in the duodenum.

- In the duodenum the gall and the secretion of the pancreas will split the fat or the oil in a fat or an oil acid and glycerine.

- In the small intestine the fat or the oil acid will be taken together with the poisons and heavy metals (enterohepatic cycle).

Castor oil for itself is no laxative, but this one must be splitted in the duodenum in order to realize a laxative effect:

- When the castor oil will reach the duodenum some hormones will be created in the wall of the duodenum in order to activate the gall bladder and the pancreas to an excretion of the respective content.

- With the gall poisons and heavy metals (mercury!) will be excreted in the duodenum too.

- In the duodenum the gall and the secretion of the pancreas will split castor oil in riciloneic acid and glycerine.

- The ricinoleic acid will activate the passive histamins being deposed in the small intestine, so the peristalsis will begin (first step).

- So, in the small intestine the ricinoleic acid will not be taken together with the poisons and heavy metals (interruption of the enterohepatic cycle).

- In the case that with the gall toxins will be carried in the duodenum the Prostaglandin Synthesis E2 (PGE2) will occur, this with cramps in the bowels and in the uterus (second step).

So all the castor oil being not splitted by the gall and the secretion of the pancreas in riciloneic acid and glycerine will be pushed out of the intestines and will make dirty marks on the toilet, for it is absolutely impossible that this one will be absorbed by the human body.

Old midwife use a large dose of castor oil about 3 oz, tyhan after 3 bowel movement (about 4h later) a soap sud enema “(1 pint and 2oz of soap”)

It use to induce labor.

When I was prepped for a barium enema, after an upper G, I was given a 2oz bottle in the morning, followed by a series of large,, soapy enemas in the evening. Was given another series of soapy enemas the next morning. The castor oil Mas my anus raw so I was given a couple tubes of diaper cream to put on after each poop… and I was pooping every few min for a long time

@Mara90

Yes, that was done in the US also. A friend told me his wife was given a large dose of Castor Oil when due “because it makes them go (deliver) faster”..

However, the enema was larger than you describe. They were usually 3-H… High, Hot, and a Hell of a lot… I think they were at least two quarts, given high with a colon tube. They were supposed to cause a LOT of cramping, to get labor started.

This was in the 1950s or 1960s. Now, I think it's usually a hormone suppository.