I believe the bacteria that occurs naturally in the milk feeds on the sugar in the molasses. The result is gas given off, CO2 I believe, which forces the evacuation of the bowels. It literally is a "blow out." 😃
Pretty much any sugar in the colon is laxative. The more sugar, the more powerful the effect.Sugar can get into your colon a couple of ways... by mouth or by enema.If you eat sugars, some are digested, some are not, and some are partly digested by some people. I think Sucsose and Glucose can be digested by pretty much everyone. Lactose and Fructose digestion varies with individuals... some are intolerant to those sugars and drinking milk or orange juice swiftly causes urgent, gassy pooing. Some sugars are not digested virtually at all. For example Sorbitol and Lactulose, and both are used as laxatives. Lactulose is often given to kids who habitually withhold poo, disguised in orange or prune juice. Resistance is utterly futile and dramatic results follow within a few hours.If a sugar is given by enema, digestion is not an issue. Pretty much any sugar is powerfully laxative. Ordinary white table sugar works (The Mayo Clinic Enema), as does molasses, honey, Karo Syrup and even sugary foods like marshmallows. The sugar can be dissolved in a quart or two of warm water if a large volume enema is desired, but an ounce or two of honey, etc, can be given with a small syringe. Strong results can usually be expected within a half hour.
Just a wild guess here. I suspect the sugar content in the colon and stool is very low and the sudden massive increase in sugar allow the bacteria to bloom. Bacterial growth produces gas, lots of sugar, lots of gas.You can obtain the same result with a laxative called Sorbitol. It is used mostly by pharmacies as an artificial sweetener for liquid medications to mask the bitter taste. In larger amounts than used for sweetening it acts as a laxative. The oral dose varies from 30 mL to 150 mL of a 70% w/w concentration. That is generally the concentration provided in bottles. It will produce laxation in 30 to 60 minutes at higher doses. If you use the maximum dose of 150 mL expect an explosive enema like bowel movement. Citrate of Magnesia and even a Miralax prep does not produce the rapid onset and nearly continuous laxation of Sorbitol.It is also used as a retention enema where the administered solution concentration is reduced to 30% - 35% in a 120 mL water-sorbitol solution. That is the same amount as in a Fleet enema, but the result as a retention enema is much more effective and does not produce the caustic experience of the saline solution.
@Victoria1951What you say about Sorbitol small volume enemas also applies to Lactulose. Sometimes the meds given during surgery can cause severe post-op constipation. This happened to me some years ago. The doctor ordered a Lactulose enema, which turned out to e 300 ml of Lactulase solution plus 700 ml of normal saline.The nurse gave it with me lying on my side on several Chux pads with the tube of a disposable enema bag inserted very high... at least a foot... and told me to hold it as long as possible then just let go. Over the next half hour the urge grew from nothing to impossible to resist and I pood on the pad. The nurse returned and put fresh pads under me and the urgent poo was repeated several more time during the following couple of hours. Sugar containing enemas are somewhat slower to work, but the results are very powerful.
Who knows what can replace molasses? Can sugar syrup be used?Any similar product, whatever is available in your country. Treacle, golden syrup, honey—they are all essentially concentrated solutions of mixed sugars. Or you can make your own: prepare a concentrated solution of glucose or fructose in water, or even table sugar, though this takes a while to work. — The milk is not important, water is more convenient.
@one_eyesIn fact, there is another, less well known, sugar based enema, called the Mayo (after the Clinic, not the bread spread), and is composed of table sugar and baking soda The baking soda alters the colonic pH to make it more favorable for the microcritters to digest the sugar, producing the strongly laxative compounds. Milk may have the same function in an M&M enema.Most all of the sugar containing enemas take roughly a half hour to really get things moving, but when they really kick in the recipient is going to cramp strongly and poo a lot. Resistance is absolutely futile. I've read they are the go-to treatment in ERs for severe constipation from opiates
The baking soda alters the colonic pH to make it more favorable for the microcritters to digest the sugar, producing the strongly laxative compounds. Milk may have the same function in an M&M enema.I have tried adding sodium bicarbonate to a sugar solution but I can’t say I notice any difference. I agree about the half-hour required for things to get properly moving.
The baking soda alters the colonic pH to make it more favorable for the microcritters to digest the sugar, producing the strongly laxative compounds. Milk may have the same function in an M&M enema.Replying belatedly: Sodium bicarbonate solution has a pH between 8 and 9 and would certainly provide an alkaline environment for colonic bacteria. But the pH of milk is slightly on the acid side, around 6.5–6.9, which is well within the natural colonic pH range. So I don’t see that milk would be likely to promote bacterial activity, at least by pH adjustment.
The reason for addition of the bicarbonate is from something I read years ago about the Mayo enema, I've no memory where. The milk comment was speculation. Another possible reason for the milk is it contains the sugar Lactose, which may well have a laxative effect by itself.Essentially, I believe that any sugar, natural or synthetic, that gets into a person's colon gets eaten by some of the microcritters there and strongly stimulates the bowel wall, and the gas and digestion products and irritation produce a laxative effect in about a half hour. All all the sugar containing enemas I can think of require retention times of at least a hour to develop real poo power. The urge certainly starts more quickly, but the instructions uniformly say they should be retained at least a half hour. I was explicitly told this by the nurse who administer a Lactulose enema to me, and compliance was very difficult after about 20 minutes.As a note, the sugar containing enemas are not ordered in a medical setting for just routine constipation. Don't expect one, even if you haven't pood in three or four days. They are reserved for special circumstances, like serious med-induced constipation or getting someone started post-op or being constipated for a week or longer. Given and retained properly, they are pretty damn uncomfortable.
JUST MOLASSES and warm water works the SAME as MILK AND MOLASSES ! (with less fuss and cost!) I just took one with the SAME amazing cathartic RESULTS.
A rationale occurs to me for adding sodium bicarbonate (baking soda) to concentrated solutions of sugars. The concentrated solution draws water into the bowel. The sugars are also fermented by the gut bacteria, with fermentation products including gases (hydrogen, methane, carbon dioxide) and short-chain fatty acids such as acetic acid. The gases, to the extent they are not absorbed, also increase the volume of the colon contents, while the acids are irritating, resulting in a very effective enema. Of the gases, carbon dioxide itself forms an acid solution.The possible contribution of the sodium bicarbonate would be to react with the acetic and other acids generated by fermentation, resulting in additional carbon dioxide, which would further add to the effectiveness of the enema. However, I can’t say I have noticed any difference between sugar solutions with and without NaHCO₃.
Possibly, but I've read that the bicarbonate is added to make the colonic pH more favorable to the gut bacteria that digest the sugars.
I have tried this, and there is no definitive answer so far as to an exact amount to use besides others experiences.I can say ( experience ) that you need to 1) make it a quick administration, and 2) Be close to a toilet, as it hit's fairly quickly, to cause an almost need to evacuate. Cramping can be tough.An M&M enema WILL cause someone to go for sure, and why hospitals used these in the past / present.
@Cleanout_loverFrom what I've read in old (pre-1960) nursing books, an M&M enema is usually 8 Oz of whole milk and 8 Oz blackstrap molasses, mixed well and heated to feel warm. It was given with an irrigating can and a Fr 32 colon tube inserted 10 to 15 inches. Administration was quite rapid, taking not more than a couple of minutes for the whole dose. Administration is not difficult because the full dose is only 1 pint. This is more than enough to completely clean anyone out within minutes.I don't think M&M enemas were used routinely, but were reserved for especially constipated patients when their extra poo power was needed. These days, I think the M&M has been replaced by a Lactulose enema, composed of 300ml Lactulose syrup and 700ml normal saline.
Possibly, but I've read that the bicarbonate is added to make the colonic pH more favorable to the gut bacteria that digest the sugars.What made me think of this was an experience a couple of weeks ago, when I added 50g of NaHCO₃ to a jug containing a 50-50 mixture of molasses and water. I haven’t done this before, but the result (which I might have foreseen!) was a lot of effervescence, and I ended up with more froth than liquid in the jug. I postponed my enema by a couple of hours, by which time the froth had subsided.This happened with molasses because it is acidic (pH ~5.5). It doesn’t happen with solutions of glucose, sucrose etc. because they are neutral. But conditions in the colon once fermentation gets under way must be quite acidic, and I would expect the result to be comparable.Edit: Actually it wasn’t a 50-50 mixture, it was 400g refinery molasses + 600g water.
I would actually love that since I'm a big fan of clearly-displayed effects (not expulsion) of an enema e.g. urgency, cramping, etc.
I just saw 8 oz of milk and 8 oz of molasses being the right amount, how does liquid oz measurements equate to pints or parts of pints ? Or is it a case of equal proportions of each ?
I finally decided to try an M&M enema. Total volume was 1 quart. I used a large bore colon tube inserted approximately 1 foot. Held it for close to 10 minutes before the cramps hit me. Not sure if I'll try another one, but maybe the mood will hit me one day
I took my very first mm enema last nite…oh boy was it an experience…only a pint of solution and held for 20 minutes…my cramping and bowel movements were unbelievable ..it felt like i was having a baby and my rectum was turned inside out … great experience..it lasted for hour and half… i did get body chills afterwards…anybody else ever get body chills from a mm enema???
@SkeetYou wrote: “only a pint of solution and held for 20 minutes”Only??? That's the full adult dose... a VERY powerful enema that should make anyone poo uncontrollably. And 20 minutes is a long time to hold an M&M enema. You took the enema given in hospitals to the most severely constipated patients.Did you use a retention aid t help you hold the solution in?
As much as I like strong cramps, I've never played around with M/M enemas - too afraid. I leave my cramping to the normal enema soaps - like Ivory and Dr. Bronner's. I did play around with Dove soap, but concerned that it might not be all that healthy as it's not a typical enema soap.
What made me think of this was an experience a couple of weeks ago, when I added 50g of NaHCO₃ to a jug containing a 50-50 mixture of molasses and water. I haven’t done this before, but the result (which I might have foreseen!) was a lot of effervescence, and I ended up with more froth than liquid in the jug. I postponed my enema by a couple of hours, by which time the froth had subsided.This happened with molasses because it is acidic (pH ~5.5). It doesn’t happen with solutions of glucose, sucrose etc. because they are neutral. But conditions in the colon once fermentation gets under way must be quite acidic, and I would expect the result to be comparable.Edit: Actually it wasn’t a 50-50 mixture, it was 400g refinery molasses + 600g water.Try a few ounces of baking soda in 8 ounces of warm water, Add 2 ounces of sugar (simple syrup works great), Inject with a syringe if possible and hang on, In a few minutes it will be just as effective as an M&M with monumental cramps and a spectacular clean out!
I used a full 500ml syriinge of 50/50 M&M to get the whole thing in my rectum in less than a minute.After a few minutes the pressure was unbearable and the following expulsion was monumental.Took several hours for my colon to get back to anything reasonably normal.Wow!