Enema Addiction or Dependency??

When younger I often read that doctors had stopped recommending enemas because a person could become dependent on them... It causes a bit of concern; but now, after doing enemas for some 5 decades - I can say that never applied to me.

There was a time in my life, when I was in my 20's that I used a large enema every day for a couple of years! Most were soapy. No sooner than I stopped using enemas, I was back to "normal". I then continued to take soapy full-bag enemas a few times per week, and never a physical problem of getting back to normal. I now believe, the dependency talked about (at least for me) is that the enema is mentally addictive! I'm addicted to them.

Anything can be habit forming. I've noticed that I eat several times a day and been doing it for as long as I can remember. The few times that I have tried to stop I go through these terrible withdrawals where my stomach hurts, and I feel weak and light-headed. That would probably better describe an addiction though. Maybe I should seek treatment.

Anyway, When it comes to enemas, They can become habit forming. I like the "clean" feeling that I have when I do them daily, less problems with gas, and I control what time I take care of it and not when my body says I have to. I do know that the few times that I have had to go several days without one, everything goes back to normal by the third day. I think that the whole "dependent" on them arose from several areas: 1) a regular person has a bowel movement at least once a day. If you take daily enemas and stop, it will take three or four days for enough waste to build up for bowel movements to start again. "Three days without a bowel movement?" thought the doctor. "The person has become dependent on them. Instead, I must discourage them from using cheap and natural enemas and encourage my patients to take a pill to keep themselves regular." 2) People who have done regular enemas and then stop notice that they have had problems with constipation and jumped to the conclusion that their body was getting "dependent" on them. Well, part of the reason why I started doing daily enemas was because the older I got, the more I started having problems with constipation. It is one of the curses of getting older. Before I started having problems with constipation, I did an enema every several months as a sexual thing, so it wasn't enemas that caused my constipation. Also, if you are taking regular enemas and keeping yourself cleaned out, eating enough fiber to keep things moving isn't as big of a deal. If you stop taking enemas but still keep the low-fiber diet of before, of course constipation will be an issue. Your body wasn't becoming dependent on them; getting older and not eating a better diet was to blame.

Unless you are constantly pushing your limits when it comes to enemas where you are taking larger and larger ones and holding them to stretch the colon, your body will retain its natural ability to move stuff along. A quick stretch of 2 or 4 quarts that are released after a few minutes will not cause dependency.

Yeah, I think all this worry about addiction is just a "red herring".

Understand that "Addiction" is a behavior pattern, "Dependency" is a biological condition.

One of the reasons we so badly under treat pain in the US is that we often don't accept, and the law does not really allow for that important difference.

Not quite that simple. Addiction can lead to a biologically dependent condition; drugs being the prime example. What starts out as a simple addiction can lead to chemical dependency.

So i'll “Go” with habit. 😎

Based on the data here, which we could call anecdotal, and my own experience of 60 plus years of taking enemas, my observation is, the vast majority of people will not become dependent on enemas. Addicted, I can't buy that either, not like drugs or alcohol.

Just like any form of masturbation, and I think that would be a proper term for what goes on when we enjoy an enema, there are those take them occasionally, and those that take them very frequently, and just like with frequent masturbation, who is to say how often is too often!

I did run into one interesting lady, she was very into enemas after in she first got into the sexual side in her 20's. For about 5 years she took them frequently and then one day she decided she liked them too much. Got guilt feelings about them not being a part of normal sexuality. She stopped taking them, you could no longer even talk with her about them.

Sad what people do to themselves because of the perception of "normal."

My observation, take them as often as you want, as the old saying goes, if it feels good, do it!

Pleasurable not addictive or habit forming.

Addiction or Dependence, I have often philosophized about it to myself, but never entered into discussion.

So may I start with the big 2 volume World Book Dic we have. It says "Addiction", is a condition of being a slave to a habit.

( does "2 volume" make your tongue hang out?)

Addicted = slavishly following or unable to give up a habit

"Addict" has a figurative or non technical side in which people talk about their habit figuratively:

The figurative meaning of addict in common talk is referring to people who are deeply devoted and almost feverishly enthused.

I clearly fit in here, as easily evidenced on my zity profile. (sports addicts)

Dependence, is more of a relationship whereby we trust and rely on people or things. I fit in here too, most definitely, and happily have been so as long as I can remember.

Neither, just a pleasurable time for me to relax, destress, detox, cleanse myself, and get a little playtime in without interruptions. Feel so much better afterwards and sleep very well that night.

I think that they can be addictive I only give myself enemas on Sun evenings and tuesday evenings twice a week just like my Mom did when I was growing up. I would think that if you took a enema everyday it might interfear with you regular bowel movements.

Bro. Jimmyt44 in post no. 32 said this may be a "Red Herring" as it may well be. I feel that this may be the case since I will pose another question. That is, I consider that a clean colon is the first requirement for good health. I credit my excellent health to my daily enemas and Colon Hydrotherapy. The medical profession will tell you that enemas are not harmful although they may not do you any good. So if it feels good, DO IT.

My case in point is the fact that I took a colonic this morning and tonight I feel more like I do tonight than I did before my time on the Hydrotherapy machine! I support my credo, "An enema a day keeps the Doctor away!"

I cannot wonder whether people who feel a need to have enemas all of the time are not obsessive-compulsive (OCD) rather than, or perhaps including addiction or dependency.

I have obsessive-compulsive disorder, so I suspect that giving myself enemas whenever I feel I safely can is a part of the disorder, so it is neither an addiction nor a dependency.

hankb

For me having an enema or colonic is as normal as eating or breathing. I do this daily. Addicted, well maybe so. A compulsion, definitely. Yet I enjoy the process and the feelings afterward. If ever I travel I always find a way to give myself an enema if I bring equipment or not. It is a need for me. I do not care to be "regular" as this is my normal. I choose to be fulfilled in this way. A part of being clean always is that I also like a rectal balloon inflation kink. This kink is more enjoyable when I am cleaned out. My wife has even accepted this enema habit of mine as my routine even though for her she does not do so. Shoot, it took 28 years of marriage just to get her to give me one erotic enema. I have not had one from her since but those are wonderful memories. My routine now is in the shower with a few fills of the JBL then followed up by a shower enema until clear. Then I start my day. I accept this as an enjoyable part of my life, I would be less fulfilled without it.

Do anyone of you make it a habit to give yourself an enema? If you do how do you manage to sustain this habit in you?

How often does it really have to happen to be considered a habit?

Daily??

Coupe of times a week??

Weekly???

Every two weeks??

Monthly???

I do some sort of enema about every 6 to 8 weeks. and I try to do a full cleans quarterly.

The way I work it into my life is all about being flexible. All schedules tentative until right before the bisacodyl pre-enema, be it oral rectal or a combination goes in.

As a result my cleanses tend right now not to happen every 3 months like they did in later High School, College, and between College and that first Pregnancy. Between suspecting I was pregnant and actually being done with breast feeding was some 20 months each time. During which I could not do a cleanse. As much of a miracle as all my children are, I was glad to be able to do a cleanse again!!

I like to do enemas for pleasure only. I do not suffer from constipation- quite the opposite I go regularly at least twice daily due to a high fiber diet.

So my enemas are recreational and I would say I do them regularly. I do not have a schedule but I would say I pretty much do them about once a week. Since a single enema doesn't have much affect on my regular BMs, I can do single 2 quart enemas on consecutive days but I usually don't do more than 3 days in a row. If I am doing a proper enema session with 3 enemas in a single session, then I would only do one of these sessions once a week.

Update to what I wrote here - I've done some serious thinking and I'm wrong about the every night for 1 or 2 years - must have been only 6 or 9 months at that time, though at other times after 1st marriage I went on enema a day binges for weeks at a time, sorry ....I had mentioned elsewhere that when I was in my 20's I was giving myself a soapy enema every night. Went on doing it for at least a year, maybe two (ha, all the soap has fogged my memory)... My first wife was very prudish and I pretended to have a severe constipation problem and could not go on my own.... Funny thing, when I stopped doing this, I had no problem going back to being regular (so much for what is said about being enema dependent). My wife at the time figured out my fake need, and thought it was perverted...

I had mentioned elsewhere that when I was in my 20's I was giving myself a soapy enema every night. Went on doing it for at least a year, maybe two (ha, all the soap has fogged my memory)... My first wife was very prudish and I pretended to have a severe constipation problem and could not go on my own.... Funny thing, when I stopped doing this, I had no problem going back to being regular (so much for what is said about being enema dependent). My wife at the time figured out my fake need, and thought it was perverted...

RedDevil,

I love enemas, but never did that many for that long. Why did you do it every night for 1-2 years, and then why did you stop doing it? I'm glad your bowel function and habits were able to return to normal. How often do you take an enema now?

Eric

First! Define the word, "Habit!" We all have them and use these activities to get through our daily lives.

Examples might be: Thread the toilet paper roll over or under.

Which side of the bed you sleep.

Where do you leave your glasses before bedding down?

Hanging your coat on that special spot on the rack.

LAXATIVES?

Enemas. . . ENEMAS?

I abhor laxatives because they can contain poisonous chemicals and can become addictive. That's so much so that the FDA has controls on some of them. They may work or if they work it can be at the most inopportune moment. Do these chemicals add value or happiness to your life? Does this define a habit?

I have used enemas since I was about four years old. I hated the first one because when I asked by mother to stop, because of the cramps, she keept squirting water up where it had never been before. ]She told me that she was almost done and then added what seemed like a couple more gallons. All of that left me wondering if I was to give birth or explode! When she set me on the toilet, it was the explosion! This developed into a biweekly routine that I began to like. By the age of eight I was self administering with her four ounce bulb on a regular basis. By age ten, I was using the family bag and at age thirteen I purchased my own fountain syringe and used it almost daily.

I have enjoyed my daily enemas almost from the beginning and continue to do so. That is with one exception like it was today when I took a colon hydrotherapy session from my own irrigating instrument, a Toxogen Model "B." I have attempted to quit at various times and have even had a small measure of success. I still go back to injecting my daily four quarts and intend to do so and feel well for the years to come. If that is a habit, then I have one. Death begins in the colon and I enjoy keeping mine clean because an enema a day keeps the doctor away!

I would guess that most who read this site are into the "habit" of enemas. However that habit takes on many different forms, reasons, frequencies, volume, etc etc etc.

I do not consider it a habit, its an everyday part of life and i do clean out every day ......is brushing your teeth a habit? the end result is an amazing colon im very thankful to have!

I don’t think it’s a habit. I think it’s healthy, makes you feel better and it has side sexual benefits.

I do not consider it a habit, its an everyday part of life and i do clean out every day ......is brushing your teeth a habit? the end result is an amazing colon im very thankful to have!

I don’t think it’s a habit. I think it’s healthy, makes you feel better and it has side sexual benefits.

Taking enemas is definitely a habit in the exact same sense as taking a daily shower, brushing and flossing your teeth and washing your hands before meals, among many other habits.

Taking enemas is definitely a habit in the exact same sense as taking a daily shower, brushing and flossing your teeth and washing your hands before meals, among many other habits.

Fully agree. Whatever the reason for doing them (in my case primarily combating IBS-C), they become a habit in the end. Not a bad habit, I might add.....

I think that enemas are addictive and I sure am an addict.

I don't think they are addicting, like with controlled drugs, or alcohol, but they are habit forming just like folks who have the "Laxative Habit". Daily laxatives or enemas can cause people to not have regular B.M.'s without their use. My grandmother took a small enema every morning her entire life. She was hospitalized for a gall bladder removal and the nurses learned soon that she was totally dependent on enemas. They did their usual, weaned her off the enemas. She returned home and immediately resumed her morning enemas.

When it gets to be a problem is when you don't get at least several days of normal bowel function between enemas.

@SwitchableSusie

Taking enemas is definitely a habit in the exact same sense as taking a daily shower, brushing and flossing your teeth and washing your hands before meals, among many other habits.

Agreed! And well worded.

Nonetheless, every so often I abstain from enemas for a couple of weeks to make sure that normal bowel functioning resumes, and it always does after a day or so.

Anyone else have a huge desire for an enema after a long trip. It's the first thing I want to do when I get home, enema in the shower.