Anyone feel faint from an enema?

I had kind of an unusual experience just recently, a little over a week ago while I had been taking a series of enemas.

I was using my open top bag and had not been able to take a full bag during a number of fills. I had the bag at different heights while in different positions, after topping off the bag for each new fill.

I had done this 3 of 4 times when I then topped off the bag and hung it from the coat hook on the bathroom door, 5' 10" high, and then took the enema in the knees-elbows position...

All of the sudden I had a tremendous cramp! I was about in double agony.. I had managed to clamp the hose before pulling the nozzle out of my butt and then I literally crawled onto the toilet bent over in pain. Then, when I got seated I COULDN'T GO.

I was nauseous... I thought I was going to throw up. I grabbed a plastic bag and dry heaved into it a little... Mostly just a little phlegm. My dick had gone limp. I had decided too, that this would be the last enema today, maybe ever!

It was like I couldn't bear to put the pressure onto my gut to start the process... I just couldn't push. I started to relax though and pretty soon it starting coming out, a little at a time at first... I felt a huge wave of relief come over me. I was also perspiring, and light headed.

I was able to start pushing again. I felt so much better... So much so that I topped the bag off again and took another enema, this time with the bag hung from the door knob at a considerably lower height. I have done high enemas with that coat hook before, but I think that the one that had made me sick this time just went into me too quick, with too much pressure, under the conditions of what was going on in my intestines at that time. There was still a lot of stuff in me that hadn't moved with the previous enemas.

Is it possible you was dehydrated?

That is a possibility I suppose, but I was doing baking soda in my enemas.

From what I understand, plain water enemas are NOT good for you. Why? Because just like drinking too much water after a night of drinking, you are flushing out nutrients your body needs, electrolytes being the most important. Without electrolytes your body is literally running on empty and soon begins to shut down, hence the fainting.

Purely speculative as I'm not a doctor but I was a competitive athlete in Highschool and Electrolytes was all our coach ever talked about lol.

Bisacodyl laxative instructions (oral, enema and suppository) warn of a possible "feeling of faintness" when experiencing the laxative effect. I have felt such feeling so faintness and nausea when using enemas containing strong laxatives, whether much soap, bisacodyl. I don't remember having felt that with senna enemas, but although I surely used enough senna to produce a wonderfully irresistible effect, I may have had those feelings if I had used more. I have also had those feelings when using oral bisacodyl or excessively strong rectal solutions of soap and glycerine in water. Once I caused serious damage to my intestinal mucosa using too strong a solution of soap and glycerine. It has healed over these many years, but caused quite severe distress for some time following the mistake. I also seem to have caused some not completely healed (over several years now) damage from (over?) use of bisacodyl suppositories. Oh well, mostly it seems to have been harmless, if sometimes scary, fun :-)

I've been doing enema's since in my forty's, now seventy.

Years ago I would get a little headache that went away after a while. I may have gotten a little faint once or twice but don't remember it lasting too long.

I use and expansion nozzle which works well. I don't exceed four quarts, often three, Don't want to be a hero. I use Plain water but experimented with urine once or twice, not much of a difference. I do urine therapy in the morning now. It seems to act as a laxative and feel it softens my skin and took away lower back pain. Also find my nails grow faster. Has anyone tried this?

Well, quiet a few years ago, I used to get headaches and a sick feeling after taking several large enemas of just water. I figured that I was retaining water. The only thing that would help was to get a hot water bottle full of ice cold water and place that on the back of my head. It wasn't untilI started looking at posts on the web that I found out the importance of using salt or baking soda in my enemas. Mom always only used ivory soap and water. Now I use all three... Ivory soap, water, and salt or baking soda for my enemas. By the way, I haven't had a head ache or sick feeling in years.

Me! Then again, I'm anemic, so I feel faint from most everything.

Sad.

Not that I let it stop me from doing some pretty intense things, like running 25 miles before breakfast. I'm not too sure of the relevance of the statement I just made.

Sometimes, but not when i add salt

Sometimes I feel a bit lightheaded mid-way through the session, but that just means I need to keep going. after I clean myself thoroughly, I feel a lot better.

But not when i add salt

that's right.

Feeling faint or nauseated during an enema comes from one thing. Stretching of the colon causes reflex stimulation of the vagus nerve which innervates the gut. This causes slowing of the heart and pooling of blood in the peripheral veins. The result is decreased blood flow to the brain and ultimately vaso vagal fainting. The nausea is a result of this stimulation of the parasympathetic nervous system.

Never from an enema, but after a colonic I have at times felt very tired/ sleepy and needed to rest the remainder of the day.

I have felt a little lightheaded at times, when I was doing a series of enemas, but now, I drink a little Gatorade between sessions, and it seems to work fine.

A large enema, and enema or more behind another worry for detoxification and may cause a headache and dizziness. A.

Never from an enema, but after a colonic I have at times felt very tired/ sleepy and needed to rest the remainder of the day.

@captivated Me too re: colonics. I sleep so nicely for several hours afterward, napping, then feel very energized after I wake up.

It's strange how colonics feel nothing like enemas to me.

The solution was not isotonic and threw your electrolyte balance off! A good rule of thumb is 1 tsp of baking soda or non iodised salt (sea salt is very good) per 1000 ml or quart.

Need to make sure you rinse with some electrolytes

A plain water enema is one of the WORST enemas you can do consecutively......1 or 2 two quart plain water enemas should be the max.. After that, a Gatorade enema or just plain drinking Gatorade before during and after the enemas should be thing to do as it replenishes electrolytes.

My husband was very faint after being given a phosphate enema prior to sigmoidoscopy. His consultant said that if he was ever having that sort of enema again, he was to tell the nurse only to administer half the enema.

How much water did she give you? Are you squeamish around other things medical?

The lack of habit of my body to large volumes of enema applied quickly, has caused me nausea, dizziness and chills.

Now I avoid that kind of enemas and so I avoid any discomfort.

I've taken enemas as little as 1qt. and couldn't hold it and have taken over 4qts. and didn't have any trouble. i've not experienced light head feeling but have had nausea at a few times however with a big one when i was feeling ill otherwise. I'm about 86 yrs. now and don't believe I will try to take over 3qts. any more.

I felt really lighted headed once when I got over 3 qts -- nausea is not uncommon either - never happened to me -- others have said it is routine for them with high volume. Your body will tell you how much if you listen!

Is this unusual?

I've known many women who feel faint while expelling.

They seem to recover fast, however.

Everyone please read what liquidsky wrote last year:

"Feeling faint or nauseated during an enema comes from one thing. Stretching of the colon causes reflex stimulation of the vagus nerve which innervates the gut. This causes slowing of the heart and pooling of blood in the peripheral veins. The result is decreased blood flow to the brain and ultimately vaso vagal fainting. The nausea is a result of this stimulation of the parasympathetic nervous system."

Physiology is physiology, but there can be, as with medicines or illicit drugs, a great deal of individual variation in people's responses or even in your own response at different times. Depending on your current physiologic and neurological state, current diseases, medical history, medications, age, hydration and electrolyte status, you may be more or less susceptible to gut-induced Vagal stimulation. This is likely to be induced far more quickly than hyponatremia, hypokalemia and other electrolyte disorders, which can certainly contribute to abnormal feelings of dizziness, nausea and malaise (just feeling bad) when they occur.

I previously would feel very tired in the past, perhaps in my 20's-30's, after moderate enemas of 2 q with moderate solutions. Now at 63, I took 4 and then 5 quarts of saline once each about a month ago just to experience the feeling of fullness and distention, held for 20-30 minutes and felt just a bit tired later. I've never felt dizzy or lightheaded ever. I take the precaution of adding salt to my solutions but have taken plenty of tap water in the past. Apparently I'm not susceptible to significant Vagal gut stimulation. The range of reactions we've heard about in this thread doesn't seem surprising to me.

A person may also feel faint after prolonged valsalva maneuvers when expelling, although enemas don't usually require them unless you are working hard to expel what may feel like the last few ounces.

That's right Susie. Prolonged valsalva maneuvers (straining) raise intrathoracic pressure which leads to diminished ventricular filling. Ultimately this leads to a decreased cardiac output and less blood flow to the brain. This can cause fainting.

The only time I've felt light headed after an enema was the last few times I've used my JBL. I assume it was because of the substantially larger volume of water I've taken compared to one of my bags.

Yes.