Question regarding electrolytes

I understand that repeated use of plain water (in the same session) can deplete electrolytes which should be avoided. Would a mixture of water and an electrolyte replacement fluid (i.e. sports drink like gatorade) lessen the depletion of electrolytes? If so, how much should be added to water to prepare a 2 qt enema?

Your idea would seem to be viable, and perhaps one of the medical professionals in the forum can answer better than I. There is one caveat to using sports drinks as an enema additive and that is the amount of sugar they contain. As a diabetic, I know that using that kind of solution would be dangerous but even for a non-diabetic, the potential to skew your blood glucose is there.

As I understand it, the best thing to do is to add salt to your enema in order to reach the same salinity as your blood. That way there is no osmotic exchange and less chance of losing electrolytes. Also, to leach electrolytes, you have to be doing large enemas over an extended periods of time (many hours).

My therapist has me drink a full glass of an electrolyte mixture both before and after my colonic. It tastes fairly good and is helpful I think.

The sports drinks tend to be somewhat hypotonic, but are probably a better choice than plan water, and the low calorie versions are preferable. The bowel Flora are not accustomed to seeing much sugar, so have a 'field' day, and produce lots gas by fermenting the sugars.

If you really want an isotonic enema, use something like GoLytely, or Tri-Lyte (PEG/Electrolyte solutions used for Bowel Cleansing prior to Colonoscopy). While these products require a pre-scription in the USA, they don't in most of the rest of the world. Alternatively the chemicals used in these products are not exactly hazardous, or difficult to obtain. Making your own is certainly possible (I have done it). The ingredients and amounts are not a secret. It is on the label, and many of these products have web sites that provide that information as well. Just make sure you use products that are safe for human consumption. Baking soda from the grocery store shelf, Salt substitue (KCl) and non-iodized table salt. Miralax, Dulcolax Balance or similair PEG3350 based laxative for the PEG. Ingredients plus a good scale is all you need.

I often refer to these PEG based products as 'oral enemas', because they are designed to go in one end, and will come out the other end pretty much unchanged. The PEG3350 makes it almost impossible to absorb the water, and the net electrolytes gain/loss is near zero.

As a practical matter however, it is difficult to produce significant electrolyte anomolies with tap water or distilled water enemas absent significant disease.

Years ago my colon therapy salon suggested 1 t. of Salt Substitute and 1/2 t. of Baking Soda per quart of water for any rinse.

This seems to prevent the fatigue I get from successive tap water enemas. Some folks in this forum have expressed concern about the Potassium in the Salt Substitute but it seems to work OK for me.

Agree with eman5. I keep a bottle of Gatorade available during e-play.

Hello mattheww50, There are now several products meant for oral use which you, (and I,) might want to try. The first is Miralax, a peg/electrolyte product. There are many generic copies of this, most chain drug stores carry there own brand right next to the Miralax at less than half the price. If you try this please let me know how things work.

Miralax DOES NOT provide electrolytes. It simply works by osmotic action.

Unless you KNOW you have endocrine or kidney problems, you don't have to worry about electrolytes in your enemas. Go ahead and just use plain water in sessions lasting several hours. If you are going literally all day long, eating food or drinking fruit or vegetable juice or those crappy tasting sport drinks will replenish your electrolytes if you don't put anything in your enema solution.

The question of electrolytes has been discussed in MANY threads.

Do a search for electrolytes.

It's a good idea to keep some Gatorade or Pedialyte nearby in case you need it.

In a strong enema, you WILL upset your electrolyte balance. If it's just a little lightheadedness you are better off waiting it out. If it's more than that, any vertigo or anything like that, drink that electrolyte booster as soon as the enema is out, and don't take any more enemas that day.

Short and sweet.

Gatorade.... Drink one bottle during and one after and you're good. Putting it in an enema solution WILL NOT help as much as drinking it.

If your enemas are longer than a few fills then use common sense and stay well hydrated.

I agree with Owen - I have had some issues with smaller people feeling bad after several large enemas on colonics, so Gatoraide is mandatory after heavy E play!

I have found that a tablespoon of non iodised salt per gallon will prevent the symptoms of hyponatremia, and for more comfort in a large, long term retention ( more than three quarts, held for longer than an hour) an additional tablespoon of baking soda really helps.