Medical Updates

I know that this message will probably be too long for most people to read it, but here goes anyway. I have returned to this forum after a break of some years, while I was out of the country. On glancing over the postings I see that a number still seem apologetic (on blaming) for parents who bought into the traditional 'myth' of connection between moodiness or behavior and constipation, and the benefits of enemas and suppositories to promote regularity. The standard medical position, of course, has been - until very recently - that any such connection is either imaginary, or hypochondriac, or suggestibile, or simply arising from physical discomfort from intestinal bloating and distension. However, there is currently enough research, and theoretical underpinnings, to give the traditional position almost any spin you'd like to promote, and plenty of support for the position that if enemas or cleanouts leave you feeling fresh and light, they may have far more widespread bodily benefit.

The use of enemas for conditions unrelated to constipation has ancient roots. For example, in researching migraine remedies some years ago for a friend I came across the Ayurvedic advice that an enema could relieve a migraine for long enough, at least, to enable the sufferer to get to sleep. Although lately recast as blaming constipation as a cause of the migraine, its orginial explanation was to the effect that the vital essences that should have been flowing among the chakras got stuck in the lower centers, and the enema might promote their flow up the the brain and upper centers where they were lacking. At the time, I gave that as much credence as advice to nail a toad to your door, and did not even mention it to the friend. Years later, though, I heard almost the same theory on PBS - granted, it was from a 'visionary' medical promoter of the sort they roll out at fund-drive time - using modern terms such as neurotransmitters, based on an understanding of Dr. Michael Gershon's work on the gut as the 'second brain.' (Gershon basically claimed that the gut holds far more 'mood chemicals' - neurotransmitters - than the brain, and that their principal function was actually as immune system agents, then innovative but now accepted.)

Since then, the microbiome - intestinal flora - has blossomed as field of serious study, and absolutely bloomed in the past two years. (I provide below sample recent references to begin study, but an easy search will locate thousands.) Absolutely sober and professional research ties intestinal flora to everything from autism to parkinson's, along with all mental and mood-related conditions in between. There should no longer be serious doubt that the state of the intestines is directly and immediately connected to mood and psychological as well as overall physical health. Medicine is not quite ready to map the intestinal conditions to other bodily and psychological states (like a foot-reflexology chart!) - but each of us can do so, based on our own experiences, without feeling like ignorant peasants.

My intention is not to argue for a specific mode of action, but research into references will yield numerous possible mechanisms. The wrong (or stressed) gut bacteria might directly cause effects, through toxic secretions, and the enema might 'reshuffle' them (my term!); or the physical stimulation of the enteric system might promote a surge of mood chemicals; or the enemas might stimulate the vagus nerve, and so on. And by the way, the vagus nerve, which wanders through most of the organs of the body including the colon, and the impulses of which flow mostly upward, to the brain and about the status of the organs, has been shown both to have curative powers through direct stimulation (Wikipedia lists conditions ranging from burns to multiple sclerosis and OCD) but also to act, in effect, as a telegraph, crossing the blood-brain barrier to deliver content information about medicines and agents which could not cross directly.

So the next time your doctor tells you that the effect of enemas is all psychosomatic, tell him/her confidently that it just isn't true; and the next time your hubby is acting like he needs an enema, damn well give it to him! It is sure as hell cheaper and faster than a psychiatrist or a divorce, and likely more effective than the psychiatrist besides.

On a slightly different topic, fecal implants - poop enemas - are no longer fringe treatments for microbiome imbalances such as colonization by clostridium difficile: they are not only mainstream, but absolutely miracle cures, even for people who have suffered for years and practically lost all hope. The last reference below is to a report of 90% success - by the Mayo Clinic!

(I regret that I have not much more which I can share about this productively, being neither a doctor nor a biomedical researcher. Anyone with Google access can pursue these lines just as well as I - and the references below will serve as a good starting point.)

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MICROBIOME:

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http://www.scientificamerican.com/editorial/innovations-in-the-microbiome/

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http://www.the-scientist.com/?articles.view/articleNo/40038/title/The-Maternal-Microbiome/

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http://www.the-scientist.com/?articles.view/articleNo/40600/title/The-Body-s-Ecosystem/

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... AND MENTAL STATES or general health:

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http://www.apa.org/monitor/2012/09/gut-feeling.aspx

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http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3564498/

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http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21485746

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http://www.ucsf.edu/news/2014/08/116526/do-gut-bacteria-rule-our-minds

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http://www.telegraph.co.uk/women/womens-health/9197756/What-your-guts-telling-you-why-your-digestion-holds-the-key-to-your-health.htm

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FECAL IMPLANTS:

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http://www.mayoclinic.org/medical-professionals/clinical-updates/digestive-diseases/quick-inexpensive-90-percent-cure-rate

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(end)

Jillieann--Enjoyable read of post incl links.

Jillieann, great post. Links are very informative.

That's an excellent post. Thanks.

For most of us enema fans, we've long known by our own anecdotal experiences, that if an enema makes you feel better, then you feel better.

Thanks for your informative post....and welcome back.

Hi Jillieann!!,

Welcome back and thx for that great intro post!!! 'Gives one a lot to "Think" about!!

With a most appreciative "Click!!,"

highwater

Great post. Welcome back

Certainly the folks on this board are experienced enema users and have many years or decades of experience in using enemas (decades for me). Putting the science aside, I think most of us will concur that we feel better after our enema sessions. Granted enemas for me are very sexual and I always finish by masturbating to a powerful orgasm, but the enemas do definitely have a physical carryover effect of quieting my digestive system and creating a "light" feeling.

It is not surprising to learn that the digestive system is very complex and tied to many other areas of the body and its functions which can directly impact on mode and disposition.

So the simple answer as some of you have already stated is that when I do enemas I feel better therefore I think they are good for me- I agree wholeheartedly.

Yes, ProV1, the people on this board are experienced enema users who know their benefits - but we also write things like being embarrassed to buy suppositories in a store or perhaps even a box which might be mistaken for an enema! Or rehearse whole scenarios for supremely tentative hints about disclosure. More so even than condoms, it appears. Knowing that there is solid science to back up these feelings is important - perhaps liberating - to many. Thanks for people like Doris Day, who promotes to all her friends how good enemas make her feel - or to the girl at a soap store when I was a girl first shopping for the best soap to use in enemas. I was looking at a bottle of Dr Bronner's peppermint soap and I wondered whether it might be too strong and tingle too much, and the clerk said that she supposed that was possible, but it also might feel really good! (And it does!) And thanks also to all the gay people in the world, finally vocal for their truths, in the face of threats of stoning and damnation; can anyone seriously still justify feeling shame or other embarrassment over bottoms? Can anyone count as many as three people in their towns who could really care about your enemas? Or that the sex life of exactly everyone else is so much better than yours that they might not be perhaps a little bit interested in extending their repertoire? In my experience, friends will just say that Jillie, oh, she's a little weird that way - and then call and ask your advice when they finally do need an enema. And meanwhile, it will have almost no effect on your intimate relationships, unless you are demanding that partners share in ways not mutually desired.

Thank you for the info. Glad to see that main stream is slowly catching up with what we have all known for years. lol

Almost every couple of weeks our microbiomes - our individual complements of intestinal bacteria - (which are putatively affected by enemas) - are found to play a more major and previously unsuspected role in general health, immune systems, and moods. In the issue of Scientific American just delivered today (June, 2015, pg 22) a direct link is reported between intestinal bacteria and the effectiveness of vaccines! Specifically, it seems that vaccines may be ineffective unless the bacteria include a decent ratio of flagellated ones. (The protein flagellin, which they contain, seems responsible.) In fact, the effectiveness of tetanus, tuberculosis, and oral polio vaccines (among others) seems directly dependent on the exact individual composition of intestinal bacteria. Think of that: oral vaccines! That's really pretty incredible. So again I say: whatever benefits your grandmother claimed for enemas - or that we have discovered for ourselves - are at least as likely to be true as the standard (perhaps till recently) medical view that enemas just relieve bowel distension. - JillieAnn

JillieAnn--Sample studies can be all fine & good...Do you find it completely on the level as some can be misleading or slanted to support a limited finding ??

Just imagine an Enema research grant...yum...sign me up !!..Wishful thinking on my part,but oh! what fun.

Hi, ThatAussie -

The studies that I have referred to throughout my postings have been well researched, and in keeping with the emerging theme that intestinal bacteria are not only beneficial for indigestion but in all sorts of things - especially (with the enteric nervous system in the intestinal walls) related to the immune system and moods. There is little reason to doubt these results because they are not typically sponsored by or to promote any big pharma or to validate specific drugs. However, very few of these studies claim anything at all about enemas per se. My point is that since the whole view of internal effects of the bowel has been changed, anecdotal evidence - yours or your mother's or your grandmother's - about anything which does certainly have such an effect down there as enemas is now equally defensible (or more so) than the mainstream medical view of them. That view just sees the bowel as a little barrel to be emptied regularly, and anything that affects it is supposed beneficial only as it helps to empty it; if too much emphasis or imagined benefit derives from them the reason is simply by relieving pressure (if not psychosomatic or hypochondriac). However, good science now shows - with dramatically increasing frequency of consistent or complementary studies - that the mainstream view of bowel function is just false. Therefore, there is no longer any thorough explanation of just what an enema does - so, whatever it seems to do is now difficult to argue against. To my knowledge, the studies have not actually involved enemas. If grandma and mom noted that they resulted in immediate mood improvement - then, they could be assumed to actually do that. I know that my own bad moods can be immediately eliminated by a thorough enema; this is very dramatic, not at all just imagination.

Jillieann, your post makes a lot of sense. We have learned that 70% of the body's serotonin resides in the large bowel. We are constantly trying to find ways to increase serotonin levels in the brain, to combat endogenous depression. So far, it's all been in the form of oral tabs. and capsules that prevent the reuptake of serotonin at the synapse in the brain. Maybe we should concentrate on liberating the serotonin in the gut and getting the blood stream to move it up to the brain. So, all this talk about enemas changing bad attitudes and causing a sense of well being, relieving stress after a tough work day, may very well be happening, chemically already. Will there ever be a shrink who prescribes enemas for depression and anxiety? Not likely, but we may have stumbled upon a free way to do just that. Thanks for your most logical posts.

A common malady that very often preceeds (by years) diagnosis of Parkinsons Disease is chronic constipation. Although not proven or anywhere near conclusive at this stage, there is some thought in the medical research community that Parkinsons may actually originate in the gut. It's all being studied and researched at this point.

I think we enthusiasts instinctively understood all along that there are tremendous benefits and general feelings of well being connected to regular enema use. All this scientific backup is icing in the cake.

Great post! This is what I think this form should be all about. Sooner or later that rest of the world will figure its out, and this is a good start.

Here is a serious question about enemas and Prostate hypertrophy, enlargement. Recent acute urinary retention and severe bladder spasms from catheter. Ok for now but facing the TURP or roto rooter. Love to have more enemas but seeking advice from fellow sufferers. Do the enema or not?

Ronema,

Here is a serious question about enemas and Prostate hypertrophy, enlargement. Recent acute urinary retention and severe bladder spasms from catheter. Ok for now but facing the TURP or roto rooter. Love to have more enemas but seeking advice from fellow sufferers. Do the enema or not?

Are you saying you had a recent bout of urinary retention that required a bladder catheter for emptying? And then had bladder spasms from that catheter? Just trying to clarify your data. And then your question is whether it's safe for you to take more enemas now that the retention has currently resolved?

Eric

Two bouts of total urinary retention required catheterization. They left in a catheter then but the irritation of catheter caused severe spasms. On flowmax now which cured the spasms but I still have an enlarged prostate and likely will have surgery on it soon.

I have had great erotic pleasure from enemas and am wondering if resuming them will trouble my bladder and prostate.

TO Ronema I too have unary stoppage's and must cath often , also anal obstrucksun , I found that with the cath in I tend to leek for hours and must wear a diaper for a day or so .

Ronema

A few years ago I had a supra pubic catheter after being treated for PC. I too experienced bladder spasms and just plain uncomfortableness. When I had it removed and started self catching I voided 700 ml. This was after the uro told me that the bladder could only hold 250 ml. The tip of the supra pubic bounced around and when it touched the bladder wall it called for more fluid. I suspect that's what happened to you.

As for enemas, I used to suffer from prostatitis and I found that very warm enemas (about 107 degrees) was a great relief. I doubt that enemas will cause you any trouble but keep,in mind that some of the instilled water will make it to the bladder. So maybe it's not a good idea to take too many large volume enemas in one session

Say funguy,

Regarding your 107F enemas:

This comes from a pioneer urologist who, if he were still alive would be well past 110 years old. He was my father-in-law's doctor, who would be over 100, if he were still alive. I was experiencing some prostatitis and went to see him. He was near 90 at the time and still enjoying his practice 3 days a week and living on the bay, the rest. He sat me on his knee with butt hanging between his legs. Shoving his hand between me and his belly with a gob of his special lube he deftly found his mark and began his prostate massage, which made me sweat, grunt, sigh, tighten up and breathe a hard sigh of relief when he finally pulled his happy finger out of me. Following this he milked my Mr. Friendly and collected the out cumm and looked it over under his microscope. He would talk to himself a lot and make motions to his lady nurse assistant. He had me come back for another treatment until he was satisfied with the out cumm. After weekly meetings like this for four or five weeks, he said I had made excellent progress and said to come back if it got bad again.

His going home advise for the first day and last was to take very hot sits bath with not more than 4 inches of water in the tub. He said our butt can take a lot more heat than our feet. He recommended 115f but not more than 120. Be careful not to slip and hurt myself in the exercise, but to take it as hot as I could stand, by not leaving the feet in the water. This did two things. The very hot sits killed germs! Any jock itch was gone. But more, it liquified the congestion and caused me to drain out. This will leave your butt bright red for a while and cause old skin to slough off. To this I then decided to treat my feet as well, by dipping them in 120f water as long as I could stand it and then let them cool for a bit and repeat till I could leave them in without having to pull them out anymore. All this will cause you to sweat profusely, as well.

(I almost never do an enema over 105f but mostly a little under that, usually)

Thanks for taking the time to make this post. There's a lot of information here. I have always believed that enemas were healthful and helpful.

Almost 60 years ago I had a lot of Migraine headaches , Family I was living with and working for gave me a lot of enemas ,almost every time I was sick one or two were given . Yes I had some relief in the pain . I feel that there is some sort of connection !

Post #23 is so full of misinformation as to boggle the mind. I don't believe one bit of the story of the ancient urologist masturbating the writer. As for the benefits of hot sitz baths killing bacteria and so on, all I can say is--heard of second and third degree burns? Yikes! Don't listen to any of this nonsense!

Liquidsky, I appreciate and follow a plethora of your postings, and respect the fact that you unabashedly share your medical expertise with all is us, hopefully to everybody's benefit!

Thank you!

Hermann

The typical pleasure of insertion one derives from all the nerve endings in the anus causes the release of endorphines. That will act globally and lower bp, heart rate, and cortisol levels (the stress hormone). The increase of internal pressure from the water will not only open the majority of the diverticulii and allow them to clear but will also trigger your liver 's purge cycle. That same pressure will trigger your vagus nerve as well causing bp to drop by dilating your blood vessels. Add to all of those effects the fact that most people tend to stay in a constant stage of mild dehydration and that a portion of the ensnare is absorbed into your blood stream thereby rehtdrating your entire body and causing your kidneys to cleanse themselves to a certain degree as well as cleaning out your colon of waste, it makes me wonder how anyone could think that enemas are anything but therapeutic. The warm water and pressure also affect the prostate and stimulate a mild cleansing using prostatic fluid, so it helps that and your urethera.

Wb and thanks for the great informational post.

Does anyone have any new medical related news for, or against the use of enemas for any reason?