Is colonic irrigation bad for you?

[Mistlewoeandwhine]

I had an emergency appointment at our GP's last week due to terrible stomach pain and indigestion. It has been on/off since Dec. You can only see a nurse practioner at our GP for an emergency appointment otherwise it is often a 2-3 week wait and I was in terrible pain.

Anyway, she gave me opremazole which is fine and already working and said I have stress gastritis. She told me to get a colonic done. I am quite tempted but there are some negative things online and I don't want to die. Has anyone had this and was it effective?

I had a colonoscopy when I was 60 . The tests are offered as routine but because I failed the test I was offered the colonoscopy as I suffer with ibs I accepted it.

You have to take something that clears you out beforehand and that little camera goes all the way up to your appendix and let me tell you I've seen where the sun don't shine and it's all pink and healthy and not a polyps in sight.

In fact taking the laxative was the worst bit. If you eat plenty of vegetables and occasional fruit you shouldn't need colonic irrigation.

In Japan, many people believe that shirataki noodles act like a broom inside the body by cleansing it of toxins. Rightfully, this belief has been scientifically proven

Citation needed.

Im sorry - but really.

Putting a tube up your arse and shoving loads of water into your delicate and complex large intestine isnt a good idea.

It doesnt sound very natural to me.

Sorry to take the thread back a bit but skiptonlass

"There's also very good solid evidence that acupuncture is no more effective than placebo"

This is true for some conditions. For other conditions there is quite strong evidence of effectiveness. Check out the NICE low back pain guidelines.

Acupuncture applied by a therapist trained in the western medicine theories = not woo. Traditional Chinese medicine school of thought = a bit woo but still works wonders for some people.

Uninformed people quoting incomplete facts annoys the bejesus out of me.

Don't know about colonic irrigation, but the usefulness of acupuncture has been recognised for many years now, do you really think it belongs to the world of magic, OP?

Please someone tell me wtf is "woo"?!?!

Even if something only worked by way of the placebo effect (hello homeopathy), economic decisions are made for (what I would hope are) sound reasons.

Some people seem to need the extra time and focus that a homeopathy appointment and treatment would give them. If it stops them wasting more expensive resources elsewhere then there is an argument to be made for keeping such services. Though there are plenty of arguments against it, of course (which I find myself leaning towards rather more).

Happen, say "woooooooo" and waggle your fingers about.

Geddit?

No

this is probably clearer

In my 10 years of being a doctor, with several of them working in colorectal (bowel) surgery, I have literally never come across a doctor recommending colonic irrigation and would never recommend it myself. What an odd thing for her to suggest.

Drink water and do the colonoscopy prep, I guarantee your colon will be clean.

Then google the woo that is gerson therapy (coffee enemas to cure cancer). It's a thing because people are guillible.

I think you should get a new doctor right away. Good luck.

*In Japan, many people believe that shirataki noodles act like a broom inside the body by cleansing it of toxins.

Rightfully, this belief has been scientifically proven to be true.*

I can smell shit there all right!

There is no evidence that acupuncture performs better than placebo for anything.

And any HCP that recommends colonic irrigation needs to be reported to the relevant professional body.

I am a senior nurse - There is a wealth of evidence base for acupuncture.

It's actually part of the NICE guidelines for migraines now.

All those that keep using the word "woo" - interventions within the NHS have to be evidence based .

I had accupuncture recommended when I went for a general anaesthetic - they even did it while i was asleep as Im squeamish (woke up with 2 little pads with a small sharp bit on my wrists). It was for sickness. I wasnt sick, but thenthe anaesthetist tried a different thing too.

I've no idea - I dont like woo but I assumed the nhs must have some evidence to be using it with operations.

"I am a senior nurse - There is a wealth of evidence base for acupuncture."

No there isn't!

Thank you however

HappenstanceMarmite is a woo.

I got terribly bunged up about 25 yrs ago (codeine, hospital bed rest (no activity and the embarrassment of pooing in a bed pan behind a curtain) and they 'forgot' to give me lactulose for a few days, I had to have glycerine suppositories etc after not pooing for over a week).
For years afterwards I had chronic stomach problems (was told I had IBS), in the risk of over sharing I never did big poos - always narrow ones -but did go everyday.
I had a flat mate whose granny had some bowel problems and needed a colonscopy but it took several enemas and the laxatives etc to get her bowels clean enough. So I know people can have problems.
So I thought about this for a while and I seriously considered CI...but read about the health risks etc.
In the end after 15 years + of pain and wind etc. I just took full dose lactulose for a week or maybe 2? (max it says you can). It wasn't nice for anyone living with me - very windy and extremely smelly -think you couldn't work in company/enclosed space whilst you did it, then I had the lower dose for a week or so - maybe the whole thing went on for a month. But afterwards my 'IBS' was cured - I still do get the odd stomach ache but nothing like before (And I can produce big poos !)
Having said all that I think I should have created more fuss about my stomach problems but had lots of other health issues at the time so that wasn't a priority...

Oh I should have said drank lots of water too!

Ok. I'm a scientist and I work in clinical trials. I do this shit for a living.

There is no wealth of evidence for Accupuncture. It's an absolute disgrace that taxpayers money is spent on something with no real evidence base. The NHS also has homeopathic hospitals for gods sake!!

There is some pretty good evidence it doesn't work. The article below should be read by anyone who is interested.

www.sciencebasedmedicine.org/acupuncture-doesnt-work/

An opinion piece by David colquhoun and the review article summarising the state of current research. Including an interesting bit on the history of accupuncture.

If you look at accupuncture vs nothing, it appears effective. That's because of the placebo effect. People think something is being done. They get a nice, professional looking white coated person who crucially, spends time with them. They then undergo something which is really like a little mini- ordeal. This is the basis of the placebo effect.

If you look at 'real' accupuncture vs sham needling or needling at random sites however, the effect disappears.

The placebo effect is absolutely fascinating. You can actually give people sugar pills, tell them they're inactive placebo and you STILL see the effect! The reverse is the nocebo (I shall harm) effect, which you can think of in terms of voodoo curses - you think and believe you're going to die, and you do. Also very interesting.

You also have cases of 'regression to the mean' I.e. Getting better anyway and all sorts of other fascinating effects. It's well worth a good read around.

Believe it if you like, practitioners certainly make enough money off people who do. They also make money off homeopathy, crystal healing and a million types of "eat/drink this to get rid of 'toxins'" type shit.

But there's absolutely no evidence that any of it works. None whatsoever. And I get very, very angry when I see blogs online with "I cured my cancer with a vegan diet and realigning my chakras " sort of thing. How many people die from following such advice?

People, please, please think critically about all this sort of thing. Scientists are about as open minded as it gets. We know that most of our drugs are derived from natural compounds. If you bring us a plant or anything that appears to have genuine activity we will test the living day lights out of it. If it works, we will use it. If standing on one leg waving frog entrails above your head cured migraine in randomised controlled trials, we'd be buying shares in frog farms.

But there's a name for alternative medicine that's been proven to work. It's 'medicine.'

On the subject of Feacal transplants, that's the medical term. They basically get the poo from the healthy doner, mix it up with saline with a normal hand held stick blender, pop an NG tube down onto the very beginning of the small bowel and syringe the now runny poo down the NG tube. Some places are trying it as an enema or enteric coated capsules, but the normal way is via NG tube.

SkiptonLass - you shit for a living.

Is that 9-5 mon - Fri, or shift work? Payed by the pound?

Thanks for all the comments - just to be clear - it wasn't my GP who told me to get a colonic (couldn't get an appointment with her) it was the nurse practitioner. I am still in mild pain even with the omeprazole tablets so I still feel stressed/uncomfortable and miserable. I think I've gone off the idea of a colonic now though.