Dr. McDougall's Online Discussion Board

Nicole, what do you think of coffee enemas? Have you read much on both sides? I was wondering if I should try it (since it's cheap) but I haven't heard much about whether or not it's safe.

Hi Moonwatcher - yes, I'll take definitely relatively better than before, too! progress is progress after all.

Hey Leslie,

I don't know much about coffee enemas. I have heard about them, mostly glowing anecdotal testimonies, and I did read a couple of studies that suggested that they are effective for pain relief in cancer patients (maybe in other kinds of patients, too, but cancer patients with extreme pain and advanced cancer were the subjects of the studies.)

I have also read things about people getting addicted to them and one woman dying as a result, although she was doing something like 20 coffee enemas a day, so that could be the main reason. I have not been able to find any evidence that they were harmful, or that they were harmless, that I trusted 100% at least.

I have not written them off as something to try, but I am not really sure about them either. I'd like to say they are safer than other kinds of pain treatments, but I don't really know if they are. they are a big mystery.

I wish someone would study them officially, so we could put it all to rest one way or the other! But I guess not much money would be made off of them if they were effective, so perhaps it will not ever happen.

I did just read something from a link on one of the threads that warned against it for people with colitis. So that lets me out. I would never risk another colitis attack for anything. Oh well.

Well there ya go! They probably are not all that much fun anyway.

What's going on? You feeling OK? Don't post if you're busy. Just wondering how the post fast is treating you.

Hi Leslie, thanks for checking in! Doing OK, just super busy - lots to catch up on. I'll post more soon when I have time.

Sad today. Found out of an old friend's death. She died more than a year ago, but we had lost touch. The end of this month would have been her 49th birthday.

She was an exceptionally sweet and kind person, very supportive of others, perhaps even at her own expense. I am just so sad to hear of her death. I'm not sure what she passed away from, but my guess is cancer, based on some vague information.

Oh Nicole, I am so sorry to hear this. It's such a sad thing to find out about. I am sorry for the loss of your friend. Sending you my sympathy and a hug.

xoxo

moonwatcher

So sorry to hear! Take care.

Thanks Ladies! Means a lot to me.

I did find out what she had. Stomach cancer. And it was misdiagnosed as irritable bowel by her GP for a long time, which is sad but then again I don't think stomach cancer in general is easy to treat nor does it have a good prognosis, but I could be wrong.

Talked to another old friend about it last night. She'd meant to go see her, but did not get a chance until she was really far gone (our friend had moved back home to her folks' for hospice care so she was a good 12 hour drive away from where we lived). She said the last time they spoke was on the phone and she was on a lot of medications and was not doing well nor was she cognitively all there. She felt really bad about that. I understand, although she could not have known.

Ack. Life is really unfair sometimes, or at least it seems that way. It is one thing for me to see the silver lining on my own problems, but I feel awkward about the idea of designating a good meaning to someone else's suffering and untimely death. So I am just stuck on how unfair it was for her to die young and suffer immensely. She was truly one of the kindest people I ever met.

Having a better day today. Nice thing about living in Los Angeles, when things get you down, just go outside, it's gorgeous.

Also, this status update from a friend on FB just cracked me up:

"When people have been on a vacation to an exotic place and they come back and say they are getting back to reality-----I wonder if their reality is the same as mine-------Staring into the gutter of Canal Street and walking around with a nice bag of cat litter."

Anyway, I have been listening a lot to these podcasts on the Weston Price Foundation, just because I am curious. As always, I wonder, what do they base their "Wisdom" on? I never see the evidence, aside from anecdotal stuff.

Hi Nicole,

Thanks for all you shared here about your friend and your thoughts on all of this. And so glad to hear you are having a better day. I laughed at the quote. Weston Price? You are a brave girl indeeed.

xoxo

moonwatcher

Hey Moonwatcher.

Yeah, Weston Price stuff...they are all so convinced that it is true, but I am not convinced. I am not convinced that there is no value to some things I may not do or eat now, either, but I like to have some evidence that I trust.

I listened to a talk by this one woman who is a scientist, but not in the field of nutrition or biology, and it was so weird - she was justifying things based on her preferences (I like beer and butter, therefore they are good for me!) and also making things up on the fly, as she went along and even saying so, then presenting them later in her presentation as factual arguments to support other points.

True or not, this is a nice idea

I think it's true, or some version of it is true. All I have to do is listen. That can be the tricky part.

Thanks for posting this.

xoxo

moonwatcher