Like many people around the world, Mike and Trina enjoy coffee on a daily basis. It’s just their method of intaking the caffeinated beverage that’s raising some eyebrows. That’s because Mike and Trina don’t sip on the drink — they get their fix with a coffee enema. Mike and Trina’s habit, which involves inserting the liquid directly into their rectums, will be featured on the season premiere of My Strange Addiction this Wednesday.
In this case, the term “addiction” is fitting.
“I love the way coffee enemas make me feel,” Trina says in a preview. “I feel like a sense of euphoria. I absolutely would fall apart without them.”
She initially experimented with coffee enemas in a desperate attempt to cure herself of chronic stomach problems. She quickly got hooked and now, two years later, she spends up to five hours a day with an — ahem — tube stuck in her rear.
“My initial reaction was, ‘My god that’s disgusting,'” Mike, who is Trina’s husband said. “But, I tried it and now I’m addicted.”
Because of their reliance on privacy and close proximity to the bathroom, Mike and Trina say they can’t leave the home for long periods of time. Fortunately for them, they work from home.
How the situation affects their two young children wasn’t addressed in the episode’s preview. However, Taylor, Trina’s older son from a first marriage, encouraged his mother and step-father to get help.
“I don’t want to get the phone call one day that you’ve keeled over from a heart attack,” Taylor tells his mother in the TV series. “I want you to go see a doctor.”
What is an enema?
In general, enemas involve inserting a liquid into the large intestine by using a tube. The liquid then fills up the large intestine and creates a pressure.
“The effects include feelings of urgency, a rapid increase in colonic contractions and a rapid emptying of the colon of fecal matter,” wrote Dr. Barbara Bradley Bowen.
As a possible added benefit, some people report getting sexually aroused or pleasured by an enema. This is referred to a “Klismaphilia.”
In general, doctors recommend oral laxatives for constipation relief. Most doctors say that infrequent enema use is not an issue, but prolonged, regular use is harmful.
“They claim it’s a way of detoxifying and might even be an alternative to cancer treatment. There is definitely no evidence and I would hate for someone to forego [proven medical] treatment,” said Dr. Roshini Rajapaksa of the NYU Medical Center.
Still, Mike and Trina said there’s “not a chance” they will quit.
Catch the story on My Strange Addiction this Wednesday at 10 p.m. EST on TLC.
