Coffee Enema — Dr. Rawls’ Ratings
Efficacy: 3 stars
Safety: 2.5 stars
Cost: 1 out of 5 dollar signs
Ways to Administer: rectal enema infusion
Bottom Line: Coffee enemas aren’t a treatment for Lyme disease, but they may be useful as a supportive therapy in some circumstances.

Overview

When it comes to detoxification strategies and ways to minimize Herxherimer reactions from Lyme treatments, coffee enemas are one modality that gets talked about often. There’s a good chance you’ve already tried them or heard of someone who has. They’ve been around for a very long time — at least the early twentieth century and even longer.

When doing a coffee enema, liquid coffee gets infused into the colon and held there for a desired amount of time. The caffeine in the coffee stimulates bile flow from the liver, flushing the system and promoting detoxification.

Efficacy

No studies exist on the use of coffee enemas for Lyme disease, but many anecdotal reports from clinicians and patients suggest coffee enemas may have some value. However, frequent use of coffee enemas may be associated with habituation — where people become accustomed to using them to facilitate bowel movements — which can cause problems down the line. They might be most useful when used intermittently.

Safety

While there could be potential benefits to coffee enemas, there are real safety concerns, such as perforation of the bowel, colitis, bowel infections, and rectal burning. The more you do it, the more risk you’ll have, so you have to be careful with them.

Cost

Coffee enemas are relatively inexpensive after the initial set-up costs for organic coffee and supplies. But the costs vary depending on how often you do them.

Dr. Bill Rawls Treatment Guide

Dr. Bill Rawls’ Treatment Guide

Want to see more Lyme disease treatment ratings? See What Dr. Rawls has to say about popular treatments and therapies in his Lyme Disease Treatment Guide.

Dr. Rawls is a physician who overcame Lyme disease through natural herbal therapy. You can learn more about Lyme disease in Dr. Rawls’ new best selling book, Unlocking Lyme.
You can also learn about Dr. Rawls’ personal journey in overcoming Lyme disease and fibromyalgia in his popular blog post, My Chronic Lyme Journey.

REFERENCES
1. Isaacs LL. Coffee Enemas: A Narrative Review. Altern Ther Health Med. 2021 May;27(3):46-49
2. Sashiyama H, Hamahata Y, Matsuo K, Akagi K, Tsutsumi O, Nakajima Y, Takaishi Y, Takase Y, Arai T, Hoshino T, Tazawa A, Fu KI, Tsujinaka Y. Rectal burn caused by hot-water coffee enema. Gastrointest Endosc. 2008 Nov;68(5):1008; discussion 1009. doi: 10.1016/j.gie.2008.04.017
3. Son H, Song HJ, Seo HJ, Lee H, Choi SM, Lee S. The safety and effectiveness of self-administered coffee enema: A systematic review of case reports. Medicine (Baltimore). 2020;99(36):e21998. doi: 10.1097/MD.0000000000021998