adventures with Movicol - overdid it and it's armageddon!!! Any advice?

[emeraldgirl1]

Posted about my ongoing constipation on here recently, and was v glad to be put on Movicol by my GP. However she gave me slightly bad advice I think and led me to believe that if the does was right I'd be gaily moving my bowels the very next day. If not, to up the dose. I upped the dose for 3 days as it wasn't working, eventually taking 4 sachets in one.. about an hour after this, the first couple of doses must have kicked in and I had a lovely soft BM. :) And then my world exploded...

2 days of diaorrhea, constant dashing to the toilet and sleeping in 2 pairs of pyjama bottoms in case I had an accident. Also awful tummy pain and bloating, my tummy was almost rigid. I managed to take a day off and kept up the fluids, so wasn't too worried. However for the last 2 days, I've had this unnerving situation where what is coming out when I go to the loo is JUST water. I feel like I need to do a BM, hurry to the loo, and then only water kind of spatters out. Sorry for TMI on a Sunday morning!!!

It's a little better overnight and my tummy is hurting a lot less and is less rigid. I'm still taking fluids and managing to eat more normally. But what should I do? Oddly enough, I'm fairly sure I'm still constipated 'behind' the loose (non-existent) stools, because I'm still straining and feel like I'm constipated when I go. So I'm assuming at some point I have to go back to a GENTLE DOSE of the Movicol. But how long should I leave it? I don't want to go near the stuff until my tummy has settled down and stopped spraying water everywhere but I don't want to risk leaving it too long and getting incredibly constipated again.

Any advice would be incredibly welcome thank you!!!

[NoWittyName]

I would recommend you go back to your GP to get proper advice. The 'diaorrhea' combined with the feeling that you're still constipated could mean you are so impacted (such a back up of hard pooh) that you've got overflow diaorrhea which is where things are backed up as far as the part of the bowel where things are liquid so the liquid comes down the sides. The best way to find out is for the GP to have a feel of your stomach to see whether you are impacted.

I REALLY feel for you. Both my son and I suffer with constipation and it's not easy finding the right level of movicol for that initial clear out.

Do try to see your GP to get it sorted.

Hope things are okay soon. xxx

[emeraldgirl1]

thank you so much nowittyname!! Hadn't thought of this eventuality... I was constipated for about a month before i went on the movicol (though managed a VERY small BM roughly once a day or every other day) - does that sound as though it could be impaction? I have seen a specialist because it was thought I had a kidney stone earlier in the month (unrelated to the constipation) and my constipation showed up on the ultrasound and x-ray - could that be bad enough to be impaction??? The specialist did feel my tummy and said it was slightly distended but he was a kidney specialist and wasn't really looking at the bowel issue...

I have an appointment with my GP in about ten days time and am planning to try to get the movicol dose right before I go. I think I'd got it right before I overdid it, as I say, because it did work beautifully - but I don't know what dose it was that made that happen!!

Sorry to hear you're a sufferer too! What is the cause in your case, do you know?

[gingeroots]

Go and see GP tommorow - if you're "impacted " you can't wait 10 days !
Sympathies by the way .

[emeraldgirl1]

gingeroots - thank you so much, so nice of you to post on this unpleasant topic!!! Re impaction - wouldn't I be a lot more uncomfortable than I am if I were impacted? Now that the movicol tummyache has passed, I'm not uncomfortable at all, tummy is a bit bloated but no pain or discomfort. Although nowittyname did mention the overflow thing as a symptpm of impaction, my weird diarrohea/constipation twofold thing only came along after a huge overdose of movicol, so I don't know if it's just cos of the overdose and is a reaction to too much movicol all at once? Or, is it that I MUST by definition be impacted because the movicol, though causing diarrhoea, didn't apparently get everything out?

Sorry for too many questions!!

[gingeroots]

Oh gosh I don't know really .
Have just re read your first post and see that you have had " a lovely soft BM " recently ,so maybe you are ok ?
I don't know if it's the same for others ( as I think this is true for me since I had a TVT for bladder incontenience ) but when I'm very constipated my
perineum feels hard and stretched .

I'm so sorry not to be more helpful - I do feel for you ,rotten situation to be in .
Maybe someone else with more experience will post .
Good luck .
Let us know if any movement

[catx2]

Hi.
I don't really have any great advice but had similar experience with Movicol.
I've always had problems with constipation since I was little. My mum once gave me senakot when I was around 10 I remember lying on the bathroom floor with horrific pain. Therefor I wont go anywhere near any medication like that.
Since Nov last year I have been constipated a lot. It feels like there is a huge back log. GP prescribed Movicol twice a day but it didn't improve. So I tried 4 in one day and for a few days I had diarrhoea several times a day but still didn't feel cleared out. I obviously didn't like running to the loo and without any improvement I decided to give up on the Movicol.
So the runny stools you have could be because of the Movicol or "overflow" from the impaction.
Couldn't you ring your GP for some advice on what to do rather than waiting a week for your appointment?
Some other advice would be to drink plenty of water, cut out tea and coffee and alcohol completely for a few days. Linseed with your breakfast and prune juice. I do realise that some of this doesn't help when you are badly constipated but if you could get start from the Movicol or other medication then maybe it would help.
Would senakot or dulcolax be worth a try?
I think you should def ask GP for advice now rather than waiting.
Hope you get some relief soon.

[WhoWhoWhoWho]

My DS suffers badly from constipation (and he is autistic and withholds it when it does want to come out).

He has movicol but also takes sodium picosulfate (I think the brand name for this is dulcolax). I was given the impression he had to take both to 'clear' him out. He takes one movicol a day and a small dose of the other med.

Can't you get an appointment any sooner? 10 days is a long time to wait. If you can't then I would start the movicol up again in the meantime but keep to a small regular dose, say one sachet in the morning and one in the afternoon. Hope you get sorted soon.

[CocktailMumma]

Oh God so sorry you are still suffering. I can sympathise and know how "crap" (pardon the pun) it feels.

As I said on your earlier thread I am a constipation sufferer. I use movicol to manage it long term. I find 1 sachet a day is enough to keep me regular with 2 sachets one or two days a week . This keeps me "runing smoothly".

That said, when I slack off/change diet/go on holiday and I get constipated (bearing in mind for me its not unusual to go 10 days with no BM left to nature); and have to up my movicol dose to kick start my system again, I do suffer with loose stools, wind and bloating.

My whole IBS/bowel problems naturally (without movicol) are similar to what you describe. I get so constipated I am in pain and feel full and vile tbh. Once I get my bowels moving again (with or without movicol) it starts off with solid stools , then soft and works its way down to diarrhea and then the water. At its worse I get the windy cramp and muscle spasm in my lower back as my body obviously goes into some kind of "poo labour"!!!.

For me it then takes my body a few days to feel well again. My tummy is tender and bruised feeling and I also struggle to know when to start re taking the movicol.

How long since you took your last movicol? And how long since your last diarrhea? IF, you have stopped passing stools or its firming up then I would suggest 1 sachet later today/tonight or even tomorrow. When I first started using movicol it was trial and error and I did have a few mis haps working out the correct dose for me, as its results are not neccessarily immeadiate, depending how fast/slow your bowel is at working.

Personally, I would be phoning my GP at opening on Tuesday and gett an appointment if I were you. What you describe is sadly normal for me, but its new for you and it could be an impaction. You cannot possibly wait 10 days that is ridiculous. IMO you need to be seen Tuesday or Wednesday at the absolute latest.

Hope you feel better soon. Keep your fluids up whilst your body is like this! I

[gingeroots]

Oh good - knew there would be experts around .
So hard ( another pun ! ) when we're all a bit different ,but there does seem to be a bit of a pattern with Movicol.

[emeraldgirl1]

thanks so much for all the posts!!! I have decided to follow your advice and give the GP a call first thing this morning, not wait! After diarrohea all day y'day I ended up constipated again last night and have woken up feeling heavy and with stomach ache again. And there ain't nothing coming out any time soon I don't think! :(

On the assumption I am impacted, what's the treatment? Will the GP suggest doing the mammoth sesh of movicol (8 sachets) or is it more likely they'll suggest a suppository or something? I'm a wimp about such things - I'm sure a good dose of childbirth would cure me of that but right now I'm a wimp! Has anyone ever done the 8 sachet movicol thing and is it glue-yourself-to-the-loo time? I have a job and a life I need to get on with!! PLus I don't relish the cramps that came when I had only 4 sachets of movicol last week. :(

One final question - I was getting worried about the diarrohea (before I realised I was actually still constipated) so for the last 2 or 3 days have cut out all my laxative-inducing eating (prune, juice, kiwi fruit etc) - is it wise to go back to that again maybe? I didn't want to make the diarrohea any worse but if there's any chance it will help soften things I'll return to that way of eating.

Cocktailmumma - thanks for your repeated posts on this misery! It really does feel like trial and error with the movicol. I'm just so despserate to try to get this current acute problem resolved so i can work on finding the root cause (I think medication but would like to be sure)

Thanks everyone!

[emeraldgirl1]

Just an update for all the lovely people who've been so nice as to contribute to this icky thread! Spoke to (male) Gp on phone who was horribly dismissive, ignored most of what I said and kept getting irritated with me until he asked how many BMs I'd been having a day with the diarrohea and I said 6 or 7 and he said 'you'd better come in then'. When I got to surgery I avoided him like the plague and luckily got my usual lovely GP instead who was nice, reassuring, and ACTUALLY LISTENED!! Also did a rectal exam which was... not the nicest way to spend a Tuesday morning . She said doesn't sound like I'm impacted and doesn't feel like I'm impacted, thinks it's still just a reaction to the excess movicol, she's making me do samples (lovely) and blood tests to be sure nothing more sinister but basically was incredibly reassuring.

So thank you again for help! :)

[NoWittyName]

Glad you got to see nice GP and that she reassured you. Enjoy scooping up your pooh and I hope everything is sorted soon. xxx

[gingeroots]

Thanks for update - so glad you saw nice GP and got clarification .

[Mandy89]

Hi, Iv done the exact same as you but over 2 weeks Iv been taking 3 movicols a day even taking 5 one day :-o now I'm on day 4 of no movicol and still going to the toilet :-( how long did it last before you went back to normal? I'm starting to feel so depressed with it xxx

[Millie38]

Hey guys, I'm having the same problem as well, it started in 2015 where I went 2-3 months with no BM. I was given movitol by the dr finished the whole lot ( not all at once) and it did nothing I was given some tablets that do the same thing but without the horrid taste and they did nothing. I had to go hospital while I was going through this (not related to this problem) but I mentioned it while I was there and was sent for scan and they found no blockages or anything to say why I am not having BM. I am constantly bloated, and uncomfortable.

[Ploppythegangster]

Hi I have to use this due to the pain killer I take, my advice is to take 2 sachets daily, only takemore if you are really having problems. I know exactly how you feel. I had the same problem when I was first prescribed it. I got very impatient as nothing happens so I ended up taking 8 in one day for 3 days and believe me I then had to stay close to the loo as if I felt a fart coming I had to rush to the loo. On the &1st night it started to work in a 24 hour period I ended up going to the loo a total of 21 times. My side, stomach, and bum felt so sore. My family have nicked named me Whirly splat ot ploppy, hence my user name. It will pass just make sure you are drinking plenty of water also you can get dirralight not sure if I have spelt it right to replace any of your bodies electolights. Finger crossed bum roll in fridge and try using the moist toilet paper