to be getting in such a state about this health issue pre-conception?

[emeraldgirl1]

May be TMI at breakfasttime, so apologies!

Does ANYONE have any info about safety of Movicol in early pregnancy?

Have suffered from chronic constipation for past year, all the usual remedies didn't work (prunes, veg, fibre, exercise etc and was using LOTS of movicol just to keep moving at all). GP eventually sent me for colonoscopy which showed I have distended and v twisty colon ie am predisposed to chronic constipation and not all that much I can do about it apart from combo of laxatives and v v healthy diet.

HOWEVER, now we are ttc and am getting in a state. One doc mentioned in passing that Movicol (the only laxative that seems to work for me, lactulose only has limited effect and senekot isn't the right kind to help me) works partly because it has effect on the colon that causes it to (gently) spasm and help food work through that way. But that this was of course not great in pregnancy because it might have same effect on uterus...

Is possibility that he was talking out of his arse but now am getting in a total state. Am in 2ww and am horifically constipated because despite mainlining lactulose it's barely working. Daren't take my usual colossal dose of Movicol that I would need to get things moving when am this bad, because I'm unclear about what effect that might have on uterus if I have been lucky enough to conceive this time.

Can't get appointment with GP to discuss until late next week - not worth going for emergency appt today or tomorrow as you get a randomly assigned GP that way and that almost certainly means I'll end up with one of the other docs there - my own GP is great but the others are frankly NOT and tend to file all 30-something women with a health issue under 'Clearly Bonkers and Probably Depressed'. (Honestly, one once tried to prescribe me Prozac for headaches that turned out to be due to a muscular strain in my neck...)

So what do I do for remainder of 2ww, until I can get some advice???!
Does anyone have any info about Movicol in early pregnancy? I do know it isn't recommended in general in preg but I do know is sometimes OK if nothing else works. However I think this may be the case in later pg, when standard constipation kicks in. No idea what to do about chronic constipation that's a serious issue even before I get up the duff.
Am really miserable and stressed about it all. :(

Thanks so much if anyone can help at all. :)

Considering it can be given safely to children I would imagine it's ok! I thought it just 'softened' things up but am not 100% sure.

I would ask for a referral to a dietician as this is obviously an on going issue.

I know it's easier said than done but try and relax, I was RATTLING with oills when I was pregnant -16 beta blockers a DAY!!! I am sure a bit of OTC movical will be fine x

pills

www.netdoctor.co.uk/digestive-health/medicines/movicol.html

It CAN be used in pregnancy under the doctor's supervision so calm down

Thank you Valium!!!
I do love your name I have to say... :)

So nice of you to look that up and post link, you really are a star.
I am def going to ask for dietician referral, I have my suspicions that sometimes things get worse when I increase the fibre, not better... Is so hard to work it out though, as obv the reaction to eating the 'wrong' thing isn't instant.
I just have this aversion to stuffing myself with huge quantities of laxative but maybe if I see it more as medicine I will be less prissy about it. I just worry about my body 'getting used' to it and needing more and more IYSWIM.

I wil put all this to the GP next week.

I don't think Movical is a laxative in the traditional sense and as it use so widely with kids I am sure it is ok - I think the old school laxatives worked differently in the way the doctor you saw described.

One think I do know is you have to take Movicol and keep taking it for a long period of time - months not weeks. Along with tons of water. Stopping and starting doesn't work - you need to keep taking it so your bowel changes shape and returns back to its normal shape and therefore doesn't 'collect' all the 'waste' and bung you up.

Thanks again Valium... yes, I had heard this about Movicol, that you need to persist with it. I think I basically have horribly distended my colon from a 3 week period last summer when I got constipated and faffed around not getting to grips with it properly. I was relying on prune juice and bran and not realising as every day went by without a movement that I was making things worse and worse!!! Gastroenterologist described my poor old colon now as 'baggy'.
Is it really true that you can change your bowel shape back to normal? I had assumed it was only kids bodies that would do this, that once an adult bowel changes shape and distends it never goes back... I have to say my (very old-school and brusque) gastroenterologist wasn't keen on all these questions and didn't really give me answers! But if it is true that a bowel can get back 'into shape' then you may just have given me hope, Valiumredhead!!!!!!

Tbh I am only going on what I know for kids and my medical degree came from Google

I imagine it the same as doing physio though, you do something over and over again and it eventually changes....or something

Ah, yes, a medical degree from Google - I'm in the process of gaining one of those, too. With a special study of Wikipedia... :)

I don't know if it's only me, but I find extra "roughage" makes the problem worse. It's like it turns to glue or something...

The most un-constipated I've ever been (and I don't mean the opposite problem) was on a low-carb diet.

From what I discovered about movicol when my DS1 was using it, is that it redirected most of your fluid to go to the bowels (which is why you need to drink lots of water to avoid dehydration) so works differently to other laxatives.

DS1, who had problem for about a year with constipation, only had to use movicol for about 6 months. However, the 'training', continues.

Once your bowels get back to normal size (and I can't see why it couldn't for you as an adult, although it might take a bit longer) you will then need to deal with the nerve damage (if you have it, of course). DS1 doesn't know when he needs to do a poo because he can't feel it.

There is a natural chemical reaction in the body after a meal which encourages the bowels to 'evacuate' what is in there, so part of the training is to just sit on the loo after breafast and dinner and wait..... (and wait, and wait!!!!) for it to come out.

If your body works by going regularly after a particular meal then that is when you should 'retire and read a book' (or something! ). If you can get this routine sorted out, you will then be able to gradually reduce the amount of movicol you take.

If there is nerve damage, it can take awhile to heal, so patience is needed.

I don't think it re directs fluid - I think it isn't absorbed so makes everything softer.

Ah, ChitChat - thank you. That is interesting. Hadn't thought about nerve damage (nobody told me) but I do know that when I get constipated it's sometimes partly just because days can go by without me feeling like I even NEED to go. I do still get the urge but not anywhere near as much as I used to pre-contipation.

The training issue could help. I'll try anything tbh!

fotheringhay - I agree with you about the high fibre thing these days, though I am never sure because the most success I had a few months ago WAS on a v high fibre diet... but there are times now when I do just think it makes the problem worse. I tend to think I struggle with protein as well unfortunately so I don't know if low carb would work. I do know that it has helped in the past for me to reduce wheat and try rye etc instead.

Anyway am just crossing fingers that by resorting to movicol today I havent' messed up my chance of getting pg this month!!! Will know more by the w/e...

Fibre will only work if you are drinking tons of water alongside it - otherwise it will just absorb all the existing water in your gut , therefore giving the impression of it not working

Dr Google - thank you!

I do drink about 2 litres of water a day but maybe this isn't enough if v high fibre diet...

Do you actually keep track of how much water you drink? As in measure it out, it's so easy not to drink.

I get through a full bottle of Evian a day (feeling guilty and trying to switch to filtered water!!) so am positive it's 2 litres.. However I do exercise (and therefore sweat like a pig-) quite a lot so that might use up water without me meaning to.

I had considered this whole fibre + not enough water in the past but had thought it couldn't poss apply to me cos I drink so much water. But I used to drink same amount of water when I had a quite low-fibre diet before all this, so maybe I need to increase water accordingly

Can you not ask the pharmacist? It's their job to know too and you might get to ask them quicker.

Emerald - nobody told me either! Lots and lots of googling is how I discovered about the nerve damage.

I'm glad I do know now though. I believe my son when he tells me he can't feel anything until it has all come out.

Could you call your local maternity unit and ask to speak to the supervisor of midwives for some advice pending a doctor's appointment. Just be totally honest about why you are calling and what the problem is.

Marriedinwhite - that's a good suggestion thank you! Would that be OK, do you think? I mean, would they be pissed off with me for bothering them when I don't even know if I'm possibly pg until (inevitably!) AF appears this w/e...

Movicol doesn't cause any spasms, it just draws water into the colon and softens your stools. DS has been on two sachets of movicol for 5 years now, it's a really gentle medication that doesn't stimulate the bowel or colon in anyway. It sounds like the doctor needs retraining.

Don't call maternity unit - call a nurse at your local surgery.

THANK YOU Fluffette!! That is something I really wanted to hear! I've found it very odd, actually, that I've managed to encounter docs who don't seem to know about Movicol at all. Even the gastro specialist I saw (on the old side) just kept going on about lactulose and fybogel and didn't seem at all interested in or knowledgable about movicol... The doc who told me the thing about the spasms was a gynae, it's entirely possible that although he knows a lot about uteruses he knows little about colon medicine...!

Is difficult though, I tend to put a lot of trust in doctors (obv the good ones are really worth putting trust in) and then get stressed out when I get conflicting or ill-thought advice.

Valiumredhead - that's a good idea too, and I might well do that, I'm terrified of the nurse there though as she was most disapproving of my waxed nether regions last time I had a cervical smear, AND she pulled the speculum out before remembering to close it/make it smaller again. Still mentally scarred by both!!!
Seriously though, that is a good idea, I don't know if my surgery do calls to nurses (only docs, possibly) but will call and find out.

You should've asked what she did with her pubes! So cheeky!