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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

To think dulcolax are the work of the devil?

155 replies

Salamamca · 29/08/2022 08:02

So I’ve been a bit constipated lately so on Saturday night I took a couple of dulcolax before bed.

Woke up Sunday morning with the most horrendous stomach cramps, I was sweating, nauseous, in absolute agony and felt like I was about to give birth. It was that bad I could literally see my lower abdomen moving around as though it was a baby kicking. I went to sit on toilet - nothing happened, just more pain and hot flushes. I splashed cold water on my face and went to try and make a coffee … doubled over in the kitchen, sweat pouring off my face I actually considered that I might need to go to A&E the pain was that bad. Suddenly felt the need to go to toilet, rushed there, sat down, had a normal poo and then OMG … I had a fart which I swear lasted about 15 seconds and then horrendous diarrhoea that was like water, it went on for ages. The cramping and diarrhoea went on all day and by the night time I was seeing bright red blood on the toilet paper. Started getting really concerned … googled … saw blood was a rare side effect … went to bed.

Woke up this morning feeling ok - had a coffee and the cramping has started up again.

Anyone else had such a horrible experience with these pills?? The rest are going in the bin!

AIBU to think this shouldn’t happen with over the counter medication??

OP posts:
Madbadandusuallysad · 29/08/2022 12:43

I learnt the hard way never to take two of those fucker tablets.

BashfulClam · 29/08/2022 12:53

Yep I usually get woken at 3am with cramp and have to bolt to the loo. Then its explosive diarrhoea. I always laugh when the advert says ‘gentle predictable relief when you wake’

JadeSeahorse · 29/08/2022 12:53

Strangely enough I have never had any side effects with Dulcolax but have exactly the same - excluding the blood - as OP with Dulco ease.

Can't believe this thread appeared today. I had just taken 3 Dulco ease over a 48 hour period and from midnight last night I had
appalling cramping, hot flushes, rumbling insides and then the explosions started. By the 6th visit in less than an hour it was literally running out of me like water.🙁
Certainly gave me a good clear out but my insides still feel really raw and sensitive today.

The moral of this is that Dulco ease is not easier for everyone.☹️ The only side effect I ever had from Dulcolax is bloating for several days afterwards.

WelshMoth · 29/08/2022 22:50

bottomwoes · 29/08/2022 12:35

Totally agree with @LuluBlakey1. I have suffered from constipation since I started perimenopause about 6 years ago which have caused piles 🤦‍♀️. Have tried everything over the years….fybrogel which is like orange squash with a handful of sawdust, ducolax which is unpredictable and can be violent. Lactulose doesn’t seem to do anything and laxido did a great job, but one of the side effects is a sore bum hole which I got!
Invested in these magic cubes and they really seem to be doing the trick…only been using them for the last few days. Take one about 6pm with a load of water and within 15 minutes of getting up am able to ‘go’ and it’s just normal.
Now I’m cleared out after a 2 week holiday where I spent most of it constipated and in discomfort from piles, I will try half a cube daily.
I have been in your position OP, it’s not funny at the time, but in hindsight 😂

Need more info about these magic cubes please!

Clawdy · 29/08/2022 23:24

Definitely going to try those Fruit And Fibres Cubes.

Menora · 30/08/2022 00:38

i have IBS and swing between the D and the C all the time as I have slow motility. I am too scared to take any constipation relief anymore after a ducolax experience of painful cramps and bloating. i tried senna it doesn’t do much for me.

I did food elimination diet a few years ago to lose weight and the D largely stopped during my boring diet. but I only came to the realisation it was food sensitivity (I assumed whey) after drinking a slimfast shake with skimmed milk and having the most terrifying 6 hours trapped in the toilet, shaking, sweating, praying and composing angry letters to the makers of slimfast. I subsequently had a McD milkshake a few weeks later with the same results so I self diagnosed a lactose sensitivity. It is not a surprise to me that one of the ducolax main ingredient is.. lactose. It is a very similar experience!

WelshMoth · 30/08/2022 08:21

Clawdy · 29/08/2022 23:24

Definitely going to try those Fruit And Fibres Cubes.

Thanks! I've never seen these being sold though?! Where can they be bought?

Speedchange · 30/08/2022 08:36

Oh this thread is timely. They are indeed the work of the devil. I took one last week as I'm on iron tablets. Took it at 10pm, woke at 3am in agony, rushed to the toilet but dd's friend was in there (having a sleepover). Bolted downstairs thinking I'm going to have to shit in the garden then clocked the cats (clean) litter tray. Ended up squatting over the litter tray in the garden at 3am, shaking and sweating profusely whilst my arse exploded like a volcano. Never, ever again! I can only post this as I haven't told anyone in RL Blush.

WelshMoth · 30/08/2022 08:45

Speedchange · 30/08/2022 08:36

Oh this thread is timely. They are indeed the work of the devil. I took one last week as I'm on iron tablets. Took it at 10pm, woke at 3am in agony, rushed to the toilet but dd's friend was in there (having a sleepover). Bolted downstairs thinking I'm going to have to shit in the garden then clocked the cats (clean) litter tray. Ended up squatting over the litter tray in the garden at 3am, shaking and sweating profusely whilst my arse exploded like a volcano. Never, ever again! I can only post this as I haven't told anyone in RL Blush.

Dear God!
Shock

WelshMoth · 30/08/2022 08:45

But now I want to do this Grin (sorry)!

NeedMoMoney · 30/08/2022 08:46

Reallybadidea · 29/08/2022 08:20

I had terrible constipation when pregnant and in desperation took dulcolax one night. OMFG I thought I was going to shit the baby out too. Fortunately didn't, but I've never even considered taking it again

😆😆 sorry this was too funny 😆

Emmab321 · 30/08/2022 08:54

Yes - I have the same experience with it … it does the job through :D can’t complain it doesn’t work !!

I do laugh when I see the tv adverts suggesting it offers “gentle relief”

DessicatedWithering · 30/08/2022 08:54

Tesco sell those cube things. They taste absolutely disgusting and have the viscosity of glitter glue.

I get the sweaty violent labour pains from eating lots of dairy now, so you could avoid all laxatives and just hit 45 and eat a cheese sandwich.

LindsayStauffer · 30/08/2022 08:58

They're very strong!

I'm on medication which gives me constipation so every couple of weeks I take some to get things moving. Usually take two. One week I took three thinking oh it'll just work faster. Holy hell. I felt exactly the same. Woke up with horrifying cramps, genuinely felt like contractions and being in labour. Having to stop myself moaning with pain. I have a high pain threshold and it was something else honestly. It teaches you a lesson for sure! I just take one now and then now, it gets things moving but leads to a more regular outcome rather than what I experienced.

OhWelllWhatever · 30/08/2022 09:33

One of my most vivid memories is from the first and only time I took laxatives. Im not being dramatic when I say I felt like I was going to die..

I'd been constipated for days after being on painkillers and bought a box of dulcolax after deciding enough was enough. Took 2 and went to bed looking forward to waking up to the most satisfying poo of my life. At 5am I stumble to the bathroom with agonising cramps and think "ok, I can handle this...itll all be over in 5 mins"

Half an hour later-I'm doubled over on the toilet. Naked, sweating profusely, heart pounding, one hand braced on the wall for support and the other death gripped onto the sink, gritting my teeth and panting like I'm giving birth to a turkey big enough to feed a family of 15.
It took a little over an hour to squeeze out the most pitiful looking poop I'd ever seen.

Waddled my sore arse back to bed feeling defeated, shellshocked and totally wiped out.

But on the plus side I did have the best sleep of my life after the physical exertion I'd put my body through.

Heartbreaktuna · 30/08/2022 09:47

I took one once. Thought my insides would be torn out through my belly button. Laid on the floor crying for 2 days. Never again. Apparently they cause the intestines to contract, so if there isn't much ahem in there then that's when they cause agony.

Speedchange · 30/08/2022 09:49

@WelshMoth

Honestly afterwards I was like did that actually just happen. I thought the litter tray was actually ingenious though, straight into a bin bag 😂

Navigatingnewwaters · 30/08/2022 09:52

The results get less dramatic, really the first time you should just take one but yeah laxatives make you shit violently.

WelshMoth · 30/08/2022 09:56

OhWelllWhatever · 30/08/2022 09:33

One of my most vivid memories is from the first and only time I took laxatives. Im not being dramatic when I say I felt like I was going to die..

I'd been constipated for days after being on painkillers and bought a box of dulcolax after deciding enough was enough. Took 2 and went to bed looking forward to waking up to the most satisfying poo of my life. At 5am I stumble to the bathroom with agonising cramps and think "ok, I can handle this...itll all be over in 5 mins"

Half an hour later-I'm doubled over on the toilet. Naked, sweating profusely, heart pounding, one hand braced on the wall for support and the other death gripped onto the sink, gritting my teeth and panting like I'm giving birth to a turkey big enough to feed a family of 15.
It took a little over an hour to squeeze out the most pitiful looking poop I'd ever seen.

Waddled my sore arse back to bed feeling defeated, shellshocked and totally wiped out.

But on the plus side I did have the best sleep of my life after the physical exertion I'd put my body through.

Oh god, I'm so so sorry but I've had to cover my mouth to try and surpress my laughter.

🤣

WelshMoth · 30/08/2022 10:20

Possible outing but, what the heck.

DH travelled with a large sporting event to Asia and the trip involved many internal flights as well. Did he heed my tender advice to keep hydrated, avoid alcohol, possibly take some senna, eat lots of fibre? Did he bollocks so by Day 8, he couldn't walk he was so impacted.

He had to tell the young, attractive tour organiser that his shit was concrete who in turn had to be his translator at the pharmacy, where they sold him a pack of what he now calls, 'Vicious Little Pink Bastards'. He was, at the time, in too much pain and discomfort to have any dignity at that point. He recalls that the pharmacy and his assistant kept grinning at him as they sold him the Vicious Little Pink Bastards but he thought it was in sympathy. He could barely bend his legs to get back into the taxi for his hotel.

Anyway, the dosage was to take 1 at bedtime, but given that this was at 10 in the morning, he swallowed one there and then in desperation. In further desperation and impatience an hour later, he wisely decided to swallow another THREE and took to his bed.

By 2 the next morning, he was in dire straits and was leaving teethmarks in his arms to stifle his screams. He'd made it to the toilet but had to bin his boxer shorts and pyjama bottoms (dispatched furtively in a public bin the next day).

He was then too scared to go out in public for the next 2 days because, and I quote, "of the molten lava that was pouring out of my arse".

Oh how we laugh. That'll teach him.

That said, in hindsight, he's learnt his lesson and drinks a pint of water every few hours and doesn't hammer the alcohol when on rugby tour.

I also agree that these over the counter laxatives should come with more warnings - as much as we laugh, they really do cause a lot of pain.

NeverDropYourMooncup · 30/08/2022 10:25

I'm in shock.

These things actually work for people?

WelshMoth · 30/08/2022 10:40

They work @NeverDropYourMooncup but the moral of the story I suppose, is to avoid them at all costs by having g a decent diet and drinking enough water!

NeverDropYourMooncup · 30/08/2022 10:52

WelshMoth · 30/08/2022 10:40

They work @NeverDropYourMooncup but the moral of the story I suppose, is to avoid them at all costs by having g a decent diet and drinking enough water!

I knew my guts were weird, having connective tissue disease and celiac, but I must be immune to the things.

Starsinyoureyes13 · 30/08/2022 10:58

Happened to me I felt sick after taking them..
I find sugary tea helps constipation, as disgusting as it tastes it gets things moving along without the horrible side effects.. Another one is water, drink a pint of water, then wait 2 hours drink another pint, then another in another 2 hours before you know it you need to go.. As all the stuff at the back will push the hard poo at the front out

WelshMoth · 30/08/2022 12:07

WelshMoth · 30/08/2022 10:40

They work @NeverDropYourMooncup but the moral of the story I suppose, is to avoid them at all costs by having g a decent diet and drinking enough water!

Sorry! Wasn't being snarky towards you. More to DH and folk me that don't eat carefully enough.