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Original poster

advice to put in glycerin suppository!!

14 replies

miarosemum · 05/07/2011 20:48

my 4 year old dd been diagnosed with chronic constipation with faecal impaction. she had this last year and cleared up 6 months ago but has it back again. this time have been given lactulose and suppositories to use as movicol gave her an extreme reaction and she did not cope well on it. i am going to give the suppositories a go tomorrow morning, but please some advice on how effective they are and easy/hard to put in!!

OP posts:
girliefriend · 05/07/2011 20:53

Have you got a bit of vaseline or ky jelly to put round the anus, I would get her to lie on her left side, bring her knees up and quickly pop it in! It won't hurt but will feel a a bit weird. She will need to try and hold it in for 10-15mins for it to work. Good luck Smile

allthefires · 05/07/2011 20:54

Found it really easy but only if you dont make a big deal about it. My ds needed them a few months back. Moistened them, he bent over and i popped it in. Do not let her sit on toilet though as it needs to sit in bowels for 5 mins and then you Will probably see some action

Original poster
miarosemum · 05/07/2011 20:58

are they pretty effective for clearing out the old poo then?

OP posts:
allthefires · 05/07/2011 21:01

The first time i would say yes but ours wasnt at the stage your daughter is at. 6 days without poo

Original poster
miarosemum · 05/07/2011 21:06

also how often do i use them, say put one in and see...silly questions but the instructions were really vague and the instructions just say as and when needed.

OP posts:
allthefires · 05/07/2011 21:19

Thats what our said too. I did it as and when it became an issue which varied. They cant do harm so if necessary do as often as your daughter needs!

Original poster
miarosemum · 05/07/2011 21:33

thanks guys, will let you know how we get on tomorrow x

OP posts:
Original poster
miarosemum · 06/07/2011 17:08

well could not get the little buggers in for love nor money! tried moistening them, put her on side with knees up and thought i had success but the bloody thing would'nt go all the way in! she started to get distressed and so did i tbh so one call to the health visitor later, and she is coming in the morning to help and show me how to put them in!

OP posts:
PurpleLostPrincess · 06/07/2011 18:31

I've had to give DD2 suppositories regularly and they're a nightmare so I feel for you! Unfortunately I've learned that they have to be pushed in quite firmly Sad. Hope it all goes well.

sneezecakesmum · 06/07/2011 23:05

Poor you not an easy thing to do with a 4 yo. an adult can relax so the finger behind the suppository can push it quite high or it simply slithers out again! They tend to use them as a last resort because with childhood constipation all that focus on the bottom end can be distressing and worsen the problem in children as to with holding etc Sad

Original poster
miarosemum · 06/07/2011 23:40

thanks guys, this is attacking the situation from a different angle as already done movicol and lactulose and she needs something else i feel to really get things shifted. fingers crossed!

OP posts:
PurpleLostPrincess · 07/07/2011 20:51

I know what you mean miarosemum - DD2 was born with an imperforate anus so after having a colostomy bag for the first six months of her life, they reconstructed her bottom. As far as we can tell, she hasn't got the muscles that help her to know when she needs to poo and if she is constipated it really hurts. We were giving her movicol every night for a long time until we saw her consultant in May - he explained that 'top end' medication is very different to 'bottom end' medication and sometimes we have to target it specifically in order to gain some results. She couldn't with-hold if she wanted to bless her Sad. So we were then giving her suppositories every other morning - she calls it 'the sore thing' and doesn't like it at all. I've stopped it for now as it was getting too stressful for all of us. I can tell by her recent movements that we're going to have to start it up again.

Hope you get some results soon, are you using the dulcolax? Like a little bullet? I hide it before administiring it so DD2 doesn't know until the last few seconds - I hate it!

I rang the duty doctor for a repeat prescription recently and was told they don't like them to be used for too long in case they get 'lazy bowels'. I didn't have the energy to explain that's what she was born with Hmm

Original poster
miarosemum · 08/07/2011 21:04

well i managed to get the suppository in under the watchful eye of the health visitor,she was really helpful and supportive actually and i managed to pop another one in this morning. not a huge amount yesterday, but lots of little bits coming away today and very soft and runny, literally two changes of knickers every hour today! poor you purple, are you still using the movicol? i tried this last year with no success, only succeeded in giving dd an extremely sore bottom with open sores!

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PurpleLostPrincess · 22/07/2011 23:30

So glad it went well, how did your DD respond? It was so much easier when Cerys was tiny and didn't have a clue what was going on!

No we've stopped the movicol for now. Since my last message we've had to administer about 3 suppositories so far. Our consultant said that she can never go any longer than 48 hours without a poo. Yesterday she did 2 little pebbles and today DH said there were a couple in her nappy when he changed it. So if she hasn't done a poo by the morning I'll be doing the dreaded 'sore thing' again to clear her out... not looking forward to it!

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