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Children's health

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Original poster

Movicol help!

21 replies

shinynewnickname · 23/02/2014 12:16

Hi lovely topic for a Sunday lunchtime but I really hope someone can help. DD is 3.3 and was prescribed Movicol about 6 months ago for constipation. Since then I have had her back at Dr several times as she is now so loose that she poos her pants most days. It is luck rather than skill if we ever get a poo in the toilet. She just doesn't seem to know anymore when she meds to go. Dr has said to adjust the dose and it's just trial and error but she is so distressed when she soils herself.

I really don't know what to do anymore. She went from only going once every 10-14 days and being in pain with it to now sometimes not going for 3 or 4 days but other times going 3 or 4 times in a day.

Anyone got any experience. Not sure if I should just be taking her off this and maybe get bran or something to add to food from health shop

OP posts:

Twighlightsparkle · 23/02/2014 12:19

I could write your post myself!

How much are you giving?

Can you give every second day etc.

Original poster

shinynewnickname · 23/02/2014 12:19

Sorry I should add she's taking 1 sachet a day.

I've just read so much conflicting advice online and really want to help DD as she's getting upset and embarrassed

OP posts:

Original poster

shinynewnickname · 23/02/2014 12:23

Hi twighlight I tried every second day but she seemed to be much the same. Tried half a sachet and 2 sachets but no matter what she just seems to end up the same. When on 2 sachet (tmi) it literally just seemed to run out her and was an absolute nightmare.

Wondering now if my Dr was just too quick to put her on this and maybe something gentler might have been better. Gah it's awful, isn't it?

OP posts:

Original poster

shinynewnickname · 23/02/2014 12:26

Scared to just stop the movicol in case she ends up backed up again. Just feel so sorry for her at the moment. Might try half every second day maybe then she might have a more formed poo. Some people have told me if she's doing it in her pants then she's still constipated or has a blockage but Dr showed me how to tell if she was blocked and tbh the amount she's doing I really doubt she can be

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blibblibs · 23/02/2014 12:28

My DD was very much the same at that age.
We tried all the different foods we could think of but nothing worked. The Dr gave her lactulose and its been a god send. To start with she had it every day until I felt she'd emptied herself properly and now at 4.4 she has it every time she has a poo. This is usually every other day, she thinks the spoonful she is having helps there and then but it's actually the one before that is helping this one out.
Not sure if Movicol is stronger but lactulose has certainly helped for us.

youarewinning · 23/02/2014 12:29

My ds suffers the same. The movicol holds the water in the bowel so soften the stools. It helps the bowl shrink back down to size after the damage of chronic constipation.
He now on senna a stimulant. This has helped his stools be formed and encouraged him to 'know' when he me to go.
Maybe worth asking the dr to look at changing the meds? DS was changed over by pead cons.

AntoinetteCosway · 23/02/2014 12:31

DD has been on it for nearly a year and we have had lots of trial and error as she's improved and the dose has come down. At the moment we're giving a third of a sachet every two days. It sounds like nothing but if we go to every three days she's immediately constipated. It's a pain because her needs constantly change as her body adapts and gets better but I think the trick really is to tinker until it's right-and then tinker again when it's no longer right.

Fwiw it sounds like her dose is much too high at the mo if she's soiling herself daily. I'd cut to half a sachet a day, keep a close eye on poos and then adjust from there if necessary.

youarewinning · 23/02/2014 12:31

Movicol is natural so long term us is fine - but sometimes a stool softener is not correct treatment because the problem is not a need to soften the stools iyswim?

sassytheFIRST · 23/02/2014 12:33

Movicol is fab.

But.

You have to continually double the dose until your child is pooing comfortably every day or 2 days max. Then keep dose at that level for a few days then reduce gradually. The child needs to forget it was hurting iykwim, otherwise they might begin withholding again.

So day 1 - 1 sachet, day 2 - 2 sachets and so on. We got as high as 8 sachets at one point. Consultant said this was fine.

Dd is now 11 and been med free since she was 4 with no further problems. Good luck.

Original poster

shinynewnickname · 23/02/2014 12:34

Thanks for replies.

She was on lactulose originally and it softened her stools and made it easier to go. She wasn't going at all though and was very backed up so Dr prescribed Movicol. It cleared her out initially but just seems to continually clean her out so now she has no sensation of needing to go.

Think maybe a good idea to speak to Dr again with a view to changing her to something else.

Thanks just so hard to know what to do for the best

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kathryn77 · 23/02/2014 12:36

My boy has been on it for 2 years plus. We essentially monitor ourselves and he has 2 sachets a day. If he misses it f

kathryn77 · 23/02/2014 12:37

Or any reason we know about it as he soon clogs up and needs more sachets to clear himself out.
We hide it in his bed time cup of milk. He is 5.5.

Original poster

shinynewnickname · 23/02/2014 12:41

Antoinette maybe we are needing to cut her dose down then. She was originally on 5 a day to clear her out so to speak (nightmare). That would have been around 6 months ago and I've cut her down gradually. She was on half a sachet every 2nd day and that seemed to be about her best. Though she did get constipated again after a while so we upped the dose again. Maybe I should try a sachet every second day and then if still soiling cut down to a half sachet.

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quirkychick · 23/02/2014 12:47

My dd 4 has been on it for quite a while. We were originally on lactulose but movicol has been much better for us. My dd has ds so loose muscles which don't eliminate efficiently.

My paed told me that it is long acting so changes you make today will take 5 dats to effect. Also you can vary the dose, so we are on 1 sachet a day but sometimes I up to 1 1/4 for 1 day (like today) as she didn't go yesterday. More than 1 a day for us is too runny. We were told to have poo the consistency of mashed potato but no softer.

I appreciate for us it is related to her condition so might not be completely relevant. If too runny it might be you need to change her meds. Hth

quirkychick · 23/02/2014 12:51

Oh shiny the clear out! Got the t-shirt.

I am sure I was told to reduce the dose every 5 days to allow for long term effect! We have reached a vompromise whereby 1 sachet is not always enough for everyday but more is usually too much.

AntoinetteCosway · 23/02/2014 12:59

The thing to bear in mind is that it is super effective so there's a huge difference between half a sachet and a full sachet, or between daily and every other day. If DD ever gets constipated now we up the dose to half a sachet every day for a couple of days (basically until she poos-we haven't found it takes 5 days so that's interesting) and that tends to sort her out quickly and is then easy to go back down from. And this is a child who was on 6 sachets a day for a while as she was so blocked up!

I really feel for you and DC. It's bloody horrible.

quirkychick · 23/02/2014 13:03

*compromise obviously

though vompromise is a good word in the circumstances!

magso · 23/02/2014 13:07

I found the book by Dr A Cohn called 'Constipation, withholding and your child' quite helpful. I do feel for you and dd. Ds had trouble from toddler days and is still on movicol as a teen. He started off on lactulose (movicol suites ds better but was not available for children then) and that had much the same problem as you have now. Ds did not seem to know when he needed the loo, so we were forever washing!. It was explained to me that the first part of treatment was to empty blockages completetly, then keep the stool soft enough to go at least once a day. Because chronic severe constipation in the young can lead to an enlarged bowel (with poor sensory feedback), the next job is to keep the child going regularly so the bowel can shrink and generally recover sensation and the child grow, otherwise the extra capacity means the problem can easily recur. This stage can take a long time - in ds case it was years - and is difficult especially at first.
I agree go back to the GP. In our area there is a paediatric constipation nursing team, but children need to be under the care of the paediatrician (Poo Dr!) to access the team support. We did not really get on top of the problem till we had specialised support - although ds was quite a bit older by the time we got there. It might be worth discussing referral if there is a suitable paediatrician with specialised interest in constipation.

Giddypants · 23/02/2014 13:08

Try one sachet every other day, plenty of fluids seem to be the trick to DS1s sluggish bowel. Good luck

Original poster

shinynewnickname · 23/02/2014 13:26

Thanks for all the replies. Who knew so many of us are going or have gone through the same thing. So good to know we're not the only ones.

Will have a read through and see what I can do for DD

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quirkychick · 23/02/2014 15:37

We were also recommended for dd to drink diluted juice and have a high fruit/fibre diet. Good luck.

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