Movicol - son still witholding

[bangingmyheadoffabrickwall]

My DS aged 4 has been on movicol for a year now.

He was prescribed it because he was holding onto his poo, sometimes for up to 3 weeks at a time. The GP did say the movicol was to be long term and that we would notice a regression when he would start school - which is in 7 weeks!

When prescribed we were told to try him with one sachet and gradually increase this until he started going again but not to give him more than 4 and if no luck, to go back to the GP. Luckily we reached 4 sachets and we had five days of explosions - several times a day, needing baths. It was THAT bad.

For the past year he has maintained his toilet trips to about 1 or 2 a week, which the GP said was fine, and taking just 1 sachet a day. His bowel movements are very wide and extremely long. Sorry for the description but so long that they reach half way up the toilet bowl. He is 4!

But for the past month he has regressed again. He is with-holding again. He is going more than a week sometimes 10 days without going and in between all this he is marking his underwear; not skid marks but more so. He keeps saying that it isn't telling him but I am telling him that it must be for poo to be on his underwear.

I am scared that he will be singled out for this at school and worried about how school will handle this. So far at nursery it isn't noticed (3 hours a day) and it usually happens in an afternoon when he is at home anyways.

I have my suspicions that this is the 'regress' my GP was talking about but not sure whether to leave him and see if the 'phase' will stop, increase his sachets or see the GP but I'm not sure what to say. I think he'll just tell me to increase the sachets but I am concerned about the size of his poo.

Anyone got any advice on this?

OMG banging that is huge! I bet it was a huge relief to you both.
It was me asking about Senna, I spoke to the pharmacist and he said it isn't recommended for under 12s but suggested a suppository that we could try. Apparently it relaxes the sphincter muscle so they physically can't hold it. Although if its hard they will still struggle to pass it. I'm really not sure if DD will be willing to go down that route so declined, for now. Will keep going with the movicol. We were also told we could adjust as necessary by dr.
It's so frustrating trying to get them to drink. I never thought I'd have to bribe my child to drink, or poo tbh! X

I have been watching this thread, no advice as every child is different. But I feel you pain.

Just wanted to congratulate you on the poo! You must all be elated

I hope your DS continues to get better

Hi, I just wanted to give an update as I am so so so so happy. (I've also posted this on another thread so apologies if, like me, you are following both)
A few days after my last post DD woke in the night very uncomfortable, I managed to persuade her onto the toilet and she managed to push out a few huge boulders! She was in agony. By the next morning it was obvious she still needed to go. I increased her movicol, I got some syrup of figs, we made Sundaes out of natural yogurt, dried fruit, honey, bananas and sprinkles. I made her a worry doll that I told her she could tell her worries to and she would take them away for her and I dug out my old baby massage notes and we played a "tickle" game and I performed the moves that are good for bowel movement. On day 2 of this she had a huge poo and although she clung onto me, she passed it quite easily. She has been every day since. Every. Single. Day!! Yesterday she even went twice! And she will happily go without having to hold onto me. Also we stayed with my parents for a few days last week and she went several times at their house and also in a cafe toilet! This is the best she has been in probably 3 years. I'm sure this isn't the end of the struggle but it's so nice to have a bit of respite.

Hi @Witchend @bangingmyheadoffabrickwall were you mentioning sachets as "Paediatric Sachets" or "Regular Sachets"? As per Paediatrician I'm using Movicol syrup of 15 ml per day for my 7 year old Kid, which is not helping. he can with hold for 3 days & i'm using enema on 4th day to fix this. Looks like, i need to switch to Sachets and increase the dosage as well. Could you please post about what type of "Movicol Sachets" - "Paediatric" or "Regular" ?

Paediatric sachets.

They're half the strength of regular ones.

@secretsignal Book "Stool Withholding: What To Do When Your Child Won't Poop! (USA Edition)" is really great. Below is the first chapter start

Kids Severe Constipation ->(Cause) Bowel Movement (Frightening, Painful, Distressing) <- (Cause) -> Anus Tear (fissure - not necessarily blood - just tear & repeated tear in case of kids) -> Stool Withholding -> Poop gets larger & Solid -> Withholding gets increased -> even larger Stool - hard to break -> Rectum Stretch like Balloon -> Withholding can now be easier for longer -> No Bowel Movement / No push out -> Faecal Impaction due to large lump sitting -> High dose of laxative medication needed to flush out

Thanks @secretsignal for the book details