Movicol - Waiting For Lift Off

[HLBug]

DS (3) is being 'flushed' out with movicol and dulcolax this week. He's been struggling with chronic constipation for about a year and we finally had an appointment with Gastro at the kids hospital yesterday.

I've read some of the other movicol threads on here but wondering if anyone out there is going through anything similar at the moment? Today we're on 4 sachets a day (2 sachets in the morning and 2 in the evening), working up to 6 per day, then 8 per day or until we get a complete 'flush'. He's also on 10ml of dulcolax.

I'm terrified. What if the 'flush' makes him upset and even more afraid to poo? When should we expect 'lift out' and how long will it last? Can we leave the house?! I've taken him out of nursery for the week.

He's done one ridiculously long sausage shaped poo this morning with absolutely no fuss whatsoever. Normally it's a 20 minute + saga of tears and tantrums. Is that all we should expect for today?

Once we finish the 'flush' we've to go down to a maintenance dose of 4 per day and then start to (eventually) wean him off them once we're in a regular routine. I'm really hoping this works and it's not celiac disease or something else that is the 'cause' of the problem that we're just not seeing / treating.

Any advice / handholds very welcome!!

Thanks HeyRoly, the is most appreciated!

It's Day 4 and still no poonami / diarrhoea explosion!!! How?! Where is all this other poo coming from?! He normally only goes every 5ish days!!!

Day 0: 2 sachets, 0 poos (gastro appointment PM)
Day 1: 4 sachets, 4 long sausage poos
Day 2: 4 sachets, 2 curvy long poo plus couple of little squirts in potty
Day 3: 6 sachets, 2 poos (one curvy and long, the other a giant cow pat) plus couple of little squirts in potty.
Day 4: 6 sachets, (so far) 1 giant cow pat poo plus couple of little squirts in potty.

Should say that as well as the sachets of Movicol we've given 10ml of dulcolax every morning.

We've been stuck in the house since Monday afternoon and are very close to killing each other. I also have poor DD (7 weeks) to contend with. In hindsight he could've gone to nursery / grannies house this week rather than be kept here with me - but I was expecting a river running down his legs by this stage!!

Really hope we see some progress soon. He's got until Monday - after that we've to take him back to GP to see about getting him admitted to kids hospital for them to flush him out there. I really, really, really don't want it to come to that Has anyone ever gone through it?

Latest update...

Day 0: 2 sachets, 0 poos (gastro appointment PM)
Day 1: 4 sachets, 4 long sausage poos
Day 2: 4 sachets, 2 curvy long poo plus couple of little squirts in potty
Day 3: 6 sachets, 2 poos (one curvy and long, the other a giant cow pat) plus couple of little squirts in potty.
Day 4: 6 sachets, 1 giant cow pat poo plus couple of little squirts in potty.
Day 5: 8 sachets, 1 giant cow pat, 3 smaller view pats and couple of little squirts in potty.

We ventured to the corner shop and back today. DH insisted we take the travel potty 'just in case'. Thankfully we didn't need it which is just as well as I'm not sure whipping it out in the middle of the co op would've been entirely appropriate...

Latest update...

Day 0: 2 sachets, 0 poos (gastro appointment PM)
Day 1: 4 sachets, 4 long sausage poos
Day 2: 4 sachets, 2 curvy long poo plus couple of little squirts in potty
Day 3: 6 sachets, 2 poos (one curvy and long, the other a giant cow pat) plus couple of little squirts in potty.
Day 4: 6 sachets, 1 giant cow pat poo plus couple of little squirts in potty.
Day 5: 8 sachets, 1 giant cow pat, 3 smaller view pats and couple of little squirts in potty.
Day 6: 8 sachets, 1 giant "looks, it's like chocolate sauce mummy!" poo and a few little squirts in potty
Day 7: 8 sachets, 1 chocolate sauce poo (so far)

Sorry if this is far TMI but I genuinely would've loved to have read something like this when we started this 'disimpactuon adventure' so I could get a rough idea of what to expect. That may make me a weirdo however...

Still here...still housebound...and still disimpacting...

Day 0: 2 sachets, 0 poos (gastro appointment PM)
Day 1: 4 sachets, 4 long sausage poos
Day 2: 4 sachets, 2 curvy long poo plus couple of little squirts in potty
Day 3: 6 sachets, 2 poos (one curvy and long, the other a giant cow pat) plus couple of little squirts in potty.
Day 4: 6 sachets, 1 giant cow pat poo plus couple of little squirts in potty.
Day 5: 8 sachets, 1 giant cow pat, 3 smaller view pats and couple of little squirts in potty.
Day 6: 8 sachets, 1 giant "looks, it's like chocolate sauce mummy!" poo and a few little squirts in potty
Day 7: 8 sachets, 1 chocolate sauce poo (so far) and 2/3 fluffy squirts
Day 8: 8 sachets, 4/5 fluffy squirts
Day 9: 8 sachets, 2/3 fluffy squirts, 1 small chocolate sauce
Day 10: 8 sachets, 1 chocolate sauce, 1 fluffy squirt (so far)

Feeling like this will NEVER END.

Please, anyone who has gone through disimpaction before, tell me if this number of days is normal?! Spoke to GP this morning who said to speak to gastro consultant- who I called 3 days ago (and again today) but is still yet to call me back.

Hi - constipation sufferer here!

Sorry I have no experience with paediatric problems, but I am impressed with your log record.

Have they explained what to expect from a 'complete flush'?

Hi terry, thanks for replying. I've been told to keep going until we experience poo that is like brown bitty water, but I don't think we've had that yet. Everything so far has been thicker (like chocolate sauce / treacle).

I hate poo.

I've been wondering how you've been betting on too!

How many sachets did you get up to? I'd be inclined to think that the chocolate sauce consistency, considering you've been doing high doses for ages, is probably as watery as it's going to get.

*getting on

This is the 6th day of 8 sachets, which is the highest dose for his age. I'd really love to believe that we can stop - I wish the bloody consultant would phone me back so I can talk to her about it. I would quite like to leave the house if nothing else!!

I just don't want to do it 'wrong' and not get all the old poo flushed out and end up having to either get him admitted to hospital, or have to go through this sorry saga again in a month or so.

Did they give you any advice on fluids? The warm weather may have an effect.

Six days of 8 sachets? There's no way you haven't flushed him out. That's a really sustained high dose (poor you!)

Hiya, sounds like you are doing really well. My son had similar at 3, took me having a massive strop at the doctor as he had been bunging up for 2 weeks, but she sent us to children's clinic for a clear out followed by movicol course. We also got invited to 'poop clinic' (i forget the technical term sorry) and they were much more help. I don't want to depress you by saying he was on it for 4 years as he has a 'lazy bowel', but the majority of the time that was a steady maintenance dose with occasional times we had to ramp it back up, then a very slow and steady reduction ml by ml. But we do still talk about poop. One day I hope not to have to any more.. wistful

Terry we're in the north of Scotland. There is never warm weather here...only rain...and more rain...

Bless him, he's sitting beside me watching Octonaughts and I can hear his wee tummy churning away.

Pikmin I've already resigned myself for a long journey ahead. He's been struggling with constipation for over a year now, but this is the first time we've disimpacted and it's actually been strangely satisfying horrifying watching all the poo come out. If nothing else it's definitely got him used to pooing in the potty.

The gastro waiting list has been stupidly long. We've had dairy free periods (he's also been seeing the dieticians) and senna/lactulose combos whilst we've been waiting for gastro.

Hey Roly I hope you're right... but something tells me that the 'output' should be more watery than we're seeing. I would post a photo (yes, I do have some) but my DH almost vommed when I showed him, so I wouldn't want to put you lovely lot through the same and I'd probably get thrown out of MN forever

Seriously, in my five long years of being a Movicol mum I've seen and dealt with more horrors than you can imagine

But yeah, spare me the photo.

So you haven't seen a gastro yet? When you do, I would ask about an abdominal x ray. That's really the only definitive way of knowing whether his gut is still backed up or not.

HL have you googled the Bristol Stool Scale? There are pictures (drawings!) and descriptions of poo that a doctor will understand, although I do like your descriptions!!
We had a chart in our loo for ages and ds's school nurse has a dinky little version which is clipped on her ID lanyard!!!

(My son was the opposite. Undiagnosed chronic diarrhoea)

HLBug really feel for you and your little lad we went through an awful time with our sons constipation from birth and he is now 9. He now takes 1 sachet per day of the chocolate paediatric movicol as a maintenance dose. Hope things are soon resolved for your DS as we know the horror of the once every 5 day poos.

Thanks pannalash

Hey Roly we finally saw Gastro last Monday which was when our magical movicol journey started. I asked, repeatedly, for an abdominal x-ray but the doctor refused. I've also asked the surgical team to undertake one (we were referred there first) but they also refused. They keep saying he's too young for 'unnecessary' radiation exposure.

Starfish I am all over the Bristol Stool Scale. I even know about the different personality types that each type of poo is apparently related to (the wonders of google ). We are aiming for Number 7s but I think we're stuck between 6 and 7. We've definitely had multiple Stage 6s. Chocolate sauce / treacle doesn't seem to relate well to Stage 7 though? I was expecting it to be more watery?

Maybe we are there though. For those who have gone through disimpaction before - was Stage 7 watery for you? Or does chocolate sauce sound about right?

DH thinks we need to stop and should go back down to maintenance (4 sachets) tomorrow...

Ooohhhh exciting!!!! We got a watery bitty poo poo!!

Stage 7 / lift off / poonami / full disimpaction achieved!!!

Thank god for that.

DH is in a grump because I flushed it before he'd had a chance to properly inspect it though This has become our life...

He is now fully cleared out!!!!
You can easily see why a lot of peope give up.

10 days justanother. 10 freaking days!! I can indeed see why people give up.

I bought myself a new handbag online last night in celebration. Every time I look at it I will think of poo. In a happy way

Hi there
I haven't been able to read whole thread..
But just wanted to say we did the movicol evacuation a couple of years back. Like you op i was geared up for big time diarrhoea but it never happened. Ds went up to 12 sachets and then gradually down again to maintenance dose of 4 a day. He never did have diarrhoea just loose poos.

The gp was glad to leave him on 4 but over a school year i reduced it to nothing (as i felt like the underlying cause was not being addtesses) . I reduced a sachet a time during each school holiday. I made sure he drank loads of water, ate lots of veg, dried apricots etc.

He still has trouble which i thibk is due to dairy intolerance but soooo much better.

Good luck!

Do you have to go down a sachet a day now HL?

We've been told to go down to 4 sachets as our maintenance dose, and keep going with the 10ml dulcolax too. If he's still too loose / frequent then reduce dulcolax then reduce movicol.