Movical..how do I get him off it

[Beezee098]

Nearly 3 yr old son, he's been on movicol for over 2 yrs. If we miss one day he will be constipated. And the constipation is severe. Gp advises constipation will do more harm whereas movicol is harmless. He's had his bloods done for thyroid and vitamins and they all came back fine. He's a fussy eater but I don't want to be medicating him daily for the foreseeable future for his bowels to work. Any suggestions on what else may sort the constipation so he can be weaned of movicol. He's on 2 sachets a day.

Hi @TeaandHobnobs Please share the settling down medication if feasible. Me too, for my DS went on several medications. Apple helped him for a year , without medication. Later on, summer vacation DS had French fries 2 or 3 times in a month and some oily breakfast - a couple of times along with dehydration due to wetting i.e skating, in the same month, created severe constipation. struggled for 6 months, PEG 3350, Movicol (single dose at night) didn't help, Only paraffin, sodium Picosulfate helped my DS for a month and for me i felt all day long paraffin oil sensation on my rectum, also created mild pain on hips/ back - could be picosulfate (parallely i had intake to understand the medication). Lactulose just softens the outer part of the poop, it didn't help the rectum overload or rectal bulge, kid would feel a strong pain due to overload at rectum. Movicol Syrup at night alone didn't help due to rectum overload. Started Movicol Sachets - after food , 2 times with a gap of 2 hours - totally 6 Paedetric sachets per day - helped finally.

He is still quite young. The ERIC team are brilliant, do look at the link from a PP.

My DD was on it until she was about 4.5 and it was plain sailing thereafter.

Just make sure he is drinking enough and eating fruit so that when you do wean him gradually off it, there should be less of a shock to the system.

Hi @Beezee098
Please refer this thread https://www.mumsnet.com/talk/childrens_health/2687911-Movicol-son-still-witholding?reply=139647515&utm_campaign=thread&utm_medium=share

Me too, planning to wean off but after a month or two.
Understand what's going and follow laxatives like Movicol

1. Empty the Large intestine ( Absorption happens on each night i.e. solidification / water removal happens each night )
2. Check with Paediatrician , rectal ointment, to avoid the rectal tear which should have happened due to constipation ( - shortly i'm going to do this step for my DS in few days)
3. Make sure rectum is back to normal shape. when you give apple or any pushing agents i.e. fruits or juices, kid can express the bowel movement. Alternatively if rectum is already stretched, no push out happens i.e. kid dont have/ dont express bowel movement , just simply sitting idle.
4. As per Eric website - video , for break fast , it should be liquid sort like porridge and juice. Hence night absorption - don't create constipation atleast for a day i.e. next morning
5. Thumb rule first day/next day poop removal is required for the kid.

My daughter has just turned 4 and was on Movicol since she was 2. 1 sachet a day was her maintenance dose and she was on that does for at least a year. I decided to try and wean her off and dropped to half a sachet - immediately she became constipated and it didnt work at all. So i left it a few months at 1 sachet and then decided to try again. She has now been off it for 2 months and passing stools perfectly. However the only way i could get her off it is if I gradually reduced the dosage - a sachet is something like 7gram, so i dropped to 6grams for 2 weeks and saw how she got on. Then 5grams etc. sometimes she would stay on a number for 3 weeks before i dropped. So it took a very long time and was a faff to weigh it (and try to be precise) everyday but we got there. i also give her the sachet mixed with pressed apple juice which she now continues to have each morning just without laxative. i have heard proper AJ is good for natural help with bowel movements. Also have hear blackcurrant is the opposite so avoid that.
I weaned right down to 1g a day, my husband thinks Im nuts! But she doesnt need it now :)

good luck

Hi, I'm in the same psotion my Daughter is nearly 3, been on it for 2 years, don't want her to be on this for a frign decade, but I literally have no choice without 1 sachet a day she is immediately blocked up. Iv tried sloooowly weaning but it seriously doesn't work everytime I try she gets blocked and her diet is good full of fibre so frustrating

Honestly, if she blocks up as soon as she misses a day, I suspect she isn't on enough. In order to grow out of the constipation, the rectum which has been stretched up by all the accumulated poo has to be able to gradually shrink back down and heal up. For that to happen, you need to get rid of any backlog, then for months maintain daily passage of soft squidgy poo. If you just maintain on firm daily poo, the rectum doesn't recover, so they carry on needing the movicol.

Does anyone else have trouble getting the correct maintenance dose? I’m alternating between 1.3/4 and 1.5 after a week of 1.3/4 it gets too runny and I drop to 1.5 it seems to be getting firm again. It’s just a vicious cycle. My dd has been on movicol for almost 3 years now and showing all signs of weaning off but the dose is just questioning this. Any tips!