Movicol & constipation

[Candleflower12]

Daughter has been having 4 sachets a day since Saturday & this evening has had diarrohea (7 on the Bristol stool chart) how long do I keep the sachets at 4 a day before lowering to maintenance dose?

Best speak to your GP but ours told us to reduce by a sachet until the stool got less watery. It's a tricky balance my DD was taking 8 a day at one point - good luck

It depends whether you’re trying to remove impaction or work out what her maintenance dose is to prevent blockage.

GP said about 4 sachets to remove the blockage she had a massive bout of diarrhoea but not sure if that’s all the blockage and when to lower back down to maintenance dose

The thing is diarrhoea can get past impaction. My DD was on 6 sachets for months. Speak to GP.

In our experience it took a lot longer than 4 days to clear the impaction but our DD had chronic constipation over years. A visit to GP to get her tummy felt to see if her bowel is clear a good idea.

Meant to add, when we got to the sachet lowering stage we reduced by 1/2 a sachet at a time. Working out maintenance dose is tricky. Also getting into a toileting routine was important for us, so sitting on the toilet with feet up on a low stool after breakfast every morning for a bowel movement really helped.

The ERIC website was also a brilliant resource for help and information.

How did you know when it had ‘done its job’ so to speak?

@Candleflower12it’s years ago now, but we have a few days with a massive amount of poo and she was under consultant care and he was able to confirm her bowel was clear by feeling her tummy. How old is your DD?

@Candleflower12should have added this was after taking 8 sachets a day over weeks. It didn’t happen quickly.

Only 3

By the time we were using movicol DD was older and it was a long road for us. Hopefully a lot shorter for you and your DD. Our DD was on one sachet of movicol a day for years once cleared out and there were a few bumps along the road when we had to increase it again. Good luck, patience is key along with strong drink and a sense of humour!