Movicol- any advice?

[doesmybumlookbiginthis]

DS has recently started taking Movicol for chronic constipation. He also has DS and has had constipation problems since birth. Doctor has changed medication to Movicol but has left it to me to find right dosage that works.
Any advice?

how old is he???

my DS2 who is 5 goes on this regularly altho he is off it at the moment.

he started on 2 sachets per day, one at night, one in the morning, progreesing to 2 sachets twice a day....he was also on senna too tho, so it may work differently to your son.

another thing.......my son would not take it mixed with water, so we mixed it with orange juice.....much nicer

He is 7. We got up to 8 per day before any movement. He had 2 yesterday but motion still quite loose. Just don't know whether to change to 1 per day or 1 every second day.

I have had close dealings with Movicol and could put you in touch with an expert on the medication if you wish? I know it is all about directing water into the bowel in order that it can help with the irrigation of the bowel. It is proved to be very successful in paeds and a lot better than something like senna which the bowel gets addicted to and thus becomes 'lazy'.

I don't know the paed dosage without looing at the product info in the box but I think if you follow that and build up to a level that is working and not purging it works very well.

Beware that your DS may get some stomach griping as the water works its way trough the bowel. Let me know if I can help any more.

Dont know if this is useful info, but I found the stomach cramping from this medicine really uncomfortable....just to warn you

Mellieandmin, thanks for your help. He hasn't had too much pain but just want to get right dosage. If you could give me contact details that would be great - thanks

DD takes this and has done for 2 years. I was told not to do one day on and one day off as it allows a build up of poo in the bowel. Half a scahet per day is better than one sachet every other day iyswim.

She is now 6 so started when she was 4. I think it was 2 per day for a month and then onto a maitanence dose, which in her case is 1 sachet per day.

I mix it with water and a splash of blackcurrent squash due to horrible taste.

Hi you should have a look at the thread
Allergies-dated thur 27 dec by suwoo

There is some fantastic advice and help there

Hi you should have a look at the thread
Allergies-dated thur 27 dec by suwoo

There is some fantastic advice and help there

doesmybum - will do but she is a friend of mine and an really top girl. Do you have a contact outside Mumsnet she could email you on. If not, let me have all your questions and I will email her now and paste the answers back to you. She is for real, don't worry, not trying to get your email address other than to help. If you want to check us out we work for a company called Langland (langland.co.uk) just so you know we are bonafide. I will text her now and let her know you need more info.

Mellie thanks so much
email [email protected]
REally appreciate your help

You are most welcome. I have emailed her tonight (her name is Alison) and she will hopefully get it first thing and hopefully be able to help. There not a lot she does not know about Movicol! What a subject to be well read up on eh?

Hope you are able to make it work, as I said it has been proven long term to be far better than the senna approach which may hurt his bowel into later life.

Will come back to you ASAP or if you hear from Al then just let me know here! Will check in tomorrow.

Have posted on this subject before - I'm sure you're getting good advice though but just to say that you do need to adjust until you find the dose which is right for your child - all children different and obviously diet/other medical conditions affects things too. I think it takes a day or so to work and once it does work you might find things go too far the other way and you might need to even stop for a day or two and then restart on a lower dose. It can take a little while to get the dose right but I think its worth it.

Thanks everyone for advice. Mellie thanks again and I will let you know how I get on with Alison

Mellie not heard anything - not trying to rush you just letting you know. Thanks again

Just sent you an email

Mellie. Was that the email from MEDICAL INFORMATION UK?

No it was from me at home (mellie and min at aol). I have also sent another one from me with a patient leaflet on it that is used for children on Movicol, Do you need me to send the emails again?

DMBLBIT - sorry to hijack your thread, just came across this by accident and would like to ask mellieandmin if you would be able to pass on any information about taking Movicol to me also?
I have a ds aged nearly 6 who has been on it for a year, we were quite successfully managing things on quite a low daily dose - 5-10ml, but following some illness at Christmas, things have gone pear-shaped. I have tried giving him the whole sachet again (62ml) as we were getting a lot of seepage (sorry if TMI!) and have gradually reduced this to about 30ml a day but things are still not right. Not sure what to do now - used to have fantastic support from the children's community nurse who came out to see us loads of times but they have stopped doing that now and we have to go to the hospital which seems mad.
Anyway hope your friend might be able to offer some advice, my email is deb dot armiger at talktalk dot net.
Thanks!